Just add spoonful of apricot sauce to Teriyaki sauce at the end. It added an accent and the taste became deeper with the acidity of the fruit. Great matching with Riesling!!
Using my home-made Umeboshi (salted Ume-plum pickles), I enjoyed cooking. 完成した梅干しを使って、
Umeboshi Tempura （梅干しの天ぷら）： After soak Umeboshi in water to remove some saltiness, I cooked crispy Tempura of it. Also I did it with leaves of Shiso (green perilla).
Good with cold udon-noodles! The taste of Umeboshi matched the fragrance of the Shiso leaf which was fried quickly. They were my best toppings of udon.
Ume meatballs （梅つくね）： I mixed chopped Umeboshi and Shiso leaves into mince mixture. Chopped water chestnuts added crispness and pleasant texture to it. For the finish, I applied the sauce, which was nice pink colour made from sweetened Ume-zu (Ume-vinegar), on cooked meatballs.
Ume Chawan-mushi （梅茶碗蒸し）： Chawan-mushi (steamed savory egg custard) is often cooked with some seasonal ingredients in a cup, but this time I steamed only the egg mixture without anything. Added a bit of chopped Umeboshi and Shiso (perilla) on the steamed custard, then poured clear thick sauce over the top. Umeboshi taste was valid on this simple and pure custard.
Ume Rack of Lamb （梅ラムラック）： This is my original fusion dish. Marinated with the paste of Umeboshi, top with Shiso-herb crumbs, the rack of lamb is grilled in the oven. Bite together with the fresh Shiso leaf!
Umeboshi, it's delicious as it is, but also it makes an outstanding performance as seasoning of various dishes. It's splendid Japanese traditional preservation food!
Continuance of the topic of the chestnut... 栗の話題の続きから・・・・
Another dish which I wanted to make when I got chestnuts is SHIBUKAWA-NI (a kind of Japanese sweet like a marron gｌaces). Chestnuts are simmered with the inner skin on, changed water 5 times for taking off the bitterness from the inner skin slowly, then sweetness is added... what do I say, the image such as the work of art.
At first I soaked the chestnuts in water to make it easy to peel outer shell. But I did it too long (nearly 24 hours)! Then the inside part swelled up. The inner skin easily came off together with the outer shell when I tried to peel the outer one only! The inner skin must be stay on!!! When I started simmering of those with the inner skin peeled off here and there, I thought they were not strong enough to be simmered 5 times, then I did only twice and stopped it. Adding sugar, hoping it would be ok, then I went to sleep. But, it wasn't ok. Next morning, I tried to taste.... ...is bitter. What an unpleasant bitterness! まずは鬼皮を剥きやすくするため、丸ごと水に つけます。 栗ごはんのときに皮剥きが大変 だったので、長めにつけおきしておこう！ と前日から24時間つけました。 （コレが大まちがい。。。） 皮を剥き始めたら、鬼皮とともに渋皮まで一緒に取れてしまう。 長時間の浸水で中身はふやけてる感じ。 なるべく渋皮が残るように剥いたけど、ところどころ黄色い実が見えている・・・大丈夫かな～？と思いつつ・・・
Challenge it once again, with remaining chestnuts. I sorked them just for 1 hour this time, peeled the outer shell with full attention, then simmered with changing water 5 times. Adding sweetness, and waiting overnight. At last, it became the completion of the SHIBUKAWA-NI !!
Here is the variation, CHOCOLAT MARRON, which are coated by chocolate ganache 渋皮煮をチョコレート・コートして、ショコラ・マロンにも してみたら・・・ 40年くらい前、『栗』っていうチョコレートを食べたことを 思い出しました。 あの頃、『栗』チョコレートと言えば 市販チョコの中では高級品、なかなか買ってもらえな かったな～。 親に「これは大人のチョコレートだから」 とか何とか言われて・・・。
ラッピングして、渋皮煮とともに、ようやくプレゼントになりました。
Cooked (boiled) chestnuts were handy to add to a dish. I used them for cream spaghetti for lunch with my friend. They added something of seasonal special to it.
I got persimmon as her gift. It's autumn taste, too. What shall I make?
友人のお土産、 柿をいただきました。 これもまた秋の味覚。 さて、何を作ろう？
With turnips and pears...
買い置きの梨とかぶがあったので
Namasu, of persimmon & turnip
A pickled salad, added "Umami-salt" as a hidden flavor this time. Great with warmed sake on the cold night.
柿とかぶの塩麹なます。 寒い夜はお燗酒で。
オリーブオイルを少量加えると 白ワインにも合います。 ソーヴィニョンが良さそう。
Shira-ae, of persimmon & pear It's a vegetable dish using mashed tofu originally. I used fruits instead, and add "Miso-mite", then arranged it in the persimmon cup. The gentle sweetness of the fruits was refined, I would love to enjoy it with Pinot Gris.
I got lots of chestnuts the other day ! My friend, who knew that I wanted chestnuts, asked his neighbour, who was the owner of the chestnut trees, for me to have some. 栗はこの辺には売っていないんです。 秋なので、栗を使った料理やお菓子を作り たいけど。。。 先日、知人にそんな話をしたら・・・ 彼の隣人の敷地に大きな栗の木があるから、 栗を拾ってもいいかどうか聞いてあげる、 と言われ・・・ 翌日、彼自身が拾って届けてくれました。 袋にいっぱい、たぶん3～4kgくらい？
Kuri-gohan (Chestnut rice) ! It came into my head at beginning, which is one of the representative dishes of the autumn taste in Japan. It is normally cooked by rice and peeled chestnuts with water and some seasonings. This time I roasted chestnuts first, because I thought it must be easy to peel them.
After made a cut in two places with a knife in each chestnut, I roasted them for 20 min. Then, peeled them.....mmm.....not easy?!.....mmm..... I was stacked to peel the inner skin off!! Sore nails... Took a break for the moment......then, following an advice from my friend Natsuko, I roasted them once again, having the inner skin, with low heat for a while. It made the inner skin crispy, and...... yes, much easier to peel off! Also I found a good tool of bamboo skewer which worked well instead of my sore nails. まず、栗にナイフで切れ目を入れてオーブンで ロースト。 20分くらいで取り出して、少し冷め てから皮を剥き始めました。 ところが、中の渋皮がなかなか取れない！ 予想通りに丸ごと剥けるのは２割あったかどうか、 あとは、まったくダメ！ ボロボロ崩れて、 爪の奥も痛くなってきたので一時休憩。
I would like to serve Kuri-gohan to people who attend the cooking class. Now I got the good tip, so must be not hard. Will cook it again for them in the class next week!
******************************************************************************************** At the class in the following week: Adding to our cooking dishes, I served the Kuri-gohan (Chestnut rice) for people. They were surprised at the appearance of surprising rice as I expected, and were pleased!
Here are the dishes that we cooked in this class: 今月のクラスで実習したのはこちら：
It was great night with 6 of great cooking people (included a lady who has appeared in the TV program "MasterChef" before) from local, and a Japanese lady who were traveling here.
By adding grated Taro into the base, it becomes soft and sticky texture, like real Japanese Okonomi-yaki. It's an idea instead of using "Yama-imo" which is not available to purchase here. (Sorry, forgot to take photos...)
This is that I wanted to eat most!! I thoroughly enjoyed the fragrance of the burdock, the texture of the taro, juicy taste of the fried tofu, all tastes.
************************************************************************************************** Day-4 : Deep fried Taro
I had simple deep frying, as I wanted to taste a characteristic of the Taro simply. Just fried hot one with delicious sea-salt...great snack of the beer! And another is... top with "Tama-miso" (egg-yolk-miso), which goes well with warmed sake.
I was invited for apricot picking 
Other than apricot trees, there were vaious fruit trees of plum, apple, 
After enjoying the picking, 
After soak Umeboshi in water 
I mixed chopped Umeboshi 
Chawan-mushi (steamed savory egg custard) is often cooked with some 
Another dish which I wanted to make 
Cooked (boiled) chestnuts were 
It's a vegetable dish using 
Now, I set the roasted chestnuts 
I found big "Taro" in the market. It suddenly ran through my mind 
Though I used it a lot, Taro is still left.