Broad Beans Recipe 3: Miso and Tofu Quiche with Broad Beans and Potato

Instead using egg and cream, tofu and miso attains rich texture. This is very healthy quiche and also good for vegans.

Ingredients (for two)

• 1/2 Baking Potato 
• A handful of Broad Beans
• 100g of Tofu 
• 1.5 Tablespoon of miso (desirably white sweet miso)

Directions

1. Dice potato into 1cm. Cook in boiled water to soft and scoop pieces with a net to set them aside.
2. In the same pan, cook broad beans lightly around for 2-3 minutes. Peel the skin.
3. Drain the extra moisture of tofu with paper towels. Mix tofu and miso well in a bowl till the batter gets smooth.
4. Add potato and broad beans into the bowl to mix. Pour the quiche batter into ceramic pots.
5. Bake the quiche in oven over 220C for 15-17 minutes. 

Had this quiche with a dish of fried egg and white asparagus topped with truffle oil and parsley. 

It was very luxurious, relaxing and healthy brunch!!

Total cost: 1.3 pounds(80p for tofu, 70p for the rest of the ingredients)

Total time to prepare: 25 minutes

Toddler Bento Archive (4th Week July)

• Deepfried Place 
• Carrot and Spinach Butter Saute
• Rice with Soy Sauce Bonito from Mentsuyu
• Tomato Salad

• Deep Fried Pork Roll with Halloumi and Mange Tout
• Rice with Dried Shiso Leaves
• Okura, Avocado and Tomato

• Teriyaki Salmon with Asparagus
• Meaty Potato
• Tomato and Cucumber Salad 

• Ginger Pork with Onion, Carrot and Lettuce 
• Panda Rice with Sour Plum Cheek
• Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Toddler Bento Archive (2nd-3rd week of July)

I entertain myself in making bento pretty such as by using a panda rice mould. 

Otherwise, it's just hard...

• Panda Rice with Sour Plum Cheeks
• Chicken Casserole with Tomato and Veggies
• Fresh Tomato and Avocado Salad

• Rice with Sour Plum
• Hamburg Steak With Red Wine and Tomato Sauce
• Carrot, Zucchini, Spring Onion and Dill Butter Saute
• Avocado and Cucumber Salad

• Rice with Dried Shiso Leaves
• Ginger Pork
• Spinach Saute
• Tomato and Cucumber Salad

• Hamburg Steak with Red Wine and Tomato Sauce
• Carrot and Spinach Saute with Butter
• Rice with Sour Plum
• Tomato Salad

• Rice with Dried Shiso Leaves
• Salmon, Zucchini and Spring Onion Saute with Oyster Sauce and Mayonnaise 
• Tomato and Avocado Salad

• Ginger Pork 
• Tofu with Chive and Soy Sauce
• Rice with Dried Shiso Leaves
• Tomato and Cucumber Salad

• Hash Potato with Seaweed Powder
• Roast Beef
• Spinach Saute with Carrot and Deepfried Tofu
• Rice with Dried Shiso Leaves
• Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Kakiage Udon 

The ingredients of Kakiage is varied. This time, I got the seasonal broad beans, spring onion and shrimp.

My Japanese family loves Udon with Kakiage. The crispy kakiage gets soggy soaked in udon soup. It is a luxurious noodle dish. 

It requires a skill to make a large and crispy kakiage as my mum does. Still I'm not as good as she does but hopefully will attain that level in the future.

Dashi

http://japanesegourmet.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=Dashi

Men-tsuyu

http://japanesegourmet.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/men-tsuyu-noodle-soup-stock-as-i.html

Directions of udon sauce without men-tsuyu:

Mix 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of mirin, 1.5 cups of Dashi, the Japanese fish stock. 

Kakiage

http://japanesegourmet.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=Tempura

Directions

1. Cook udon noodles as directed in plenty of boiled water.

2. Add Men-tsuyu (noodle soup stock) and Dashi in the ratio of Men-tsuyu:Dashi=1:5. Adjust the taste by adding water or salt or soy sauce. Should you got a ready made mentsuyu, follow the direction.

 3. Serve Udon with thinly sliced spring onion, black seaweed paper and wasabi or chilli as well as kakiage.

The taste, flavour, methodologies and skills of dashi, men-tsuyu and kakiage would be passed down to the next generation!!

Men-tsuyu (Soy based Noodle Soup)

As I reiterate elsewhere, the fresh and subtle flavour of dashi (Japanese soup stock) is essential in Japanese dishes. Noodle soup known as "Men-tsuyu"  is not the exception ("men" refers noodles and "tsuyu" does soup). People often use ready made noodle soup as reasonably offered in Japanese market. Meanwhile, my Japanese family makes men-tsuyu at home. Of course so do I in London. I appreciate this methodology that attains the elegant flavour like the one served in exclusive traditional Japanese restaurants. 
In addition, home made mentsuyu is  economical compare to the one sold in Japanese food market in London.

A ready made men-tsuyu flavoured with dried bonito flakes offered in Japanese food shops

Ingredients of 200cc of men-tsuyu

• 150cc of Soy Sauce
• 50cc of Mirin
• 50cc of Sake
• A handful of Dried Bonito Flakes

 Directions

1. Boil soy sauce, mirin and sake gently in a pan for 2-3 minutes and add dried bonito flakes. Turn the heat off.

 2. Filter the bonito through a net and store the men-tsuyu in a clean container with a lid.

3. Keep the men-tsuyu in fridge and consume it within a month. The bonito flakes also can be used to top on rice or in the onigiri (rice balls).

For preparing noodle soup, just cut this men-tsuyu with water or add some dashi. 

As it doesn't contain any chemicals, the flavour of bonito is very fresh and powerful but still elegant.

Total cost: around 1.5 pound

Time to prepare: 5 minutes

Toddler Bento Archive (4th week of June-1st week of July)

• Broad Beans Rice
• Sausage, Spinach and Sweet Corn Butter Saute
• Hash Potato with Sea Weed Powder
• Tomato Salad

• Teriyaki Salmon with Deep Fried Tofu
• Carrot, Mushroom, Asparagus and Sausage Saute
• Rice with Dried Shiso Leaf
• Tomato and Avocado Salad

• Rice Topped with Teriyaki Salmon Flake and Nori
• Potato Gratin
• Carrot, Green Peas and Sausage Butter Saute
• Tomato and Avocado Salad

• Hamburg Steak
• Hash Potato
• Fried Halloumi Cheese 
• Carrot Butter Saute
• Rice with Dried Shiso Leaf
• Cucumber and Avocado Salad

• Panda Rice with Sour Plum Cheecks
• Deepfried Plaice with Chives and Oyster Sauce
• Spinach, Sausage, and Carrot Butter Saute

• Rice with Dried Shiso Leaf
• Mapo Tofu
• Tomato and Cucumber Salad

• Rice with Dried Shiso Leaf
• Hamburg Steak with Chives
• Carrot, Asparagus and Halloumi Cheese Butter Saute
• Tomato and Cucumber Salad

 Maccha (Powdered Green Tea) Custard Pudding&Shiratama Rice Cake with Kuromitsu (Muscovado Sugar Caramel Sauce)

1. Maccha (Powdered Green Tea) Custard Pudding

Desserts wit green tea flavour are very popular in Japan.

Unlike English black tea, green tea isn't fermented in its production process. Just being steamed and dried, green tea retains the bright green colour and fresh flavour. 

Maccha is a powdered green tea and is mostly involved in Tea Ceremony. Meanwhile it is also handy for cooking as it offers a rich flavour and beautiful colour.

A top quality maccha "Sho Haku" from one of the oldest maccha makers, Koyama-en

Ingredients of Maccha Custard Pudding (involving 6 Pudding Moulds, 200cc in each)

• 3 large eggs (room temperature)
• 400cc of milk
• 100cc of single cream
• 75g of caster sugar
• 1 tablespoonful of maccha
• A tea spoon of boiled water

Directions 

1. Grease moulds with butter. Heat up oven over 150C.

2. Add maccha and a tablespoon of boiled water in a bowl to dissolve. I use a bamboo whipper, chasen, involved in Tea Ceremony.

 3. Warm up milk in microwave for 1 minutes. Add sugar into milk then mix to dissolve sugar. Then add cream and maccha to mix gently but thoroughly.

 4. Beat eggs in a separate bowl then add the maccha milk to mix.

 5. Filter the pudding mix through a dense net. 

 6. Power the pudding mix into moulds. Place them over a tray and place it in the lower level of the oven. Pour the boiled water into the tray in 1cm depth. Cook the pudding for 20-25 minutes. 

A Tip for Temperature Control!! 

To attain the smooth texture of pudding, take the tray out from the oven when the top surface gets set but the middle part is still under cooked. If you touch the centre part in the surface by a finger or if you sway the tray, you can tell the condition. The middle part will get set with remained heat.

Kuromitsu

Known as "Kokuto", Musovado Sugar is mainly produced in Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. The sweet sauce made of kokuto is called "Kuromitsu" and is also very popular flavour in Japanese sweets. 

Ingredients and Direction of Kuromitsu 

Add muscovado sugar and water of 1/3 amount of the sugar into a heat resistant container. Microwave it for 1-2 minutes till the sauce gets thick.

Shiratama

Shiratama is a rice cake made of rice powder. It is very easy and fun to prepare. In Japan, primary school students learn to make Shiratama at their food science class.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of Shiratama flour 
• Warm water

Directions 

1. Boil a plenty of water in a deep pan.

2. Add warm water into shiratama flour bit by bit while kneading with a hand until the dough becomes soft and smooth like a ear lobe.

3. Roll a piece of dough with both hands and make it flat. Make a ditch with in its centre a finger.

 4. Prepare a cold water in a large bowl near by the cooking pan. Put each cake into boiling water to cook. Once a piece appears on the surface, boil for one minute. Then take it into the cold water straight from the pan. 

Serve the pudding and shiratama pieces with some fruits with plenty of kuromitsu!

 Time to prepare: 1 hour (40 minutes for Custard Pudding, 20 minutes for kuromitsu and shiratama)
Total cost: 5.05 pounds+(1.2 for egg, 0.5 milk and cream, 3.35 pounds for shiratama flour)