In winter, when I’m not just harvesting and sauteeing the seasonal vegetables, I like to play around with a cuisine. One year it was Indian food, after a January trip to Los Angeles. Another year it was Middle Eastern cuisine with Yotam Ottolenghi’s books leading the charge. And, of course, after I received the Frankies Spuntino cookbook one Christmas, there was a frenzy of pasta and sauce making, pork braciole, and even a few of the most decadent chocolate tortes in the world.
This year, as soon as the weather got cool, I started craving soy sauce. Quite specifically, I was craving chicken drumsticks with a soy glaze. Joined by some kale dressed with the extra sauce.
So, as they do on Iron Chef, I’m declaring this the year of Battle Japan! I might even try making my own tofu.
My guide will be Nancy Singleton Hachisu and her book Japanese Farm Food. I love the book and have already been making my way through it, reading the story of Nancy’s life married to a Japanese man and living on the farm with their two sons. She has been connected to Japanese and Western food for decades, traveling for long periods to France and Italy and also Northern California, where she has developed a friendship with Alice Watters of Chez Panisse.
For a guidebook, you really want something that starts here. 
As you can see even from this excerpt, she begins by telling you how to wash out the bugs. My rice all has bugs right now, because it is real rice, and that’s what happens. “Better bugs than chemicals,” she writes. I look forward to spending time washing my rice this winter, and really slowing down to make tasty food.
Making tofu is a lot like making cheese. You start with soybeans and make the milk, then develop the curds, then press it out. And it means I get to buy stuff, like forms and cultures.
In addition to an excellent “resources” section in the book that tells you how to get what you need to make the recipes in the US, there is a link to Kitazawa Seed Company, a company that sells seeds for plants used in Japanese cooking. This is definitely a draw for me. Japanese greens, like mizuna, have been steadily been making their way into
American gardens and kitchens. I’ve been growing daikon for a few years as well, and want to grow more eggplant and know what to do with it. I like the idea of adding adzuki beans to my garden, and having a wider set of recipes for the greens, turnips, and other things I grow.
What ultimately got me away from the Middle Eastern cooking was that Minnesota is nothing like Israel in terms of climate and plant life! It was not an easy winter project. I don’t want to spend money on olives, lemons, and fresh mint! There are plenty of specialty items in Japanese cooking, but I already make stir fries and keep a full stock of Asian condiments: mirin, rice vinegar, hoisin, wasabe powder, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, etc. My miso paste sits lonely at the back of the fridge, though, and I want to bring it to the forefront!
Last Christmas we had Catherine and Homer’s friend Yasu with us for Christmas, which resulted in a grand sushi dinner and a grand ramen night. Before arriving, Yasu stopped in an Asian store in Minneapolis and bought some ingredients, and he had his mother ship him his Christmas presents, which included a Japanese omelette pan. I’m a sucker for tools! And Nancy Singleton Hachisu has a full explanation for making a rolled omelette, too.
So I’m looking forward to this winter, and will post some of my adventures. I’ve done my prep by learning to pickle and ferment and make cheese. I do make a killer stir fry. It seems less daunting, somehow. I’m ready to jump into the world of dashi.
