This blog of mine has been lying dormant for longer than I’d like it. However, I have been browsing some fave food blogs of mine on a very on and off basis. So, when I came across the announcement for
JFI ginger, I could not stop myself from thinking abt what I could make. Ginger, you see, happens to be my favourite fresh spice, along with green peppers, lime and garlic. This root with a fire in its heart, never fails to set my imagination on fire and can turn a simple meal into a flavor fiesta. Who can forget the ginger lemon honey combo in times when a nasty cold catches one unawares. Yes, I do miss the chicken soup my mom makes when any one of us is down with a cold , but the ginger tea is easy to make and does assuage some of those memory pangs.
Another favourite ginger preparation is the quick and easy ginger pickle. All one has to do is finely julienne an inch of ginger and sprinkle some salt and lime juice on it. The ginger available in India blushes at this treatment and turns a very fetching pink . Unfortunately the ginger here is made of sterner stuff, withstanding the lime-juice salt treatment with nary a blush. The flavor however is the same.
Talking of pink ginger reminds me of the ginger slices that accompany one’s trey of sushi. Used as a palate cleanser between sushi pieces, I like it even more on its own. Again, ginger is sliced to a paper thin thickness and treated to some mirrin ( cooking rice wine) which brings on the blush.
I’ve mentioned the chicken soup, so, really can’t forget to mention another home memory. When I am at home, family dinners are special. I try to help with dinners. While salad and dinner is totally my responsibility, if mom makes her awesome chicken curry with un-pealed potatoes, I also dish out a quick appetisor cum pickle. Yep its ginger again, but this time, the garlic and green chilly peppers come into the pic too. Equal amounts of all are chopped freshly and then mixed with some lime juice and salt. A tsp of this mix on a mashed potato is heaven itself. Hot potato, chilled chilli-garlic ginger mix and the fieriness of ginger. I wanna go home now.
Since I can’t really do that, how about starting some new memories. I'd picked up a
book on Japanese cooking a long time back. One recipe in particularly caught my attention then and am I glad I remembered it. It features the
myoga- the Japanese ginger. Since I am in Japan, I figured why not try making this. I mentioned in my post on
myoga pickle that earlier it hadn't appealed to me. I guess since then, I've aqquired a taste for avacado in my salads.
The recipe as I made it , calls for
1 avocado halved
1 myoga chopped very finely.
soy sauce for drizzling
lime juice/mirrin for drizzling on the avocado.
Avocado starts turning brown the moment one cuts it. To avoid this discoloration, add some lime juice or mirrin (rice wine).
The chopped myoga should be soaked in cold water and allowed to stand for 10 minutes. After that just add some of it to the hollow space in the avocado. Drizzle some soy sauce for taste and bon apetit or as they say in japanese "itadakimasu"
The myoga has a flavor that is not as strong as the normal ginger, but its crisp taste presents a contrast to the creaminess of the avocado. Also, the soy sauce and the lime contrast with the bland taste of the avocado. I played around with the flavors a little and was happy with the result.
For the JFI event, as with the previous JFIs, I wanted to try something I hadn't made earlier. That way I get to learn something new. Enter the POTATO CURRY WITH TAMARIND from Epicurious. The only thing I did different , was to skip the boiling step. I peeled and cubed my potatoes and my usual of high heat for a few minutes and simmer for some more time, did the trick. The potatoes were creamy , and had a hot and sour taste that I just love. I am guessing that this is an oriya or bangla recipe. One thing is for sure, it is a keeper and I'd be coming back to it again and again.
I used maki's recipe for making these onigiris. I had a fun time picking up the rice from the store. There were so many different packs. I finally had to ask for assistance. I asked the attendant for sushi rice, as, thats next on my list. She pointed out one particular bag saying its very oiishi( delicious). Next, I asked her if I had the right sushi vinegar. When she nodded her head in a strong affirmative, I paid for and trooped home with my purchases. I'd already picked up an onigiri mould. So all I had to do was follow the directions, first on maki's blog and then on the mould package. I soon had 4 pretty little onigiri's sitting on a plate. I skipped the seawead and rolled my onigiris in some sesame instead. The stuffing offcourse was my mango chutney. Its sour and sweet and just the right thing to with the rice.
