Horenso no goma-ae

Spinach with Sesame Dressing

1 lb spinach, washed and parboiled
4 tbsp white sesame seeds
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
3 tbsp dashi

Toast sesame seeds, grind in a mortar and pestle. Add sugar, stir, add soy sauce and dashi, and mix (almost whip) to blend well. Add more sugar if necessary.
Chop spinach into 1 1/2-inch lengths. Lightly use the pestle to mix the spinach and dressing- a little bruised but not crushed.

Source: Japanese Cooking, a Simple Art, by Shizuo Tsuji, p. 253

Kinpira Gobo

Burdock Kinpira ("Kinpira Ninjin," if you're using carrots)

1 medium burdock, scrubbed with a brush, or 3 carrots
2 tbsp sake
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes or shichimi

Cut burdock in shavings as if sharpening a pencil, or julienne the carrots. Stir-fry in oil over high heat about 3 minutes, until vegetable softens a little. Add liquid and continue stir-frying until almost completely reduced. Flavor to taste with red pepper.
Can also use konnyaku instead, or lotus root.

Source: Japanese Cooking, a Simple Art, by Shizuo Tsuji, p. 392-393

Daikon fukume-ni

Drenched radish or squash

1 daikon radish, kabocha squash, or turnip
2 1/2 c. dashi
1 tsp salt
2 tsp light soy sauce
splash of mirin
kinome sprigs (optional)

Peel radish and cut into rounds, or cut squash into chunks. Bevel edges if you're a champ. Simmer the vegetable in water, drain. To serve, simmer all ingredients together for a half hour. Garnish.

Source: Japanese Cooking, a Simple Art, by Shizuo Tsuji, p. 395-396

Tofu Bekko-ni

Tortoiseshell Tofu

2 c. dashi
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
pinch salt
1 cake tofu, pressed (if not silken)
3 tbsp cornstarch in 3 tbsp water
kinome sprigs or finely shredded fresh ginger

Mix dashi, sugar, mirin, soy sauce in a medium pot, boil, simmer, add salt.
Cut the tofu into quarters, slide them into the pot (try not to break them). Ladle the liquid over the tofu until heated thoroughly, about 4 minutes. Remove tofu, keep on the heat, add the cornstarch/water. Stir until thickened, about 1 minute.
Ladle sauce over tofu, garnish, eat with spoons instead of chopsticks.

Source: Japanese Cooking, a Simple Art, by Shizuo Tsuji, p. 398-399

Kyuri no Sumomi

Vinegared Cucumber

4 japanese cucumbers, or 2 western cucumbers peeled and seeded
1 c. rice vinegar
1 c. dashi
4 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar

Cut cucumbers into paper-thin slices. Spread out on a cutting board, sprinkle with salt, knead about 1 minute. Transfer to bowl without washing.
Sanbaizu sauce: Combine sauce ingredients just to a simmer, force-cool (bowl in a bowl of ice water).
Serve: pour half the sauce over the cucumber, squeeze with your hands, pour off sauce. Then add the other half of the sauce to the cucumber. Serve at room temperature.
Note: you can add wakame too; soaked, scalded in hot water, plunged into cold water. Toss with cucumber just before adding sauce.

Source: Japanese Cooking, a Simple Art, by Shizuo Tsuji, p. 423

Horenso no Ohitashi

Soused Spinach

1 bunch spinach, trimmed, washed, parboiled
1 1/4 c. dashi
pinch salt
1 tsp mirin
3 tsp light soy sauce
1/3 c. ito-kezuri-katsuo (dried bonito thread-shavings) or regular hana-katsuo (flakes)

Bring dashi to a boil, then simmer. Add salt, mirin, soy sauce. Force-cool by putting it in a bowl inside a bowl of ice. Add spinach and mix, refrigerate 5-6 hours. Serve spinach, with stock poured over, and garnish with bonito flakes/threads.

Source: Japanese Cooking, a Simple Art, by Shizuo Tsuji, p. 430-431

Tara Chirinabe

Cod and Cabbage Pot

2 lb cod fillets, with skin
6 leaves Chinese cabbage (Napa does not work so well)
1/2 lb spinach
10 sprigs chrysanthemum leaves (shungiku/kikuna, optional)
6 fresh shiitake mushrooms
6 Japanese long onions (naganegi) or 8 leeks
2 cakes grilled bean curd (yakidofu)
Ponzu sauce
4-inch square konbu, slashed with a knife
some of the following: 6 tbsp finely chopped green onion, 2 quartered lemons, 6 tbsp red maple radish (daikon with red peppers, grated), 4 tbsp grated fresh ginger

Fish:
Cut fish into 1-inch slices, put in colander, pour boiling water over them, rinse, drain, refrigerate.
Cabbage rolls:
Parboil cabbage, rinse, trim thick stems. Parboil spinach. Wrap spinach in cabbage to make rolls, wrap in plastic or a towel and refrigerate.
Other stuff:
Cut stems off chrysanthemum sprigs, wash, drain, cut in half. Cut mushrooms in half. Wash onions/leeks, cut diagonally into 1 1/2 inch lengths.
Arrange:
Put all pieces (fish, cabbage rolls, chrysanthemum, mushrooms, onions, tofu; cut to same size) on platters. Put the kelp in the water, bring just to a boil. Add fish first, then vegetables and tofu, simmer until just tender. Put ponzu/condiments in bowls, dip food in them.

Source: Japanese Cooking, a Simple Art, by Shizuo Tsuji, p. 432-433