Chefs-owners Colby and Megan Garrelts serve love in different flavors at their restaurant Bluestem in Kansas City, Missouri.
If Kansas City is not within reach or if you want to try some of their dishes at home, Bluestem the cookbook (Andrews McMeel, November 2011) solves the problem.
Here's a recipe that fits perfectly the Japanese thread I follow (almost) each Thursday.
Chawanmushi, Hon Shimeji, Scallion, Dashi
Serves 4
My chef de cuisine, Bill Espiricueta, is perhaps more Asian than he is Mexican. This recipe for chawanmushi—an impossibly delicate Japanese egg custard—is his. Make sure to serve it warm.
dashi
2 ounces kombu
8 cups water
35 grams bonito flakes (usually sold in 5-gram packs)
chawanmushi broth
21/2 cups Dashi
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon mirin
mushrooms
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
4 ounces hon shimeji mushrooms
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon mirin
chawanmushi base
21/2 cups Dashi
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1/2 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar
3 large eggs
Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish
Make the dashi: Rinse the kombu under cold water. In a medium saucepan, bring the kombu and water to a boil over high heat. Turn off the heat. Remove the kombu and add the bonito flakes. Set aside to steep. The bonito will become pulpy and slowly sink. When all of the bonito has settled below the water line, strain the dashi broth through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding the bonito.
Make the chawanmushi broth: Combine the dashi with the soy sauce, vinegar, and mirin in a medium saucepan. Bring it to a low simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat and keep the broth warm.
Sauté the mushrooms: Heat the sesame oil in a small sauté pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, water, and mirin and sauté lightly for about 30 seconds to slightly soften the mushrooms. Remove the mushrooms from the pan.
Make the chawanmushi base: Preheat the oven to 275°F. In a blender, mix the dashi, soy sauce, mirin, vinegar, and eggs on low speed. Strain the base through a fine-mesh sieve. Divide the chawanmushi base evenly among 4 small bowls. Cover the bowls tightly with plastic wrap.
Place the bowls in a casserole dish with 1 inch of water. Put the casserole dish with the bowls of chawanmushi in the oven and bake the bowls for about 40 minutes, until the chawanmushi is just set but still a little jiggly in the middle. Let the bowls cool slightly and carefully unwrap them, being careful of the escaping steam.
To serve: Pour ⅛ cup of the chawanmushi broth over each custard. Top with some sautéed mushrooms and sliced scallions as a garnish. Serve immediately.
Japanese flavors by way of Kansas City for Tokyo Thursdays # 214
Previously: Simplicity and Time for Contemplation, Japanese Ofuro, Hinoki Hot Tubs Nec Plus Ultra
(* Chawanmushi recipe from Bluestem the cookbook by Colby and Megan Garrelts, published by Andrews McMeel- November 2011, all rights reserved, Photo by Bonjwing Lee)