Breakfast, June 20, 2011

Because lunch and dinner today will be something greasy, breakfast needs to be low in fat. No pancakes, no buckwheat crepes, no French toast, no cheesy toast. How about Japanese? What a surprise!

Two items are left from the night before: fuki in sesame broth and kabu turnip leaf ohitashi. The amount of kabu leaf ohitashi is barely enough for one person. So, grill and add shiitake mushroom to the ohitashi marinade 30 minutes before we eat. It should be long enough for shiitake to absorb the flavor.

• Mame gohan / steamed rice with English peas
• Miso soup with kabocha pumpkin, topped with chives
• Fuki no gomani / fuki in sesame-flavored broth
•  Kabu turnip leaf and shiitake mushroom ohitashi
• Iridofu scrambled tofu with gobo burdock root, carrot, snap peas, king oyster mushroom and egg

It seems a bit late to eat mame gohan since it is a spring dish. But this year, spring does not seem be ending, so we might as well eat it one more time.

Kabocha, a summer vegetable, would be a good to remind of the approaching summer, just in case it actually comes. Kabocha's starchy texture and sweet flavor contrast with fuki in sesame broth. Top with bright green chives from a sunny spot in the garden.

Grilled shiitake mushroom gives earthy flavor to ordinary ohitashi. It is a nice change.

One of typical tofu & vegetable dishes, iridofu, is made with broiled tofu for a more substantial outcome.