Dinner, January 18, 2012

It's been cold all day at 20F (-7C), so we had a hearty soup made with sake lees to warm us up.

• Murasakimai gohan / steamed rice with purple sweet rice
• Kasujiru / sake lees soup with shiozake salted salmon and root vegetables
• Zarudofu / homemade tofu with green onion, ginger, kanzuri
• Radisshu no namuru / radish namul salad

We have basically been stranded in the house due to heavy snow and are gradually finishing the food in the fridge and freezer. Tonight the last piece of salted salmon in the freezer joined usuage thin deep-fried tofu and several root vegetables – daikon radish, carrots and satoimo baby taro root – as part of a steamy sake lees soup. The satoimo tasted very creamy, almost melting in your mouth. Sake lees make the soup thick and rich like potage.

The other dishes were pretty simple. Homemade tofu was full of soybean flavor, which is mildly sweet. We ate it with thinly sliced green onions, grated ginger, kanzuri (a specialty chili paste with yuzu citron from Niigata Prefecture) and soy sauce.

Also included was a relatively plain namul of radish. Julienned radish is mixed with a few drops of sesame oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. This little round vegetable is transformed into a pleasant, airy dish when julienned.