Guriinpiisu to age no fukumeni / green peas and thin deep-fried tofu in broth

A quick green pea dish for spring. Tom, forget about frozen peas -- you need to use fresh peas in season.

<Ingredients>

Large handful (250 g) green peas in pods or handful peas
1 small or 1/2 large usuage thin deep-fried tofu
150 cc dashi
1 tbsp sake + mirin (equal parts)
2 tsp usukuchi soy sauce
Pinch salt (not in photo)


<Directions>
1.

Shell green peas.
Prep-boil usuage and cut into small squares in a size matching or smaller than peas.

2.

In a pot, put dashi, sake, mirin and usukuchi soy sauce, and bring to boil.

Add usuage, and cook on medium low to low heat for 3-4 minutes.

Taste, and add salt as necessary.

3.

Add green peas, and cook for a few minutes until desired softness is achieved after liquid boils again.

Remove from heat and cool in broth.

<Notes>

• Cut usuage expands after cooking. When initially cut in the size of a pea, each usuage piece doubles in size, as seen in the photo above. If you want to have matching sizes at the end, cut usuage smaller than peas.
• Green peas take on flavor while cooling in the final process.
• With fukumeni, solid ingredients are cooked in a relatively large amount of weakly flavored broth, and ingredients absorb flavor over time. (Nitsuke, typically used for fresh fish, is the opposite technique of using a smaller amount of strongly flavored broth for quick cooking.)