November 2021

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[Sweet Potato Yokan Made with Pressed Sushi Box]

Imo-yokan, which is now eaten nationwide, was developed in 1902 by Wasuke Kobayashi, who ran a wholesale store of sweet potatoes and charcoal in Kotobuki, Taito Ward, Tokyo, to make it easier for the common people to eat the paste yokan, which was a luxury item at the time. The idea was to make yokan with sweet potatoes, and to use the kuzu sweet potatoes instead of throwing them away, and thus, it is a wagashi that has achieved upcycling. Funawa's sweet potato yokan, founded by Wasuke, has a natural flavor made from only sweet potatoes, sugar, and a small amount of salt. It continues to be widely loved by men and women of all ages.

To make sweet potato yokan, sweet potatoes are softened by steaming or boiling, then kneaded with sugar and salt while still hot, and placed in a mold to harden. You can enjoy sweet potato yokan at home by peeling and slicing sweet potatoes into rounds, steaming them in Yamaichi's Chinese Seiro, mashing them with a spatula, mixing them with sugar and salt, straining them, and pressing them in the Pressed Sushi Box lined with plastic wrap. If you refrigerate it well for at least an hour, it will become more moist.

Using the Pressed Sushi Box, you can fill the sweet potatoes tightly without gaps and cut them into beautiful rectangles. If you cut along the slits, it will divide into eight equal portions that are easy to eat, making it a great treat for a large number of guests. Place it on your favorite bowl and enjoy it with a nice cup of tea.

Ingredients (*For one Pressed Sushi Box):
720g of peeled sweet potato
100-120g of sugar
A pinch of salt

How to make:
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1cm slices.
Place the peeled sweet potatoes in a bowl of water and let them sit for about 15 minutes. (To prevent discoloration and to remove lye)
When the water comes to a boil, place the sweet potatoes wrapped in a cloth in the Chinese Seiro and steam over medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes until the sweet potatoes are soft.
Remove the mixture from the bowl while it is still hot, mash it with a spatula, and then strain it or put it in a food processor to make it smooth. Add salt and sugar and knead further. If you want to enjoy the texture of the potatoes, you can skip the straining step.
Place 4 into the Pressed Sushi Box with plastic wrap and press down on the mold to prevent air from entering.
Place a heavy stone or rubber band on top of the mold and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Use a knife to cut along the slits.

Yamaichi's Pressed Sushi Box
https://www.shokunin.com/en/yamaichi/oshi.html
Yamaichi's Chinese Seiro
https://www.shokunin.com/en/yamaichi/seiro.html
Nakamura Douki's Dantsuki Pot
https://www.shokunin.com/en/nakamuradouki/seiro.html
Kiya's Steamer Cloth S
https://www.shokunin.com/en/kiya/fukashi.html
Adachi Shigehisa Shoten's Uragoshi (Strainer)
https://www.shokunin.com/en/adachi/uragoshi.html
Appi Urushi Studio's Tsubaki Plate
https://www.shokunin.com/en/appi/plate.html
Miyamoto Shoko's Japanese Cocktail Stick
https://www.shokunin.com/en/miyamoto/wayouji.html

References
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8A%8B%E7%BE%8A%E7%BE%B9
https://www.chintai.net/news/2020/10/02/94989/ (Recipe)

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Furofuki daikon (Japanese white radish) is a dish we like to eat on cold days. In Kyoto, there are many different varieties of daikon, such as green daikon, spicy daikon, and Sabaga daikon. One of the best known of these is Shogoin Radish, one of the "Traditional Vegetables of Kyoto." In Kyoto, furofuki daikon, a dish made with Shogoin Radish, is loved as a local dish.

There are many theories about the origin of furofuki daikon, which translates directly as "radish blowing a bath." The theory is that the action of "bath-blowing," one of the occupations in public baths during the Edo period, resembles the way people ate hot daikon while cooling it down, or the way they blew on it to boil the bath.

Other than that, when lacquer artisans dried lacquer in lacquer baths (lacquerware storage rooms), they had trouble drying the lacquer in winter. Since lacquer hardens in warm moisture, they used boiled daikon radish water to mist the lacquer and dry it. There is also a theory that the leftover boiled daikon was distributed to neighbors as "daikon with the bath blown over it."

Shogoin Radish is often eaten as a stew because it does not fall apart easily and has little bitterness. It also has a high water content and low fiber content, which makes it sticky and smooth to the touch when cooked.

The season is said to be mid-December, and at this time of year, temples throughout the prefecture hold "daikon bonfires." This is a traditional event to pray for good health, and visitors are served stewed Shogoin Radish.

Senbon Shakado, located near our Imadegawa Showroom, is one of the temples where the ceremony takes place. It is said that it started when people wrote Sanskrit characters on a piece of radish and offered it to ward off demons, then cooked it with other daikon and served it to worshippers. Unfortunately, the daikon bonfires at Senbon Shakado has been cancelled this year, but why not try making furofuki daikon at home instead?

Finally, you can use up all the ingredients by cutting the thickly peeled daikon peels at the beginning of cooking into pieces of uniform size, and making them into pickles with the kombu cooked with furofuki daikon. Let's spend the cold winter in good health with hot dishes.

Seiryugama's Kobachi S
https://www.shokunin.com/en/seiryu/kobachi.html
Nakamura Douki's Yukihira Pot S
https://www.shokunin.com/en/nakamuradouki/yukihira.html
Nakamura Douki's Dantsuki Pot
https://www.shokunin.com/en/nakamuradouki/seiro.html#dan
Kiya's Pot Lid 210mm
https://www.shokunin.com/en/kiya/nabebuta.html

References
https://www.kyounoryouri.jp/recipe/9281_%E3%81%B5%E3%82%8D%E3%81%B5%E3%81%8D%E5%A4%A7%E6%A0%B9.html （レシピ）
https://www.maff.go.jp/j/keikaku/syokubunka/k_ryouri/search_menu/menu/furofukidaikon_kyoto.html
https://sozairyoku.jp/“ふろふき大根”はなぜ“ふろふき”
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/風呂吹き
http://www.e-kyoto.net/saiji2/622

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[Pancakes Made with 1 Banana and 2 Eggs]

If you want to eat pancakes but are out of flour, a banana and two eggs are all you need to make several small pancakes.

All you need to do is to add small pieces of banana to the beaten egg and stir with a whisk until smooth. Place two tablespoons of the batter in each of the hollows of Rikucho Ogasawara's Onigiri Iron Plate, and you will have 8 small pancakes.

If you use two Onigiri Iron Plates side by side, you can bake 8 pieces at once. Enjoy them with maple syrup or cinnamon as you like.

Rikucho Ogasawara's Onigiri Iron Plate
https://www.shokunin.com/en/rikucho/onigiri.html
Sori Yanagi's Whisk
https://www.shokunin.com/en/yanagisori/awadate.html
Sori Yanagi's Stainless Steel Bowl
https://www.shokunin.com/en/yanagisori/bowl.html
Hasami's Plate
https://www.shokunin.com/en/hasami/plate.html

Reference
https://youtu.be/YbIKvovzACk (Recipe)