[Remade Unohana Salad]
"Unohana" is a dish made from tofu okara (soy pulp). Since I love this dish so much, I use the large Yamada Kogyosho's Uchidashi Katatenabe to make a large batch at once. More precisely, because I want to cook the okara while it is fresh to enjoy its delicious nutrients, I use an entire bag. When you add indispensable ingredients like shiitake mushrooms, carrots, white leeks, and chikuwa fish cakes, the resulting amount is inevitably too much for a family of two. While it can be frozen, I was wondering if I could remake it by combining it with ingredients left in the fridge when my other favorites—broccoli and eggs—caught my eye.
I immediately washed the broccoli with water and cut it into bite-sized pieces using my favorite kitchen shears, Toribe Manufacturing's Kitchen Spatter. It is much easier and more convenient than inserting the tip of a knife into the base of the florets. The blades are 3mm thick, and the serrated finish prevents ingredients from slipping. After cutting, I washed the broccoli again in a bowl of water to remove any fine dirt. Broccoli should be boiled in hot water, not cold. I added a pinch of salt to the boiling water to keep the color vibrant and cooked the broccoli for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Once the time was up, I placed the broccoli in a Sori Yanagi Punching Strainer and let it cool naturally. It is said that by not rinsing it in cold water, moisture does not remain in the florets, resulting in a better texture.
Once the broccoli had cooled, I peeled the boiled eggs I had prepared in another pot. I put the unohana, broccoli, and boiled eggs into a bowl, added mayonnaise and black pepper, and tossed them together lightly. I used Okubo House Mokkosha's Cooking Spoon to break the boiled eggs into my preferred size. I use this cooking spoon when mixing salads in a bowl because its slender shape makes it easy to stir even in smaller bowls, and the wooden material is gentle on the ears when it hits the stainless steel. I highly recommend this tool to anyone who dislikes the sound of metal clashing. Since the unohana is already seasoned, simply mixing it with mayonnaise creates an easy and delicious Japanese-style salad.
Even a menu item made in unexpectedly large quantities can be enjoyed differently just by combining it with something else. Using what happens to be in your refrigerator might lead to new discoveries and additions to your repertoire. Why not try choosing a dish with a different atmosphere for serving? We hope you will make use of the convenient tools available at our online store and showroom in your kitchen.
Toribe Seisakusho's Kitchen Spatter
https://www.shokunin.com/en/toribe/
Sori Yanagi's Punching Strainer
https://www.shokunin.com/en/yanagisori/bowl.html
Okubo House Mokkosha's Cooking Spoon
https://www.shokunin.com/en/okubo/saji.html
Sonobe Sangyo's Risu Bowl L
https://www.shokunin.com/en/sonobe/risu.html
Yamada Kogyosho's Uchidashi Katatenabe L
https://www.shokunin.com/en/yamada/
Broccoli in Japan (Article)
https://en.shokunin.com/archives/51081322.html
References
https://furunavi.jp/discovery/knowledge_food/202202_broccoli/
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/0af02976f3f219571bdeb737154414ad2fd3c6e8
