Spring food culture in Japan. Shokado bento.

Hello everyone, welcome to my channel, KyoToka. I'm Ryusei. Today I introduce many spring ingredients in an authentic and traditional bento box. This bento box is called Shokado bento and written by like this. Before starting the video, please let me introduce Happo Dashi. Happo means all directions, so Happo Dashi goes well with many ingredients. It is seasoned with salt, mirin, and soy sauce. The taste is up to the chef. Today I use Happo Dashi many times in the video. I hope you will enjoy Japanese spring food culture. Yes, let's make it. At first, I'll make Nanohana no Karashiae. These are rape blossoms and it is called Nanohana or Nabana in Japanese. And it is made in Chiba Prefecture. First, I trim off the bottom shortly and blanch them. It takes a longer time to cook the stem side, so I keep it for 10 seconds. OK, I blanch them shortly. Once it becomes tender, I transfer them to the cold water. I chill them to keep the texture and nice clean color. Once Nanohana becomes cool, I remove it from the water and squeeze out the water carefully. I place it in the container and pour Happo Dashi. I soak Nanohana in the dashi for 3 hours. Next day, I remove it and squeeze out Happo Dashi. This is very important to make Aemono. OK, I cut it into bite-sized pieces 3 cm intervals. Nice. This is Japanese Karashi mustard. 5 grams of soy sauce and mix them well. I check the taste. OK, and add Nanohana to Karashi sauce. I coat it with the sauce. Nice. I arrange Nanohana no Karashiae in the plate. OK, done. Next, Sawara no Yuwanyaki. First, I'll make the sauce. This is a yuzu. The feature of Yuwanyaki is yuzu flavor. I introduced Yuwanyaki in this video. If you like, please check it. OK. And these are fillets of Sawara. The best season of Sawara is from winter to spring. I cut it into bite-size for Bento. Nice. And add Sawara to the sauce. OK. I turn over them. Nice. I soak them for 40 minutes totally. Meanwhile, I turn over them. 40 minutes later, I remove them from the sauce. OK, let's grill Sawara. Today, I cook them with a grill. You can grill with an oven as well. Once they are browned lightly, I put the sauce to them. Nice. I repeat this work 2 to 3 times. Great. Sawara no Yuwanyaki is done. Next, Fukimiso. This is Fukinoto, and the English name is butterball. This Fukinoto is harvested in Gunma Prefecture. And it is one of the popular spring wild plant. The feature is bitter taste. Actually, I didn't like the bitter taste when I was a child, but now I love it. I trim the bottom side and make a cross cut to cook it evenly. This work is really polite. OK, I prepared Fukinoto. Let's blanch them in the boiling water. I cook them for about 3 minutes until they become tender. 3 minutes later, I turn off the heat and drain them in a sieve. And let it cool. Once Fukinoto becomes cool, I squeeze out the excess water. Fukinoto has lots of water, that's why it's important to remove the water carefully. Then I chop them finely. Almost. Nice. Fukinoto is ready. And this is white miso, Saikyo miso. Saikyo miso is produced in Kyoto Prefecture. I add 60g of sake and 80g of mirin. I turn on the heat and remove the alcohol. 2 minutes later, I add Saikyo miso. The feature of Saikyo miso is sweet taste and mild saltiness. Once miso is mixed with sake and mirin, I add 15g of sugar and mix them well. Once the texture of miso is a bit firm, I add Fukinoto. Mix and heat the miso until the texture becomes ideal. Almost. Like this. Good. I turn off the heat and let it cool. Fukinoto is done. Next, I'll make Udo no Amazuke and Kinpira. This Udo is made in Tokyo. Udo is one of a few famous vegetables in Tokyo. And Udo is my favorite spring wild plant. I cut Udo into sections and separate them like this. Nice. I peel off the skin. The skin of Udo is thick, so please peel off the skin carefully. OK. I cut it into 3cm intervals and cut it into half. This Udo is for Amazuke. I add them to the water to prevent them from turning the color. OK, let's blanch them. I add rice vinegar to the water and add Udo. I cook them about 2 minutes. 2 minutes later, I'll check them. If it becomes tender, I remove them. It is important to blanch them carefully to remain crunchy texture. And let it cool. Once they are cool, I add sweet vinegar sauce. I soak Udo in the sauce for at least 3 hours. Udo no Amazuke is done. Next, I'll make Udo no Kinpira. I use the skin of Udo. It's a good point. We can use all of Udo. I cut it into half about 3cm and chop it. I love this dish, so if you have a chance to eat it, please try it. And these are simple. I'll cut it into strips for Kinpira. OK. I set it aside. Nice. Turn on the heat. I put sesame oil to the pan and spread it. Then, I add Udo. I stir-fry it until it becomes tender. It is important to cook it well because the skin is a bit firm. I stir-fried it for about 4 to 5 minutes. I turn off the heat and let the pan cool. Once the pan is cool, I add sauce ingredients, sugar, and dried chili. The reason I turned off the heat is preventing the sauce from evaporating. I reheat it and stir-fry them until the sauce reduces. Almost. OK. Udo no Kinpira is done. Next, Kogomi no Gomae. Have you ever seen it? Kogomi is Japanese name of fiddlehead. This is an also popular spring wild vegetable. The feature of it is unique taste and crunchy texture. It is harvested in Akita Prefecture. I remove the bottom and cut it into bite-sized pieces. The preparation is really simple. Nice. Beautiful. Blanch them in the boiling water as well. The crunchy texture of Kogomi is very nice, so I blanch them for a short time. OK. I remove and transfer them to the cold water. I chill them to give the crunchy texture and curl. Nice. I remove the excess water. Also, I'll soak them in Happodashi. It is quite important to get rid of the excess water. I put them in the container and pour Happodashi. I soak them in Happodashi to add sensitive level to Kogomi. Then, I'll make sesame sauce. I smash white sesame with a small rolling pin. Like this. And this is white sesame paste. I add sugar and miso. I mix the solid and powder ingredients first. OK. Then I add liquid ingredients. Soy sauce. Mix. I add soy sauce 3 to 4 portions. It is extremely important to prevent them from separation. And Nikirizake and mirin. Nikirizake and mirin are removed alcohol. They add complex sweetness to the dressing. The sauce is beautiful and smooth. Good. Once all ingredients are mixed, I add smashed sesame. Great. Kogomi has been soaked overnight. I remove the excess water from it. OK. And I put the sesame sauce on Kogomi. The crunchy texture and slightly bitter taste go well with the rich sesame sauce. Kogomi no komae is done. Next, tamagoyaki. I introduced tamagoyaki three times in my channel. This well is good for bento box. I don't pour the egg mixture so much. And roll it tightly. Today, I used 15 grams of dashi per one neck. If you are interested in tamagoyaki, please check this video. OK. I place tamagoyaki on a bamboo rolling mat and shape it in a cylinder. We are able to change the shape while the egg is warm. I fasten it with a rubber and let it cool. Next day, very cute shape. I divide it into quarters. Cutting is very important for making beautiful bento. OK. Tamagoyaki is done. Next, ebi no kawariage. Kawari means substitute in Japan. I peel off the shell. Good. And trim off the tail side like this. And make cuts on the ventral side. OK. I put pressure on the shrimp to keep the shape straight. Nice. Next, I coat shrimps with the cake flour. Good. And egg white. OK. Finally, I coat it with bubu arare. Kawariage makes shokado bento beautiful. OK. The look is so cute. Let's deep fry them. The temperature of the oil is around 170 degrees. I don't touch them to avoid bubu arare from coming off. Turn over them gently. Three minutes later, I remove them. Nice. Ebi no kawariage is done. Next, sansai no tempura. Sansai is general name of wild plants. Today, I'll use butterbur and aralia sprout. These are called taranome and fukinoto. This taranome is harvested in Gunma Prefecture. The bottom part is firm, so I trim off it like this. And make a cross cut to the bottom to cook it evenly. Nice. I coat them with the flour. And tempura batter. Let's deep fry them. The temperature is 170 degrees as well. I'm sure tempura is the most popular way of eating spring wild plants. If you come to Japan in spring, please try tempura. Once the outside becomes crispy, I remove them. I've deep fried them for about three minutes. OK. Sansai no tempura is done. Nice. Next, I'll make chirashizushi. Traditionally, we make and eat chirashizushi on March 3rd. The day is called Momono-sekku. I made this shokado bento for the special day, Momono-sekku. At first, I prepare the vegetables. This is burdock. I cut it into small dices. This cutting way is called arare-giri in Japanese. Arare means hair. The size is 5 mm cubes. OK. I set it aside. Next, carrot. I also do arare-giri. Slice the carrot like this. And cut them into sticks. Then, cut them into small dices. OK. After that, I'll mix them with the rice. Beautiful. Next, lotus root. I peel off the skin. Good. And divide it into quarters. I'll also mix it with the rice, so I cut it into small pieces as well. OK. I like the crunchy texture of the lotus root. First, I blanch carrot and burdock. I heat them for a short time to remain the texture. Once they're cooked, I let it cool. Then, I transfer them to the container. And pour happo-dashi. I soak them for at least 3 hours. I'll also blanch lotus root. The patience is important to make delicious chirashizushi. 2 minutes later, I remove it from the pot. And let it cool. Once it's cool, I add sweet vinegar sauce. Nice. Keep it in the fridge, if possible, overnight. Next, I'll make shredded egg crepe, kinshi tamago. I prepare one yolk and egg. And beat them well. OK. I warm the square pan over low heat. And put the oil thinly. The best temperature of the pan is lower than for tamagoyaki. I pour the egg mixture. And spread it quickly and evenly. OK. I cook it over low heat. Once the surface becomes dry, I turn over it. If you worry about burning the egg, please turn off the heat and peel off the sides. I turn over it carefully. Nice. And reheat it over low heat for about 30 seconds. If the egg is not cooked well, we can cut it beautifully. OK. I turn off the heat. Nice. I place kinshi tamago on the paper to remove the excess oil and water. Good. I let it cool. I made two sheets of kinshi tamago. First of all, let's cut them into fine strips. The meaning of kin is beautiful color and shi means strings. That's why I cut it finely. OK. Beautiful. Next, I cut branched snap pears. This green color makes chirashi-zushi more beautiful. And this is simmered dried shiitake mushrooms. I introduced how to make dried shiitake mushrooms in the video. Today's ingredients are similar to ehomaki. I cut it into slices. Shiitake mushrooms are ready. Let's make sushi rice. I transfer the rice to a wooden container. Nice. If you make sushi rice with donabe, okoge is made easily. Because we cook the rice with less water. It is very delicious. I love it. Very nice. Spread the rice and pour the vinegar sauce over the rice quickly. I distribute the sauce to the rice as quickly as possible. It is very important to make delicious sumeshi. Once I distribute the vinegar sauce, I add vegetables to the rice. And mix them well. OK. Sumeshi is ready. I cover it with a wet cloth and let it cool. Let's arrange chirashi-zushi on the bento box. I place sumeshi first. OK. Then, shrimp flakes. I introduced how to make shrimp flakes in the video as well. These shrimp flakes are very well with chirashi-zushi. And simmered shiitake mushrooms, snap peas, and kinshi tamago. This shokado bento is very special. I make the surface beautiful and gorgeous. Good. Finally, I put nori seaweed. Chirashi-zushi is done. Next, sashimi. I use udo again for tsuma. Tsuma means a garnish for sashimi. I do katsuramuki. And cut it into half. Turn it and chop it finely. Tsuma is almost made from daikon, but sometimes it's made from other vegetables. When you find tsuma in the restaurant, please check it. I transfer it to the water to prevent them from turning the color. The flavor of udo is completely different from daikon. It is so delicious. Today's fish is sea bream, tai. I do sogigiri. I move the knife diagonally and smoothly. We can get almost same size. Okay, let's arrange it on a plate. I place tsuma to the first side, shiso, and sea bream, tai. At last, wasabi. Sashimi is done. Last menu is simmered dish nimono. I'll introduce today's last spring wild plant, fuki. This is made in Aichi Prefecture. I cut them into thirds, and add the salt. Then I rub it like this. This work is called itazuri in Japanese. It is helpful for keeping the beautiful green color. Okay, I'll boil fuki with the salt. I add them to the boiling water and turn down the heat to low. I boil them for 3 minutes until they become tender. It is a bit difficult to boil fuki well. 3 minutes later, I check it, and transfer it to the cold water. The boiling time is depending on the thickness of fuki. We should check all of them, and transfer them to the water as soon as possible. Once fuki is cool, I peel off the skin like this. We can peel off it with a knife very easily. If we cut fuki into short, it is difficult to peel off the skin, so the tip is cutting a bit long lengths. Okay, the color of fuki is so beautiful. I divide it into half, then I cut them into bite-sized pieces. Nice and poor happodashi. Okay, I soak it for at least 3 hours. Next, I'll make chicken meatballs. I introduced chicken meatballs in the video. The feature of it is soft and fluffy texture because of grated onion. I make the portion into an oval shape. Nice. I heat the meatball and turn up. Finally, I warm fuki. Let's arrange it on a plate. I place the chicken meatball, turn up, and fuki. At last, I pour the soup. Okay, shokado bento is done. Thank you for watching to this end. I'm really happy I was able to introduce many Japanese-speak ingredients and seasonal dishes. Finally, I hope you will enjoy my calligraphy. Thank you for watching. Thank you. How was it? I hope you enjoyed this video. If you like the video about shokado bento, please teach me. I'm sure shokado bento will be much more popular in the future. Thank you for watching to this end. I'm looking forward to seeing you next time. Have a nice day. See you later.