Takenoko no tosa-ni

This is a simmered bamboo shoot with dried shaved bonito.
Takenoko means bamboo shoot.
Spring is nice season to have takenoko in Japan.
Tosa-ni is a type of simmered dish which has rich flavor of dried bonito.
Takenoko has nice texture and plain taste.
Dried bonito has rich taste.
This combination makes wonderful taste.

Chikuzen ni

This is a regional simmered dish of kyusyu region.
But in these days, it is cooked all over Japan.

Chikuzen-ni is also called "Gameni".
It has rich taste.
Because many vegetables are sauteed and simmered with chicken.

We usually heat a little of oil in a pan.
Put bite size cut chicken pieces , and stir-fry them.
Put vegetables (carrot, lotus root, burdock, taro, shiitake etc.) and konnyaku, and continue to stir-fry them.
Put soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar, and dashi-soup.
Simmer them with skimming scum that rise the surface.

Kuromame no Nimame

This is a typical new year's dish.

Kuromame (black soy bean ) is a kind of soy bean.
"Tanba kuromame" is a famous species of kuromame.

"nimame" means simmered bean dish which is made by soaking dried beans in water, and simmer it in sweet.

Kintoki-mame no Nimame

" Kintoki-mame" is a kind of bean.
It has nice colour and excellent taste.
"taisho-kintoki" is most popular species in kintoki-mame.

"Nimame" is a simmered beans dish which is made by soaking dried beans in water, and simmer it in sweet.

It has sweet taste, and soft texture.
I think it is also good for bento.

Hijiki no Gomoku Ni

This is also called "Gomoku Hijiki" .
It is a typical dish of hijiki and well known simmered dish.
It is made by stir-fring and simmering hijiki with other ingredients.

Typical ingredients.
Aburaage
Chikuwa
Konnyaku
Carrot
Lotus-root
Burdock
Shiitake-mushroom
Soy bean

( It is not necessary to cook all )


Soy sauce
Sugar
Salada oil


Hijiki is a kind of sea weed.
It is rich in fiber, calucium, and iron.
We usually buy dried hijiki, and sock it into water to recover it befor cook it.

Kinpira

Kinpira is a type of Japanese dish which is made by sauteing and simmering shreded vegetables.
Usually main ingredients are root vegetables such as burdock, carrot, lotus root.
Seasonings are mirin and soy sauce. some time add red pepper and sesame seed.

It has mildly sweet taste.
It is typicaly home dish and it is often appear in ingredient of bento.

Saba no Misoni ( Simmered Mackrel with Miso )

This is simmered mackrel with miso.
It has soft texture and nice taste.
Miso makes mackrel not fishy, and give rich taste to it.

Mackerel is one of blue back fish.
It is rich in DHA and EPA.
It is also oily and delicious.

Miso(soy bean paste) is typical seasoning of Japanese dish.
It is made by fermenting soy beans.

Usually we simmer filleted mackrel with water,mirin,sake,soy sauce, and sugar in a pan.
Add miso to the pan with dissolving it.
And simmer mackrel with pouring the sauce which is in the pan over the mackerel.

Kiriboshi-daikon no nitsuke

This is simmered kiriboshi-daikon.
Kiriboshi-daikon is dried stripes of radish.

It is made by cutting fresh radish which is harvested during end of fall and winter, into stripe, and drying under th sun.
Kiriboshi-daikon is an excellent healthy food.
It is rich in high quality fiber and calcium.

We usually wash kiriboshi-daikon in water.
Put it into bowl which is filled with water.
Keep it until it is recoverd by absorbing water.

Drain off water it.
Stir-fry it together with such as carrot , aburaage and shiitake-mushroom on the pot.
Add water which kiriboshi-daikon soaked, soy sauce, sugar, and sake to them.
And simmer.

Photo above is packed kiriboshi-daikon.

Karei no Nitsuke (Simmered Karei fish)

Karei is a kind of flat fish.
It is rich in protein and low in fat.
And its protein is absorbed easyly.

In this photo, Karei is simmered in the broth which is made from dashi(stock), sake(rice wine), soy sauce, sugar, and mirin (sweet sake).

It has soft texture and plain taste.