Is it my imagination or did the year end with a polarity
not seen since the civil war? Red vs blue. Us vs them. This religion vs that
religion. Definitely doesn’t feel united… almost like the segregated plantation
camps of old Hawaii. I personally embrace what Bruce Lee once said when asked
whether he felt more Chinese or American; “but under the sky, under the heavens
there is but one family. It just so happens man that people are different”. Or
as Braddah Iz once said “It doesn’t matter if you black, white, brown, red,
green or purple. We one race… the human race“. So all of us have to come
together as we’re supposed to be the UNITED states. Just follow the lead of one
of my favorite dining companions… the humble grain of rice. As Frank DeLima put
it, “One grain, by itself, is nothing. Just an embarrassing sticky white t’ing
stuck on your T-shirt after lunch. But many grains together -- that’s
greatness”! Greatness to create the perfect starch in plate lunches or the
perfect Spam musubi!
On the Mantle
How many of you currently have a decorative kagami mochi on your mantle right now?
Whether the mochi itself symbolizes
the mirror (kagami) that facilitated
the sun goddess Amaterasu to light
the world or if it’s just the vehicle where the good luck gods reside during Oshogatsu or if the mochi itself represents the family remaining together like the
compressed grains of rice that they are, I know there are lots of families that
display the kagami mochi every New
Year’s Day.
I too always have the symbolic kagami mochi displayed in my home. And it used to be very elaborate
complete with hinoki display stand,
fresh wood fern from the yard and fresh mochi
complete with a fresh tangerine with exactly 3 leaves. I say “used” to be
elaborate because the local supermarket where I purchased the fresh mochi stopped taking pre-orders several
years ago. And unless you purchase the mochi
while it’s still warm, it hardens as it cools so balancing the smaller piece on
the larger becomes quite challenging. Plus the ambient moisture in Kaneohe
usually facilitates mold growth so that by the 3rd day, your kagami mochi usually sports a pronounced
black “beard”. I’m pretty sure that bearded kagami
mochi isn’t good luck. So now I simply purchase the individually wrapped
mini mochi housed in the plastic
shell that resembles stacked mochi.
Not authentic but at least the mochi
are still edible on the kagami biraki
on the 11th day of the New Year.
And mochi is
much more than just for your ozoni,
leftover mochi can be used for this
dish I sampled on Maui in Paia at Dazoo almost 2 years ago. Their Kalua Pork
Stuffed Mochi had smoky pork
completely wrapped with mochi then
pan seared and served on a hoisin
barbecue sauce. Crisp exterior, chewy interior with smoky porky goodness with a
little sweetness from the sauce. But alas, Dazoo closed about a year after our
only visit so like me, you’ll have to re-create this dish in your kitchen too.
But I’m sure the day after New Year’s will leave you with an abundance of mochi.
Oryza sativa
Okay, there’s also the African rice or Oryza glaberrima but if you live in the
50th, there’s only one type of rice, short and sticky which is Oryza sativa. Sticky enough to hold
together for the ideal nigiri sushi
or spam musubi but not so sticky that
you can’t create the perfect fried rice with leftovers.
The Tatsumoto clan always cooked our gohan “old school”. No micro-computer controlled cookers, no induction
cooking, just a standard aluminum rice pot with water measured by the first
joint of your index finger. In fact when I first dormed at the University of
Hawaii and a roommate asked me to start the rice, I had to ask him how to use
the electric cooker because we never used one at home. Of course as I’ve aged,
I’ve seemed to have morphed into a magpie for cooking devices – any shiny
newfangled device catches my eye including the Tiger 10 cup MICOM induction
heated rice cooker with 5 layer copper centric pot. But this device does shine
with whole grain rice as well as flavored sweet rice dishes like my Sweet Rice
Dressing I highlighted in last month’s Gochiso Gourmet column:
Sweet Rice
Dressing
One package (12oz) of lup
cheong, halved lengthwise then sliced to ¼ inch sections
One can bamboo shoots, drained then cubed approximately
the same size as the lup cheong
One can water chestnuts, drained and cubed as above
10 pieces dry shiitake,
soaked overnight then cut as above
Roughly one cup of peeled chestnuts cut as above
5 cups of sweet rice (rice cooker cups, not the actual
measuring cup)
1 bunch of fresh cilantro roughly chopped
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
2 tablespoons shoyu
Wash the sweet rice then place in a rice cooker with the
appropriate amount of water and set aside. Cook the lup cheong over medium heat until it just starts to brown. You can
either add the drippings or drain it on a paper towel if you desire less fat.
Add the lup cheong, bamboo shoots,
water chestnuts, shiitake and chestnuts to the rice cooker along with the
Chinese five spice powder and shoyu.
Cook according to your rice cooker’s instructions. After the rice mixture is
done cooking and steaming, place it in a large mixing bowl and toss with the
fresh chopped cilantro.
Fermented Rice
Finally, Oshogatsu
wouldn’t be complete without one of two customary beverages (champagne being
the other) with my favorite rice based beverage, sake. It’s been noted that good sake
has more flavors and aroma than even the best cognac. How one simple grain can
produce a beverage with that level of complexity is astounding. And it isn’t
just a marvel on its own, it also pairs remarkably well with a wide range of
foods. I once sampled a junmai sake
with blue cheese stuffed celery which was a remarkable pairing. So don’t only
look to sushi and sashimi for your sake pairings, most western dishes also are highlighted by the
fermented rice.
Tradition does dictate that the sake we consume as we enter the New Year is not just plain sake, but an herb infused medicinal sake called otoso. Supposedly sipping otoso
protects you from illness for the New Year. If one person sips otoso, the whole family is protected
from illness, if your whole family sips otoso
then the whole village is protected. The herbs give a flavor not unlike mulled
cider since there is cinnamon and peppers in the blend. It’s not my favorite
beverage but I still follow tradition and I do prefer otoso to sipping “cooking” sake that Mom kept in her pantry for
ages that was offered by Grandpa at the stroke of midnight and was heated just
south of the sun’s temperature.
So let’s all stick
together
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