October CSA kimchi, leek miso, plus dinner with leek miso!
This was a huge win for using kinda scraggly looking vegetables in my refrigerator. Preservation! I made a quick kimchi and leek miso. Leek miso isn’t exactly hard to use, but it is a bit fussy, it’s classically used in miso dengaku which is a super easy dinner, but unfortunately also really easy to burn. The recipe that I used before is different from this one, and this seems better. Baking the tofu first will warm it and give it a bit of texture before the miso goes on. Some recipes have you coat the tofu and then broil and turn it. That doesn’t work well, don’t try it. You can also use it for miso soup, or for any sort of miso stir fry thing. I like to do a crumbled tofu situation, sort of in the style of niku miso with a leek miso sauce, there’s a recipe for that at the end of this newsletter. Really easy diner. Very nice with a soy egg and greens.
As for the kimchi, I got a bunch of daikons from the CSA and thought “wow! I can make cubed radish kimchi!” But then I went to start making it and realized that one of the radishes had a rotten core, which left me with 8 ounces of cut radish, which, at that point, it seemed like a waste to even try to make kimchi with it. I scrounged around in my refrigerator and pulled out the last head of fennel and finely sliced what was good of that, which yielded more or less equal parts radish and kimchi. No idea if it will be good! This is pretty much Maanghi’s recipe, except it is using a half pound of daikon and a half pound of fennel instead of four pounds of mu, so everything is scaled down.
Fennel and daikon kimchi
1/2 pound daikon radish
1/2 pound sliced fennel
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs plus a bit more (like two heaping tablespoons?) gochugaru
1 green onion
1 1/2 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp ginger
Peel the radish. Cube it. (If you are me, realize that one of your daikons is not so good. Hunt frantically in your refrigerator for something with a similar texture. Fennel? Sure, whatever, it’s been down in the bottom drawer for a month, that’ll do.) Add salt and sugar, mix well. Set aside for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes drain the radish, reserving the water.
While the radish and fennel are sitting finely mince garlic, ginger, green onion. Mix with the fish sauce, gochugaru. Add seasonings to the drained radish/fennel. Add a tablespoon and a bit of radish water. Mix well, ensuring radish is coated evenly. Press down to get the air bubbles out (I stuck a pickle weight on top.) Maangchi says you can leave it out to ferment for a few days before refrigerating, or just stick it straight in.
Leek Miso
4 Leeks, gross outer leaves removed, about 4 oz of nice tender green and white parts
2 tbs sesame oil
10 tbs or 200 g miso (I used shiro miso, because it was the oldest one we had)
4 tbs sugar
60 ml (grams) sake
60 ml (grams) mirin
splash of soy sauce
Slice the leeks. Rinse well to remove all the dirt. Pat dry. Add to saucepan over low heat with sesame oil. Cook over low heat until softened and brown. While doing this measure miso, sugar, sake, mirin and soy sauce into a bowl. Once leeks are cooked to your liking, add all that to the pan. Simmer until thickened. It lasts for a while (I mean it’s in miso it’s pretty well preserved.)
Tofu Miso (in the style of niku miso)
1 block extra firm tofu (I’d probably usually use firm but I had extra firm this time)
2 tbs sake
1/2 tsp or so soy sauce
1 tbs corn starch
1 tbs vegetable oil
Leek miso (from before!)
Finely chopped or grated ginger
Greens, like mizuna, and/or blanched green beans, to serve
(rice obviously)
Set tofu to drain for a little bit, whatever. Smoosh tofu into crumbles into a medium sort of bowl. Add sake and a splash of soy sauce. Mix well, set aside to ~combine~
While that’s happening: Make sure your rice is going. If you have last weeks green beans from the CSA (who? not I, surely!) trim, rinse, and blanche in lightly salted water. I cook for about 2:30, and then don’t mess with an ice bath. Let them drain well. If you happen to also have mizuna from the CSA (just on the off chance) wash that as well.
Once the beans are a good temperature to handle, chop as many as you think you’ll want in a night. Smaller than usual, maybe 1/4 to a half inch. Set aside.
Mix the cooking oil and corn starch with the tofu. This is basically the woks of life velveting method, but with the measurements slightly adjusted because Tofu Is Not Chicken. Set tofu aside for 15 minutes or so. They suggest 30 minutes, but it’s like 7:45 right now, so I won’t.
Heat your pan well, mediumish. Add a goodish amount of oil. At least a tablespoon. Add tofu, fry. You want to try to get brown bits, and get some parts of it crispy-ish. It’s okay if some sticks to the bottom, you’re going to deglaze it later. It’s best to use a fish spatula for this. I have a miniature fish spatula that is perfect for all sorts of tofu cooking. Can’t recommend highly enough going to a kitchen store near you and buying one.
Once tofu is cooked, golden brown sort of, add a few tablespoons of your leek miso sauce, and a bit of ginger. Taste as you go, it should be well seasoned. If it’s too stuck on the bottom still, a splash of sake should help. Scrape up whatever you need to. Once you like how it tastes, it’s done! If you don’t like how it tastes I can’t help you. Serve over rice, with the green beans on one side of your bowl, and the tofu on the other. Chop a bit of mizuna and add that to the top. If you have any pickled ginger that’s nice here.