Japanese Style Shabbat

 I already introduced my family to Japanese food. I started making kosher sushi several years ago when I discovered that the local supermarket sold nori (the seaweed wrapping for sushi). I used smoked salmon and various vegetables. 
Mine was ok, sometimes messy, but the majority looked fine. 








 I showed Leia what to do and she has taken over. Her sushi is tasty and beautiful. She had never eaten sushi except in our house, so this year for her birthday, I took her out for sushi. 

When I started planning, I knew that sushi would be on the menu. I am not including the recipe since Leia has taken over and I am happy to eat what she prepares. She is very busy now with final tests at school and making sushi takes a lot of her time.  After her finals, maybe she will share her techniques with me and I can add them here.












Although the supermarket where I shop has added a shelf with Oriental products, there were still several ingredients I could not find. I found the Cook's Thesaurus very helpful (http://www.foodsubs.com/)

Jewish Life and History

Today there are about 2000 Jews living in Japan. Several hundred live in Tokyo and a small number live in Kobe. There are also Jews who work in Japan and others who serve in the US army. There are two active synagogues, one in Tokyo and the other in Kobe. Chabad also has two centers in Tokyo.
The first Jewish settler to arrive in Japan was Alexander Marks and his brother. They settled in Yokohama, which is near Tokoyo and by 1895 there were about 50 families in the community. A synagogue was dedicated in 1895. After the 1923 earthquake that destroyed most of Tokoyo, most of the community moved to Kobe.
In the 1880's, Jews fleeing from pogroms in Russia, settled in Nagaski. In 1894, the Beth Israel Synagogue was built. This community however, disintegrated with the Russo-Japanese war in 1904.
From 1900 to1950, Kobe was the largest Jewish community. Jews arrived from Russia, the Middle Jews ( Iraq and Syria) as well as from Central and Eastern Europe.
During World War II, although Japan was allied with the Germans, Japan was regarded as a safe refuge from the Holocaust. After World War II, most of the Jews left Japan and emigrated to Israel. Some who remained, married and assimilated into Japanese society.
For more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Japan
http://xenon.stanford.edu/~tamar/Kobe/Kobe.html
http://www.shavei.org/category/communities/other_communities/asia/jews-in-japan/?lang=en
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Japan.html

Food

Friday Night Dinner 

Sushi
Salad
Miso Raman Soup
Terayaki Chicken
Squash Noodles

Prepared for 12.

Salad  

I used the vegetables that kept appearing in the other recipes. I did the same type of thing for the dressing. 

• Vegetables: Mushrooms, celery, cucumbers, lettuce, bean sprouts and of course asparagus. 
• Dressing: Sesame oil, salt, pepper, lemon, soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar.

Miso Raman Soup  

Until summer, I like to include a soup on Friday night. My kids add soup nuts to every soup and they did to this one too. I forgot the eggs. According to the recipe, the soup included hard boiled eggs. It would probably have been good.

Original Recipe http://steamykitchen.com/15145-miso-ramen-recipe.html

My Miso Raman Soup Recipe

Since my supermarket does not carry miso, I checked Cook's Thesaurus and learned that miso is soy and that I could use a chicken broth with some soy sauce.

Ingredients

• my miso broth
• I made the broth from the parts of the chicken I did not need for the other chicken recipes I was planning. In this case that left four wings and 2 breast bones with a little meat on them. I filled a big pot of water and added 
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 onion 
• corriandar
• salt and pepper
• 1 package squash noodles ( you can use any noodles), prepared before
• 3 cups sliced mushrooms, I used a couple of types that were available at the supermarket
• 3  carrots sliced
• 4 scallions sliced
• 1 tsp fresh ginger. I used a grater to make small pieces
• 1/4 cup soy sauce

Preparation

1. Prepare broth.
2. Add all ingredients except noodles. (When I heated the soup up before Shabbat, I added the already cooked squash noodles)

Chicken Terayaki

Easy to make and very tasty.

Chicken Terayaki (cooking)

Original recipe http://www.food.com/recipe/teriyaki-chicken-drumsticks-teriyaki-190605

My Chicken Terayaki Recipe

Ingredients

• 19 chicken thighs
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water
•  canola oil for browning chicken
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger

Preparation

1. Brown chicken in a large pot. (Of course I couldn't brown 19 pieces of chicken in one pot. So I did a few at a time then set them aside.)
2. Remove chicken and leave any oil
3. Prepare sauce in the same pot (soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and ginger)
4. Bring sauce to a boil and add some of the chicken (as much as will fit in your pot)
5. Lower hear and simmer 20 - 30 minutes
6. Remove chicken and place in a pan, ready for warming on Shabbat

I cooked the chicken in batches.  Served with the squash noodles I made for the soup. It would be great over rice or other noodles as well.

Shabbat Lunch

Cucumber Salad
Aspargus Gemono
Peanuts-ae
Artichoke heart salad
Mixed Salad
Sukiyaki
Pan Fried Chicken Ysukune
Simmered Sour Chicken Legs
Japanese Curry Chicken
Rice Noodles


Prepared for 17

Cucumber Salad

Easy to make salad that I prepared right before lunch.

• 6 cucumbers sliced
• Rice vinegar
• Sesame oil
• Lemon juice
• Soy sauce
• Small amount of brown sugar
• Black sesame seeds

Asparagus Aemono

When I saw how many asparagus there were from the meshek (http://www.facebook.com/MeshekMuslow), I did a search for recipes that included asparagus. Fortunately asparagus grow in Japan. My version of the salad was not as I expected. I tried substituting wasabi for mustard and I thought it would be spicy but it wasn't.


Original recipe: http://www.applepiepatispate.com/vegetable/asparagus-the-japanese-way/

My Asparagus Aemono Recipe

Ingredients

• Asparagus(steamed before and refrigerated)
• Wasabi powder mixed with water
• Soy sauce
• Sesame oil
• Salt to taste

Peanuts-ae Recipe

 This is a spinach salad and I planned to have the ingredients ready and prepare this quickly before lunch. The spinach I had prepared on Thursday was wilted and mushy. So I added some green beans I had left over from the Japanese chicken curry recipe. 

Original recipe: http://gaijinfarmer.com/2011/02/26/recipes/japanese-vegetable-recipe-easy-healthy-2/

My Peanuts-ae Recipe

Ingredients

• Spinach
• Green Beans
• Soy Sauce
• Olive Oil

Preparation

Sprinkle peanuts on top.

Artichoke Heart Salad

Since I had so many artichokes from the meshek, I  had to figure out how to use them. I searched and I could not find any recipes for artichokes. Maybe they do not grow in Japan. So I  steamed them, cut the hearts out, added some other vegetables, and flavored them with some of the spices I had already used in other recipes. 

Ingredients

• Artichoke hearts
• Bean sprouts
• Mushrooms
• Soy sauce
• Sesame oil
• Rice vinegar
• Fresh garlic
• Fresh ginger
• Salt and pepper

Sukiyaki

This was one of the last things I prepared on Thursday night and I was tired. I made a very quick version of this recipe. The meat I used was not very tender but otherwise it was good.


Original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/sukiyaki-recipe/index.html

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My Sukiyaki Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 cup soup from the broth 
• 2 medium onions sliced
• 1 cup bamboo shoots
• 4 stalks celery
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 bunch green onions cut into pieces
• Steak meat cut into cubes
• Canola oil for browning

Preparation

1. Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, and broth.
2. In a large soup pot, brown meat and set aside.
3. Add other vegetables to oil and start to cook.
4. Return meat and add sauce.
5. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until the meat is done.

Pan Fried Chicken Ysukune

I actually followed the recipe. I sprinkled black sesame at the end to give it an  riental look.

Pan Fried Chicken Ysukame

 Original recipe: http://japanesefood.about.com/od/chickenturkey/r/tsukunerecipe.htm

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp fresh ginger juice
• 2 Tbsp katakuriko / corn starch ( I used corn starch)
• 2 tsp vegetable oil for frying

Preparation

1. Put ground chicken, egg yolk, salt, soy sauce, fresh ginger juice, and katakuriko starch in a large bowl.
2. Mix well and make oval meat balls.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet.
4. Fry meat balls on medium heat for a couple minutes.
5. Turn them over and cover with a lid. Turn the heat to low.
6. Fry until cooked through.
7. Remove tsukune from the pan and drain on paper towels.

Simmered Sour Chicken Legs

This must have been good. I did not even get to taste this. I used 19 legs and 6 eggs and absolutely nothing was left.

Simmered Sour Chiken Legs

Original recipe: http://japanesefood.about.com/od/chickenturkey/r/sourchicken.htm

My Simmered Sour Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

• 19 chicken drumsticks
• 6 boiled eggs, peeled
• 1 inch fresh ginger root, sliced thinly
• 2/3 cup rice vinegar
• 2/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water

Preparation

1. Put water, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and ginger slices in a large pan. 
2. Bring to a boil on high heat. 
3. Turn down the heat to low and put chicken drumsticks and boiled eggs in the soup. 
4. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Japanese Curry Chicken

Original recipe:http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1776667/japanese-chicken-curry

My Japanese Curry Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

• Pieces of chicken: I used breast meat. I took this from the chicken that I used for the soup. I also bought 1/2 kilo of chicken schwarma pieces. This way I had some dark and some light meat.
• Vegetable oil for browning chicken
• 2 gloves garlic grated
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 package tofu cut into small pieces
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 cups frozen green beans defrosted
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tbsp curry powder

Preparation

1. Brown chicken pieces and remove.
2. Saute onion, garlic, and ginger.
3. Return chicken to pot and add broth and tofu.
4. Simmer about 20 minutes.
5. Add green beans and simmer a few more minutes.

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International Shabbat Cooking

What am I going to cook for Shabbat?

It started to seem like every week, I prepared the same thing. Then it was confirmed when one week, we invited some friends and one of their kids said, "I know what we are having, chicken and potatoes. We always have chicken and potatoes at your house."

So a few months ago, I decided that each Shabbat we would try food from a different country. The first week we ate Japanese food. It was pretty easy to do since we had already taken on the custom of eating sushi before our chicken soup. After that I think we tried Italian, then Chinese, and then Mexican foods. The week we tried Mexican food, I started to think that it would be interesting to learn about Jewish life in the Mexico. At Friday night dinner we ate "Picadillo" and learned that there have been Jews in Mexico since Cortes conquered the Aztecs.

I thought the blog would be a great way to keep track of the recipes and maybe it will be useful for others who have the same "what to make for Shabbat" problem.

I always cook simply. That means I only shop once a week and at one supermarket. I don't have time to go from store to store looking for specialty items.

And I cook everything Thursday night. I work full time and it takes me most of the day Friday to clean the house. If I start cooking Friday morning nothing gets done.
I usually prepare food for at least 12. We are 8 when everyone is home, which does not happen too often anymore. We almost always have guests, either friends from our moshav or kids who are learning in Israel for the year or both.

I also use what we have in season on our meshek. Right now it is asparagus and artichoke season.
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