Never Enough: Hijiki

Before I launch into the normal chit chat of my post, I'd like to give a big ALOHA to SN and the Ono Kine Recipes page on Facebook for sharing recipes from my blog.  The first 2 recipes shared were Korean Long Rice Salad and Warabi-Kamaboko Salad.  My buddy Dee messaged me and told me Ono Kine Recipes had posted two of my recipes.  I HAD to "like" the page after that!  If you have a facebook account, meander over to the Ono Kine Recipes page.  They have lots of recipes, including lots of yummy desserts. Prior to summer getting underway, I made a list of foods I wanted to try making.  So far, I made only 1 thing from the list:  Zoku pops.  I have not managed to make anything more because I keep getting sidetracked.  The market hasn't been on my side either.  Gravlax was way up high on my list, but I can't seem to find fresh wild salmon.  Another item high on that list was sponge drops, soft vanilla cookies with a creamy filling sandwiched between two cookies.  The cleanup for that will be hell. There was a holiday this past week. . .Kamehameha Day, and since I was already on vacation, the only difference was that D2 was home with me.  Doing an internship at a federal jobsite, D1 did not get Kamehameha Day off.  There were celebrations going on in Hilo and in Kohala, but I had no part of that.  Instead, I stayed home and cooked (and cleaned too). What I ended up cooking were a bunch of snacks and side dishes.  The 8-pound brisket The Help smoked on Sunday lasted us well into the week, so I put my effort into snacks for the family as well as other things we could eat with the brisket.  And even though we stopped eating the brisket, a huge chunk of it lives on in the freezer.  I'm gonna need to work up a lot of nerve to tackle it for round 2.  Harumphffff. One of the side dishes I made, which has absolutely no coherence with smoked brisket, is hijiki (seaweed).  I knew there was no chance of D2 touching smoked brisket so I figured I'd make her something to have along with microwaved frozen rice.  D2 loves hijiki, and I am certain many people have enjoyed hijiki at a sit-down Japanese restaurant at some point in their lives.  Even Japanese restaurants in small town Hilo serve it regularly.  Hijiki is often presented as one of the small morsels diners are served as a complimentary appetizer.  And no matter which Japanese restaurant you go to, the tidbit-sized portion is never enough.  During spring break, I took the Ds and D2's friend KN to Restaurant Miwa for lunch.  At the end of the meal, after D2 finished her udon and my hijiki, she announced that the next time we ate there, she would just order a bowl of hijiki and some rice.  And that's exactly the reason why making hijiki at home is such a good idea. . .you can eat all you want!  Restaurant hijiki usually just contains seasoned seaweed.  When you make it at home, you can add in other stuff.  Hijiki is not difficult to make, and it takes just a little forethought.  Aside from soaking the hijiki, the most time-consuming part is chopping the aburage and konnyaku.  Because everything gets cooked in one pan, clean up is also minimal.  click on recipe title for printable recipe Hijiki      1 pkg (2 oz) hijiki (wash and soak in water for 30 minutes or according to package directions)      1 tbsp oil      2 aburage, finely chopped      1 piece konnyaku, sliced thin      3 tbsp sugar      1/4 c mirin      1/4 c shoyu      2 tbsp sesame seeds Heat oil in pan.  Fry aburage till crispy.  Squeeze out water from hijiki.  Add hijiki, konnyaku, sugar, mirin, and shoyu to aburage.  Cook until liquid is absorbed.  Mix in sesame seeds.

Potluck Food: Soba Salad

I have a whole bunch of work-related food needs this week.  Today I'm at a most-of-the-day meeting, and I have a plate of banana bread to share.  Tomorrow's training will either be an opportunity to share more banana bread or perhaps a pumpkin cake.  Wednesday is an office potluck (of course, what else?), and I'm still undecided about what to bring.  Of course, if we don't bring anything to these events, there would be nothing to eat, and what good is a meeting/training without food.

When the Hawaii economy took a downturn for the worse, the DOE cut back by not providing meals at workshops and trainings.  While some people were saddened by the lack of opportunity for a meal on the DOE's dime, I certainly wasn't.  Although free to the participant, the meals usually consisted of tasteless food.  I was working out of a Honolulu-based office at the time, and what we did was pool our $ together and have lunch catered for us or had a potluck.

Pooling $ together was great in Honolulu because of the wide range of places that were willing to cater or provide a bento.  Hilo doesn't have nearly the range of choices as Honolulu, so what we end up doing is having potluck.  Everyone brings something to share.  In spite of not being told what to bring, things always seem to work out.

Soba Salad is something which invariably can be found at most potlucks.  Soba Salad is a variation on Somen Salad.  Boiled Japanese noodles are cooled and topped with things like fish cake and vegetables.  A shoyu-based sauce is poured over just before eating..  Soba is Japanese buckwheat noodles.  It is easily identified by its gray-brown color.  Soba noodles can be purchased at any supermarket (even Wal-Mart and Target).
I used hijiki, wakame, watercress, kaiware (daikon sprouts), uzumaki (rolled pinwheel fishcake which is likely known as narutomaki outside of Hawaii), and shredded red pickled ginger to top my soba, but I've had versions which contained imitation crab shreds, taegu shreds, maui onion, cucumber, and ocean salad.  The idea is to use whatever you have on hand.  This is especially refreshing on a hot day.

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Soba Salad

Salad ingredients:

     1/2 c hijiki

     3 tbsp oil

     3 tbsp shoyu

     3 tbsp sugar

     1/4 oz wakame (this will seem like just a little)

     1 bunch watercress, trimmed and cut into 1" lengths

     4 oz kaiware, root ends cut off

     1 roll uzumaki, slivered

     2 tbsp red shredded pickled ginger

     16 oz dried soba noodles

Dressing:

     3/4 c vegetable oil

     3/4 c shoyu

     3/4 c lemon juice

     5 tbsp sugar

Soak hijiki in a bowl of warm water for 20 minutes.  While hijiki is soaking, combine dressing ingredients in a jar.  Shake well and set aside.  Drain water from hijiki, and press out as much water as possible without mashing hijiki.  In a small skillet, heat 3 tbsp oil.  Add hijiki, 3 tbsp shoyu, and 3 tbsp sugar.  Cook until liquid is absorbed.  Set aside to cool.  In a small bowl, soak wakame in a bowl of cold water for 7 minutes.  Drain, pressing out as much water as possible.  Set aside.  Boil soba noodles for 6-7 minutes.  Rinse under cold water until cool.  Drain well.  In a 9 x 13" pan or other comparable flat dish, arrange soba in an even layer.  Top with hijiki, kaiware, watercress, wakame, uzumaki, and pickled ginger.  Pour dressing over entire salad just before serving.

As an alternative, served dressing alongside salad, allowing guests to dress their salads individually.  If doing this,  make 1 1/2 or 2 quantities of dressing.