我想，多棒啊!
所以趁昨天放假有時間，我在家裡用grater磨了等量的garlic & ginger
當然磨著磨著，老娘的手指頭皮也被磨掉一塊。
我在想要怎麼用這個paste, 想到的就是和miso搭。
於是我做了一鍋煮込み。
我是進了這一行以後，很深刻的感受到，很多食譜、cooking show, 真的是離daily life再遙遠也不過了。
理想的狀態是，we all have an oven that fits a roasted turkey. And with gas stove that has skillet on it, that we can grill our sandwiches. Or, we have endless supply of clean pots that we don't have to actually do the labour of cleaning them. Etc.
更不要說那些食譜了，WHO THE FUCK BUYS ROSE ESSENCE OR A CAN OF CANDIED CHESTNUT FOR 10 MACARONS?
You tell me!
真的，這些寫食譜的是最誇張的，他們充其量只能說是因為當Chef當到一個名氣，才來寫書的。真得仔細想想，要不是真的經常在做蛋糕的話，你買了一包巧克力豆又要如和奈何? 更何況，家裡也沒有恆溫恆濕的巧克力冰箱，用不完的綑一綑，還不是被丟在fridge，吸取whatever smell you shove in.
I think cooking something good means making food that you like, and the process for you is also enjoyable.
Otherwise, how would you feel about making a Hollandaise sauce that tasted like bland starch?
Skipping ahead, 這鍋stew, simple 但是卻有層次。
Blench the ingredients, in this case, I used diced egg plants, Eringi mushroom and cubed tofu.
Leave the water - about 3L - in the pot, and add in Miso. Choose the type of Miso that already has seeweed and shaved Katsuobushi (skipjack tuna) in it, so you don't have to make the broth from start - although it's quite simple as well.
Before you actually pour in the miso paste, make sure it's dissolved in hot water first. For 3L of water, I scooped so much that it's about half of a rice bowl. Pour the hot water in and mix well with the paste, until it becomes a slushy but not grainy mess. The mess has to still be runny enough for it to smoothly slide out of the bowl, but at the same time sticky enough so it resembles a watered-down paste. (LOL)
Then you just start boiling the pot and stir the contents like an evil witch making magic potions - of course the purpose of stirring is so that every bit is covered generously with the miso.
煮込み, simply put, is just a stew.
So whatever you feel like putting in and suits your taste palate, be my guest. Although if you're adding meat to it, I suggest go for chicken or pork. Red and bloody meet like Beef, I don't really see it with this particular pot. Chicken and pork both have a subtler and sweeter taste to it, which I think would go well with miso.
Then probably 10 minutes into the stewing process -
I'm sorry, that's Stewie. But I HAD TO!
You add alcohol to it. Ideally, something like Rice Wine or even Sake would do. But since none was available to me, I tasted the Riesling white wine in my fridge, and the sourness it screams and the sweet after-taste was good enough for me. But I still preferred the high alcohol content of Rise or Sake wine, as they do a better job at bringing down the strong salty/ocean-y flavour of Miso.
Then do the witchcraft pot-stirring thing again on a low heat for about 10-12 minutes, depending on how the ingredients are taking on the flavour. You want them to be cooked down but not broken down into pieces.
Finally, turn up to high heat, so it boils vigorously... for about 3-5 minutes. This is to evaporate more water so it's reduced to a "sauce" like state.
Scoop the food out onto a big plate, and add a dollop of the ginger & garlic paste on top of it. Splash some Rice Vinegar or Black Vinegar, which I think offsets the overall saltiness of this dish.
Because the base of the stew is all Miso, with the ginger & garlic paste, it adds spiciness to it; and the vinegar is just to bring balance to the flavour so it's not oversalted.
Plus, I used young ginger when I made the paste, so I ended up sweating like a *pig*, which is actually good for a hot & humid summer day.
On the second day, I added potato chunks into the stew, making the soup more starchy and thick. But the flavour mingled well, and the potatoes are mushy, tender and tasty.
