The food of Tohoku is near and dear to my heart as my mother is from Yamagata and I grew up eating many dishes from this region. For days after 3/11 we prayed to hear that our relatives in Sendai were safe. We count ourselves among the lucky to have finally received the good news that everyone was fine.
After the triple calamity Elizabeth Andoh took it upon herself to, in her words, "chronicle the culinary heritage of the Tohoku - especially of the three prefectures that where hardest hit: Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate - before traditional foods there morphed into unrecognizable fare, or disappeared entirely". Like her other cookbooks, this is "information dense" and that is part of why this makes this a great book. Andoh goes into great detail documenting techniques, and the food culture and traditions.
Some of the dishes are already staples in our kitchen like the Salmon Rice Topped with Red Caviar, Pressed Rice "Sandwiches", Ordinary Miso Soup, and Miso-Seared Scallops.
Other dishes include Tohoku classics like Sasa Kamaboko (Fish Sausage Patties) and Shiso Maki (Walnut-Miso Stuffed Shiso Leaves) are dishes we eat from time to time, but have never attempted at home. We will now with these recipes. Other interesting recipes include a nabe hot pot of oysters and miso as well as straw-wrapped tofu.
The book includes great photos, especially helpful for those new to Japanese cuisine.
The first recipe we tried was Ika Ninjin. It uses dried squid, surume ika, and carrots in a vinegar and soy marinade. Very interesting recipe and unique as I never would think to cook with surume ika.
I contributed to the book with a short section on sake and some food and sake pairing suggestions. Having worked at Takashimaya's sake shop for two years I had the great privilege of trying many of the sake mentioned in this section.
One more good reason to invest in this eBook is that part of the proceeds go to a Tohoku charity.
Kibo "Brimming with Hope"
Recipes and Stores from Japan's Tohoku
by Elizabeth Andoh
Ten Speed Press
$3.99 in the USA
