3 Japanese Style Vegetable Dishes Using Dashi Broth 出汁を使った野菜料理三品

昆布と鰹で取った出汁を使った野菜料理を三品まとめて。これはお湯をかけて油抜きした油揚げと小松菜を出汁＋醤油＋酒＋砂糖＋みりんで煮たもの。ワカメとタマネギの味噌汁、納豆を添えてベジタリアンな夕食に。

Three vegetable dishes made with a big batch of dashi stock made with dried kombu kelp and katsuobushi bonito flakes. This one is a stew of aburaage (fried tofu) and komatsuna (mustard spinach) cooked in a mix of dashi, soy sauce, sake, sugar, and mirin. Trick is to use the flavoring agents besides the dashi sparingly - you don't want to make it too salty, sweet, or reeking of alcohol. Had this with natto (fermented soybeans) and miso soup with wakame seaweed and onions for a vegetarian dinner. 

これは水菜のおひたし。刻んだものをさっと茹でて冷水にさらし、水気を絞った水菜を器に盛り、暖かい出汁をかけまわして鰹節を振ったもの。

This is an ohitashi - a side dish of blanched greens briefly marinated in warm, unseasoned dashi - of mizuna greens. Trick is to dunk the blanched greens in cold water to stop cooking and preserve the colors, then squeeze gently to remove excess water to achieve a good texture. Pour warm dashi over the mizuna, let stand a few minutes, then garnish with katsuobushi to serve.

最後はカブの実と葉両方を使った味噌汁。カブの実を良く洗って薄切りにしたものを出汁で煮て味を含ませ、味噌を溶いたらあらかじめさっと茹でて刻んでおいたカブの葉を加えて出来上がり。

Last but not the least - a miso soup of kabu turnips, using both the root and the leaves. Washed the kabu roots well, sliced thin, then cooked in dashi until soft. Stirred in the miso (the white variety, which has a milder flavor which works better with root vegetables), and added some pre-blanched and chopped turnip leaves before serving.