Vegan MoFo Day 11: Onishime

One thing I love about having a big family dinner or dinners in my families sake, is the leftovers. I LOVE leftovers. It means I can have at least one meal that I don't need to cook. I don't get why some people have such an aversion to them. A lot of food is better the next day. All the juices and flavors get soaked up even more. Mmmmm. My family is not vegan, I am the only one. 

From my Japanese side, I got to take home tons of veggies and salad and Onishime. Onishime is a Japanese root vegetable soup/stew. It is cooked for about 6 hours. Very slowly. I haven't figured out my Baba's (My Grandma) as she only tells me the ingredients. She never writes down recipes. lol

But this is what I've come up with:

Onishime:

Ingredients

6 shiitake mushrooms

2 carrots

1 large daikon

4 inch piece kombu

½ cup soy sauce

2 tbsp mirin

4 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt
2 potatoes

4 cups water

Optional:

Sweet potato or yams

Bamboo shoots

Directions:
- Peel and cut all the vegetables into bite sized pieces. But cut the carrots on an angle
- Add Kombu and Shiitake mushrooms to 4 cups of water
- Bring to a boil then add the soy sauce, salt, sugar and mirin
- Add all the vegetables
- Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 6 hours on low

There are many variations to this recipe. My family serves it on top of Japanese rice. Believe me when I tell you, it is so damn tasty. I substitute the white sugar for agave nectar and the difference is negligible. But the key ingredients in this are the kombu and the shiitake mushrooms. Kombu is a sea vegetable. Its very high in many different minerals and vitamins. I use it to add flavor to soups and even make my own veggie stock out of it. 

       Because this dish takes so long to cook. And I really wouldn't speed the time up either. The vegetables need a lot of time to soak up all the goodness of the sauce. They are much better that way. I would cook it on a day you have plenty of house chores to do.  OR do it in your crockpot. SO not traditional but makes it a bit easier.

This is a serious bowl of YUM. I hope that recipe is right. I've made it twice and that's the closest I've come to my Baba's. I'll have to go over there and make it with her next time. 

       Halloween is coming up soon. I have a great idea for a costume but I'm not sure I have the guts to wear a full spandex outfit. We shall see. Here's my friends that I tried on over the weekend. Dave pretty much has the best costumes. 

I can be so trashy sometimes. 

Awesome right?!! Lol good ole Oscar the Grouch costume for an adult. LOVE it.

Peace

xoxo 

K