Tanuki-jiru

[Takeda Sanjuichiro]

Tanuki-jiru

Ingredients:
Half-Pound of Tanuki, cut into bite sized pieces
1 parsnip, peeled and cubed
4 inches worth of daikon, cubed
6 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed but whole
1 package firm tofu cubed
4 cups dashi stock
1 quarter cup miso
2-3 green onions, cut into very fine onion rings or coarse cut
oil for stir-frying

Preparation:
In a pan/wok sear and brown the Tanuki in oil over medium to high heat, do not cook through, but close, when near done, deglaze the pan/wok with 1 cup of dashi stock so all the nice brown juice transfers with the meat.

In a donabe pot, place in meat, and juice, add another cup of dashi stock, parsnip, daikon, mushrooms, and tofu, simmer for 15-30 minutes. Mix miso to remaining 2 cups of dashi stock, add to the pot, continue simmering 5 more minutes. Add green onions to the pot before serving.

This is supposedly a very ancient recipe (don’t hold me to it) also it can be prepared with rabbit (rinse well in hot water, use less oil to brown, rabbit can be very greasy) also venison can be used. Most people nowadays use pork.

[Please Delete]

Tanuki-jiru does go back to at least the 17th century, found in Ryori Monogatari.

[Otagiri Tatsuzou]

www4.kcn.ne.jp/~hozoin/tanuki.htm

[Takeda Sanjuichiro]

Hmmm...

Ii-dono: Tanuki-jiru does go back to at least the 17th century, found in Ryori Monogatari.

Otagiri-dono: www4.kcn.ne.jp/~hozoin/tanuki.htm

If I am understanding the bad google translation, (literally word for word, when it can figure it out) It possibly dates to the Nara-jidai... either that or the temple/storehouse that serves it does... hard to follow.

I tried the recipe out tonight, (sorta, did it from memory and accidentaly put in cabbage) and also screwed up since I do not have a donabe pot. I used a stock pot... didn't simmer, didn't simmer, still no simmer... poof! rolling boil as soon as I turned my back... (Dashi gets strong if it boils, not a bad thing, but strong) Also the veggies got a bit overdone, (boiling does that.)

Substitutions:
I substituted potato for parsnip... (I don't realy care for them), and beef for tanuki (didn't have thawed pork handy)

Anyhow, it is not too bad, definantly a warming hearty dish (beef stew) with a destinct japanese flavor (good in my opinion, but I like strong stews.) It did not however rate too high on the Ekat scale (my lady's index of my cooking), but then again she was not expecting it... (I think she thought I was doing western steak and potatoes) She said she would try it again (as long as I warn her, and do not put in cabbage)

Notes:
Key to good meat, get pan real hot, sear, turn down immediately to medium, to brown the meat. Do not cook through! (if for a stew), you want the meat browned on the outside, but still capable of being tender. (The slow simmer finishes it off, resulting in firm but tender savory morsels of meaty goodness)

This was learned from years of doing other stews, (especially the family famous 1 hour rich beef stew)never let the dish boil when meat is in the pot... the meat will become fall apart-tender, but also the fat and complex protein of the grisly bits will break up and float out in the boil drying the meat out.

(I have to thank Alton Brown for the "why it works" of what I had to painfully learn on my own, the episode where he talks about stock making, if you are interested.)

For a hearty dish, definantly deglaze the pan, for a lighter dish, do not.

Also I am a bit heavy handed with my dashi making, so for a lighter dish, subsitute 2 cups water for 2 cups dashi, or possibly 4 cups water and 1 chicken bullion cube; the juice from the meat will lend the extra flavor.

With 4 cups dashi (especialy if you are an idiot and let it boil like me) is a very "rich/hearty" and might be too overpowering for those not used to strong, savory stews. In as I cooked it, it lost some of the subtlety that one finds in most Japanese stews.

A donabe pot, or a crock pot would probably work better than a thin steel stockpot, also it looks prettier when serving.

-Enjoy

[Nagamochi]

um, making a semi-wild stab in the dark. If I'm interpreting the picture right, "tanuki" means racoon?

[Please Delete]

'Tanuki' is also known as a 'racoon-dog' (Scientific Name: canis viverriuns, nyctereutes, procyonoides), and as the name indicates, it is a canine, rather than a relative of the racoon.

Here's a site that seems to cover the basics:
www.onmarkproductions.com/html/tanuki.shtml

FYI, '-jiru', or 'shiru', simply indicates a broth. Usually this is a dashi stock with the food added to it. It is usually opaque, I'd say, but a high liquid to solid ratio.

Basically, the different categories of boiled/simmered food items are:

Suimono: Clear soups. Mostly soup stock with some minor additions, such as seaweed, or small pieces of fish.

Shiru: Broths. Miso soup is the most common 'shiru' (miso-shiru). Most meat soups seem to fall into the 'shiru' category simply because the juices in the stock tend to create the 'broth'.

Nimono: Literally 'simmered foods'. The food is boiled in a stock or broth, but is usually served without the liquid (it is fished out of the liquid to be served). Whereas the previous two are soups.

I think that covers most of it.

-Ii

[Nagamochi]

But I wanna pet the puppy, not eat it!

[Please Delete]

Gives a new meaning to the 'dog days' of summer, eh?

[Nagamochi]

OR, what was napping at your feet this morning is on the table tonight, Boys!

[Please Delete]

Just FYI, I don't believe the Tanuki was ever domesticated. The Japanese did have dogs (although I'm not sure what breeds are historical), and I don't believe they were seen as food items, generally.

-Ii

[solveig]

Noble Cousins!

Greetings from Solveig!

ii said:

Just FYI, I don't believe the Tanuki was ever domesticated. The Japanese did have dogs (although I'm not sure what breeds are historical), and I don't believe they were seen as food items, generally.

Although I believe that I have seen a recipe for dog, consumption of dog is generally unlikely. The popular Japanese version of Buddhist cusine generally boiled down to it was permissible to eat "shishi" (wild animals and especially deer), but not permissible to eat domesticated animals.

Your Humble Servant
Solveig Throndardottir
Amateur Scholar

[tamayori]

Augh! Poor Tanuki-san!

The two types of japanese dog that I heard and seen are the Akita-which is bred as a war-dog. (imagine a Huge husky chow mix with spitz thrown in for ferocity)

and the more demure "kitsune-inu" which is a basenji-like dog with a curly tail and pointed ears. Normally comes in white or brown-and like basenjis they tend not to bark. My cousin in california has one named Jyoji, and he got it from his father-in-law who is breeding them.

I was brought up that Tanuki and Kitsune were sacred-but that the Tanuki was more rascally than the foxes. Tanuki are especially fond of sake and partying....hehe

The Koreans still consume dog tho-think it's called Bu-gogi (not sure)

[Otagiri Tatsuzou]

tamayori said:

The Koreans still consume dog tho-think it's called Bu-gogi (not sure)

Bulgogi is commonly made of beef.

[tamayori]

well maybe it's Keigogi... I know a resturant in hawaii that will make you dog-but you have to be korean,and it has to be ordered in advance...(think the humane society would'nt appreciate dogs disappearing..)

[Otagiri Tatsuzou]

Bo Shin Tang