|
|
Post by Noriko on Sept 11, 2006 22:53:38 GMT -5
I just had my university's SCA branch's first meeting tonight and most of the members seemed intersted in cooking projects. I'm in charge of planning a Japanese or Asian vegetarian meal and basically, I'm not having much luck. I can make modern Japanese food like onigiri and fried tofu but....
Anyway, does anyone have some historical meals they can offer? The only problem is that the ingredients have to be available at a typical supermarket since I don't think my fellow chef is going to want to drive to the local Asian market.
|
|
|
|
Post by solveig on Sept 11, 2006 23:00:34 GMT -5
Noble Cousin! Greetings from Solveig! Anyway, does anyone have some historical meals they can offer? The only problem is that the ingredients have to be available at a typical supermarket since I don't think my fellow chef is going to want to drive to the local Asian market. That depends on what is at your local supermarket. If your supermarket stocks miso, then you can probably make do. If not, then you have a trip to the Asian market in store. Regardless, the basic organization for the first tray is rice, soup and three more dishes. You didn't tell us what period you are interested in. However, if you are planning on recreating a relatively early meal, then you also need four condiments one of which is rather controversial. Out of curiosity, just how big of a meal are you planning? Also, are you permitting fish, or is it supposed to be strictly vegetarian? |
|
|
|
Post by Noriko on Sept 12, 2006 9:48:45 GMT -5
Oh, sorry about that (;
The meal is for maybe around ten people. They also have a carnivorous option available so only a few people will be eating just the vegeetarian food- most likely people will have a bit of each. Only three people will be eating just the vegetarian food.
As for period, I'm leaving this pretty loose. I reenact the 11th century, but in this case, any pre-European contact foods will do.
Also, since I live in a dorm, it would be somewhat difficult to store fish (in addition to the fact that I have no idea how to prepare or cook fish).
I'm thinking I will have to head out to the Asian market on my own- I do have time this weekend to do so.
|
|
|
|
Post by Noriko on Sept 12, 2006 13:36:19 GMT -5
Ok, a quick update. I was doing some research and I think I came up with a good basic menu. Heh, my European compatriot is lucky- she just has to make one big thing of stew...anyway... -plain white rice -pickles -walnut sauce over spinach (*) -tofu in a soy-garlic-ginger sauce (i.e. marinate and toss in a pan) and/or miso soup (don't want to go too overboard on the sodium content...) What do you think? (*)coutesy of www.geocities.com/anne_liese_w/Japanese/japfeast.htm |
|
|
|
Post by solveig on Sept 22, 2006 15:35:04 GMT -5
Noble Cousin! Greetings from Solveig! Don't worry too much about the sodium content. Japanese outlive Americans. Depending on the time of the year or the occasion, you can dress up the white rice if you want to. One variation is to add azuki beans and other is to add chestnuts. Rice with azuki beans is considered especially celebratory. Pickles are easy to make and are pretty much a necessity. You should consider pickling things like eggplant. You can probably buy pickled daikon pretty easily. You should ideally have several different types of preparation. For example, one simmered dish, one vinegered dish, one broiled dish, &c. -plain white rice -pickles -walnut sauce over spinach (*) -tofu in a soy-garlic-ginger sauce (i.e. marinate and toss in a pan) -and/or miso soup (don't want to go too overboard on the sodium content...) Soup is not an option. It is a necessity. A meal pretty much has to contain Rice, Soup, and Vegetables. Some here may recall the description of the carpenters' meal which consisted of just these three things. The Rice and Soup should be served together with the rice bowl on the left and the soup bowl on the right with an odd number of dishes arranged behind these two bowls. Further, solid food should be placed "mori awase" in miniature mountains. If you are interested in replicating Japanese vegetarian fare, then you should be sure to toss the tofu in LOTS of canola oil. Medieval Japanese generallly suffered from a fat deficiency and the monks attempted to make up for a lack of animal fat sources by using rather a lot of oil in their cookery. Canola oil was the principal oil in medieval Japan. Walnuts (kurumi) appear in Heian period literature and were used for both medicinal and culinary purposes. Soy sauce is a bit more problematic as it appears to date from the late Muromachi period. You may want to substitute miso in your dish. I would suggest deep frying your tofu in canola oil to make abura age. |
|
|
|
Post by Noriko on Sept 22, 2006 16:48:22 GMT -5
Noble Cousin! Soup is not an option. It is a necessity. A meal pretty much has to contain Rice, Soup, and Vegetables. Some here may recall the description of the carpenters' meal which consisted of just these three things. Well, I was a little reluctant to make soup since another person in the group was already making stew. It wasn't a straight up Japanese dinner. But everyone seemed to enjoy it. In the end, I did make soup but we forgot to buy soup bowls (since not everyone had feast gear, it was disposable dinnerware) so we ended up serving it in dixie cups!  Yeah, one bowl here, one bowl there... heh, we pretty much heaped everything onto a paper plate and ate what we wanted. It was more of a tasting party if anything. |
|
