Name: Simmered Mushrooms and Kelp
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: Japan
Ingredients: 1½–2 tablespoons saké (Japanese rice wine); 1½ tablespoons sugar; 3 tablespoons soy sauce; about 100 square inches kombu (kelp), left over from making dashi (basic sea stock); 1 tablespoon mirin (syrupy rice wine); 1 tablespoon rice vinegar; ⅔-¾ cup liquid from soaking mushrooms; 6-8 small dried shiitaké (dark Oriental mushrooms), about ½ ounce in all; 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds; 1½-2 cups cold water

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

An American Taste of Japan

By Elizabeth Andoh

Published 1985

About

Here’s a tasty way of using kelp left over from stock making. There’s a hint of aniselike flavor to the dark, lustrous sea vegetable and the dried mushrooms add a lusty earthiness to the dish. Garnished with roasted sesame seeds, a small mound of these slivered vegetables makes a tasty and nutritious accompaniment to plain steamed rice.