Sharing Lessons From a Farm in Japan

食譜

自製日式「農家菜」

DAVID TANIS 報道 2012年12月08日

Evan Sung for The New York Times

南希·辛勒頓·蓮(Nancy Singleton Hachisu)本來只是想在海外逗留一載，結果卻在一個日本小村莊里呆了20多年。
她說：“我本是為美食而來，卻為了愛而留在這裡。”她是土生土長的加利福尼亞人，後來遇到有機農場主高明(Tadaaki)，嫁給他後就一直生活在 日本，與他共同經營起一個家庭。她深深浸淫在日本文化之中，也在烹飪方面大顯身手。有了這樣的人生經歷，無怪乎她剛剛出版的菜譜《日本農家菜》(Japanese Farm Food)如此鮮活生動。

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Evan Sung for The New York Times

鹽漬黃瓜蘸味增芝麻。

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Evan Sung for The New York Times

日本米酒蒸南瓜配白味增

初次與南希相遇是我在加州伯克利的Chez Panisse餐廳擔任大廚的時候。每次她來伯克利總會到這家餐廳吃一兩頓飯，不久就從食客變成了我的朋友，到最後還來幫廚。她每次過來都會帶上一大堆禮 物，這是她在日本養成的習慣。有時是一包偷運來的精美豆腐，有時是手工製作的茶杯，反正從沒有空手來過。
她在自己的菜譜中展現了同樣的慷慨，用極為熱情親切的方式與讀者分享了她20年來積累的烹飪知識。
南希非常勇敢（不過她說“頑固”是個更適合自己的字眼兒）。她只是投入進去，專心學習而已。北加州天氣宜人，季節變化非常小，從不下雪，習慣了這樣氣候的她要到日本鄉間定居，需要徹底改變心態才行。
這裡沒有一年四季豐饒的景象，卻有嚴峻的冬天要應付，而且吃的都是名副其實的應季農家菜。她發現蔬菜在氣候溫暖的季節里供應充足，但是食用剛從田地里採摘的新鮮蔬菜，意味着經常要連續幾個星期吃同幾種蔬菜，直到下一批作物成熟。
她在書中寫了自己如何應付日常工作：腌鹹菜、種稻子、收割時的辛勤勞動，還有參加季節性的慶典。書中有一段美好的描述，講的是村民們為了慶祝日本新年，一起歡樂地搗糯米，製作傳統的甜米糕（當然，作為一個頑固的外國人，南希也堅守了用香檳和奶酪泡芙慶賀聖誕的傳統）。
書中給出了大量信息，教給你關於日本菜品的知識和各種製作技巧，提供從自製豆腐到烏冬面的各種指導。但我覺得最棒的是那些簡單的蔬菜類菜譜，它們通常只用一點味增或日本米酒調味。
我嘗試做了日式蒸南瓜，發現它非常美味。它可以剛出鍋就吃，也可以晾涼了第二天吃。還有鹽漬黃瓜蘸烤芝麻，非常簡單好做，但卻證明只要用心，極其簡單的原料也可以做出驚人的美味。
食譜一：
鹽漬黃瓜蘸味增芝麻
摘自南希·辛勒頓·蓮的《日本農家菜》
用時約20分鐘
用料 
7至8根小黃瓜，約1磅
2茶匙粗鹽
4茶匙未去殼的芝麻
3茶匙糙米味增
2茶匙米醋
1茶匙碎薑末
6片紫蘇葉（亞洲食品市場上可買到）
製作步驟
1. 洗凈黃瓜，不去皮。切成1/8英寸薄的圓片，丟掉尾部。放在中等大小的碗里，撒上鹽，攪拌均勻，靜置10分鐘。
2. 用中火在乾燥的煎鍋上烤芝麻，烤到芝麻開始爆花、散發出香味的時候為止，約需不到1分鐘。放入臼（日本用來研磨的碗）內或西式研缽之中搗成糊狀。加入味增、醋和薑末，攪拌均勻。
3. 榨出黃瓜的汁液，一次榨一小把，這樣能榨得比較干。用漏勺瀝干。用紫蘇葉將黃瓜包裹成雪茄的形狀，用鋒利的刀切成薄片，拌上味增芝麻醬，撒上切成條狀的紫蘇葉，輕輕搖勻，就可以上菜了。
菜量：6人份
食譜二：
日本米酒蒸南瓜配白味增
摘自南希·辛勒頓·蓮的《日本農家菜》
用時約30分
用料
一磅南瓜（約合半個中等大小的南瓜），去籽
3茶匙白味增
6茶匙日本米酒
3茶匙菜籽油或其他清淡的植物油
6隻干紅辣椒
粗鹽
一茶匙芝麻油，可選
製作步驟
1. 用去皮器為南瓜去掉薄薄一層皮，保留外層的一點綠色。將南瓜縱向切成1英寸寬的塊，然後橫向切成1/4英寸的薄片。
2. 在小碗里把味增和3茶匙日本米酒攪拌均勻備用。
3. 用中火在大煎鍋里加熱植物油。放入辣椒，加熱至發出嘶嘶聲，之後放入南瓜，輕輕攪拌，讓每片南瓜都沾上油。輕輕撒上鹽。把南瓜片在鍋中鋪成一層，小火加熱三分鐘，注意不要煎焦了。加入剩餘的3茶匙米酒，蓋上蓋子，讓南瓜在米酒中蒸兩分鐘，直到剛剛熟透。
4. 把味增與米酒（如需要可加入芝麻油）的混合物小心淋在南瓜片上，不要把南瓜片弄碎。熱食、常溫、冷食均可。
菜量：6人份  

本文最初發表於2012年10月17日。
翻譯：董楠

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Sharing Lessons From a Farm in Japan

By DAVID TANIS December 08, 2012

Evan Sung for The New York Times

THOUGH she had intended to spend only one year abroad, Nancy Singleton Hachisu has lived in a small village in rural Japan for more than 20.

As she says, “I came for the food, but stayed for love.” A native Californian, she met Tadaaki, an organic farmer, married him and has been there ever since, raising a family, absorbing the culture and cooking up a storm. Her personal stories make her just-released cookbook, “Japanese Farm Food,” come alive.

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Evan Sung for The New York Times

Salt-massaged cucumbers with miso and sesame.

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Evan Sung for The New York Times

Sake-steamed kabocha squash with white miso.

I first met Nancy when I cooked at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif. Whenever she was in town for a visit, she always came by for a meal or two. She quickly turned from diner to friend, and finally ended up helping out in the kitchen. Her visits always included piles of gifts, a habit picked up in Japan. Sometimes it was a smuggled package of delicate bean curd, sometimes a handmade teacup, but she never arrived empty-handed.

That kind of generosity extends to her cookbook, in which she shares two decades’ worth of cooking knowledge in a disarmingly intimate way.

Nancy is fearless (she says “stubborn” is a better word for it). She simply jumps in and learns. Used to the weather in temperate Northern California, where seasons change only subtly, and it never snows, she needed to change her mind-set when relocating to the Japanese countryside.

Instead of year-round produce, there were harsh winters to contend with, and the concept of real seasonal farm cooking gained meaning. As she discovered, vegetables there during the warmer months are abundant, yet eating farm-to-table often means having the same vegetables for weeks on end, waiting for the next plantings’ offerings to appear.

She writes of tackling daily tasks: pickle-making, rice-planting and the hard labor of harvesting, and joining in seasonal rituals. There’s a lovely description of the communal celebratory pounding of mochi (glutinous rice) for the Japanese New Year to make traditional sweet rice cakes. (Of course, being stubborn as well as foreign, Nancy also insists on her own tradition of Champagne and French gougères for Christmas.)

The book offers a breadth of information, with lessons about Japanese products and techniques, and instructions for everything from homemade tofu to udon noodles. But for me, the recipes for simple vegetable dishes, often flavored with only a bit of miso or a splash of sake, are the most fascinating.

When I made the steamed kabocha squash, I found it astonishingly delicious, straight from the pan or cold the next day. Likewise, the easy salt-massaged cucumbers with roasted sesame proved the point that mindful cooking with minimal ingredients can produce marvelous results.

RECIPE

Salt-Massaged Cucumbers With Miso and Sesame

Adapted from “Japanese Farm Food” by Nancy Singleton Hachisu (Andrews McMeel, 2012)

TOTAL TIME About 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

7 or 8 very small seedless cucumbers, about 1 pound

2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 tablespoons unhulled sesame seeds

3 tablespoons brown rice miso

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon finely grated ginger

6 shiso leaves (available at Asian markets)

PREPARATION 

1.Wash cucumbers but do not peel. Cut off and discard ends, and slice cucumbers into 1/8-inch rounds. Put in a medium-size bowl, sprinkle with salt and mix well. Leave for 10 minutes.

2.In a dry skillet over medium-high heat, toast sesame seeds until fragrant and just beginning to pop, 1 minute or less. Transfer to a suribachi (Japanese grinding bowl) or mortar and grind to a coarse paste. Add miso, vinegar and ginger and stir well.

3.Squeeze cucumbers a handful at a time to express their liquid. Drain in a colander. Stack shiso leaves and roll into a cigar shape. Slice thinly with a sharp knife. Dress cucumbers with miso-sesame mixture. Sprinkle with shiso slivers, toss gently and serve.

YIELD：6 servings

RECIPE

Sake-Steamed Kabocha Squash With White Miso

Adapted from “Japanese Farm Food” by Nancy Singleton Hachisu (Andrews McMeel, 2012) 

TOTAL TIME About 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 pound kabocha squash (about half a medium squash), seeds removed

3 tablespoons white miso

6 tablespoons sake

3 tablespoons canola oil or mild vegetable oil

6 small dried red chile peppers

Kosher salt

1 teaspoon sesame oil, optional

PREPARATION

1. Using a vegetable peeler, peel squash very lightly, still keeping it green at the edge. Cut squash lengthwise into 1-inch-wide wedges, then cut the wedges crosswise into 1/4-inch slices.

2. In a small bowl, combine miso and 3 tablespoons sake, stir and set aside.

3. Heat oil in a wide skillet over medium. Add chile peppers and let them sizzle, then add squash and stir to coat. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Spread out squash slices in one layer and cook gently without browning for about 3 minutes. Add remaining 3 tablespoons of sake and cover with lid. Allow squash to steam for about 2 minutes more, until it is just cooked through.

4. Add miso-sake mixture and sesame oil, if using, carefully combining to coat squash slices without smashing or breaking them. Serve hot, at room temperature or cold.

YIELD：6 servings