Redactions from the Ryori Monogatari (料理物語)

Introduction

The Ryori Monogatari was probably written in 1600, by an unknown author(Ishige, 125), though the oldest extant copy dates to 1647. The author “describes his intention to write down the things that he has seen and heard, creating a written tradition from the oral teachings of people around the country”(Badgley, “About the Text”). The recipes in the text cover every part of the culinary spectrum, from pickles to desserts. As Ii-gimi (Badgley) says in the introduction to the “Broths Section” of his translation of the Ryori Monogatari “The basic unit of most honzen style feasts was “ichijû sansai” (一汁三菜), or “one soup, three side dishes.” This statement is also supported in Naomichi Ishige’s book The History and Culture of Japanese Food (Ishige, 89) So, rather than redacting and cooking one recipe, I decided to put together a whole meal. What follows is a discussion of the recipes that I redacted and my methodology for doing so.

Methodology

Menu Selection

Ishige’s book The History and Culture of Japanese Food clearly lays out what the ichijû sansai pattern was in the mid to late 16th century among the samurai influenced nobility. It would all be served at once on a tray. The meal would consist of a soup, with sashimi and/or pickled vegetables, a simmered fish dish, and a grilled fish dish, all of this would be followed by a sweet dessert. (Ishige, 88-89) So, when considering the menu I followed the above guideline.

Recipe Redaction

The first thing that I did was look at the recipe as it was written in Ii-gimi’s translation. Then I tried to find modern recipes which are similar, looking specifically for similarities between the modern recipe and period recipe’s proportions. In several cases, I sent questions about my interpretations of the recipes to Ii-gimi hoping to get some clarification. Once I had his responses, I looked again at my interpretation of the recipe and reevaluated. Next, I tried the recipe, figuring out what worked and what didn’t. It was the experimentation which drove choices of which ingredients would be the best choice for a given recipe, as recipes often list many possible ingredients, and there are several types of other ingredients which could affect the flavour. In the end, I settled on the following menu:

Soup: Hôhan no shiru - 芳飯の汁 (Fragrant Rice Broth)
Simmered Dish: Nabeyaki - 鍋焼き (pot roasted)
Sashimi: Suzuki Sashimi - すずき 刺身 (Japanese Sea Perch)
Grilled Dish: Makuriyaki - まくり焼き (Roll up and grill)
Pickle: Sudzuke - 酢漬 (Vinegar Pickles)
Rice
Desert: Gobo Mochi - 牛房餅 (Burdock Rice Cake)

For Seagirt Arts and Sciences Championship

This project was originally one of my Seagirt Scholar’s Trials projects. As a part of those trials, I made for my fellow Scholars and the Baroness (acting in the Baron’s stead) a whole honzen style meal. As I would not have the facilities to make the entirety of the meal for my judges at the Tir Righ Arts and Sciences championship I decided to only make the soup and dessert. Therefore, I have shortened my documentation to only include the dishes which my judges will be sampling. I did this so that there would be less extraneous information for my judges.

Recipes from the Ryori Monogatari

The structure of the section below will be the recipe as it appears in Ii-gimi’s translation of the Ryori Monogatari, followed by a brief explanation where necessary of the ingredients listed, and any relevant information regarding such ingredients.

Soup: Hôhan no shiru - 芳飯の汁 (Fragrant Rice Broth)

“Ninuki is good. Kamaboko, chestnuts, ginger, grated daikon, egg, grilled fu, mixed greens, friend konbu, myôga, hanagatsuo, and nori. Anything that is sliced should be sliced thin. There are various preparations you can put in for times of purification.”

Ninuki and it’s precursor, Namadare, are separate recipes within the Ryori Monogatari and are as follows:

“Namadare 生垂・生垂れ (Fresh miso sauce)
Mix 1 shô miso and 3 shô water, knead it, and then strain it through a bag.”

“Ninuki 煮貫 (Fish flavoured namadare)

Add katsuo to namadare and boil.”

Kamaboko:
“The History of Kamaboko started in the Heian Period… At that time, Kamaboko was ground fish meat moulded around the end of a bamboo stick before cooking”(“What is Kamaboko”). A modern version is readily available at Japanese grocery stores. While I was not able to find a period recipe for kamaboko. I was able to find a modern recipe. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

Fish (any white-fleshed fish will do; make sure it’s decently fresh) 2-300g
Salt
Flour
Ice, water

Instructions

1. Roughly chop the fish, submerge in ice water, stir gently. Water will cloud; oils and proteins will rise to the surface, so gently discard.
2. Repeat 2-3 times until water is fairly clear.
3. Drain, wrap in wet cheesecloth and squeeze out excess water, don’t overdo this.
4. Weigh the fish. Ready 2% salt, 5% flour and 10% water by weight to the weight of the fish.
5. Pulse in a food processor on and off until it forms a paste (don’t do a continuous pulse or the fish will heat up too much).
6. When the fish starts getting lumpy, add the flour, salt and water. And continue to pulse.
7. Shape into a log on the wood or whatever you’re using. Let rest at room temperature for about an hour.
8. Place in steamer and steam at high heat for 20-25 minutes.
9. Take out of the steamer and immerse in ice water. This slows down the spoiling process.

Fu:
“Fu (麩 / お麩, Wheat Gluten) is a food made from gluten, the main protein of wheat. It is made by washing wheat flour dough with water until all the starch granules have been removed, leaving the sticky insoluble gluten as an elastic mass which is then cooked before being eaten. “(“Fu (Wheat Gluten) • Just One Cookbook.”)

Myoga:
“… Sometimes called myoga ginger, the botanical name is Zingiber mioga. It’s a deciduous perennial plant, and only the young, tender flower buds are eaten. Raw myouga buds taste like a cross between fresh ginger shoots and mild pickling onion, but without any strong onion-y flavour.” (“Japanese ingredients: Myoga or Myouga.”)

Hanagastuo:
Finely shaved flakes of dried, fermented, smoked tuna. Used for making stock in Japanese cooking.

Redaction

Below is a paragraph taken from Badgley’s translation where he explains Japanese soups:
“The formulation for most broths appears to be a liquid broth base with a single main ingredient, the “uwaoki” (meat, fish, or vegetables put on top of the chief ingredient, usually floating on top), “tsuma” (secondary ingredients, usually vegetables or seaweed), and suikuchi (spices or pepper used to flavor the broth). In modern Japanese cuisine, it is typical to only have a smattering of the solid ingredients, and only one or two uwaoki, in each serving. It is also common to cook the broth and main ingredients, season in the pot, then add the tsuma to each dish individually, pour in the broth, then add the uwaoki, to ensure that everything is properly arranged.” (Badgley, Chapter 9 notes)

When I redacted this recipe I kept this in mind when selecting the ingredients to add to the soup.

Namadare:
1 cup Miso paste of your choice (I chose Aka Miso)
3 cups of water
Mix the two ingredients thoroughly. This will likely take a bit of work. Then place the mixture in a fine cloth lined strainer over a bowl or pot, and allow to strain for as long as it takes to collect all of the liquid.

Ninuki:
approximately 3 cups Namadare
approximately 2 cups Bonito Flakes

Take the namadare you just prepared and bring it to a boil. Then add 1 cup of bonito flakes for every 1.5 cups of namadare. Boil until the bonito flakes sink then strain the ninuki.

Hôhan no shiru:

Ingredients

~ 3 cups Ninuki
0.5 cups Rice
Kamaboko (Japanese white fish cake)
Japanese Chestnuts
Ginger
Japanese Ginger (Myoga)
Grated Daikon
Eggs
Assorted greens (including spinach and mustard greens, both of which were used in period)
Konbu
Nori (various types available)

Instructions

Start with the ninuki that you just made. Bring to a boil, and add the rice. Reduce it to a simmer. Simmer until the rice is done (30 or so minutes). After about 10-15 mins add slices of kamaboko to the pot, only a couple per person eating. In the bowls, in which you are serving the soup, add your various additions. I used ginger, spinach, grated daikon, and nori. Add the soup broth and rice to the bowl and serve.

Works Cited

Badgley, Joshua. Ryôri Monogatari. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2016. Known in the SCA as Ii Saburo Katsumori

Bermensolo, Nicole, and Elizabeth Gunnison. Dunn. Kyotofu: Uniquely Delicious Japanese Desserts. Philadelphia, PA: Running, 2015. Print.

Blankestijn, Ad. “Suzuki.” Suzuki. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2017.

Dragonlife. “Japanese Seasonal Fish: Bora/Mullet.” SHIZUOKA GOURMET. N.p., 2010. Web. 03 Jan. 2017.

“Fu (Wheat Gluten) • Just One Cookbook.” Just One Cookbook. N.p., 2014. Web. 31 Dec. 2016.

Greve, Gabriele. “Mitarashi Dango Kyoto.” Mitarashi Dango Kyoto. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2016. The Author works for the Daruma Museum in Japan

Ishige, Naomichi. The history and culture of Japanese food. London: Kegan Paul, 2001. Print

“Japanese ingredients: Myoga or Myouga.” Japanese ingredients: Myoga or Myouga | JustHungry. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Dec. 2016.

“Japanese units of measurement.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2017.

Kieschnick, John. The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture. Princeton University Press. Print.

“Mitarashi Dango”, Japanese Cooking 101. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.

“Mochi.” Mochi - New World Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.

“Per Request, My Kamaboko Recipe. • r/JapaneseFood.” Reddit, www.reddit.com/r/JapaneseFood/comments/1r0una/per_request_my_kamaboko_recipe/.

“Sea Bream Japanese Feast: Tai Sashimi, Tai Meshi, Tai Nitsuke.” Kyoto Foodie Where and what to eat in Kyoto RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2017.

“What is Kamaboko?｜Suzuhiro Co., Ltd.” What is Kamaboko?｜Suzuhiro Co., Ltd. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Dec. 2016..

“青唐（あおとう）酢レシピ　講師は枝元 なほみさん｜使える料理レシピ集 みんなのきょうの料理 NHKエデュケーショナル.” みんなのきょうの料理. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2017.