Chapter 12

Nimono no Bu (煮物の部)
Simmered Food

Nimono is a classic method of preparation still in common use today. Food is simmered, usually in a flavored broth but served separately (not as a soup), and often cooled. Many of the recipes use the term “Iru” (to roast or pan-fry) or “Yaku” (to cook or to grill). These terms are explained more in the Appendix on other preparations, but basically “Iru” appears to be cooking through indirect heat—either a dry, roasting heat or through a pan or pot with a little bit of oil—while “Yaku” is direct application of heat, like placing something directly over a fire.

1. Iri dai いり鯛 (Roasted Sea Bream)

Cut the fish slightly thicker than sashimi. Trim half of the fry of tai or koi. Pulverize the other half, add vinegar to irizake and briefly seethe. When you serve it, put in the adult tai and fry and pile shortly after. Simmering too much is bad.

2. Iri koi 煎鯉 (Roasted Carp)

Make it as above and serve.

3. Tai Suruga ni たいするがに (Suruga-style Simmered Sea Bream)

Grill tai without seasoning and add a little vinegar to dashi-tamari. Simmer well and serve. Alternatively, grill it and then fry it in pig’s fat. If you then simmer it, simmer well. This is also called Nanban food.

4. Sugiyaki 杉やき (Cedar Cooked)

Cut tai thick and put it aside. Darken miso in dashi and add to a pot. When it is simmering put it in the [cedar] box. To start with, add the bones and head and simmer. Put the body meat in only briefly. Pour in dobu. Prepare and put in oysters, hamaguri, tōfu, nebuka, or other things outside those.

5. Nabeyaki なべやき (Pot Cooked)

Simmer miso shiru in a pot, as is. Tai, bora, or kochi, or anything may be taken and mixed in.

6. Hamo no ko iri はもの子いり (Roasted Young Conger Eel)

Drop a little salt or tamari into dashi. Also add a little vinegar and prepare. Make the hamo thicker than for namasu. Add both fry and intestines.

7. Tako no Suruga ni たこのするが煮 (Suruga Style Simmered Octopus)

Wash the octopus well. As it is, add vinegar to dashi-tamari. Boil it well until the suckers are removed. Also called kuro ni (simmered black).

8. Sakura iri 桜煎 (Roasted Cherry Blossoms)

Cut the arms of the octopus thin. Boil very briefly in dashi-tamari.

9. Su iri 酢煎 (Roasted with Vinegar)

Add plain salt to dashi and simmer. When you serve, add a little bit of vinegar. You can also use aji, saba, or katsuo.

10. Gosai ni ごさいに

Cook sawara without seasoning, and then simmer in dashi-tamari.

11. Fukura iri ふくらいり

Cut sea cucumber into large pieces. Steam dashi-tamari. Put it in just before serving. Plate it as is. Also called sutsuhō. Also good with abalone and squid.

12. Zororiko ぞろりこ

Slice lines into roasted sea cucumber. Boil well, tenderize such things as small birds or wild duck, and put them in. Also add yamaimo. Simmer in dashi-tamari. When it is just the roasted sea cucumber, it is called sen iriko.

13. Sake no iriyaki 鮭のいりやき (Roasted Salmon)

Make like sugiyaki. Grind up half of the [fish] eggs and put it aside. Put aside the other half as they are. Season with dashi-tamari, put in the intestines and liver with the meat and simmer. When it is about a standing boil, put in the ground and whole eggs. Arrange, and then serve shortly. It is good to add whole sanshō seeds.

14. Ni ae 煮和 (Simmered Together)

Use dashi-tamari. Put in a little bit of the skin and boney flesh of dried salmon. Also put in such things as kuromame, dried skin, umeboshi, tatsukuri, kikurage, apricots, and gingko nuts, then simmer them. Crumbled egg is good as uwaoki. In the summer, cool and serve.

15. Shunkan しゆんかん

Boil bamboo shoots well and chop them up. Put things such as abalone, small birds, kamaboko, tairagi, egg, grilled fu, warabi, and sagarame in with the above. It is good to simmer in dashi-tamari. Alternatively, remove the knuckles of the bamboo shoots. Put kamaboko in the middle [of the bamboo]. You can also put it in simmered and chopped.

16. Noppeitō のつぺいとう

Prepare wild duck like iritori. Simmer in dashi-tamari. When it has just come to a boil, season to taste. Dissolve ground up udon noodles in the dashi. Pour it in when it is sticky and when it comes to a boil, serve. Botoshigi and uzura, too.,

17. Namakawa 生かわ (Fresh Skin)

Skin a wild goose or duck. Bring vinegar to a boil. Pour on 2 hen and put it aside. Alternatively, get the meat ready, pour on 1 hen of vinegar, and cut it. Season with dashi-tamari, and when it has boiled season to taste and put in the fowl and serve as is. Uwaoki: Prepare seri and others. You can also blanch crumbled tai for a topping.

18. Senba せんば (Wharf)

Small or large birds. Drop a little tamari into dashi.

19. Honenuki ほね抜 (Boneless)

Cut a wild duck open at the posterior. Remove the bones from the feet to the shoulder. Put egg and kamaboko in the center. Sew up the opening. Simmer in hot water like yudetori and cut into round slices to serve. Put aside the lower foot and wishbone.

20. Yudetori ゆで鳥 (Boiled Fowl)

Simmer with all the bones in dashi-tamari for a long time.

21. Iritori いり鳥 (Roasted Fowl)

Prepare wild duck. To begin, after broiling the skin, put in the meat and broil. Season by simmering in dashi-tamari. There is also a case where you can add irizake. It is good to add things like seri, nebuka, and kukitachi. Suikuchi are yuzu and wasabi.

22. Jibu じぶ

Broil the skin of wild duck. Put in dashi-tamari to season. As soon as you can say “jibu-jibu”, put in the meat.

23. Nobusuma 野衾 (Field Screen)

Tenderize small birds. Simmer briefly as in senba. Break down the meat of the tai and tenderize finely. Pour boiling water over it, fry it and put it aside. Tear a large abalone thinly, and when you blanch this, make it like a bag. At this time, put in dashi-tamari to season. When it is steaming, put in the three things, and when they are mixed, wrap up the inside of the bag. Crumbled egg is good as uwaoki. There are various suikuchi.

24. Nibitashi にびたし (Simmer and soak)

Grill crucian carp without seasonings, and simmer in dashi-tamari.

25. Isedōfu 伊勢豆腐 (Ise-style Tōfu)

Grate yamaimo. Break down and grind the meat of tai. Put in 1/3 of the imo. Add egg white to tōfu and grind it up. Grind everything together well one time. Lay a cloth on a cedar board, put it in, and wrap it up. Simmer in boiling water and cut. Pour on kuzu tamari and serve. Alternatively, it is good to pour on such things as wasabi miso or tori miso. Alternatively, just take tōfu and grind it up suitably. Serve as above.

26. Kuzudai 葛鯛 (Kudzu and Sea Bream)

Cut tai as for grilling. Skewer it on bamboo skewers. Boil in hot water, pour on kuzu-tamari, and serve. Kuzu and daikon may also be used as above.

27. Tōfu fuwafuwa とうふふわふわ (Scrambled Tōfu)

Foam and simmer in dashi-tamari and serve quickly.

28. Ryōridōfu 料理どうふ (Cooking Tōfu)

Add dashi to nerimiso. Hanagatsuo, chestnuts, ginger, black sesame, walnuts, etc. are good as uwaoki.

29. Preparation method of Ni iro に色 (Red)

Add dashi-tamari vinegar. Anything is good.

30. Itoko ni いとこに (Simmered Cousins)

Put in such things as azuki beans, gobō, imo, daikon, tōfu, roasted chestnuts, or kuwai. In nakamiso is good. Since, in this way, you can simmer many various things, it is itoko ni.

31. Hibari korobakashi ひばりころばかし (Skylark Korobakashi)

It is good to put egg and kamaboko in the middle.

32. Tōfu tamago とうふ玉子 (Tōfu Egg)

Grind tōfu. Color lightly with kuchinashi. Add a little kuzu flour. Serve up as fuwafuwa tōfu in dashi-tamari. Same as real egg.

33. Funa no kogori 鮒のこゞり (Jellied Crucian Carp)

Drop tamari in taremiso. Simmer until the bones are soft, and place in a draft for two hours. In summer you should add tokoroten.

34. Fu no noppeitō ふののつぺいとう (Noppeitō of Wheat Gluten)

Fry fu in oil and cut into large pieces. It is good to serve it as wild duck.

35. Korokoro

Tenderize a small bird. Simmer quickly like senba, take it out and put it aside. Grind kamaboko well. Make as large as a soapnut. Roll in the simmered fowl. Season with dashi-tamari.