14.187 Gamja Project (8) Jagaimo Misoni

Cycle 14 – Item 187

11 (Tue) July 2023

Jagaimo Misoni

2.5

by me

at home

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with the Family

The Gamja Project (8)

Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art is a Japanese cookbook.  According to the blurb on the inner flap: “Since its release [in 1980], Shizuo Tsuji’s encyclopedic and authoritative work has been the acknowledged ‘bible’ of Japanese cooking.”

I bought it in Japan, though I can’t recall where or when.

I wonder if every recipe is exactly the same in this 25th Anniversary Edition as in the original.

While this is the first dish featured on GMTD that follows a recipe from the book, I’ve consulted the book for tips on making components of various dishes, nothing that I can recall specifically.

The recipe layout is reminiscent of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (see for example 3.137 Potage Parmentier).

Jagaimo Misoni is a Japanese dish.  Simply potatoes (jagaimo), braised in stock seasoned with miso (misoni), a common home-cooking method used with a wide variety of ingredients (see for example 10.284 Saba no Misoni).

At present, I only have red miso, which is more intense and saltier than white miso.

As far as I’m aware, potatoes aren’t that big in traditional Japanese cuisine.  Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art only has 2 potato recipes.  Curiously, potatoes do play a major role in (at least) 3 Japanese staples that originated as fusion dishes: curry (see for example 14.181 Potato & Corn Curry with Rice), korokke (see for example 14.089 Korokke), and salada (see for example 4.224 Salada).

A lot of miso sauce left over, even after spooning much of it onto steamed rice – gotta think of a way to reuse it.

The jagaimo misoni turned out okay.  While the recipe calls for the potatoes to be parboiled until tender, then simmered (or “gently” boiled) for another 20 minutes, Korean potatoes would disintegrate into mush by that point, so I skipped the initial parboil and braised them in the miso from the start.  And yet, they didn’t absorb as much miso flavor as I would’ve expected.  I also omitted the addition of okra/peas/beans – I didn’t have any of those or other fresh vegetables on hand – which would’ve added a welcome splash of green and texture to the dish, but not much in terms of taste.  I might try making this again, but with fish (see for example 11.359 A Bowl of Fish Soup).

4.7 kg of potatoes remaining.

(See also THE GAMJA PROJECT)

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

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