Shochu

Shochu is a distilled liquor made in Japan, originating from the Kyushu area. Shochu remains popular in that area, in fact the area is unique in that shochu is more popular than sake unlike the rest of Japan.

Sometimes you may hear it called "Japanese vodka" which is a really simplistic way of getting us to understand what it is, however there are a lot of key differences that make shochu unique. In comparison to vodka and other hard liquror's 45% alcohol, shochu is normally around 25% alcohol. Also, vodka and other hard liquors are normally distilled several times while shochu is often distilled only once. This allows the ingredients the shochu was made with to really shine through and allows for variation of taste. When it is single distilled, the shochu is called honkaku, when it is distilled more, it is called korui.

(L) barley; (R) sweet potato

For instance, Satsuma hokaku shochu (shown above) is made with sweet potatoes and the taste and aroma are stronger than other varieties. The taste can even be described as slightly smokey, like a whiskey. Other types of shochu may be made with rice, barley, sugar, and even soba. When it is made in the korui style, the alcohol level is higher (still lower than vodka) and becomes very clean and light tasting but without the nuances and aroma of honkaku single distilled varieties.

Traditionally, shochu is enjoyed neats, on the rocks, or diluted with hot water to allow the aroma to be enjoyed.

This Takara shochu is korui-style and very smooth

More recently, the Chūhai (チューハイ) cocktail has become a popular use of shochu. Chūhai, which is a portmanteau of "shochu" and "highball," combines shochu with carbonated water and lemon. This cocktail, low in alcohol and high in calories, now has tons of flavors: lychee, white peach, oolong, ume, yuzu, orange, grapefruit, and grape just to name a few that I have come across. I like the fact you can drink them without getting drunk as they are very low alcohol usually. Too bad it has so much sugar!

In my recipes, I usually use korui-style shochu, like shown in my umeshu recipe. I find korui shochu to be way smooth, less harsh tasting than vodka and the lower alcohol content keeps me from getting sick since I am sensitive to alcohol.

Recipes that use shochu:
Umeshu
Ichigoshu
Yuzu Kosho Bloody Mary

Kumquat Tofu Cheesecake

I'm sad winter is over and spring is soon to follow. I love winter because it means our citrus trees start producing, and from winter to the start of spring we get our crop of kumquats, oranges, and tangelos. This year, some unseasonable winds knocked down what remained of our kumquat crop, so I'm glad I got to make this cake for my mother's birthday before that happened!

Don't let the name scare you, this tofu cheesecake isn't a health food. However, it retains that creaminess that you love about cheesecake, while boasting a lot more protein than a traditional cheesecake. I bet you if you chose to stay mum about the fact it was packed with protein, your guests wouldn't even know it had tofu in it. It's also a bake-free cheesecake, which is great since we are having a serious heat wave here in Southern California.

If you don't have access to kumquats, you could serve this with no topping at all, or any fresh fruit that you choose. I think blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries would be a great topping choice! Of course, if you have any jars of kinkan no kanroni in your cupboard, you're good to go.

This recipe is adapted from recipes who use the metric system and different size cups, so while I converted the recipe, I also included some weights where applicable because it's more accurate.

Ichigoshu (いちご酒)

Last month, I shared a recipe on how to make your own umeshu! However, I realize that unripe ume or ao-ume (青梅 literally "green/blue ume") might be hard to find in some areas. So since strawberries are in abundance here in the states, here's an easier recipe to do: Ichigoshu.

Another bonus besides strawberries being easier to find and cheaper here: this drink is ready to drink in 2 weeks! Of course, I like to let it to sit and mature, but the freshly made ichigoshu is such a pretty color, a bright red. As it ages, it will turn a beautiful deep orange. In the above picture, I mixed it with sparkling water so the diluted color is a pretty soft orange.

If you can't get a hold of shochu, vodka or brandy will also work. And remember, just like umeshu, just because it can be roughly translated as "strawberry wine" doesn't mean that ichigoshu has a low alcohol percentage! It is actually more of a cordial or infused liqueur.

Umeshu (梅酒)

Umeshu is an infused liqueur made by steeping unripe ume in shochu with sugar. When it has matured, it is easy to drink without a lot of bite to it, especially when mixed with carbonated water. At home, it is made by combining ao-ume (青梅 literally "green/blue ume"), kouri zatou (氷砂糖 rock sugar), and shochu (焼酎white distilled Japanese liquor).

It is also super easy to make, so when ao-ume is in season around May/June, you can walk into any Japanese market and see bags of ao-ume, kouri zatou, and big bottles of shochu.

Most of the time umeshu is translated as "plum wine" but that isn't really correct. The fruit called "ume" is really a type of apricot, and the drink really is an infused liqueur rather than a wine. But just like "umeboshi" gets translated as "pickled plum," no one will fault you for calling umeshu "plum wine" but don't drink this like it is wine, because it is much higher proof!

Kinkan No Kanroni (金柑の甘露煮)

We are reaching the end of prime citrus season, and I feel myself trying to make it last. Growing up on an citrus orchard in Southern California, citrus are my favorite fruits. The color, the smell, the tang, everything about it is simultaneously fresh and nostalgic. I favor the sour citrus over the overtly sweet, and kumquats have been a favorite since I was a child.

My parents have two dwarf kumquat trees, and I remember going to the Fullerton arboretum to pick out the second one, so small they pulled me around in a wagon. Kumquats are tiny citrus, about the size of a big grape, with a sweet thin edible skin and a pucker-inducing sour middle. Their only downside in my opinion is that the seeds inside can get rather large. The small seeds are edible, in fact you won't even notice them, but the big seeds are larger than orange seeds and are not very tasty.

You can leave the seeds in, and just remove them when you use the kumquats. That will save a lot of labor upfront, but I deseeded mine because I wanted to be able to just pop the candied kumquats whole in my mouth without worry.

This recipe will yield a fresher kumquat and a lighter syrup than some candied kumquat recipes. If you want a heavier syrup and a more candied kumquat, feel free to reduce it farther, but you may not have enough syrup then to properly cover the kumquats for safe shelf-stable preserving. In that case, simply refrigerate. I like to preserving mine lighter like this, and I can reduce the syrup down later with more sugar if necessary.

Hatch Chile Jelly

One last New Mexican green chile recipe! 

I made this quick and easy jelly at the end of Hatch chile season, so I either have to wait until next year or use Anaheim chiles to make another batch.

In the last hatch chile pepper jelly I made, I found some red chiles to give some interesting color, but this time I made sure to get the classic green for a monochromatic tribute. In addition, this jelly is nothing but hatch; no apricot, no onion, just chiles! The short cooking time allows the pepper to retain their crunch in the jelly.

If you've ever found yourself pondering what you could possibly do with a hot and sweet pepper spread besides over toast, I have some suggestions below:

Interesting twist on a quesadilla: spread some jelly on the inside of a tortilla, top with shredded cheese and meat of your choice, and grill until melted. I did this for my habanero gold jelly and made a quesadilla with leftover rotisserie chicken and cheddar.

Heat it up and swipe it over grilled meats right at the end of cooking: Grilled fish, poultry, and red meats will all benefit. Great when making grilled fish tacos!

Quick and easy appetitizer: Top crackers or toast with goat cheese and pepper jelly. Also good with cream cheese.

Fired up? Let's make some hatch chile jelly!

Hatch Chile Apricot Jelly

I've got that canning and preserving bug again. I will never understand what compels me to spend most of the day chopping and boiling fruits and veggies to get a couple jars of preserves. I think it is reading too much Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Or maybe it is the almost magic process that allows such perishable and seasonal goods such as fresh Hatch chiles to be shelf stable and able to be given away as gifts.

After all, I couldn't do just one Hatch chile recipe for the season!

I debated on how I wanted to preserve the chiles. I could pickle them, made a jelly with their juices, or make a simple jam with just the chiles. After some thought, I decided. My family and friends enjoyed the Habanero Gold preserves so much, I decided to make a Hatch Chile edition. This one will be milder without the habanero, but I made sure to get a couple hot Hatches to throw in the mix!

The very cute ball jar in the pictures are courtesy of an anonymous family member, who returned the baskets from my mother's day preserves at my mother's doorstep with a four pack of them.

Grandpa's Pickled Beet Eggs

It's time for another canning recipe! This one is super easy because it requires no water bath or any fancy ingredients like pectin, because these go in the refrigerator to mature. But first, let me tell you a story about what inspired this post.

My maternal grandpa is the most important person in my life. He and my grandmother raised me in elementary school while my parents worked full time and often went on long business trips.  They visited twice weekly even when my mom started telecommuting and working part time, picking us up from school and going to every single school function K through 12. My grandparents even gave my brother and I the money for our college educations.

Now, I know everyone claims their grandfathers were the strongest, smartest, coolest person they knew, walking 5 miles uphill both ways in the snow to school every day.

No bullshit, my grandpa is the strongest, smartest, coolest person I know.

Chocolate Berry Jam

Continuing my obsession with words, this recipe was originally called "Sundae in a Jar" which I took issue with. I've never had a sundae with raspberries in it. I think of sundae flavor principles as chopped peanuts, whipped cream, maraschino cherries and hot fudge. So I changed this to "Chocolate Berry Jam" because it has nothing to do with sundaes. Although I encourage you to make this yourself, and see if you disagree.

Using fresh strawberries, from Manassero's Farms of course, this is easily my new favorite preserve. It is so bright and fresh, like all good berry jams, but the chocolate brings it to a new level. I want to spoon it over angel food cake and top it with fresh berries. Or just eat it with a spoon. I'm down with that too. Or in a chocolate layer cake! Literally I have been wanting to stuff this in everything. I did not even know chocolate liqueur existed! I ended up going to Bevmo to find it, because Stater Brother's didn't have any chocolate liqueur. I must have expensive taste, because this jam is not only my new favorite preserve, but wins the award for the most expensive. The liqueur alone was 30 dollars!  However, I have plenty more liqueur to make more, since it only has a little bit mixed in this recipe.

Hapa Farm Girl: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling

For my next installment of my kinda weekly Hapa Farm Girl edition: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling. Rhubarb is a funny plant, which looks like celery only with a bit of red.

As I mentioned in my Egg Edition of Hapa Farm Girl, my parents have a partial acre that they have horses, chickens, and pooches on, in addition to an orange orchard and garden. In my teens, I planted a rhubarb crown. Now rhubarb is usually grown in places like Washington, because it needs cooler weather to thrive. Here in Southern California, it is usually grown as an annual during winter and spring because the summers and fall are too hot.

Mother's Day White Zinfandel Jelly

I made this jelly in honor of my boyfriend's mother, who loves white zinfandel.  I joke that she doesn't actually eat, but is more like an air fern, requiring nothing but light water and air.  As long as she has plenty of fans around for fresh air, she can live off coffee and wine.  Plus it was a cool unique jelly for everyone else who actually needs to eat. >.<

This jelly is really simple, and I suggest it to anyone who is starting out canning.  Which reminds me, I found a great article on canning basics, because I really don't want to go into the process of water baths and all that. Melissa from Serious Eats wrote A Beginner's Guide to Canning that I think will be very helpful, and is also pretty informative.

Mother's Day Habanero Gold

My mother used to grow lots of peppers in her garden.  Jalapenos, teeny tiny hot peppers, and most infamously, the habanero.  My mom's habaneros were giant blistering balls of sun just waiting to scorch anyone silly enough to try them.  Needless to say, the possums and skunks left them alone.  During a party as a very small kid, I ate a bite of habanero to impress the big kids who were crying over the wimpy little hot peppers. The first bite was pretty damn hot, but the second bite I hit a seed. I was too young for me to remember this, but apparently I started screaming bloody murder.  Enough stories like these, and even I am amazed I survived childhood without accidentally killing myself.

Mother's Day Pomegranate Jelly

For Mother's Day, I made an assortment of jellies. The first I made was pomegranate jelly.

I have an obsession with preserving and canning. I first made marmalade in elementary school for the county fair (in 4-H, natch!) and I was fascinated by being able to take a perishable fruit and turn it into something shelf stable for up to a year! It was more like magic than any other cooking I had done previously. Since then, I have had my fair share of mishaps. From marmalade that refused to jell and stayed a syrup, to making pints and pints of peach pie filling because my mom bought a huge load of amazing peaches at the farmer's market and then went on vacation (stickiest mess ever), I've done it all. Except killed anyone from botulism or food poisoning. /high five