Winter Moon Noodles

Cool foods in summer, simply prepared, and served casually, make it possible for us to survive this extraordinary heat.
Cooking once for two meals, planned leftovers, makes the time spent in the kitchen efficient. Sandwiches come to mind as a second chance meal. And noodles are quick to prepare and easily transform a meat dish into a lovely soup or salad sort of meal very different from the original.
Lunch is something to look forward to at work, a convivial gathering to tell stories, jokes, and a bit of light gossip, as well as a time to eat. My workplace is dangerously near to Zingerman’s excellent but expensive food, so I try to bring something from home, usually leftovers. There are times when dinner was so delicious that there is nothing left for lunch, so I gave these noodles a try hoping they would be a pantry staple for a quick to fix packable zap-able meal.
Miso soup is simple, a blank palette, which can be transformed with the addition of extra ingredients. When choosing the gu for your miso, think about contrasting colors, whether ingredients float or sink, strong flavors and bland; think about seasonal ingredients; most important: please your palate!
These are cabbage rolls with the Japanese flavors of saké, soy sauce, ginger, dashi, and mirin from the book Practical Japanese Cooking by Shizuo Tsuji.
I’ll say that it’s surprising that cabbage is an integral ingredient of Japanese home cooking.
And it is very tasty.
Noodles—quick convenient comfort, ease and pleas-ing, satisfaction certain, and fine when cooking for me. While Mr. Tess was working in New York during the past two weeks, my meals centered on this flour and water paste: a blank canvas each time, with a palette of possibilities. Here is a selection of options to stimulate your imagination—the small pictures link to recipes which I’ve written about in the last year or so. And finally a tuna salad with echoes of Japanese flavors.
I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them.”
— Oscar Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest)
Jajamen is a recipe which came to Japan from China through Morioka city, the center of Iwate Prefecture. Morioka is famous for three major meins(麺(noodle dishes): wanko soba, Morioka reimen and Morioka jajamen: fat hot udon noodles with minced cucumber, leek and special miso.
Diners add vinegar, chili oil and garlic as they like. After eating, raw egg and reserved udon water are added with several seasonings. This is called Chiitan. (scroll down to see the pictures)