Ginkgo Dreams - Celebrating Ginkgo

Stanley at Wery Nice offers the following method for preparing ginkgo nuts for desserts:

You can use the canned version (in water), or those still in shell purchased in the supermarkets or the dried food stalls (干粮) stalls found in China Town, and in Singapore, Waterloo Street Market (四马路), Hong Lim or any branches of the Chinese medicine stalls in most shopping centers（like 福华 or 正中平）.  You have to de-shell it by knocking it with something hard (eg stone pestle) to crack the shell, and then peel off the brown skin (boiling it lightly helps to remove it easily).  If you use canned version, drain away the water.

Put the nuts in pot, and cover it with just enough water to cover all the nuts.  Add in lots of raw sugar (or white sugar, but I prefer the raw sugar), about half the amount of the nuts in volume (approximately, the exact amount is not very crucial, as we just need it to be extremely sweet to allow the nut to absorb).  Leave it to boil for 15-20 mins. Cover and leave it for at least 12 hours (prepare this the night before you need it the next day).  Scoop out and drain off the sugar solution.  Set aside to be added into your desserts like 清汤，腐竹糖水，莲子糖水。

Do not pour away the sugar solution; it can be re-used to sweeten the desserts that you will be cooking anyway.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Ingredients (serves 2) ° 100g rice, washed and drained ° 15 ginkgo nuts, halved ° 60g taro, peeled and diced ° 20g beancurd sheet, washed and shredded ° 1.2 litres water ° 1 thin slice ginger (optional), ° salt, to taste ° light soy sauce, to taste ° sesame oil, to taste ° pepper, to taste ° a small handful fresh coriander leaves, for garnish Method 1. Put the rice, taro, ginkgo nuts, beancurd sheet, ginger, mushrooms and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired. 2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Re-boil the congee for few minutes prior to serving. To thicken the congee, mix 1-2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour with 4 tablespoons of water and stir into the congee, if desired. Season with salt, light soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper. 3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls, garnish with corianders leaves and serve hot.

Recipe courtesy of Crystal at The Modern VEGETARIAN - Recipes.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

From eBay.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Ingredients :  113g superior Ginyi Bird’s Nest soaked until soft 19g American Ginseng 19g Gingko Rock sugar to taste 6 cups hot water Methods : 1. Wash & soak American Ginseng 2. Break & peel clean gingko 3. Double boil American ginseng, gingko and rock sugar with 6 cups of hot water 4. Add in bird’s nest after 1 hour of double boil again for 1½ hours.

From Ginyi.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Ingredients: (makes a large pot of soup) 2 can creamed sweetcorn 150 gm ginko 150 gm water chestnut, finely diced 2 blocks fresh soft tofu (about 400 gm) 1.5-2 ltr water (depending on how watery you want it to be) 20-30 tbsp sugar (or to taste) Method: 1. Mix sweetcorn, ginko, water chestnuts, water and sugar. Bring to boil and let it simmmer for 15 minutes or so. Let it cool down. 2. Prior to serving, blend beancurds with a little bit of water) until mashed. (Run the beancurd through boiling water before this step) 3. Pour into the sweetcorn mixture. Add in some ice and eat it cold. Note: Will use “Tau Fu Fah” instead of soft beancurd to see if it yields better results.

Recipe courtesy Little Beancurd.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

While this isn’t the first recipe for Buddha’s Delight featured at Ginkgo Dreams, it’s the first meant to be served as a cold salad.

* 1 cup baby bok choy or bok choy hearts * 1/3 cup bean sprouts, brown tips removed * 4 slices peeled lotus root, cut crosswise to ¼ inch thickness * ¼ cup canned gingko nuts, drained * 1 cup trimmed sugar snap peas * ¼ cup dried wood ear mushrooms, soaked in hot tap water until softened, drained, and torn in half * ¼ cup canned straw mushrooms, drained * ¼ cup dried lily buds, soaked in hot tap water until softened, drained * 1/3 cup sliced water chestnuts * ¼ of a small red bell pepper, seeds and ribs discarded, cut into strips about 1½ inches long and ¼ inch wide * 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil * 2 scallions, white part only, trimmed and sliced diagonally into ¼ inch pieces * 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and sliced ޠinch thick * 2 tablespoons soy sauce * 1 tablespoon sugar * 1 tablespoon Chinese black or balsamic vinegar Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the bok choy and cook for 10 seconds. Then add the bean sprouts and lotus root, and cook for 5 seconds. Add the gingko nuts, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, dried lily buds, water chestnuts, and bell pepper. Return to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Drain in a colander. Run cold water over the vegetables for 3 minutes. Place the colander on a plate or bowl to catch the excess water, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Heat a large wok over high heat. Add the sesame oil, then the scallions and garlic, and stir-fry just until the garlic is fragrant without turning brown, about 10 seconds. Transfer to a small bowl. Place the chilled vegetables in a serving bowl. Add the sesame oil mixture to the vegetables. Combine the soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and pour over the vegetables. Toss well, and serve immediately. Servings: 4 to 6.

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

From Michael Tong’s The Shun Lee Cookbook: Recipes from a Chinese Restaurant Dynasty.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Ingredients 1 or 2 sticky white potatos 2 tablespoons of Kuzu 2 cloud ear mushrooms 1 Shiitake mushroom 1-2 carrots carved into mini flowers 1 rape blossoms 1 dried scallop Suitable amount of bean-shaped Fu, (a type of wheat gluten (red)), sugar, soy sauce, egg white, Yuzu, a Japanese citrus, and ginkgo nuts. #1 Cut the top and bottom sides of potatoes and peel. Boil potatoes in a pan. Drain and mash potatoes. Shred cloud ear mushrooms. Mix mashed potatoes with cloud ear mushrooms, ginkgo nut, egg white and thickener. Then make a small ball. #2 Boil shiitake mushroom in syrup adding sugar and soy sauce to taste, boil carrot and rape blossoms. #3 Add sugar, soy sauce and Kuzu into dried scallop soup stock. Serve #1 and #2 in the bowl, top with the thick soup and shredded Japanese citrus.

Source: Hongo Group

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Ingredients: 1 pig’s tripe 1/2 chicken, cut to pieces 20 gingko nuts, blanched 2 tbsp white pepercorns, crushed 2 litres water 1 tsp salt, or to taste Method: 1.  Wash inside and outside of pig’s tripe with a handful of salt and 5 to 6 pieces of cut limes.  Wash till it is no longer slimy to the touch.  Drain.  Blanch with boiling water and repeat process with salt and limes.  When done, blanch again with boiling water and drain. 2.  Bring 2 litres of water to a boil.  Add in the pig’s tripe and crushed peppercorns.  Cover and simmer for 1 to 11/2 hour till tripe is tender.  Add in chicken and simmer for another 1/2 hour or till chicken is tender. 3.  Remove tripe and cut into bit-sized pieces.  Return tripe slices to the soup and add in the gingko nuts.  Boil for another 10-15 minutes. 4.  Season with salt to taste.

Recipe courtesy of Rose’s Kitchen.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Ingredients 1 arrowroot 500g pork ribs 100g gingko nuts, shelled 8 red dates, stoned 2 litres water Seasoning 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon light soya sauce Method 1.  Wash and scrub arrowroots till clean.  Cut into thick pieces. 2.  Scale pork ribs with hot water and rinse. 3.  Bring 2 litres water to a boil.  Add in arrowroot, red dates and gingko nuts.  Boil over high flame for 15 minutes.  Lower flame and simmer soup for 3 hours. 4.  Season with salt and light soya sauce to taste.

From Rose’s Kitchen. Used by permission.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

From eBay.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Want something different with your ramen noodles? Try Danesh‘s version:

I made the broth last night by slow cooking a chicken breast with soy beans, fresh corn and an onion. 12 hours. I had to resist the temptation not to slurp up the soup… it smelled just wonderful. With no skin and no salt, much better than canned chicken broth by miles! Boiled it, added ginkgo nuts (good for your memory if I remember correctly), organic ramen, salmon and plenty of spinach. I added a dash of chilli flavoured sesame oil, white pepper and fried shallots to finish and serve.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Ingredients 600 pig’s fore trotters 150g black beans 15 pieces gingko nuts 50g ginger, sliced Seasoning 2 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp salt ½ tsp chicken stock granules 1 cup rice wine Method 1.  Cut trotter into bite-sized pieces, wash and marinate with some salt for 15 minutes.  Blanch them in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes.  Wash and drain. 2.  Stir-fry black beans till fragrant, add sliced ginger, pork trotter, gingko nuts and seasoning and stir well.  Add 5 bowls of water and boil for 1-2 hours till meat is tender.

Recipe courtesy of Rose’s Kitchen.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Rose of Rose’s Kitchen has kindly allowed us to republish this recipe here.

Ingredients

100g broccoli
100g cauliflower
30g carrots
8 button mushrooms
8 straw mushrooms
15 gingko nuts
5 slices ginger

Seasoning

1½ tablespoons oyster sauce
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sesame oil
⅛ teaspoon pepper
1 rice bowl water

Thickening

1 teaspoon cornflour
1 tablespoon water

Method

1.  Cut broccoli and cauliflower into bit-size pieces, rinse and blanch in boiling salted water for a second. Remove and drain well.

2.  Heat 2 tablespoons oil and fry ginger slices till fragrant, add in gingko nuts, carrots and mushrooms. Stir-fry till aromatic.

3.  Add in water and seasoning. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until the gravy is almost thick. Add in blanched broccoli and cauliflower pieces, stir-fry for a while then thicken with a little cornflour solution.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

saresha kindly shares her recipe for chawanmushi. (If I were making this at home, I would likely use ramekins in place of actual chawan or coffee mugs, because I have a pile of ramekins. Although chawan would be nice to have.)

Ingredients

For the custard:

4 eggs / 5 eggs / 6 eggs
2½ cups / 3⅛ cups / 3¾ cups dashi (warm water + dashi powder to taste) or chicken stock
2 teaspoons / 2½ teaspoons / 3 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon / 1¼ teaspoons / 1½ teaspoons mirin (sweet Japanese rice cooking wine)

Other ingredients

Whole peeled prawns and/or scallops sprinkled with sake
Small cubes or thin slices of chicken sprinkled with soy sauce
Thin slices of kamaboko (Japanese fish cake)
Mushrooms (enoki, dobin, shiitake cooked in dashi with soy sauce and mirin)
Ginkgo nuts (cooked)
Thin strips of spinach or lemon rind for decorating on top

Procedure

1. Add all the custard ingredients except the eggs to the dashi. A little of this can be used to cook the mushrooms and/or gingko. Put the cooked mushrooms and/or gingko aside and return the remaining dashi to the bowl.

2. Break the eggs into a large bowl. Beat them lightly to avoid bubbling.

3. Pour the warm (not hot) dashi into the eggs and mix. Strain through a sieve.

4. Line up the chawan. Chawan are small ceramic cups with lids. If you don’t have chawan, you can use ordinary coffee mugs.

Distribute the other ingredients at the bottom of the cups. Don’t try to fill the cups, just leave some nice surprises.

Pour the egg mixture into each cup, leaving about a quarter inch at the top. Criss-cross a couple of thin strips of spinach on top of the egg mixture then cover each cup with a piece of foil or the lid.

5. In a wide pot big enough to hold all the cups, boil about 1”-2” of water, about half the height of the cups.

6. When the water boils, place the cups in, lower the heat to medium low. Cover the pot and steam until the custard has set (i.e. a bamboo skewer will come out clean) – about 10–15 minutes. Leave lids on until ready to eat.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Ginkgo cookie cutter from BG Shop (probably not an option if you don’t live in Japan).

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

I found a fascinating collection of ginkgo papers at Urban Forestry South Expo. Each is written by Kim D. Coder, professor of community forestry and arboriculture at the Warnell School of Forest Resources at the University of Georgia. The documents include:

• Ginkgo Seed Collection and Preparation
• Ginkgo: Eldest Tree Survivor
• Identification and Silvics of Ginkgo
• Selected Ginkgo Forms and Cultivars

I’ve found some interesting tidbits that I’ll share later.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Ingredients

• 100g ginkgo nuts, shelled and membranes removed
• 20g white fungus, soaked
• 1 tbsp sweet almonds
• 1 tbsp bitter almonds
• 100g rock sugar
• 750ml water
• 1 old coconut (cut the upper part and keep as a lid)

Method

Remove hard tissues from soaked white fungus and cut into small pieces. Parboil in hot water, then rinse and drain. Parboil ginkgo nuts, then drain.

Combine rock sugar and water and bring to a boil until sugar dissolves.

Put all the ingredients in the old coconut. Cover with the cut-out lid and steam for about one and a half to two hours. Serve warm.

Amy Beh’s recipe is available at Kuali.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Epicurious offers a recipe for Buddha’s Delight. Those nuts are coming down around here, and one might as well put them to good use.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

...or something like that. Photo courtesy of rinux.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

The “Hassun” portion of the bento. This is also commonly seen in “kaiseki’’ Japanese course meals. It is usually a collection of hor d’oeuvres that represent the current season and different food groups (e.g. seafood, poultry, vegetables, fried foods, etc…)

In this bento, the hassun contains salted salmon roe, fried gingko nuts, prawns breaded with shredded wonton skins and deep-fried, miso-coated broiled salmon, dashi-maki omelettes and miscellaneous autumnal garnish.

Text and image courtesy of panduh.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Obachan kindly shares a recipe for horoku-yaki. She tells me that this dish is more commonly eaten in autumn and winter.

Sounds like just the thing in a month or so.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

More than once, while living in Korea, I ate at Sanchon. Sanchon serves Korean temple food, which is entirely vegetarian. Although not a vegetarian myself, I lived among many of them, so it was an easy choice when entertaining visitors from out of the country.

Sanchon publishes recipes lacking in ingredient amounts and full directions on its site, including this one for ginkgo nut rice, known as 은행 밥 (eunhaeng bap) in Korean. Use your best judgment and enjoy the results.

Material gingko nuts, soil dureup (edible shoots of a fatsia), rice and seasoned soy sauce (soy sauce, parched sesame, and sesame oil) How to cook 1) Boil gingko nuts, which are peeled off, together with rice. 2) When the rice boils, put edible shoots of fatsia in them, and boil them again. 3) When the rice is boiled, mix them well, add seasoned soy sauce and serve them.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Design A Cake Online offers a ginkgo leaf veiner.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Ingredients 1 fresh frozen abalone 100g fresh scallops 100g gingko nuts, shelled and skinned 1 kampung chicken, skinned and halved 1/2 tsp white peppercorns 3 pips garlic, unskinned 2 litres water Seasoning Salt to taste Sugar to taste Method To prepare fresh frozen abalone, thaw abalone in the refrigerator. Scrub off all slime and dirt. Put in a saucepan of clear clean water and cook for 15 minutes. Remove and steep in cold water for 30 minutes. Bring water to a boil. Add chicken, garlic and peppercorns and cook until it comes to a boil again. Reduce the heat, add gingko nuts and simmer soup gently for 30 to 40 minutes. Add abalone and scallops. Simmer soup gently for 20 to 30 minutes over low heat. Remove abalone and slice into thin slices before serving.

Recipe by Amy Beh.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

obachan makes mukago takikomi gohan.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

2 cups cooked rice 2 eggs, beaten vegetable or peanut oil Greens from one bunch (about 3-5) beets, washed very well One block tofu (12-16 oz) 1/2 cup ginkgo nuts 1 Tbsp minced ginger 1 Tbsp minced garlic 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper or minced fresh chili or to taste 1 green onion, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds 1 Tbsp rice cooking wine 2 Tbsp soy sauce 1 tsp sesame oil 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. 2. Add the beet greens and blanche them for about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drani again and then set them aside. 3. Heat a wok over very high heat until it is extremely hot. 4. Swirl about 1 Tbsp of oil into the wok and then pour in the eggs. Let them cook omelette style for about one minute, then turn and scramble so they cook through. Remove the eggs from the wok and set aside. 5. Reheat the wok. (You may need to wipe it with paper towels to get it clean). Mix the soy sauce and cooking wine together. 6. Swirl a tablespoon of oil into the wok. Once it’s hot, add the ginger, garlic and pepper and sitir-fry for about twenty seconds. Add the beet greens and the ginkgo nuts and cook until they’re done: about 2-3 minutes. 7. Add the rice and stir-fry until it’s heated through. Pour the soy sauce and rice wine mixture over the rice and stir until it’s mixed through. 8. Stir in the eggs, sesame oil and green onion and remove from the heat. 9. Serve in small bowls with soy and chili sauce on the side. Enjoy!

Recipe via Film Stock.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

INGREDIENTS

  * 4 dried Shiitake or Chinese black mushrooms
  * 1/2 cup dried lily buds
  * 4 dried bean curd sticks
  * 8 ounces bamboo shoots
  * 6 fresh water chestnuts
  * 2 large carrots
  * 1 cup shredded Napa cabbage
  * 4 ounces snow peas
  * 1/4 cup canned gingko nuts
  * 1 knuckle of ginger, crushed
  * Sauce:
  * 4 tablespoons reserved mushroom soaking liquid or vegetable stock
  * 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
  * 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  * 1 teaspoon sugar
  * 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  * Other:
  * Vegetable or peanut oil for stir-frying, as needed
  * Salt, Accent or MSG to taste

PREPARATION

1. In separate bowls, soak the mushrooms, dried lily buds, and dried bean curd sticks in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes to soften. Squeeze out any excess liquid. Reserve the mushroom soaking liquid, straining it if necessary to remove any grit. Remove the stems and cut the mushroom tops in half if desired.
2. Slice the bamboo shoots. Peel and finely chop the water chestnuts. Peel the carrots, cut in half, and cut lengthwise into thin strips. Shred the Napa cabbage. String the snow peas and cut in half. Drain the gingko nuts. Crush the ginger.
3. Combine the reserved mushroom soaking liquid or vegetarian stock with the Chinese rice wine or sherry, dark soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Set aside.
4. Heat the wok over medium-high to high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil to the heated wok.
5. When the oil is hot, add the carrots. Stirfry for 1 minute, and add the dried mushrooms and lily buds. Stir-fry for 1 minute, and add the water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, snow peas and ginger. Stir in the shredded cabbage and gingko nuts. Add the bean curd sticks.
6. Add the sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover, turn down the heat and let the vegetables simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and add salt or other seasonings as desired. Serve hot.

Via Jade Lion’s Garden Cafe.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Try Kevin Cox’s recipe for chicken with ginkgo:

The half of a chicken consisting of the legs wings and back were cut into bite sized pieces. The back bones were boiled in water to make a stock. This was strained and cooked further with Chinese spinach. At the end a piece of fresh tofu was added. This was served as a side soup.

Broccoli with some of the stock was stir fried as another dish.

The main dish was prepared by steaming the chicken, gingko nuts, fungus and mushrooms. Once this was cooked then shallots, finely sliced ginger, finely sliced fresh chilies were added and steamed a little longer.

The dishes were served with white rice.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

Via Real Japan:

This is hors d’ oeuvre served at a hot spring hotel in Japan. It created an atmosphere of autumn. You can find two ginkgo leaves changed color were made of sweet potato.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

A brief visit last evening to my local ginkgo trees told me that the season of ginkgo nuts has passed. While I don’t have any first-hand knowledge this year, in the past I have seen small groups of middle-aged Korean women collecting the nuts.

Dover describes her own autumn ginkgo nut-gathering expedition. She also links to a page that describes the ginkgo nut roasting process. When I first visited the page, there were instructions (albeit in Japanese), but the pictures are descriptive.

Posted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg

A delicious way to enjoy matsutake mushroom soup is to cook individual servings in small pots which look just like small teapots, or dobin. These pots are actually designed expressly for this kind of soup. The soup contains many other ingredients as well, such as seasonal nuts and seafood. And all these ingredients cooperate to produce a perfect balance in the taste of the soup.

4 servings

3½ cups dashi stock
1 tablespoon sake
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon shoyu
12 gingko nuts
3 fillets of chicken, strings removed and cut into bite-sized pieces
14 shrimp, shelled and deveined with tails on
1 matsutake mushroom, sliced thinly and stem tip removed
4 sprigs mitsuba trefoil, cut into 3 cm/1 inch lengths
4 pieces maple-shaped yuzu citrus rind

Read the rest »

1. Combine stock, sake, salt and shoyu in a pot and bring to a boil, so salt dissolves.

2. Crack gingko nuts individually with a garlic press, taking care so as not to crush the nut meat, and remove the shells. Place the shelled gingko nuts in a shallow pan and add cold water to cover. Cook over medium heat, stirring the nuts and pressing them lightly with a slotted ladle to remove the skin. Drain the nuts.

3. In individual pots* for dobin mushi, place gingko nuts, chicken meat, shrimp and mushroom slices, and fill with the soup. Set each pot on a burner, bring to a boil and cook 1 more minute. Top with trefoil and yuzu rind, cover the pots and serve immediately.

*About dobin-mushi pots
The specially designed pot for dobin-mushi looks just like a small teapot. However, on top of the lid of the pot, there is a small inverted saucer. When you “drink” the soup, you use the small saucer as a soup bowl. When you want to eat the soup ingredients, you just remove the lid and eat them with chopsticks.

Recipe from Simple and Delicious Japanese Cooking.