Brown Butter Banana, Date and Miso Bread.
A baked treat to nibble on while I plan our Japan adventure.
I’ve been elbow deep in travel books these last few weeks. It’s very old school of me but for the first time in my digital life the breadth of information on the google wheel was overwhelming.
We’re off to Japan! It’s quite the popular destination for Australian travellers at the moment, the hot destination with a favourable exchange rate, an uncommon bonus for us Aussies of late. It offers all the travel experiences we want when venturing overseas, all the ones that transport you outside your comfort zone and the familiar. Amazing food, culture completely different from our own and architecture both modern and historic, all breathtaking and seemingly on every corner. And the photography opportunities!!! I can’t wait! But where to go and what to do? These are the questions I struggle to answer.
Turning to a collection of travel books seemed like the only alternative, orderly and curated they offer me refuge inside their pages and a way forward to carve a path through building a plan, I do love a plan. The internet feels like what I imagine being dropped in Tokyo with no research would feel like, people, lights and movement in every direction and us caught in the rush with no idea which way is up a Shibuya Crossing of the mind almost. So old school it is, Lonely Planet, and beautiful, thoughtfully curated guidebooks. Trouble is the more I read the more I want to see and longer I want to stay. Sadly, however, two weeks is all we have so our planning remains restricted to three destinations.
As with many things in life when we feel stuck or the like we turn to food otherwise known as stress eating. Now I’m the first to admit that this dilemma is absolutely a first world problem, we’re very lucky to be able to consider a holiday let alone have the ‘problem’ of where to go. I’ve not travelled overseas for nearly 30 years. I never imagined on the plane home from that last trip, to Canada for our honeymoon if you’re wondering, would be the last for nearly three decades but time flies, mortgages demand our attention and life moves fast so here we are. Here we are with an opportunity to flap our wings again and take advantage of a ‘hot’ destination. Yet the dilemma remains, so where else to start when trying to understand a ’new’ place and its culture but food.
Japan feels mysterious and mystical. Ancient temples tower over modern cities perched high atop elegantly landscaped hilltops. Traditional ways meld with a fast, modern yet orderly society with some of the most densely populated cities on earth operating like well mannered and well oiled machines. I’m trying to absorb and understand the culture with a plethora of recommendations to plunge into from films to literature and everything in between but as you’d expect I’ve started in the kitchen. I’ve been cooking Japanese meals, reading about the café culture (I can’t wait to find a cat café) tea ceremonies and the influence of other cultures on the evolution of Japanese cuisine. It’s always a joy to me to experiment with new ingredients and learn about their uses and history. Once more familiar with their flavours, how they interact and their uses I particularly enjoy experimenting with them in my own recipes and creations creating my own fusion of sorts.
One I’ve used for a while is miso. I played with white miso in these cookies which I still love and sometimes stir it through many other dishes to add a salty umamai layer but I’ve only tried white miso until now. I avoided red miso, I’m not sure why, but was somewhat scared of it thinking it would be too strong and spoil something. Recently however I made a sauce which specified red miso and was thrilled with flavour and began imagining how I could use it in more ways in my own cooking.
As is often the case, ingredients in need of use were my starting point. Old bananas ripe for baking and a need for a baked treat while reading those travel books seemed like a reasonable launch pad. Banana bread can do well with some salty caramel like characteristics so in came miso paste, some dates and maple syrup to boost some brown sugar and browned butter. My travelling companion thinks it’s my best banana bread yet, let’s see if it’s as good as some of the baked treats in those cute cafes in Japan.
Ingredients:
110 gm butter
275 gm flour
1 ¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
3 very ripe bananas mashed
2 eggs
1 ½ tb miso paste, I’ve used red but white is fine too
100 gm brown sugar
2 Tb/40 ml maple syrup (honey is fine if that’s all you have)
6 medjool dates pitted and chopped
Method:
Preheat oven to 180c, grease and line a loaf tine base measurements 9cm x 19cm.
In a small saucepan brown your butter, then pour into a small bowl to allow it to cool to room temperature. If you’ve not tried this before it’s simply melting butter over a medium-high heat until the milk solids separate and effectively caramelise giving the melted liquid a nut brown colour.
While the butter’s cooling whisk together flour, baking powder and cinnamon set aside.
Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment fitted, combine eggs, sugar and maple syrup and mix on medium speed until well combined and starting to thicken and slightly foamy. Next add the cooled butter and miso and increase speed one notch to med-high and mix until frothy and lighter in colour.
Remove bowl and fold in dry ingredients and dates folding gently until just combine. Gently tip into the prepared tin, smooth out surface and pop in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. When cooked leave in the tin for five minutes then, using baking paper, lift loaf from tin and allow to cool. Slather slices with butter and enjoy!
Finds & Foray’s
Reading:
~Emiko Davies beautiful ode to ‘everyday japanese cooking’ Gohan. Her transportive narratives together with easy traditional recipes is the best holiday preparation.
~The Condiment Book by Claire Dinhut. As someone who dubbed ‘the condiment queen’ by friends I was always going to buy and love this book. Another one delving into history whilst offering suggestions for uses of a collection of favourite condiments, recipes to try making them yourself and a bunch of tips and hints to enhance your condiment life.
Eating:
~ Lots of Japanese dishes many adorned with the afore mentioned sweet chilli miso. Scroll down the link, it’s ¾ of the way down and very addictive. Well worth a try as is Cibi if you’re in Melbourne.
~Jam after this weekend. I have a bowl of peaches on the bench awaiting ‘jamming’ as Sophie Hansen puts it in this weeks edition of What Should I Cook This Weekend? I’ve tried her Peach and Vanilla Jam and it’s a goody, I cant wait to tuck away a few jars in my pantry.
Wishing you a delicious weekend friends,
S x