It is said that the soul of a risotto is its stock. I have to confess, I don’t really heed the advice implied in this little adage, usually opting for bouillon cubes or concentrated dashi rather than homemade stock. I mean, can you blame me? Stock takes time to make from scratch, and besides, rarely do I have the requisite carcasses tucked away in the icebox.

But yesterday I cooked a duck. I smoked it; tea-smoked it, to be precise. It was rather nice, but it wasn’t perfect and the recipe wasn’t an original, so I’m not going to post it. Anyway, at the end of the meal I was left with a duck carcass, still heavy with delicious meat and fat (because I sucked at carving it), so I decided to make a stock. And what better use of stock is there than possessing a risotto? None. There is no better use.

I have to say, the risotto was not noticeably better or more savory than other risottos I’ve made with store-bought stocks, and it wasn’t even particularly ducky. It was very good, though; on a whim, I threw in some pickled ginger that really sung a lovely, sweet-and-sour harmony with the rich tones of duck and Pleasant Ridge Reserve (quite possibly my favorite cheese). The Brazil nuts were a nice touch as well, lending a firm crunch and a mellow coconutty flavor.

Duck and Brazil Nut Risotto

For the stock:

1 duck carcass, roughly chopped
1 onion, halved
1/2 cup red wine
1 inch ginger
2 cloves garlic
about 1 gallon water
salt
pepper

1. Put everything in a large stockpot and boil over medium-high heat for about 3 and a half hours, or until stock is dark brown and flavorful.
2. Strain and refrigerate until ready to use.

1/2 shallot, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
about 2 tablespoons beni shoga (red pickled ginger)
8-10 Brazil nuts, chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
1 cup red wine
about 6 cups duck stock (substitute a mix of beef and chicken stock)
3/4 stalk celery, sliced
about 1 cup duck meat, chopped or pulled (I used the bits stuck to the bones after I pulled them from the stock)
1/2 cup Gruyere or similar cheese
olive oil
salt
pepper

1. Bring stock to a simmer.
2. Heat olive oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Sauté onions with salt and pepper until translucent. Add shallots, beni shoga, and Brazils and sauté until shallots are translucent.
3. Add rice and stir well to coat with oil. Increase heat and keep stirring to toast grains.
4. When rice turns opaque, add half the wine, then reduce heat back to medium-high.
5. Add a ladleful of stock and cook, stirring often. When most of the liquid has evaporated or been absorbed, add more stock and continue stirring. Repeat this step several times until rice has nearly finished cooking.
6. After about 10-15 minutes, add celery.
7. Once rice is al dente, add duck meat and a small amount of stock and fold into risotto.
8. Add cheese and remaining wine. Stir to melt cheese evenly and cook away remaining liquid.

After a long hiatus, New Risotto Sunday returns! It has been a while since I have had the free time, not to mention the inclination to make a new risotto, but as I am currently unemployed and residing with my parents, I really have little better to do.

Today’s risotto was based on a package of buckwheat seeds that I bought at an omiyage stand in Oita two months ago. Along with a tin of saffron and a jar of yuzu-kosho, it was one of few foodstuffs I actually salvaged during my massive apartment cleanout in Japan. And I’m glad I did; the buckwheat was very nice in the risotto, lending a springy texture and mild nuttiness. Inspired by some buckwheat blinis with lox and creme fraiche I saw on TV, I rounded out the dish with salty flakes of smoked salmon and a dollop of tangy chevre.

Buckwheat and Smoked Salmon Risotto

1 cup whole buckwheat seeds
1/2 cup Arborio rice
about 6 cups chicken, seafood, or vegetable stock
about 10 cherry tomatoes
1/4 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
juice of 1 lemon
about 1 cup smoked salmon, flaked (don’t use lox, it’s too soft)
1 pinch saffron, crumbled (optional)
about 12 chives, chopped
about 1/4 cup chevre
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
olive oil, for sauteing
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Roast tomatoes, whole, using your preferred method of roasting. Remove and discard skin and reserve juice.
2. Bring stock to a simmer.
3. Heat about two tablespoons olive oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Sauté garlic and onions with salt and white pepper until onions are just translucent. Add rice and buckwheat to the pan and stir well to coat with oil. Increase heat and keep stirring to toast grains.
4. When rice turns opaque, add saffron and half the lemon juice, then reduce heat back to medium.
5. Add a ladleful of stock and cook, stirring often. When most of the liquid has evaporated or been absorbed, add more stock and continue stirring. Repeat this step several times until rice has nearly finished cooking.
6. Add roasted tomatoes, chives, and remaining lemon juice, and cook until liquid is mostly gone.
7. Add cheese, salmon, and a small amount of stock. Stir to melt cheese evenly. Garnish with pine nuts and chives and serve immediately.

But I don’t want to oversell it. Just try it for yourself. I recommend the barleywines that Sprecher and Anchor and Nøgne put out, which are more American than British in style, but not murderously bitter and boozy like some American barleywines (Rogue and Sierra Nevada, I’m looking in your direction).

Anyway, I wanted to make a risotto celebrating this pairing… but I couldn’t find any Stilton at Aeon on Sunday. I substituted Gorgonzola and Cheddar, which worked well, and for the beer I chose Daisen G Beer‘s 2006 barleywine, which at almost two years old was quite malty and sweet – perfect for cooking. Also, I meant to use pearl barley in place of some of the rice but I forgot. Oh well. It was still damn tasty.

Barleywine and Gorgonzola Risotto

about 1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
3/4 apple, peeled and diced
1/4 teaspoon ground bay leaf
about 1/3 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
about 1 cup short-grain rice (up to 1/2 cup can be replaced with pearl barley)
about 1/8 pound bacon or pancetta, cut into small cubes
about 5 cups beef stock
2 tablespoons malt vinegar
1/2 cup English-style barleywine
1/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
olive oil, for sautéing
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add bacon and sauté to render fat until it begins to lightly brown.
2. Add onions, garlic, fennel seeds, salt and pepper. Sauté until onions are soft and translucent.
3. Increase heat and add rice. Stirring often, toast rice until it turns white and opaque.
4. Add vinegar and reduce heat to medium. Cook off vinegar, then add a ladleful of stock and cook, stirring often. When most of the liquid has evaporated or been absorbed, add more stock and continue stirring. Repeat this step several times until rice has nearly finished cooking.
5. About ten minutes into cooking, stir in walnuts.
6. Once rice is almost al dente, add ground bay leaf and barleywine, increase heat and cook off liquid.
7. Add cheeses and stir until completely melted.
8. Finally, add apples and combine well. Serve with additional freshly ground black pepper.

Free glutamates are responsible for umami, the basic taste I have previously discussed here. My goal for tonight’s risotto was to make the most umami-saturated, savory, salty, meaty (yet meatless) and satisfying risotto ever. To this end I employed tomatoes (with 140 milligrams of free glutamates per 100 grams), shōyu, (782 milligrams), Parmesan cheese (1200 milligrams), and of course, Marmite (1960 milligrams). I also used one of the most umami fungi in the forest, porcini mushrooms, along with the juice you get when you rehydrate them – which I have been saving in the freezer for months for a special occasion. I also threw in a splash of the black tea I was drinking (black is the most umami of teas thanks to its fermentation) on a whim.

When I cook, I think of umami as a foundation; a sturdy basement upon which to build a solid home out of other, more up-front flavors. Today I built my home out of garlic, in three forms: sautéed, fried, and roasted. The result was a garlicky-but-not-too-garlicky, sweet and tangy risotto with a deep, subtle stew-like quality punctuated by the lively textures of porcinis and whole tomatoes. Please enjoy.

Triple Garlic Umami Risotto

about 3/4 cup short-grain white rice
about 4 cups liquid reserved from rehydrating dried porcini mushrooms
about 1 1/4 cup beef stock (substitute vegetable stock for a vegetarian version)
1 bulb garlic
2 cloves garlic, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large shallot, minced
about 12 cherry tomatoes
1 handful dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated
about 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons Marmite
2 tablespoons malt vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons black tea
ground white pepper, to taste
salt, to taste
about 3 tablespoons olive oil

1. Roast tomatoes, whole, using your preferred method of roasting. Remove and discard skin and reserve juice.
2. Cut the top off the bulb of garlic, exposing the cloves. Drizzle or brush with olive oil and salt lightly, then roast for about 20 minutes in a 400ºF oven, or until cloves are soft and lightly browned. Let cool and squeeze cloves out of the bulb and set aside.
3. In a medium stock pan, combine porcini liquid, stock, and juice from roast tomatoes. Salt to taste.
4. Heat about two tablespoons olive oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Add sliced garlic and cook until brown and crisp. Remove from oil, drain on paper towel, and reserve.
5. Reheat oil. Sauté minced garlic and shallots with salt and white pepper until shallots are just translucent. Add rice to the pan and stir well to coat with oil. Increase heat and keep stirring to toast rice.
6. When rice turns opaque, add malt vinegar and soy sauce, then reduce heat back to medium.
7. Add a ladleful of stock and cook, stirring often. When most of the liquid has evaporated or been absorbed, add more stock and continue stirring. Repeat this step several times until rice has nearly finished cooking.
8. Add roasted tomatoes, mushrooms, whole roasted garlic cloves, and tea and cook until liquid is mostly gone.
9. Add cheese, Marmite, and a small amount of olive oil. Stir to melt cheese evenly. Garnish with fried garlic chips and serve immediately.

It turned out surprisingly well, with a balanced hotness and juicy tang beneath the soft sweetness of coconut, cashews, and sticky rice.

And now my apartment is ripe with the aroma of kaffir lime. I love it!

Thai Herb and Spice Risotto with Shrimp, Cashews, and Purple Rice

3/4 cup Japanese or Arborio rice
about 6 cups chicken or seafood stock
1 slice dried galangal (about 5 inches long)
peel of 1/2 lime
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/4 cup cashews, whole or roughly chopped
about 1 inch ginger, sliced
about 3/4 tablespoon minced ginger
3 dried Chinese chilies, minced
2 dried Chinese chilies, halved
2 dried kaffir lime leaves
about 1/2 cup Thai basil, torn
juice of 2 limes
about 1 1/2 cups cooked purple rice
about 1/2 cup coconut milk
8 medium prawns, shelled and deveined
vegetable oil, for sautéeing
sesame oil, for sautéing
chili oil, to taste
Chinese five spice powder, to taste (optional)
salt, to taste

1. Prepare stock and bring to a boil. Add galangal, fish sauce, and lime peel and simmer for at least 20 minutes before using. Reduce heat and keep warm throughout cooking.
2. Heat vegetable oil, sesame oil, and chili oil in a large, deep pan. Add minced ginger, minced chilies, and cashews and sauté over medium heat for about 7-8 minutes, or until ginger and cashews begin to brown.
3. Add short-grain rice, increase heat, and stir to coat with oil. Stir often to ensure even toasting.
4. When rice is evenly toasted to opacity, add juice of 1 lime and stir.
5. Add sliced ginger, halved chilies, and kaffir leaves.
6. Reduce heat to medium and add a ladleful of stock, sliced ginger, halved chilies, Thai basil, and kaffir leaves and cook, stirring often. When most of the liquid has evaporated or been absorbed, add more stock and continue stirring. Repeat this step several times until rice has nearly finished cooking.
7. When rice is nearly al dente, remove ginger, chilies, and kaffir.
8. Add coconut milk, five spice, and a final ladleful of stock along with prawns and cook until prawns just turn white on the outside, about 1-2 minutes.
9. Add purple rice and remaining lime juice. Stir well to incorporate. If the risotto is too thin, add more purple rice; if it is too thick, add more coconut milk and stir.
10. Salt to taste and serve garnished with a kaffir lime and an extra drizzle of chili oil. Pairs well with buckwheat tea.

After just reading part one of The Omnivore’s Dilemma this week, maybe I should feel a little guilty about enjoying this corn-packed risotto as much as I did. But then again, I am in Japan, so I’m probably not supporting the disturbingly powerful American corn complex. (Or maybe I am? Who knows where that corn came from!?) At any rate, this risotto was awesome – awesome to the max!!! Please enjoy.

Corn and Crab Risotto

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 onion, minced
3/4 cup short-grain rice
about 4 cups chicken stock
about 2 tablespoons malt vinegar
about 130 grams corn kernels
about 1/2 cup creamed corn
about 1 tablespoon soy sauce
meat of about 3 king crab legs, roughly torn (approximately 1 cup)
3 scallions, finely chopped
about 1/2 cup light lager
juice of 1/2 lime
2 tablespoons cream cheese
about 1 1/2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
Tabasco sauce, to taste
ground bay leaves, to taste
ground cumin, to taste
salt
pepper

1. Drain corn and mix with soy sauce in a shallow baking pan and bake at 400ºF for about 20 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated and corn has browned.
2. Heat butter over medium heat in a deep frying pan. Add onions with salt and pepper and sauté until soft.
3. Add rice to the pan and stir well to coat with butter. Increase heat and keep stirring to toast rice.
4. When rice starts to turn opaque, add malt vinegar, then reduce heat back to medium.
5. Add creamed corn and a ladleful of stock, and cook, stirring often. When most of the liquid has evaporated or been, add more stock and continue stirring. Repeat this step several times until rice has nearly finished cooking.
6. When rice is almost al dente, add cumin, bay leaves, Tabasco sauce, crab meat, baked corn, scallions, and a final ladleful of stock. Stir well and allow the stock to cook off.
7. Finally, add cheese, lime juice, and beer and stir until smooth and creamy. Salt to taste and serve immediately.

The first pays tribute to various meibutsu (local specialties) from my home state of Wisconsin; namely, wild rice, cranberries, beer, butter, and cheese. Please enjoy the creamy tang of real Wisconsin-made aged Cheddar and young Colby bound together with rustic wild rice and a light burst of cranberry sweetness. I made this for my extended family, so the recipe here is good for about nine people as opposed to the usual two.

Risotto of Wisconsin Meibutsu

2 cups Arborio rice (uncooked)
about 1 1/2 cups wild rice (cooked)
about 3/4 cup dried unflavored cranberries, chopped
about 1/2 onion, finely chopped
about 1 cup Hefeweizen (substitute dry white wine)
about 6 cups chicken stock
about 1 cup shredded Colby and aged Cheddar cheeses
about 2 tablespoons butter
salt
pepper

1. Heat about 1 1/2 tablespoons butter over medium heat in a deep frying pan. Add onions with pepper and sauté until soft and lightly browned.
2. Add Arborio rice to the pan and stir well to coat with butter. Increase heat and keep stirring to toast rice.
3. When rice starts to turn opaque, add about 1/4 cup beer to deglaze. Cook off liquid, then reduce heat back to medium.
4. Add a ladleful of stock, and cook, stirring often. When the rice has absorbed most of the liquid, add more stock and continue stirring. Repeat this step several times until rice has finished cooking.
5. After about 20 minutes, add the chopped cranberries and stir.
6. When rice is almost al dente, add cooked wild rice and a ladleful of stock, stir, and cook off liquid.
7. Finally, add cheese, remaining beer and butter, and cook until smooth and creamy. Salt to taste and serve immediately.

The second risotto was conceived as a somewhat non-traditional entry to the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. It is meant to blend well with the rest of the many, many other dishes served, in keeping with the “pile it on” Turkey Day mentality (i.e., you can put gravy and/or cranberry sauce on it and it won’t taste nasty), but it should also do well as a robust standalone dish with a pleasant autumnal flavor and the creamy tang of Gorgonzola.

Sage-Acorn Squash Risotto with Pancetta

2 cups Arborio rice
about 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
about 6 cups chicken stock
about 1/2 cup dry white wine
2 ounces pancetta
1 acorn squash or small pumpkin, seeded, peeled, and cubed
about 1 ounce fresh sage, chopped or torn
1/4 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup Marscapone cheese
ground cinnamon
salt
pepper

1. Heat butter over medium heat in a deep frying pan. Add Arborio rice to the pan and stir well to coat with butter. Increase heat and keep stirring to toast rice.
2. When rice starts to turn opaque, add about 1/4 cup wine to deglaze. Cook off liquid, then reduce heat back to medium.
3. Add cubed squash, pepper and ladleful of stock, and cook, stirring often. When the rice has absorbed most of the liquid, add more stock and continue stirring. Repeat this step several times until rice has finished cooking.
4. When rice is nearly al dente, add sage and cinnamon and a ladleful of stock, stir, and cook off liquid.
5. Add cheese, remaining wine, and cook until smooth and creamy. Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

The third and final risotto was an experiment based on a classic beer and cheese pairing: saison, the classic farmer’s ale from Wallonia, and Camembert, from the nearby Normandy region of France. Actually, in this case, both beer and cheese are from California – Le Merle from Fort Bragg, and Rouge et Noir from Petaluma. At any rate, you’re going to want to use a fairly robust Camembert (i.e., nothing Japanese), but nothing too expensive because many of the funkier subtleties of the cheese won’t survive melting. This risotto is a white wedding of fruity and buttery, spicy and earthy, tangy and fungal, offset by a tasteful green bouquet of basil and mint.

For a more Normandy-centric version, add some seafood and use cider and/or Calvados in place of the saison.

Saison and Camembert Risotto

3/4 cup short-grain rice
about 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup apple vinegar
about 6 cups vegetable stock
1/4 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
about 100 grams Camembert cheese
about 3/4 cup saison
about 1/8 cup pine nuts, toasted
fresh flat-leaf parsely
fresh basil
scallions, chopped
salt
pepper

1. Heat butter over medium heat in a deep frying pan. Add garlic and onions and pepper and cook until brown.
2. Add Arborio rice to the pan and stir well to coat with butter. Increase heat and keep stirring to toast rice.
3. When rice starts to turn opaque, add vinegar to deglaze. Cook off liquid, then reduce heat back to medium.
4. Add a ladleful of stock and cook, stirring often. When the rice has absorbed most of the liquid, add more stock and continue stirring. Repeat this step several times until rice has finished cooking.
5. When rice is nearly al dente, scallions, and pine nuts, and a ladleful of stock, stir, and cook off liquid.
6. Add cheese, herbs, and saison, and cook until smooth and creamy. Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Almost everything I cook is a bit of an experiment, but this dish combined two rather risky things I’ve never tried to do before: 1) making a risotto with beer, and 2) making a dessert risotto. But can you really go wrong with anything involving a sweet lambic, a malty stout, very dark dark chocolate and very creamy cream cheese? I think not, and this intensely chocolatey risotto is proof.

Chocolate Blackcurrant Beer Risotto Pudding

about 4 walnuts, chopped and toasted
1/2 cup short-grain rice
1/2 cup pearl barley
2 tablespoons butter
about 4 cups milk
11 ounces Lindemans Cassis lambic
about 1 cup Guinness Draught stout
about 1/2 cup dark chocolate, chopped
4 tablespoons Crème de Cassis
3 tablespoons room-temperature cream cheese, whipped

1. In a deep, non-stick frying pan, heat butter over medium heat. In a separate saucepan, heat milk to a bare simmer and keep hot.
2. Add rice and barley and stir well to coat with butter. Increase heat and keep stirring to toast the grains.
3. When rice starts to turn opaque, reduce heat, add a ladleful of milk, and cook, stirring often. When the grains have absorbed most of the liquid, add more milk. Repeat until milk is gone.
4. Quickly heat lambic in the empty saucepan, then add it to rice ladleful by ladleful and cook until rice is nearly al dente.
5. Mix stout and Crème de Cassis in the saucepan and heat. Add to rice and finish cooking.
6. Add chocolate, cheese, and an additional splash of stout, and stir to combine until homogeneous. Serve hot topped with walnuts.

Note: if you made your yuzu-koshō risotto extra creamy, this recipe won’t work. The risotto needs to be fairly solid and sticky in order to hold its shape.

Please enjoy this flavorful and filling snack when you are too lazy to make a new risotto.

Yuzu-koshō Risotto Onigiri with Lox

1 1/2 cups leftover yuzu-koshō risotto, refrigerated
about 50 grams lox, torn or sliced into bite-size pieces
toasted sesame seeds, to taste
nori, to taste
mayonnaise, to taste (optional)

1. Lightly wet your fingers and shape risotto into three rounded wedges with lox, sesame seeds, and mayonnaise in the center. If using an onigiri mold, lightly grease the inside of the mold prior to use with a very small amount of sesame oil.
2. Sprinkle additional sesame seeds on top of each onigiri. Wrap in nori and eat with your hands.

Japanese cuisine: bland, unadorned, monotonous. All it takes to dispel this common misconception is a survey of Japanese condiments. Often adopted from Chinese or European culinary traditions, Japanese condiments are a diverse and flavorful lot. There is shōyu, ginger, and wasabi, of course, but also sōsu, teriyaki sauce, kabayaki sauce, ika sauce vinegar, egg, mentaiko, mentaiko mayonnaise, ponzu, tsuyu, umeboshi, shiso, umeshiso, katsuobushi, katsuoume, yakitori tare, hot mustard, miso, aonori, hijiki, shichimi, ichimi, sansho, ajishio, furikake, tekka, tsukemono, takana, sesame seeds, garlic, etc., etc., etc.

One of my favorites is a substance called yuzu-koshō 柚子胡椒, made from the fragrant peel of the yuzu ground with salt, sugar, spicy green chilies and often MSG into a fine, evil wasabi-looking forest-green paste. Its aroma is warm, peppery, and citric with a top note of pine needles; its flavor is thorny and permeating with heat, acidity, and salt. It is delicious, and an absolute must for Japanese hotpot (nabe 鍋) dishes. To me, it is the flavor of Japanese winter.

It isn’t winter yet, but it’s getting there. Please enjoy this warm and aromatic risotto on a cool autumn evening.

Yuzu-koshō Risotto with Japanese Mushrooms

3/4 cup short-grain rice
4 cups katsuo dashi or seafood stock
3/4 cup dry sake
1 package nattō, minced
1 leek, thinly sliced
2 large eringi mushrooms, sliced into small pieces
1 bunch maitake mushrooms, torn into small pieces
4 small shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, sliced into small pieces
3/4 tablespoon yuzu-koshō
2 tablespoons mirin
white sesame seeds, to taste
sesame oil
vegetable oil

Notes: Since yuzu-koshō is typically very salty, prepare a weak concentration of dashi to minimize the risotto’s overall saltiness. The nattō acts as substitute the texture and aroma of cheese; it can be replaced with a small amount of cheese and butter.

1. In a deep frying pan, heat equal parts sesame oil and vegetable oil over medium heat.
2. When hot, add leek and rice to pan and stir well to coat with oil. Increase heat and keep stirring to toast rice.
3. When rice starts to turn opaque, add sake to deglaze. Cook until liquid is almost gone.
4. Add dashi, ladleful by ladleful, and cook, stirring often, until rice is almost al dente.
5. Add mushrooms and more dashi and cook until mushrooms are tender and rice is finished.
6. Add nattō, yuzu-koshō, and mirin and cook until risotto is thick and creamy.