We have this big donabe (earthen) pot with steamer. I love it. I love how it looks and cooks.
In the picture there are turnips but actually I cooked them in the hot water below along with carrot, daikon, konbu, and dried shiitake mashroom.
I made two kinds of dipping sauce. Goma dare*(white sesame sauce) and Ponzu (Shoyu, mirin, sake and lime.... yes, lime works much better than lemon since we don't have 'yuzu' here) I don't buy sauce and dressings because I don't like additives and it's not that hard to make ones and especially ponzu, it stores well over 6 month(if it lasts that long.)
After enjoying all the vegetables and miso marinated tofu**, we took out the steamer and add frozen udon noodles in the hot water. The broth was so good and sweet from the veggies, just sprinkling chopped spring onions, finely cut nori, and Japanese 7 spices (Shichimi) was the perfect way to end this meal.
*Goma dare
Tahini paste:4 Tbs.
Rice vinegar: 6 Tbs.
Rice Syrup: 3 Tbs.
Soy sauce: 2 Tbs.
White sesame seeds: 4tsp. (grind half for more fragrance)
Grated ginger, garlic or both: 1 to 2 tsp.
** Miso marinated tofu
Drain extra firm tofu for 10 min. Cut 3 pieces in lengthwise. Smear miso (2-3 Tbs) all around. Keep in the container for overnight to one week. Remove the paste before cooking. I use this for grilling, frying, deepfrying or eat as they are. I used to heat same amount of sake(remove alcohol), mixed it with miso and used it as the paste. But just using miso works fine too.
