This Japanese persimmon tofu salad (柿の白和え/kaki no shiraae) features toasted walnuts and pieces of sweet, juicy persimmon enveloped in creamy tofu and sesame. This dish that is a beautiful presentation of autumn seasonal flavours. Elegant Japanese shiraae pairs wonderfully with white wine or sake.
Do you love persimmon as much as I do? This Japanese fall persimmon salad is a light and refreshing dessert salad that features the delicious fruit.
白和えとは
Shiraae (白和え) is a Japanese-style salad dressed with mashed tofu and white sesame and/or white miso. It is an elegant dish that can be found served at home, as well as in high-end 懐石 料理から家庭でも活用可能な料理です。白和えの歴史は1643年にまで遡ります。
10~11月が旬の白和えにぴったりの柿は、秋の風物詩として知られています。また、柿釜に盛りつけることで、より一層秋の印象を深めてくれます。
The word 'shiraae' is pronounced 'shi-ra-ah-eh.' It comes from the combination of 'shiro' (白 - white) referring to the tofu in the dish, and 'ae' (和え - to dress or season). Combining the two changes the pronunciation of 'shiro' to 'shira.' And the resulting word means [vegetables] dressed in tofu.
Shōjin ryōri
Shiraae is a type of 'Shōjin ryōri' (精進料理), the traditional cuisine of Japanese Buddhist monks. This cuisine was popularized by the wide spread of Zen Buddhism in Japan in the 13th century. Following Buddhist traditions, this cuisine is completely vegan - made without any animal products. Also, it avoids using strong flavours, such as onion or garlic.
一般的に、豆腐のような大豆を原料とした食品は、精進食事にタンパク質を取り入れるために使用され、旬の野菜や果物など、味や栄養がぎっしり詰まった料理と一緒に提供されます。シンプルなイメージのある精進料理ですが、実際は彩り豊かで、調味料に頼ることなく野菜等の自然な味を生かした風味が特徴です。
材料
- Persimmon - Persimmon has a taste of its own: sweet, rich, and tangy. Persimmon needs to be ripe to taste good. An unripe persimmon will be firm. A ripe persimmon will be quite soft, kind of squishy feeling like it might burst through the skin soon.
- Firm tofu
- Spinach - Or, garland chrysanthemum greens.
- 醤油
- クルミ - We will toast these, enhancing the nutty flavour and aroma, and adding a nice crunch to the dish to contrast the soft persimmon and tofu.
- グラニュー糖
- White sesame paste
- 塩 - You add salt to this dish to balance out the sweetness of the persimmon. Add it according to your taste preference and the sweetness level of your persimmon.
- Toasted white sesame seeds
それぞれの分量については下のレシピカードをご確認ください。
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代用
Firm tofu - Use firm tofu is you want little pieces of tofu remaining, or use silken tofu if you want a creamier dressing.
Spinach - Japanese persimmon tofu salad is often made using garland chrysanthemum greens, rather than spinach. The bitter chrysanthemum balances well with the sweet persimmon. However, for the sake of ease in finding ingredients for my readers outside of Asia, I made mine with spinach. You could use either.
White sesame paste - You can substitute it in this recipe with a tablespoon of ground white sesame seeds.
バリエーション
While Japanese persimmon tofu salad contains persimmon and spinach or chrysanthemum greens, there are many other variations of shiraae that use other vegetables. Here are some of the other vegetables you can use instead:
- Green beans
- Julienned carrot
- Konjac
- Hijiki seaweed
- Edamame beans
- Broccoli
- Broccolini
- Shimeji mushrooms
作り方
Boil salted water in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the firm tofu in one solid piece and boil it for 2 minutes.
Remove the tofu from the saucepan (do not discard the water), wrap it in paper towel, and set it aside.
Add the spinach into the same water. Boil it for a few minutes until tender.
Drain the spinach, pressing the water out of it. (You may now discard the pot's water.) Drizzle the spinach with 醤油, and squeeze the liquid out once more. Set it aside for now.
Next we will toast the walnuts. Heat a スキレット over medium heat. Add in the walnut pieces, and cook while stirring for a couple minutes until browned and fragrant. Remove the walnuts from the heat and set them aside.
A すり鉢とすりこぎ is helpful for this step, but not necessary. Break the tofu up into large pieces and put them into the bowl, along with the sugar.
Then grind them together until the tofu has become a paste and the sugar is well incorporated.
Add the sesame paste and bit of salt, and mix together once again.
Peel a persimmon and cut the amount you need into bite-sized pieces. Add the sliced persimmon in with the tofu. The persimmon will be quite juicy and delicate, so gently mix them together.
Add in the spinach and walnuts, and mix. Taste test and add a bit more salt if desired.
ポイント： You add salt to this dish to balance out the sweetness of the persimmon. Add it according to your taste preference and the sweetness level of your persimmon.
Serve the Japanese persimmon tofu salad immediately, sprinkled with toasted white sesame seeds.
柿釜の作り方
If you plan to serve the shiraae in a beautiful persimmon bowl, you will need two persimmons to hollow out.
Cut the top of the persimmon off to form a lid. And cut the very bottom of the persimmon off to give a flat surface to stand evenly on.
Using a spoon, carefully scoop the flesh out of the persimmon.
ポイント： You can use the scooped out flesh from one of these persimmons in the shiraae. I used the extra fruit for snacking.
Spoon the shiraae evenly into your two persimmon bowls and sprinkle them with some toasted white sesame seeds.
キッチングッズ
To make this recipe you will need the following:
- Medium-sized sauce pan
- Paper towel
- Skillet
- Mortar and pestle や suribachi and surikogi
- A very sharp knife - The knife will have to be quite sharp to cut through the tender, ripe persimmons cleanly to create the persimmons bowls.
ポイント： A suribachi and surikogi set is the Japanese version of a mortar and pestle. The suribachi (すり鉢) is a glazed pottery bowl with an unglazed, rough pattern inside that assists with grinding. And the surikogi (すりこぎ) is a pestle made of wood to avoid excessive wear.
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保存
You could store leftover shiraae in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, but I really recommend that you eat it right away because of the juicy persimmon. It will be best fresh.
FAQ
It is pronounced 'shi-ra-ah-eh.'
📖 レシピ
Japanese Persimmon Tofu Salad (Kaki no Shiraae)
- 準備: 5分
- 調理: 7分
- 合計時間: 12分
- 分量: 2 人前 1x
- 分類: 前菜
- 国: 日本
説明
Delicious Japanese persimmon tofu salad (kaki no shiraae) with toasted walnuts, spinach, and sweet persimmon enveloped in tofu and sesame.
材料
柿の白和え：
½ × 柿
100 g × 木綿豆腐
100 g × ほうれん草 *
1 大さじ 醤油
2 大さじ × クルミ(刻んだもの)
２ 小さじ 砂糖
1 大さじ white sesame paste **
塩(お好みに合わせて)
炒った白ごま
柿釜：
2 × 柿
作り方
柿の白和え：
Boil salted water in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the firm tofu in one solid piece and boil it for 2 minutes.
Remove the tofu from the saucepan (do not discard the water), wrap it in paper towel, and set it aside.
Add the spinach into the same water. Boil it for a few minutes until tender.
Drain the spinach, pressing the water out of it. (You may now discard the pot's water.) Drizzle the spinach with 醤油, and squeeze the liquid out once more. Set it aside for now.
Next we will toast the walnuts. Heat a スキレット over medium heat. Add in the walnut pieces, and cook while stirring for a couple minutes until browned and fragrant. Remove the walnuts from the heat and set them aside.
A すり鉢とすりこぎ is helpful for this step, but not necessary. Break the tofu up into large pieces and put them into the bowl, along with the sugar.
Then grind them together until the tofu has become a paste and the sugar is well incorporated.
Add the sesame paste and bit of salt, and mix together once again.
Peel a persimmon and cut the amount you need into bite-sized pieces. Add the sliced persimmon in with the tofu. The persimmon will be quite juicy and delicate, so gently mix them together.
Add in the spinach and walnuts, and mix. Taste test and add a bit more salt if desired.
ポイント： You add salt to this dish to balance out the sweetness of the persimmon. Add it according to your taste preference and the sweetness level of your persimmon.
Serve the Japanese persimmon tofu salad immediately, sprinkled with toasted white sesame seeds.
柿釜：
Cut the top of the persimmon off to form a lid. And cut the very bottom of the persimmon off to give a flat surface to stand evenly on.
Using a spoon, carefully scoop the flesh out of the persimmon.
ポイント： You can use the scooped out flesh from one of these persimmons in the shiraae. I used the extra fruit for snacking.
Spoon the shiraae evenly into your two persimmon bowls and sprinkle them with some toasted white sesame seeds.
美味しく作るコツ
* 一般的に、柿の白和えはほうれん草ではなく春菊を使って作られます。このレシピではあえてより身近な材料であるほうれん草を使っています。
** 日本国外で練りごまを購入する場合、アジア食品を取り扱っている市場で探してみましょう。白すりごま大さじ１杯でも代用できます。
栄養素
- 1食あたり:
- カロリー: 367
- 糖質: 5 g
- 塩分: 226.4 mg
- 脂質: 12.5 g
- 炭水化物: 60.9 g
- タンパク質: 10.5 g
- コレステロール: 0 mg
キーワード: Japanese shiraae, tofu salad
Adelle says
Absolutely beautiful and delicious. I cannot wait to have company to served them this dish. Thank you for sharing.
アシャ says
Thanks for the kind review 🙂
Terri says
Just WOW. This looked so appetizing I had to try it.Great recipe.
アシャ says
Thanks! Glad you liked it.
Dana says
I love this. Never had persimmon before - it's amazing. Definitely going in my 'entertaining guest' recipe folder.
アシャ says
Thank you. This is definitely a beautiful dish for entertaining.
Bethany says
This is an excellent recipe, the flavor is beautiful! I didn't have sesame paste so subbed a blend of tahini, miso paste and sesame oil. Delicious!
アシャ says
Thanks so much Bethany, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Maria says
I lucked out and found some 'good' persimmons at my grocer. Was hoping I would to try this recipe.
It's soooo good. Cannot wait to show off to my friends when I serve these.
アシャ says
Thanks Maria 🙂 Yes, unfortunately a lot of them seem to get banged up on their journey.