GIBLET PASTE
Boil giblets until they are in shreds. Crush through sieve, then add the juice of an onion and lemon juice. Whip lightly with the hard-boiled yolk of eggs. Serve on crackers, with crumbled yolks of eggs sprinkled on top.
Pastes can also be made in a similar manner from soft meats and fish. Onion is usually added, and sometimes chopped parsley.
SUMOMO SUI AND AMAI (Plums, Sour and Sweet)
Have a sirup made of half a cupful of water, two cupfuls of sugar, a quarter cupful of vinegar, and half a teaspoonful of mixed spices, ground. When it is boiling drop in the plums, and let boil slowly for twenty minutes. Add half a cupful of mirin sauce, or any other desired spirits, and let all come to a boil once. Remove, and serve.
BAKED BANANAS
Split the bananas on one side of the skin. Place in a medium oven and bake for about ten minutes. Now take the fruit carefully from the skin, taking pains not to break the skin. Whip smooth with chopped dates and almonds (about a teaspoonful of dates and nuts to each banana), return mixture to shell, and serve with powdered rice or sugar. Serve cold or hot.
STUFFED BANANAS
Bake long, plump bananas for ten minutes in medium oven. Remove and split skin down one side. Remove the inside, and whip it up with shredded coconut, a little cream and sugar, and a little lemon juice. Return to shell, and bake for another ten minutes.
TORI-KAN (Chicken Jelly)
Two pounds of chicken flesh; one half pound of seaweed jelly or gelatine; one tablespoonful of sugar; salt and pepper; one quarter pound of dried mushrooms; one cup mirin sauce.
Cook in boiling water a young, tender chicken until it is tender. Take from the liquid, remove all the bone and cut in small pieces. Pick off stalks from mushrooms and soak in lukewarm water for twenty minutes. Cut in small pieces and boil for twenty-five minutes in about two cupfuls of water. Add the mirin sauce and boil again about five minutes. Wash the dry seaweed jelly and soak for about two hours, then take from water and squeeze dry. Break into small pieces and boil in one quart of water until it dissolves. Strain into another saucepan, with a pinch of salt and a tablespoonful of sugar. To this add the mushrooms and mirin sauce, and mix all together, with the chicken meat, salt, pepper, spices, etc. Have ready a lacquered box or smooth wooden box or mold, and pour in the mixture. Let it set, and, when serving, cut it in slices.
KAREFISH NIGORE (Sole Jelly)
One medium-sized sole; one cupful of mirin sauce; two carrots; one quarter pound of dried mushrooms; one half pound of Kanton (dried seaweed jelly).
First prepare the sole by cutting away the head and thoroughly cleaning and scaling. Cut in fillets or slices, removing the small bones. Take one cupful of mirin sauce and a pinch of salt. Place in pot, and boil only a few minutes. Chop into small pieces two carrots and about a quarter pound of dried mushrooms (first washed and soaked). Boil in a small quantity of water, and when tender, strain. Add the mirin sauce, previously boiled for fifteen minutes. Wash half a pound of dry seaweed jelly, and soak in water for two hours. Take out, and squeeze dry. Break in small pieces, and throw in pan with a quart of water. Boil and dissolve. Strain into another saucepan. Add half a cupful of sugar and a tablespoonful of syou sauce. With this mix the fish and vegetables, and stir thoroughly. Transfer to lacquered or smooth wooden box, and let it set. When it is firm, cut in desired small shapes. Properly prepared, this is really delicious. It should be made the day before it is to be served, as of course it is eaten cold.
RINGO-KAN (Apple Jelly, Japanese Style)
One half pound of seaweed jelly; three quarters pound of sugar; two big, tart apples; two tablespoonfuls of kudzu starch.
After washing half a pound of seaweed jelly soak it in water for about three hours, then squeeze it dry and break in small pieces into a pan with one and a half quarts of water. Boil over medium heat. Add three quarters of a pound of sugar, stirring the while, and a pinch of salt. Prepare two big, tart apples by peeling and removing the cores, then rub them on a nutmeg grater until they are reduced to powder. Transfer jelly to another saucepan, strain it, and mix with powdered apple. When thoroughly boiled, add two tablespoonfuls of kudzu starch, dissolved in cold water. Stir well with wooden chopsticks or spoon. Remove from fire, and pour into lacquered box or molds. Two or three hours after it has hardened, cut in desired shapes and sizes.
