Eel steamed with lotus root, wood ear mushroom, trefoil, wasabi

Hasu-mushi is a dish made by grating lotus root, steaming it, and topping it with a sauce. When people think of lotus root dishes, I think many picture ones enjoyed for their crisp texture, but this time I'm introducing hasu-mushi, which lets you enjoy its sticky, glutinous texture instead. Normally egg or potato starch is used as a binder, but if you use 'Kaga renkon,' a Kaga heirloom lotus root, its stickiness is strong enough that the Kaga lotus root alone can hold its shape. Steaming gelatinizes the starch it contains, increasing its stickiness and giving it a texture reminiscent of mochi. Also, in this particular creation, tamago-no-moto is used as the binder to add richness, but egg white works just as well. If you reduce the amount of tamago-no-moto, the flavor of the lotus root will come through more strongly. If gold-leaf-topped bottarga (karasumi) isn't available for the topping, seasonal root vegetables, turnip, or ebi-imo taro can be substituted.

As for the eel used inside, I think it would also be delicious grilled as kabayaki rather than shirayaki. When I worked at a restaurant in Kyoto, we actually used kabayaki. However, in this dish the lotus root is the star, and the eel shouldn't overpower it, so this time I've used shirayaki. Steam it over high heat in a steamer for 8 minutes; once the lotus root — the ingredient slowest to cook through — is done, take it out of the steamer, pour the sauce over it, and serve.

1. Cut the tofu into suitable pieces and briefly simmer it in advance to season it. Grill the eel as shirayaki, in the usual way.

2. Peel the lotus root, soak it in vinegar water to stop discoloration, then wipe off the moisture well and grate it on a fine-toothed grater.

3. Lightly squeeze out the moisture using a bamboo mat (makisu), then place it in a bowl and mix in whipped egg white and salt for seasoning. Also combine in the wood ear mushroom that was chopped, seasoned, and simmered in advance.

4. Place the tofu in a vessel, top it with eel cut to match its size, cover it with the lotus root mixture and shape it, then steam over high heat in a steamer for about 8 minutes.

5. Bring the sauce ingredients to a boil in a pot, dissolve kuzu starch in it to make a sauce with a somewhat firm thickness, pour it over the top, and serve garnished with grated wasabi and mitsuba.