Braised leeks
Side dishes
Spinach rolls and sesame sauce
Asparagus bunches
Katsu cubes
Cheesy miso aubergine
Cabbage fritters
Oven baked tofu
Japanese salad rolls
Vegetables in the bag
Braised leeks
Sweet soy mushrooms
Sweet sake carrots
Introduction :: Soups and dashi :: Egg dishes :: Sushi :: Fast food :: Noodles and rice :: Side dishes :: Desserts
Serves 4, vegan
I used spring (green) onions in the picture but it works particilarly well with small or baby leeks. Ginger and soy sauce go perfectly with the subtle onion flavours.

You can use this as a general recipe for cooking root vegetables.

Ingredients
2 bunches baby leeks
400ml ( nearly 2 cups) water
1 thumb of ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin

Trim the leeks and place them in a shallow pan. Add the water, soy and mirin and bring it to the boil. Allow it to simmer slowly and then grate the ginger on a fine grater. Squeeze thje juice from the ginger pulp into the cooking liquor and discard the pulp.

Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the moisture has almost disappeared. Serve the hot onions and pour over any sauce from the pan.
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Mirin is a sweetened sake with a similar taste to a sweet sherry. It is used a lot in Japanese cooking and used in many recipes in this book so it is worth seeking out a bottle. Lots of supermarkets now stock mirin and you will more than likely find it in your local Asian grocer. It can be quite expensive but no more than a good sherry.