Japanese home cooking features a lot of simmered dishes (nimono). Naturally, every properly equipped Japanese kitchen must have this simple device to enhance the simmering process: the otoshi-buta.
Otoshi-buta are circular "lids" that are placed inside a pot of simmering foods and rest directly upon the ingredients. Using a lid in this way does three things. First of all, it holds down fragile ingredients like potatoes and prevents from breaking apart due to the shaking caused by the boiling broth. Secondly, it facilitates even heating by keeping heat from escaping the pot. Last but not least, it prevents flavor from diffusing out of the ingredients and into the broth by requiring less liquid to fully submerge everything.
Otoshi-buta are traditionally made of wood. Before use, they should be soaked in water to avoid flavoring the wood with the broth and thus contaminating the flavor of future dishes. They also should be thoroughly scrubbed and left to dry before reuse for the same reasons. Otoshi-buta made out of other materials, such as stainless steel and silicone, can make do without these maintenance steps.
You can also make an otoshi-buta out of aluminum foil or cooking paper and some clever folding. In certain situations, such as when making pumpkin nimono, a disposable otoshi-buta is actually more useful than a reusable one because it will not crush fragile ingredients. Disposable otoshi-buta can also be formed to fit any oddly shaped pots that you might have.
Use an otoshi-buta the next time you make nimono and you'll notice what a difference this simple device makes. It's hard to believe that such a simple implement can have such a drastic effect on the flavor of a dish until you use it. Since you can construct one out of simple materials, you really have no reason not to try it out. Your taste buds will thank you!
Otoshi-buta are circular "lids" that are placed inside a pot of simmering foods and rest directly upon the ingredients. Using a lid in this way does three things. First of all, it holds down fragile ingredients like potatoes and prevents from breaking apart due to the shaking caused by the boiling broth. Secondly, it facilitates even heating by keeping heat from escaping the pot. Last but not least, it prevents flavor from diffusing out of the ingredients and into the broth by requiring less liquid to fully submerge everything.
Otoshi-buta are traditionally made of wood. Before use, they should be soaked in water to avoid flavoring the wood with the broth and thus contaminating the flavor of future dishes. They also should be thoroughly scrubbed and left to dry before reuse for the same reasons. Otoshi-buta made out of other materials, such as stainless steel and silicone, can make do without these maintenance steps.
You can also make an otoshi-buta out of aluminum foil or cooking paper and some clever folding. In certain situations, such as when making pumpkin nimono, a disposable otoshi-buta is actually more useful than a reusable one because it will not crush fragile ingredients. Disposable otoshi-buta can also be formed to fit any oddly shaped pots that you might have.
Use an otoshi-buta the next time you make nimono and you'll notice what a difference this simple device makes. It's hard to believe that such a simple implement can have such a drastic effect on the flavor of a dish until you use it. Since you can construct one out of simple materials, you really have no reason not to try it out. Your taste buds will thank you!
About the Author:
There is a reason why Tokyo has more Michelin stars than Paris; the Japanese kitchen is a fascinating product of centuries of culinary heritage. If you want to learn more about Japanese and other Asian cooking supplies, recipes, and techniques, check out my blog about Japanese kitchens at fareastcoastkitchen.com.
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