Nimono

One of the basic cooking techniques in Japanese cuisine known as nimono refers to simmered foods which are traditionally a part of every meal except breakfast. Nimono is also the principal way of preparing and serving vegetables as well as one of the most popular ways of preparing fish.

Before simmering, base ingredients such as various vegetables, fish, seafood, or tofu are usually blanched or parboiled in water, and then cooked in shiru stock over a long period of time, until the liquid is almost fully absorbed or evaporated.

The shiru stock used for nimono is most often dashi, which can be slightly sweetened and flavored with sake and soy sauce, mirin, vinegar, miso, or other condiments. Depending on the combination of seasoning and the type of stock, there are several varieties of nimono dishes. Misoni or misodaki are typically used for fish or sometimes vegetables; simmered in a mixture of miso and dashi, flavored with soy sauce and freshly chopped ginger. Nitsuke is mainly used for simmering fish in a mixture of sake, soy sauce, and mirin or sugar. Shigureni refers to dishes simmered in dashi which was heavily seasoned with soy sauce, while karani uses only sake and soy sauce for simmering.

Some of the most famous nimono dishes include nizakana or nitsuke - fish poached in sweetened dashi, sometimes with the addition of miso; kakuni - chunks of pork belly stewed in soy, mirin, and sake with large pieces of daikon and whole boiled eggs; and oden - a classic Japanese winter dish consisting of boiled eggs, daikon radish, konjac root, and fishcakes stewed in a savory, soy-flavored dashi broth.