Hey check it out, I'm actually doing a book this week that ISN’T an English children’s book. Jeez, a few weeks into this thing and already I fell into a rut. Never fear this week we are going intercontinental! The Elegance of the Hedgehog!
A lovely book written by Muriel Barbery, Hedgehog tells the
story of both Renee, a short, plump and cranky concierge of an elegant hotel, and Paloma, an exceedingly smart 12 year old girl, who having come to terms
with life’s futility has decided to end her life on her 13th
birthday who lives on the top floor of the hotel. The book jumps between both of the women as they meet each
other, and find kindred spirits in each other.
Renee is one of my favorite
characters, she is an autodidact in literature and philosophy, but conceals it to avoid the condemnation of the building's
tenants. Likewise, she wants to be alone to avoid her tenants' curiosity. She pretends
to indulge in concierge-type food and low-quality television, while in her back
room she actually enjoys high-quality food, listens to opera, and reads works
by Leo Tolstoy and Edmund Husserl. Her perspective is that "to be poor,
ugly and, moreover, intelligent condemns one, in our society, to a dark and
disillusioned life, a condition one ought to accept at an early age"
Her carefully crafted life is turned upside-down when the
empty apartment on the second floor is rented by a wealthy Japanese businessman named Kakuro Ozu.
He shares Paloma’s fascination with Renee and both suspect her inner
refinement. One evening Ozu invites Renee up to his apartment for dinner, wanting to get to
know her better.
““It’s certainly not boring with you around,” is the first
thing Monsieur Ozu says to me once we are back in the kitchen and I am comfortably
perched on my stool sipping lukewarm sake, which I find fairly bland.
“You are no ordinary person,” he adds, pushing in my
direction a small bowl filled with little raviolis which look neither fried nor
steamed but somewhere in between. Next to them he places a bowl of soy sauce.
“Gyozas,” He explains.
“On the contrary,” I reply, “I think I’m a very ordinary
person. I’m a concierge. My life is a model of banality.”
“A concierge who
reads Tolstoy and listens to Mozart. I did not know this was one of the skills
required for your profession.”
And he winks at me. Without further ado he sits down beside
me, and applies his chopsticks to his own serving of gyozas.
Never in my life have I felt so at ease. How can I explain?
For the first time, I feel utterly trusting, even though I am not alone. Even
with Manuela, to whom I would gladly entrust my life, I do not have this
feeling of absolute security that comes when one is sure that understanding is
mutual. Entrusting one’s life is not the same as opening up one’s soul, and
although I love Manuela like a sister, I cannot share with her the things that
constitute the tiny portion of meaning and emotion that my incongruous
existence has stolen from the universe.
With my chopsticks I savor the gyozas stuffed with coriander
and delicately spiced meat. Aware of a staggering sense of well-being, I chat
with Monsieur Ozu as if we have known each other forever.”
To me this is a beautiful scene, and honestly one of the
true powers of food. Here we finally see Renee unlocking, and feeling
comfortable; she is coming into her own as she eats the food Mr. Ozu prepared
for her. He prepared a simple yet refined meal for her, Mr. Ozu sees her as the
intelligent woman that she is, and as they continue to eat they continue to
talk of art and music as equals, not as tenant and concierge, a way Renee has been
spoken to her whole life.
I'll start with the pickled cucumbers, as they need to be done in advance, they need to sit in the fridge for a good 12 hours (I went for 24) before serving.
Ingredients:
2 – 3 Japanese cucumbers/3 – 4 mini (seedless)
cucumbers (about 10.5 ounces/300 grams)
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt1 1/2
inches kombu, cut into thin shreds with
kitchen shears (This stuff is basically dried sea kelp. I couldn't find it at
my local market so I opted for dried seaweed instead [picture below])7
tablespoon water3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar1/2 teaspoon granulated
sugar
Wash the cucumbers and pat them dry. Rub the cucumbers with the
salt.
Make sure to get the long seedless cucumbers, much thinner than our American ones
Cut them into 1/2-inch slices and place in a glass pint-sized jar.
If the pieces don’t all fit, you can remove pieces and gently press down on the
pieces in the jar to make them fit. Add the kombu (or dried seaweed in
this case) to the jar.
Seaweed substitute
Mix the water, vinegar, and sugar together in a separate container and
then pour the mixture over the cucumbers. Cover the top of the jar with
plastic wrap, and then screw the lid in place. The plastic wrap prevents
the vinegar from touching the metal of the lid (which will affect the flavor of
the pickles).
Put the cucumbers in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 12
hours. Shake the jar up and down occasionally so the marinade penetrates
the cucumber slices well. Each time you take cucumber slices out of the
jar, make sure and reseal it with the plastic wrap before replacing the lid.
Okay now the Gyoza's
Ingredients:
4 cups, loosely packed, minced Napa cabbage (use
the frilly leafy half of the cabbage)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
9 ounces ground
pork
1/2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (with a Microplane grater)
2 – 3
cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon green onion (green part only), minced
2
teaspoon aka miso paste (red/dark miso paste) (Totally couldn't find this
at the store either, so I went without it, the dumplings tasted fine)
1
teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar
40
dumpling wrappers
For cooking the dumplings:
1
tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 cup water
Dipping Sauce:
6 tablespoons soy sauce
3
tablespoons rice vinegar
Several drops of chili oil or sesame oil (optional)
Toss the minced cabbage with the salt in a large bowl and let it
sit for 10 minutes. Using both hands, or a cheese cloth, squeeze the
cabbage firmly to drain and discard the excess water (prevent your dumplings
from becoming mushy) and then transfer the cabbage to a deep bowl. Add
the pork, ginger, garlic, green onion, miso, sesame oil, crushed red pepper,
and sugar. Mix everything together with your hands until all the
ingredients are evenly distributed. Using your hands, scoop the mixture
into a ball, lift it, and then throw it back into the bowl. Repeat
several times to tenderize the meat and help the mixture stick together.
Have a small bowl of cold water ready. Lay a dumpling wrapper on a
dry work surface, and place a heaping teaspoon of the meat mixture in the
center of the wrapper.
With a fingertip moistened with water, trace a line along half of the
edge of the round wrapper. Fold the wrapper over to enclose the filling,
and pinch the wrapper in the center to seal the edges together at that spot.
Holding the filled half-circle in the left hand, pleat the top of
the wrapper from the middle out, pressing it to the flat edge of the wrapper at
the back.
Set aside the stuffed dumpling with the
pleated-wrapper edge up. Repeat to make 40 dumplings in all.
In a large skillet with a tight fitting lid, heat 1 teaspoon of the
sesame oil over medium-high heat. Carefully place as many of the dumplings that
can fit without touching in the skillet with the pleated-wrapper edge up.
Cook the dumplings for 3 minutes, or until nicely browned on the bottom.
Check the progress by lifting 1 or 2 dumplings by their pleated edge.
Once the bottoms are nicely
browned, use the skillet lid to shield yourself and carefully pour in 1/4 cup
of the water. When the hissing and splattering die down, drizzle in 1/2 teaspoon
of the sesame oil around the edge of the skillet. Place the lid on the
skillet to trap in the moisture and then quickly lower the heat to keep the
liquid at a bare simmer. Check the dumplings after 2 minutes. When
the wrappers appear slightly translucent and the meat feels firm when pressed
lightly with a spoon, remove the lid and raise the heat slightly.
Continue to cook until all the water has evaporated and only the oil remains
(about 2 minutes). Once you hear a sizzling sound, shake the skillet.
The dumplings should slide about. If they seem to stick to the skillet,
move the skillet away from the stove and replace the lid for a moment.
Remove the dumplings from the skillet with a broad flexible spatula. If you’d
like, flip them over so that the seared surface faces up. Cook the
remaining dumplings the same way. Serve the dumplings hot accompanied by
the dipping sauce. While the dumplings are cooking, make the dipping sauce
by mixing the soy sauce and rice vinegar together in a small bowl. Pour
the sauce into a small serving pitcher or distribute among individual dipping
dishes.
Remember this recipe makes a total of 40 dumplings. So invite friends over and eat up!
They are both soft and crispy, and something about them,
perhaps their warmth and saltiness speaks to me of comfort as I eat them. I can
imagine how Renee felt, daintily picking each one up with her chopsticks, and having
the banal curtain she had placed over her whole life finally lifted even if just for a short time. Mr. Ozu’s
allowed her to be seen for the Hedgehog that she is: “on the outside, she’s
covered in quills, a real fortress, but my gut feeling is that on the inside,
she has the same simple refinement as the hedgehog: a deceptively indolent
little creature, fiercely solitary — and terribly elegant.”
Bon Appetite
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