Stir-Fried Vegetable Trimmings (雲片, Unpen)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small skillet or sauté pan
• •Sharp knife
• •Small bowl for dissolving kuzu
• •Fine-mesh strainer for the shiitake-konbu dashi

Instructions

1. 1

   Make temple dashi

   Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put the konbu, dried shiitake, and 1 cup cold water in a small bowl and soak for at least 30 minutes, or overnight in the refrigerator. This is the temple stock for the dish: quiet, meatless, and full enough for the vegetables. Lift out the konbu before heating later if you warm the dashi, because boiled kelp can turn bitter and slick.

2. 2

   Cut the scraps

   Remove the soaked shiitake stems if they are tough, then finely chop the caps. Cut all vegetable trimmings into small, even pieces, about 1/8 inch across. The even cut is not fussiness. It lets burdock, carrot, daikon peel, and stems cook at the same pace, so the pan tastes gathered instead of confused.

   Use only clean, fresh trimmings. If a peel is tired or bitter, don't ask the kuzu to forgive it. Change the vegetable.
3. 3

   Sauté the vegetables

   Set a small skillet over medium heat and add the neutral oil and sesame oil. Add the firmer pieces first, such as burdock, lotus root, carrot, and cabbage core, and cook for 2 minutes. Add softer pieces, such as daikon peel and shiitake, and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, stirring gently. You want the raw smell gone and the colors still alive, not a browned hash.

4. 4

   Season lightly

   Add the sake and let it hiss once, then add 1/3 cup of the shiitake-konbu dashi, the soy sauce, mirin, and salt. Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, until the liquid tastes rounded and the vegetables are tender but still distinct. The seasoning should support the scraps, not bury them. Nothing hidden.

5. 5

   Bind with kuzu

   Crush the kuzu between your fingers or with the back of a spoon, then dissolve it completely in 2 tablespoons cold water. Stir the slurry into the pan while the liquid is barely simmering. In less than a minute it will turn glossy and softly cloudy, gathering the vegetables together. Add a splash more dashi if it tightens too much; unpen should mound softly, not sit like paste.

   Kuzu must be dissolved in cold water first. Add it dry and it clumps, and those little stones will not politely disappear.
6. 6

   Finish and serve

   Taste once more, then take the pan off the heat. Scatter with toasted sesame if using. Serve warm or at room temperature in a small mound, leaving space around it. This is a side dish, not a mountain, and the empty space helps the cloud shape read.

Chef Tips

• •Choose trimmings from vegetables that are fresh enough to serve proudly: daikon peel with snap, carrot peel still bright, shiitake stems with good aroma. Mottainai is respect, not a bin for sad vegetables.
• •Real kuzu gives the soft, cloudy binding that names the dish. Potato starch will thicken in a pinch, but it sets more glassy and tight. Use it as a stand-in, not as the standard.
• •Keep the chop fine but not minced to dust. The pleasure is in finding small differences of texture: a little burdock chew, a shiitake softness, a clean edge of daikon peel.

Advance Preparation

• •The shiitake and konbu can soak overnight in the refrigerator. That slow soak gives a rounder stock and makes the shiitake easier to cut cleanly.
• •Vegetable trimmings can be washed, dried, and kept refrigerated for one day. Cut them just before cooking so the edges stay fresh.
• •Finished unpen keeps one day refrigerated. Bring it gently back to room temperature or warm it over low heat with a spoonful of dashi to loosen the kuzu.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 95g)