Narae (Seven-Ingredient Vinegar Salad)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 60 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 20
About this dish
Narae is a Tokushima salad that cooks seven ingredients separately before dressing them in a sweet seasoned vinegar: daikon, carrot, dried shiitake, fried tofu, lotus root, burdock, and koya tofu.
Read more
Daikon, carrot, lotus root, mushroom, and fried tofu simmer in shiitake soaking liquid; burdock is boiled on its own; and koya tofu absorbs a lightly sweet soy broth. Once all three groups are thoroughly drained, they are tossed with rice vinegar, sugar, light soy sauce, mirin, and sake and left to take on the seasoning. Sesame and yuzu peel finish a dish served at memorials and equinox observances, and now also eaten at home and in school meals.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Finish
Soak the dried shiitake in lukewarm water until soft.
Squeeze gently and cut into 5 mm strips, then strain the soaking liquid through a fine sieve or cloth and reserve 50 ml.
- 2Prep
Peel the daikon and carrot and cut into thick 3 cm strips.
Peel the lotus root and slice 3 mm thick. Remove excess oil from the fried tofu, halve lengthwise, and cut into 5 mm strips.
- 3Control
Put the daikon, carrot, lotus root, shiitake, fried tofu, and half the soaking liquid in a pot.
Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender, then drain in a sieve.
- 4Heat
Scrape the burdock, cut into thick diagonal 3 cm strips, boil for 4 minutes, and drain.
Soak the koya tofu in lukewarm water, squeeze, cut into triangles, and slice each through its thickness into two or three layers.
- 5Control
Put the koya tofu, dashi, remaining soaking liquid, simmering sugar, light soy sauce, and salt in a small pot.
Simmer on low for about 8 minutes, until nearly absorbed, then drain and cool.
- 6Season
Whisk the rice vinegar, dressing sugar, light soy sauce, mirin, sake, and salt in a large bowl until the sugar nearly dissolves.
Add all the drained vegetables, fried tofu, burdock, and koya tofu, fold gently, and rest for 20 minutes.
- 7Season
Arrange the seasoned narae in a serving dish and scatter over the white sesame.
Cut the yuzu peel into very fine strips and mound it in the center.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Seven ingredients cook in three groups for proper texture.
- Finish cue
- Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender, then drain in a sieve.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official food safety guidance.
This recipe
60min, 20 ingredients
Category median
25min, 8 ingredients
Based on 167 recipes
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