Dashi Tomato with Garlic & Black Sesame
When I write menus for private parties or at restaurants, I playfully call this dish "Oden" because I let the tomato rest/slow cook in the dashi. My spin is to take garlic and toast it up in butter and add black sesame. This dish is so decadent and light at the same time.
Ingredients
- 1 quart dashi
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1 tablespoon Hanamuruki Liquid Shio Koji
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2 tablespoons Nitto Jozo White Tamari
- 2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 4 large Early Girl tomatoes, core removed
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped
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¼ cup Wadaman Organic Black Sesame Paste
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Wadaman Salty Black Sesame Seeds, for garnish
Directions
- Heat the dashi in a medium saucepan until almost at a simmer. Add the liquid shio koji, white tamari, salt and mirin, and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat.
- Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Bring a separate medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add the tomatoes, let them sit for 10 seconds, then plunge them into the ice water for 30 seconds. Lift out the tomatoes, remove their skins and slice off the tops. Use the handle of a teaspoon to remove the seeds from the inner section of tomato. Discard the seeds.
- Add the tomatoes to the warm dashi. Wait 10 minutes, then gently remove the tomatoes using a slotted spoon, allowing them to drain into the dashi. Arrange the tomatoes on a plate, cut side down.
- Just before serving, heat the butter in a saute pan over medium flame. Once it starts to melt, add the garlic. Cook until the garlic turns a bit golden, immediately add ¼ cup of the tomato dashi, then add the black sesame paste and stir to prevent the garlic from burning. Add any juices that have accumulated around the peeled tomatoes, then gradually add more dashi to make a velvety sauce-like consistency: it should coat the back of a spoon.
- Pour the sauce over the tomatoes, garnish with the salty black sesame seeds and serve immediately.