Dashi White Beans with Greens and Garlic
Nibbles and Bites Issue #36: Greta Gerwig, A Smoked Ham and Shameless Agi’s Counter Plug
Good morning and happy spring! Cheers to warm weather and the promise of long summer days ahead!
The eclipse was worth all the hype, right? I watched from the comfort of my couch, since we’re on the 12th floor of our building and face south. The sun hangs right above our window around 3:25pm, which was the optimal time to see it in NYC, but unfortunately I immediately got a terrible headache from staring at the sun. And yes, I did keep my glasses on the entire time.
This weekend I spent some lovely time outside at the Farmer’s Market, checking out vintage shops in Park Slope, and strolled through the blooming flowers at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. One night this weekend, I went to Sharlene’s on Flatbush Avenue, only to find all the tables in the place occupied by a birthday party, where guests were carving an entire leg of cured ham and snacking on a whole wheel of parmesan.
After about twenty minutes of observing and wondering who would bring an entire leg of cured ham to a bar, Greta Gerwig walked through the front door and towards the celebration, embracing all of her friends. We locked eyes for what felt like a minute as she passed me and I quite literally had to pick my jaw up off of the floor pretending it wasn’t a big deal.
On Sunday, we went to Agi’s Counter, my absolute favorite brunch spot in my neighborhood, to share an epic smoked trout salad and salmon platter, a tuna melt, Nokedli soup, and pickles. I cannot stop thinking about this place - reservations are hard to come by, so definitely try to make one in advance, since the wait for a table can be insanely long.
Anyway, that’s a quick self-indulgent run down of my weekend. Now it's recipe time.
This week I wrote a brothy white bean recipe after being gifted a bag of dashi and other delicious goodies from Dashi Okume, a dashi store in Greenpoint that makes custom blends and sells a wide array of other Japanese condiments and sauces. They also randomly got popular on tiktok when they opened a year ago. I can’t say I have ever made my own dashi or cooked with it much, but knew that I immediately wanted to use some to flavor a pot of white beans.
Once I got the idea, I ran to the farmer’s market the next day for some chives, onions, greens and other provisions for this recipe and I really enjoyed how it turned out. I love the fishy, umami flavor that the dashi imparts. It gives this dish a touch of salinity that really cannot be replicated by using salt alone, however if you are in a pinch and don’t have access to dashi, I imagine that adding in a tablespoon of miso paste and increasing the other liquid amounts in this recipe will do the trick.
Let me know what you think and if you happen to stop by Dashi Okume! I highly recommend giving them a visit!
Dashi White Beans with Greens and Garlic
Ingredients:
1 white onion, peeled and roughly chopped
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp salted butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of rice vinegar
2 tablespoons of yuzu ponzu
2 tsp of soy sauce or tamari
1 lb dried white beans (Navy, Cannellini, Butter Beans, Great Northern Beans)
2 bags of dashi starter
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup water
1 bunch of swiss chard, stems removed
¼ cup chives, thinly sliced
1 lb asparagus, thinly sliced
Instructions:
Place the dried beans in a large bowl and completely cover with water. Allow them to soak overnight.
The next day, prepare your dashi according to your package instructions. I placed two bags of the dashi mix in a small pot filled with water and brought it to a boil. Then I turned the heat off and allowed the mixture to steep for 4 to 5 minutes before removing the tea bags.
Place the whole garlic cloves and ginger in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped.
Add the larger pieces of onion and continue to pulse, scraping down the sides of the bowl every so often to make sure the larger pieces are caught by the blade. Pulse 15 to 20 times until the onion is finely chopped, but not pureed and fully blended.
Place a large dutch oven on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the 2 tablespoons of butter, a drizzle of olive oil, and the diced onion, ginger and garlic mixture to the pot, season with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 to 6 minutes until the onions are translucent and slightly caramelized.
Meanwhile, rinse out the bowl of the food processor, and add the swiss chard leaves to the bowl, gently breaking apart the leaves into smaller more manageable pieces. Pulse the swiss chard leaves, scraping down the sides of the bowl of the food processor between pulses until the swiss chard is very finely chopped. These leaves will be stirred into the soup and blanched at the very last minute to retain their verdant green color.
Once the onions have cooked down, add the rice vinegar, ponzu, and soy sauce to the mixture and cook for 30 seconds until the liquid has cooked off. Add the drained beans, chicken stock, water, and dashi to the pot and stir to combine. Season generously with salt and pepper. Allow the beans to simmer for about an hour, adjusting the water amount and seasoning as needed.
Once the beans have softened and cooked through, taste them and add a little vinegar if the broth is too salty, or a little ponzu/soy sauce if they need to be seasoned a little more. It’s all dependent on the type of dashi used and how aggressively you’ve seasoned along the way.
Gently stir in the finely chopped swiss chard and sliced chives and allow to cook for another 30 minutes or so until the beans are completely tender and soft and the liquid has cooked off.
Add the sliced asparagus, and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes until tender. I used very thin pieces of asparagus, but if you’re using larger stalks you may want to give them a little more time on the stove.
Serve immediately or keep in the fridge for up to a week. These make the perfect lunch or dinner and can quickly be reheated in a pot or microwave.