Editor’s note: The theme of Gohan Lab is to help people make simple, tasty “gohan” (meals).

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Spices from around the world have become more accessible along with the diversification of our diet. But perhaps you have used them without really knowing their characteristics and roles?

We will explore the secrets to master the spices in a four-part series.

First up is pepper, a versatile supporting player in cooking used as a basic seasoning or to give a finishing touch to a dish. It also goes well with milk and eggs, carbonara being a fine example of its ability to give nuances to the flavor. This time, pepper will give its best as a leading character.

Since pepper’s aromatic component is rather volatile, it is best to grate the peppercorns. Taking an extra step of chopping them will set off the aroma and spiciness even more. The mushroom sauce will gently envelop the contrasting light-tasting chicken breast and the pungent pepper.

Spices that stimulate one’s appetite were chosen for this season when you are likely to feel the effects of summer fatigue. If you are not a big fan of spiciness, reduce the amount of pepper to about half. Since grating and chopping require power, use a mill as needed.

USED IN JAPANESE CULTURE SINCE OLDEN TIMES

Pepper is native to India and was prized in medieval Europe as an agent to rid smells or as a preservative. There are reports that a handful of pepper could be exchanged for a cow, or a single peppercorn was weighed on a precise scale to be sold.

Although it projects the image of being heavily used in Western cuisine, pepper has been incorporated in Japanese cuisine as well. An old example is the “pepper rice” that appears in “Ryori chinmishu” (Collection of rare delicacies in cooking), a book published in 1764 in the mid-Edo Period (1603-1867). Two teaspoons of pepper and soy sauce is cooked with 1 “sho” (1.8 liter) rice and served with dashi stock poured on top.

The fare seems to have been popular among the common people. Other records say that pepper was used as a seasoning for "udon" noodles or garnish for soups.

BASIC COOKING METHOD

(Supervised by Kuniaki Arima in the cooking aspect and Midori Kasai in the cookery science aspect)

 * Ingredients (Serves two)

1 chicken breast (without skin), 100 grams mushroom, 1/2 onion, 1/2 clove garlic, 1 Tbsp black peppercorn, a pinch of sugar, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp olive oil, 5 grams butter, 100 ml white wine (or sake), 1/2 tsp soy sauce, bit of chili powder

About 275 kcal and 0.9 gram salt per portion

1. Crush garlic and chop coarsely. Finely chop onion. Remove stem from mushroom, cut large ones in half and cut into 5 mm-thick slices. Crush peppercorns by shifting one’s weight onto a hard object such as the bottom of a bottle and then chop (PHOTO A).

2. Cut chicken into 2 cm-thick slices across the fiber. Sprinkle sugar then salt. Spread pepper on flat container, dust one side of meat.

3. Pour olive oil in frying pan and place over lower medium heat. Lay meat, pepper-side down. Place lid and cook (PHOTO B). When slightly colored, turn, lower heat and cook the other side.

4. Remove meat from pan. Add garlic in same pan and place over lower medium heat. When aroma rises, melt butter and saute onion. When it softens, push to one side, add mushroom and cook (PHOTO C). When ingredients have become moist in general, mix and add white wine and chili powder. Boil down liquid to about a half and add soy sauce. Lower heat, return meat and simmer for another 30 seconds.

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Kuniaki Arima is the owner-chef of Passo a Passo, an Italian restaurant in Tokyo’s Fukagawa.

Midori Kasai is a professor at Ochanomizu University and chairwoman of the Japan Society of Cookery Science.

ARRANGED VERSION

Carpaccio with salt flavored with lemon and pepper

Why not dress up the usual sashimi? To a mortar, add 1 tsp each of salt and black peppercorn, 1/4 tsp sugar, chopped lemon zest (2 cm-square) and grate. Pour some olive oil and lemon juice on the sashimi of white-fleshed fish such as sea bream or octopus and sprinkle with grated seasonings.

COOKERY SCIENCE

Black peppercorns are picked when they are unripe and dried in the skin, whereas white pepper is picked when ripe, dehulled and dried. Although they are about the same in spiciness for being the fruit of the same plant, the black ones are more aromatic since the savory component is found more in the skin. Peppercorns may be used in simmered dishes but when they are to be grilled, it is better to chop them to release the aroma and cook right away.

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From The Asahi Shimbun’s Gohan Lab column