Otoshi-buta

I often use a unique Japanese lid called otoshi-buta or drop lid in my cooking process.
落し (otoshi) means “drop”. 蓋 (futa) means lid but in this case, the last kanji 蓋 is read as “buta”. The season is below.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT JAPANESE LANGUAGE
“落し (otoshi) 蓋 (buta)” is a compound word consisting of two words “落し (otoshi) and 蓋 (futa)”. A voiced mark like this ゛is often added in the upper right corner of the first consonant of the second word of the compound like ふ (fu) → ぶ (bu) making it easier to pronounce and join the two words.

This lid should be smaller than a pan and directly placed on top of the ingredients. In the Japanese way of cooking, a large quantity of soup is not needed to make a simmered dish, although the ingredients should be covered by the liquid. This special lid keeps the ingredients from floating to the surface of the soup. Also, the lid prevents the boiling soup from rising up. Because of this, the soup can circulate in the pan efficiently. This helps the soup soak evenly into the rest of the ingredients. So the otoshi-buta is very important for Japanese cooking. You will probably see this lid in other recipes on my blog in the future.

Otoshi-buta is originally made of wood, but nowadays otoshi-buta made from stainless steel and silicone are also available. You can substitute aluminum foil or baking paper for them. When you use these substitutions, make some small holes on them.

The recipes used Otoshi-buta

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