Daikon Steak and Two Appetizers 大根ステーキ

This was the second set of appetizers we had one evening. From right to left are “daikon steak” 大根ステーキ, “charred broccoli” 焦がしブロッコリー　and “braised spicy tofu” ピリ辛豆腐.  These appetizers are vegetarian and none of them is completely new but these versions included some changes. 

This is just notes to myself.

The daikon steak (left) was first precooked in simmering water with some raw rice grains for 30 minutes and then cooked in melted butter on both sides until the edges turned brown. I added a small (off heat) amount of soy sauce to finish.

The broccoli was parboiled (I freeze parboiled broccoli in small batches). I cooked the broccoli with the daikon steak until the sides became blackened and then seasoned it with salt and pepper.

The spicy tofu was marinated (Sriracha, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sake, grated ginger and garlic) overnight and then drained. This time I dredged it in flour (mixture of AP flour and potato starch) and cooked until nicely brown on four sides. The dredging process made a nice crust.

So, this was nice second set of appetizers of the evening.

Shad Roe from South Carolina 南キャロライナからのシャド魚卵

Although fish roe are very popular in Japan, it is not common in U.S.. Few exceptions are, of course caviar, bottargo, and shad roe. We posted a shad roe dish in 2012 but since then we have not had it until now. Turns out my wife’s sister loves shad roe. (According to my wife when she was a kid shad was considered a “trash” fish but the roe were considered a delicacy. Her grandfather particularly liked shad roe and shad roe season was an eagerly anticipated event. He particularly like the roe sautéed with bacon and served with eggs for breakfast. Due to her grandfather’s enthusiasm my wife ate a fair amount of shad roe in her childhood.) My wife’s sister apparently inherited Grandad’s appreciation for shad roe and had an arrangement with a company called “Charleston Sea Food” in South Carolina. They call her every year to let her know when the season opened and she would immediately sign up for a delivery.  Although she would relay the information to my wife, my wife had not inherited Grandad’s level of appreciation and previously never pursued purchasing some. But this year we decided to try it. We got 4 sets meaning 4 pairs of egg sacs (minimum you could buy). It comes fresh vacuum packed and can be easily frozen for later use. It arrived in ice packs (picture #3). As before, we cooked in the very traditional way; pan fried in bacon drippings (#1). I fried blanched broccoli in the same frying pan as well as sage brown butter maitake 舞茸 “hen of woods” mushroom (subject to a separate post) as sides.

You can see the grain of the roe on the cut surface (picture #2). This is much coarser than “tarako” たらこ cod roe or “kazunoko” 数の子 herring roe. The texture and flavor are difficult to describe but we like it. To me this reminded me of the roe of a Japanese fish called “Hatahata” ハタハタ but the Japanese fish has a different texture (a bit slippery texture).

We cooked exactly the same as before (in the previous post) but I did not finish it in the oven. I repeat this again for my convenience.

Ingredients: (small servings for two of us, this will be one serving for most)
One sac (half of one set, picture #3 g one set, came fresh and vacuum packed ) of shad roe, removing attached vessels etc but keep membrane intact
2 strips of bacon
6 florets of blanched broccoli (optional)
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Fry the bacon until crispy and fat rendered, remove the bacon and set aside on paper towel lined plate leaving the bacon drippings in the pan.
Add the shad roe and adjust the flame to medium.
After one side is browned (5 minutes) turn it over cook for another 5 minutes (picture #4). Place the lid and cook 5-10 minutes until fully cooked (no pink inside)
Add the broccoli 5 minutes before the roe is finished and season with salt and pepper
Season it with salt and pepper
I cut into short segments and served.

This was not bad at all. I served it with sides of the broccoli and hen of woods mushrooms which went well. I will try cooking it Japanese style to see how that works. I have to say shad roe fits seamlessly into my Japanese fish roe palette…also, I have to appreciate that my wife’s Grandad was a man of fine taste.

Broccoli Cups ブロッコリーカップ

When we order broccoli using our grocery home delivery service, we usually get three giant heads (see picture below). It is not possible to consume everything before it spoils so I separate it into florets, steam them and freeze them in Ziploc bags in small batches for future use.

Recently we saw an interesting recipe on YouTube which uses a large amount of broccoli. Although the original recipe uses fresh broccoli, we figured blanched and frozen broccoli should work. As usual, we made substantial changes mostly due to the ingredients available. We really like the idea of making broccoli cups. We could come up with different kinds of stuffings. In any case, this was our first try.  The stuffing was a bit crumbly.

The broccoli cups retained their shape well.

Ingredients: (made 9)
For the broccoli cup
4 cup finely chopped broccoli (we used blanched and frozen, separated each frozen florets and chopped up in a small batches using the food processor fitted with cutting blade. If using fresh broccoli, the original recipe grated the broccoli using a box grater) 
2-3 eggs (2 eggs may have been better, excess egg pooled on the bottom of the cup when baked but we did not use 2 chopped boiled eggs in the stuffing which was in the original recipe. So, it sort of worked out)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

For stuffing
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 Jalapeño peppers, seeded and veined, finely chopped (or green pepper)
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 small carrots, peeled and cut into small dice
1/2 cup fresh shiitake mushroom stems, finely chopped (optional, since we had this. First tear length wise and then chop)
1-2 tbs olive oil
1 package feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup each grated smoked Gouda and Cheddar cheese

For the sauce (a type of aurora sauce)
Greek yogurt and Mayonnaise equal amount
Ketchup
Parsley and chives, chopped

Directions:For broccoli cups
Mix the broccoli, eggs, and Parmesan cheese
Divide the broccoli mixture in 12 equal portions and place in a muffin tin lined with  paper muffin cups (#1)
Using fingers or spoon, spread the mixture to make a cup (#2)
Bake at 350F for 15 minutes (#3, note the egg pooled on the bottom and cooked)
For stuffing
Sauté the stuffing ingredients except for cheeses in the olive oil for 2-3 minutes and turned down the heat with the lid one for 7 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper
Let it cool down a bit and mixed in the feta cheese

Final assembly
Place the stuffing in the baked broccoli cups (#4)
Top each with the grated cheeses (#5)
Bake 15-20 minutes at 350F (#6)

This is a surprisingly good dish. Next day, we reheated this in the toaster oven and had it as a lunch. Compared to freshly baked, the broccoli flavor it less intense and tasted better. stuffing tended to crumble but tasted great especially the umami the shiitake imparted. We can play with the stuffings to our liking. This is a great recipe to use a large amount of broccoli.

Broccoli Balls ブロッコリボール

Since we are getting home grocery delivery, the amount of broccoli we get per order is out of our control. For some reason they are extremely generous with the amount they provide; we get three large heads of broccoli in one order. I usually, wash and separate the broccoli into small florets and steam them. Afterwords, I divide the steamed broccoli into small batches and freeze them for later use leaving a few days worth in the refrigerator. In addition, sometimes we get free-be cookbooks with the grocery delivery. My wife was purusing one of these little cookbooks called “from Freezer to Table” and came across a broccoli-centric recipe. This combined with seeing the abundant supply of broccoli we had just received led to a conjunction of the recipe/ingredients planets and my wife decided to make her own version of this recipe.  The original recipe (as would be expected coming from a cookbook about frozen food) used frozen “riced” broccoli and cauliflower. While we had the broccoli (non-frozen, of course) we did not have the cauliflower so my wife used mashed potatoes instead…(don’t ask). In any case, this made a quite good small appetizer that also heat up nicely in the toaster oven.

Ingredients:
1 cup steamed broccoli chopped in the small food processor
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese (any cheese would work)

1 cup shredded smoked gouda cheese
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 eggs
1/4 to 1/2 tsp onion powder (to taste)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp garlic powder (to taste)
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp salt (optional)

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients (#1). Using medium ice cream scoop drop scoop fulls into small muffin cups lined with muffin papers (#2). Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown (#3 and #4).

These were very flavorful, crispy bites perfect for appetizers. The garlic, onion and herb flavors were very rich and satisfying. The potatoes added a slightly creamy texture inside the crispness of the outside shell. One word of advice, go light on the salt. The cheese is salty. I used 1 tsp of salt and that was too much. I reduced it in this version of the recipe. These really crisp up nicely the toaster oven.