Dried "Surume" Squid 網焼するめ

When I posted "Saki-ika" tempura さきイカの天ぷら, I mentioned my childhood memory of whole dried squid called surume するめ. I said;

When I was growing up, "surume"  was a rather common snack, not necessarily just a drinking snack. This was a dried whole flattened squid. To eat, you have to first grill it lightly and then tear it along the grain into thin strips (it can easily be torn into strands by hand with an occasional application of teeth). It is very chewy like old leather and you have to work on it for a while in your mouth before it’s soft enough. As you chew, more flavors will come out. In fact a Japanese saying, "The more you chew, the more flavor you get" 噛めば噛むほど味が出る equates the effort you need to extract full flavor from dried squid to the effort you need to extract meaning and joy out of life; or subtle but real goodness can only be appreciated with substantial effort. But even in Japan, vigorous use of the masseter muscle is not an exercise people like to do.

The other day, when we were cruising the isles of our Japanese grocery store, I found a package of dried "surume" squid (Picture above).

Compared to what I was familiar with when I lived in Japan, this one is much smaller and apparently it has been "grilled" with a secret marinade. I was not sure if this is a modern “tamed” version or close to the original surume I remembered.

After I removed one from the package, I briefly warmed and softened it up over an open gas flame. The legs were folded under the body but after warming they could easily be unfolded.

I cut this into small strips and tried it. Surprisingly, this is very close to what I remembered as "surume". Very tough and you have to chew for some time before swallowing becomes a safe option. Also the taste is similar to what I remember. I gave one strip to my wife, she gummed at it for a while then spit it out. (Her comment: “Think fishy tasting shoe leather and you’re part way there). (I’m guessing she didn’t particularly like it.) I tried the legs as well. I suppose this is a drinking snack for the desperate. With one of these, you could spend hours chewing and drinking. I have to come up with some way to use up the remaining surume. (my wife suggested burying it).

Chicken thigh stir fry with shiokoji 鶏腿肉の塩麹炒め

This is a quick dish. I used shio-koji as a seasoning but you could just use salt. Shio-koji adds just a hint of sweetness and complexity but it is not essential for the dish.

Chicken: For two small appetizer-size servings, I used one chicken thigh. I skinned and deboned and removed visible fat and butterflied the thickest portion to make the thickness even. I then cut into thin strips crosswise, added 1 tbs of shio-koji and mixed and let it sit for 5-10 minutes (right in the picture below)
Other items: I finely chopped garlic (one fat cove), ginger (1/2 tsp), scallion (3 stalks). I also added thinly sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms (3 large) and also sugar snaps (6).

Cooking: I added peanut oil (1 tsp) with a dash of dark sesame oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium flame. When the oil was hot, I added the ginger and scallion, fried until fragrant (1-2 minutes). I turned down the heat to low and I then added shio-oji marinated chicken thigh and the chopped garlic and sautéed until the surface turned opaque. I then added the shiitake mushroom and the sugar snap and kept sautéing for 4-5 minutes or until the chicken was done. I adjusted the seasoning by adding a bit of salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

This is nothing special but it is a quick and nice drinking snack which goes well with any drink.

Tempura smelts 生シシャモの天婦羅

I spotted fresh and cleaned smelt in our regular grocery store one day. Smelt is a small fish and, in Japan, a type of smelt is called "Karafuto shishamo" which is a common substitute for real "Shishamo" from Hokkaido. Capelin is also in the same family. The smelt spends most of its life in the sea but, like salmon, it swims up river to spawn.  The ones I got  were most likely fresh water smelt from the Great Lakes. In Japan, egg-bearing females are the most valued. None of the smelt in my “catch” appeared to have eggs. As usual, Japanese and English fish names are difficult to sort out.

The smelt I got were already cleaned (gutted and head off) but not dried like the ones in Japan. The most popular way to cook smelt here in the U.S. (if you are the type of person who would even consider eating smelt) is deep fried. Like shishamo, you can eat every thing including bones, tails and fins. I pondered how to cook them and decided to make a sort of tempura using a thin batter.

Smelt: This is fresh smelt, head off and cleaned. I got 1 lb which is good for 4 generous appetizer size servings.

Tempura batter: I used cake flour (4-5 tbs) and cold seltzer water (add and mix until it forms a thin batter) with a pinch of salt mixed in.

I heated peanut oil in a frying pan (1 inch deep) to 350F (180C) on medium flame. I dipped the smelt in the batter and deep fried it for 3-4 minutes turning over once.

I served this with a wedge of lemon, deep fried parsley, and green tea salt. You could make this in kara-age 唐揚げ (coated with potato starch) or more Western style with seasoned flour or cornmeal and some kind of dipping sauce as well. This was a perfect drinking snack and also a good source of calcium. This goes well with any drink.

New Year's Eve 大晦日

Usually we get good sashimi items for Catalina offshore products for new year's eve. This year, they did not have any good tuna or sea urchin. We had to do without them on the new year's eve. Since I bought the half filet of salmon (over 4 lb), even after making salmon kelp rolls as well as "Russian" marinated salmon, we had a good amount of  salmon left including the skin. So no sashimi this time and    we had salmon and filet mignon.

When I made salmon kelp rolls, I needed to trim the salmon to make it even square  logs. Using these trimmings  I made salmon cakes. Since some of the pieces were still large chunks, I finely minced the half of the salmon trimmings finely (which binds the other ingredients) and the remaining cut into small cubes. Other ingredients are finely chopped onion and celery (sautéed in butter, seasoned with sat ad pepper and cooled), finely grated zest of lemon, finely chopped parsley,  Japanese Panko bread crumbs,   Dijon mustard, mayonnaise and seasoned with salt and pepper. I then made a small flat cakes and  fried them with a bit of olive oil.


Using the more intact portions of the salmon left, I made cubes of teriyaki style salmon with separately cook crispy salmon skin. I just seared all surfaces of the salmon cubes and then braised in a mixture of sake, mirin and soy sauce (1:1:2 ratio) until liquid evaporate and sauce became somewhat thick.

Finally, we had a filet mignon, stuffing (re-heated in small ramekin with scripy bacon), and apple-blackend Brussels sprouts salad. Baked (blacken) brussels sprouts were sliced, red seedless grapes halved, apple (we used Fuji), skinned and cubed dressed in honey mustard dressing garnished with toasted walnuts. I made a quick sauce by degrazing the pan with port wine, reduce it in half. I then added balsamic vinegar and reduce it a bit and finished with several pats of butter.

For libation, we had NV Philippe Prie Brut with cheeses and salmons (the picture taken morning after). For us, differences in the quality of champagnes are very subtle after a certain price point but this was a quite nice one. Then with steak, we switched to 2008 Buccella Merlot . This is a quite amazing red! We really enjoyed this with filet mignon.


We managed to stay up until mid-night to see the ball to drop in on TV.

Japanese "Karasumi" Botargo 唐墨

As we explored the Sushi Taro osechi boxes, we noticed something new this year. To our delight we found something we really like; cured and dried mullet roe called "Karasumi" からすみ (in the circle below). We also discovered "komochi konbu" 子持ち昆布 (a piece of kelp coated with herring roe) tucked in a small bamboo container (shown on the left). It was dressed in spicy cod roe or "mentaiko" 明太子.

These items are indeed the “ultimate delicacy” or "chinmi" 珍味. I briefly grilled the karasumi over a direct gas flame for 10-15 seconds before serving. You can see in the picture that one of the edges is slightly blackened (right piece).

The texture and taste of karasumi is difficult to describe but, to me, the closest is a good quality "neri uni" 練り雲丹 or sea urchin salted and processed into paste. Karasumi, however, is much better. The combination of slightly sticky texture, oceanic taste and saltiness goes exquisitely with sake. It provides the ultimate enjoyment of "nibble-a-little-sip-a-little" which is the Japanese way sake is supposed to be enjoyed. A small nibble followed by a sip of sake brings out the perfection of the taste pairing. It can also lead to the consumption of a large amount of sake. As we amply demonstrated with just these two thin slices of " karasumi" and one very small block of "komichi konbu". This karasumi was home-made by Chef Katsuya Kitayama. We had this item sometime ago at a sushi "omakase" dinner at Sushitaro. I initially thought this was not something my wife would like but I was totally wrong. Her karasumi lasted longer than mine since she practiced the slow repetition of nibbles and sips more appropriately and more often than I did.

Digression alert:
"Karasuki" 唐墨 means "Chinese ink cake". I am not sure about the origin of the name but the shape of a whole cured and dried mullet egg sac was said to resemble an ink cake imported from China. I was surprise to learn that this item was originally imported from Europe through Nakasaki port (which was the only port open during Edo times). Botargo (or bottarga) is the European counterpart of karasumi, although I have not tasted it. Botargo is famous in Italy, especially Sardinia and Sicily, as well as other Mediterranean countries. (It was actually mentioned in Anthony Bourdain in his episode on Sardinia.) In Japan, the ones produced in Nagasaki 長崎 from mullet roe or "bora" ボラ are the most famous. Apparently similar preparations are made from other fish roe but, again, I have not seen or tasted them.

In terms of libations to go with these delicacies, I cannot think of anything better than sake either cold of warm. Sparkling wines such as Procecco may be the next best choice and, maybe, some crisp austere white wine but, for me I’m sticking close to a good sake with karasumi.

"Komochi konbu"  子持ち昆布 is another delicacy; a rectangular piece of kelp sandwiched between layers of herring roe. Originally this occurred naturally when wild herring laid their eggs on kelp. Now, however, it is almost never available in its natural form, so most on the market are produced in an aquaculture setting.  (I was told Canada is a major producer). I suspect many are "manufactured" by coating the kelp with processed herring roe although I could not confirm this as a fact.This is one of the New Year’s good luck foods since numerous golden colored roe symbolize prosperity (both financially and offspring-wise) and kelp "konbu or kobu" 昆布 is part of the phrase "yoro-kobu" 喜ぶ meaning to rejoice.  Katsuya 勝也 dressed this with spicy cod roe "Karashi mentaiko" 辛子明太子 (roe dressed with roe) which raised konochi-konbu to the next higher level.

"Karashi mentaiko"  辛子明太子 reportedly originated from Korea and appears popular in the south of Japan; in such cities as Fukuoka 福岡. Certainly it was not popular in Hokkaido when I lived there. It is a spicy red pepper marinated salted cod roe. I usually do not bother buying this but make it from regular cod roe mixed in hot sauce (Tabasco or Sriracha).

We enjoyed the Karasuki and komochi konbu immensely. These types of surprises make it so much fun to receive and explore the Sushi Taro osechi boxes. We will remember the joy just these two items brought us for the rest of the year. Thank you Sushi Taro.

Happy New Year 2013 明けましておめでとう

Happy New year 2013! Last year was not an easy year. The most vexing were "departures" in the family and among good friends. One of the bright spots was that we finally got back our house from construction and, for the first time in the past 3 years, we could sit in our "tea room" to have our new year's celebration and eat all those Japanese auspicious good luck foods. This year, like the last year, we got Sushi taro's osechi boxes.

This picture shows our small alcove (or "Tokonoma" 床の間) with kagami-mochi 鏡餅. Of course we bought a fake plastic one with packaged round mochi inside. Digression alert: When I was a child, kagami-mochi  or traditional real round "mirror" mochi rice cakes were not packaged or preserved. They were just mounds of pounded rice that remained on display until they were supposed to be eaten (usually January 11, called "kagami-biraki" 鏡開き). Usually, by that time, green mold developed beween the two layers of mochi rounds.  I vividly remember my mother scraping the mold off before she could serve them as "zenzai" 善哉, mochi in sweet red bean sauce (which I did not care for-so my mother need not have gone to all that effort to remove the mold). At least, with the packaged mochi, we do not have to contend with scraping off the mold. Oh the wonders of modern technology!


This picture shows new year's good luck food served on individual lacquered tables as well as the Osechi Box we got from Sushi Taro. I supplemented the Osechi box by preparing several of the items shown here.  From the upper left, daikon namasu 大根なます with boiled octopus and salmon roe, "Russian" marinated salmon, herring roe - this year, there was no terrorist package scare and my mothers "care package" arrived on time and included very nice large herring roe. Among the "kuchitori"  口取り appetizers, I made salmon and burdock kelp rolls 牛蒡と鮭の昆布巻き, date-maki roll 伊達巻 and chicken "matsugaze" cake 鶏肉の松風焼き. From the Sushi Taro's Osechi box, simmered black beans  黒豆, simmered roe bearing sweet fish 子持ち鮎の甘露煮, vinegar-dressed lotus root 花輪蓮根, kumquat simmered in syrup  金柑蜜煮, sake braised shrimp 海老酒煎. As you may notice, many items from the sumptuous Sushi taro osechi boxes have not been touched yet and remain for subsequent feasting.

My dikon namasu came out a bit on the sweet side this year. This may be due to the fact I was out of regular rice vinegar and had to use "sushi" vinegar which already contained sugar and salt (despite the fact that I reduced the seasoning especially the sugar).

The herring roe were very luxurious large ones from Hokkaido. I prepared them as per usual and they were excellent. The salmon on the right is my mother's recipe; "Russian" pickled salmon.

Finally we had a new years soup or "zouni"  雑煮. As usual, I added mochi 餅 or rice cake in a deep fried tofu pouch or "mochi kinchaku"  餅巾着. Instead of "yuzu", I also added a small wedge of lime. Since I forgot to get fresh chicken for the soup we used smoked barbecued chicken left over from Christmas. It added a nice smokey flavor dimension

Salmon Miso 鮭味噌

This is a quick small dish I made to go with a drink one weekday evening. We had a small amount of grilled salmon left  over from the weekend and I wanted to make sure it was eaten before we forget. This is a perfect small dish which goes well with sake or rice depending on the amount of miso used.

Miso sauce: I mixed miso (1 tbs), mirin (1 tbs), and grated ginger (1/4 tsp) in a small bowl. I also made finely chopped scallion (from 3 stalks) and set it aside.

Salmon:This is leftover grilled salmon (without skin since we ate it all while it was crispy on the night we cooked the salmon). The amount is arbitrary but we had a rather small amount. My wife does not like very small pieces of salmon, so I just crumbled into large chunks.

In a small non-stick frying pan, I added dark roasted sesame oil (1/2 tsp) and sautéed the scallion for 30 seconds and then added the miso mixture. When it was bubbling and started thickening a bit, I added chunks of salmon and mixed to coat all the surfaces and also to warm up the salmon (for 1-2 minutes).
If you increased the amount of the miso sauce, this will be perfect for eating with white rice. My rendition here is good with a drink of sake. This is a very standard flavors of miso, some sweetness and ginger which cannot go wrong.