Tuna tartar variation with Jalapeno pepper 鮪のなめろうハロペニョペッパー入り

This is "a variation on the theme of tuna namerou 鮪のなめろう".  I think two of our favorite ways  to enjoy the block of low-quality but readily available frozen yellowfin tuna are "namerou" and "negitoro" ネギトロ. I could have made this tuna namerou as before but the limitation of what I had in terms of the ingredients forced me to make some changes. I also borrowed some ideas from making "negitro".  I garnished it with thin slices of Jalapeno pepper hinting at  what this namerou contains.

These two servings are made from a half of the tuna block but it turned out to be  quite a lot (for us, at least). 

Making this is rather simple. This time, modifications included using Vidalia onion (in stead of scallion) and Jalapeno pepper.  I cut the tuna into small cubes, added finely chopped, deseeded, and deveined Jalapeno pepper (half of large one), finely chopped Vidalia onion (half of medium sized) and miso (I added a bit more later after I tasted it). In addition, I added the Spanish olive oil we really like. As I "hit" or "tataku" 叩くit with my heavy chef's knife, I gradually added the olive oil to incorporate (instead of using mayonnaise when making negitoro) until it became the pasty consistency and still some small chunks are remaining. I also add a little bit more olive oil on the top as I served this.

Although we started the evening with a Napa cab, we switched to cold sake (We happened to have "Dassai" 獺祭 daiginjo 大吟醸 from Yamaguchi 山口県 prefecture). We thought the addition of Jalapeno to this dish was a good one. It added a fresh pepper taste without adding any heat (since I removed the veins and seeds). Although quite subtle, the addition of olive oil also added to the  unctuous texture.  The amount of miso was just right and we could really taste nice miso flavors with nutty-saltiness. I had a few more dishes planned but at this point, we were quite full.

Fried bamboo shoot stuffed with pork and shrimp たけのこの贅沢揚げ

This recipe used the top 2/3 of the bamboo shoot left over after I made "Tosa-ni"土佐煮. The bamboo shoot is stuffed with a mixture of pork and shrimp based on a recipe I saw on line. Since I did not have access to "kinome" 木の芽, I simply added fried green beans as a green.

Here is a close up of another serving.

Ingredients (2 servings):

Bamboo shoot, one package, pre-boiled, top 2/3 (or "Hosaki" 穂先), cut into 6 wedges (#1), carefully cut from the outer surface to make a pouch but not cut it through.

Ground pork, 40g (I hand chopped pork butt I had).

Shrimp, 60g (I used frozen, thawed and chopped finely until it had a paste like consistency)

Scallion, one, white part, finely chopped.

Ginger root, finely chopped (to taste)

Salt, to taste

Soy sauce, 1/2 tsp

Sake, 1/2 tsp

White pepper, to taste

Flour for dredging

Oil (I used peanut oil) for frying

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients above except for bamboo shoot (by hand or using a silicon spatula) until everything sticks together (#2)

Dredge the wedges of bamboo shoot with flour including inside the slits and stuff the meat (#2) into the slits. Dredge the surface of the stuffing as well (#3).

Shallow fry (1/2 inch deep oil), turning frequently to slightly brown the stuffing and to make all sides crispy (flour makes thin crust).

Drain the oil and serve hot.

This is a very nice dish. It was very hot and my wife had to wait several minutes for it to cool down. By frying, bamboo shoot developed very good strong bamboo shoot flavor while still retaining a nice crunch. The stuffing of pork and shrimp is very flavorful with a nice texture. The shrimp really give a nice firmer texture.  We had this with cold sake which was a perfect match.

Tuna, asparagus and poached egg 鮪漬けの炙りとアスパラガスの温玉添え

The type of tuna sashimi blocks 鮪の刺身の冊 I can get at our Japanese grocery store is limited to frozen ahi or yellowfin tuna キハダマグロ, which was treated with carbon monoxide to give it a bright red color (carbon monoxide sounds bad but it is no health hazard when used on food like this). I always keep a tuna block in our freezer "just-in-case". I have to rotate the stock every several months since unlike wine, the tuna does not improve with time.  Since I bought a new tuna block when I stopped by our Japanese grocery store this weekend, I took the old one out of the freezer to thaw. I have posted  many times how to make this low-quality tuna sashimi palatable. One of the ways is to make "Zuke" 漬けor marinated tuna.  So, I sliced half of the tuna sashimi block and marinated it in a "Goma-dare" ゴマだれ (see below) the night before. This time, I did not do "Yubiki" 湯引き or cooking the surface by dunking it in boiling water and then ice water to halt the cooking.  I was not sure how I would serve this "zuke maguro" (marinated tuna) until I learned we were starting the evening with red wine. Then the "path" became pretty clear;

I had to come up with something that went well with red wine.  This dish was the result. I was inspired by  this picture in one of the food blogs I follow. This dish is grilled asparagus, poached egg with grated Pecorino Romano and botargo.  Since I did not have botargo or karasumi からすみ, I omitted it and used grated Parmigiano-Reggiano instead of Pecorino Romano. Seared zuke tuna is my addition. I poached the eggs as I posted before. 

Since I prepared green asparagus that morning, this was an easy dish to put together once I decided what I would make. 

Tuna preparation:

1. I thawed the frozen block of tuna overnight in the refrigerator. I sliced half of the block into half inch thick slices.
2. This time I made "Goma-dare" for marinade.  I first dry roasted white sesame seeds in a dry frying pan (1 tsp) until slightly darkened and fragrant (the sesame was already roasted but re-roasting it add much more flavor). I ground the seeds in a Japanese Suribachi すり鉢 mortar. I then added mirin, sake and soy sauce in a ratio of 1:1:2.
3. I placed the tuna and the marinade in a Ziploc bag to make sure all the surface of the tuna was covered with marinade and removed as much air from the bag as I could. I sealed the bag and kept it in the refrigerator overnight.
4. The next evening, I took out the tuna slices, blotted the excess marinade from the surface (picture below) and cut one slice into two.

I thought searing one of the surfaces would add texture and a beef-like flavor which would go better with red wine. I seared the pieces two ways; one by using a kitchen blow torch (those are the ones with the black specs in the picture below) and the other seared in a frying pan with melted butter (the shiny ones on the tops row and right of bottom row).  

Asparagus prepration:

I got thick spears of green asparagus from our grocery store. I removed the bottom by simply bending and breaking it. Using a vegetable peeler, I peeled the bottom half of the skin and blanched the stalk in salted water. Just before assembling this dish, I quickly sautéed it in melted butter and seasoned with salt and black pepper.

Assembly:

I cut the asparagus on the bias into 3-4 pieces. I arranged the pieces to look like a whole uncut asparagus spear, resting diagonally on a square plate. I arranged the two kinds of seared tuna squares on one side of the asparagus and placed a poached egg on the other side. I grated Parmisiano-Reggiano on top.

This dish followed my octopus carpaccio and we enjoyed it with a glass of Louse M. Martini Napa Cab as before. The tuna was seasoned well from the marinade and became firmer than non-marinated tuna. Searing added beef like flavor but we could not tell the differences between torched vs. pan seared. The combination of runny warm yolk and asparagus cannot go wrong. This dish really went well with the California Cab we were having.

Octopus carpaccio variation タコのカルパッチョ

I stopped by our Japanese grocery store this weekend, especially since we were running out of sushi vinegar 寿司酢 (an important item for any household especially ours). I bought a few other items which included boiled octopus legs ゆでだこの足. I served them with my usual "karashi sumiso" 芥子酢味噌 that evening with cold sake. The next evening I wanted to serve what was left but in a different way. The variation I came up with is the subject of the current post. Besides, my wife wanted to start the evening with a glass of red wine rather than sake. So, I came up with this rendition of octopus carpaccio. Although I posted a similar dish before, there are enough differences to warrant another post (I am a bit desperate for new posts at this point). Since I also bought cod roe or "tarako" たらこ and "salmon roe" いくら as well, I incorporated these into the dish as well. In the picture below, the green is cucumber slices, the red and white slivers are red radish, thinly sliced and then cut into thin julienne.

My wife asked why I always slice octopus in a wavy fashion (check out how a pro will do it with the visual aid here). This wavy cut is called "sazanami-giri" さざなみ切り("sazanami" is Japanese for the small ripply waves on the surface of otherwise calm waters).  I told my wife this is the traditional way of slicing octopus and abalone or "awabi" アワビ because the flesh of these creatures is firm. If the surface was cut smoothly the soy sauce would just run off. The ripples help hold the sauce on much like the grooves in pasta help hold on the tomato sauce. 

As usual, I started with olive oil (I used this excellent Spanish olive oil for this) and syrupy aged balsamic vinegar, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper on the bottom.

I made the base layer with very thinly sliced Vidalia onion (I used a Japanese "Benriner" mandoline). I then added cucumber slices around the perimeter and covered the center with thinly sliced octopus. I removed the tarako roe from its membrane sac (I used about 1/3). I scattered the tarako and ikura on the octopus and garnished it with thin julienne of red radish. I finished with drizzles of the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  

We had this with Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2012, this is a very reliable California Cab and got 90 from Wine Advocate. This winery was bought out by the Gallo some years ago but appears to be maintaining their quality. It may not be a spectacular wine but it has all the good qualities of  a Napa cab. One should be careful when buying this brand, however, since they make three different versions with near-identical labels but different prices; they are from Napa, Alexander and Sonoma valleys. We tried all three in different vintages but we liked the Napa version best.  This wine went rather well with the carpaccio, although the addition of fish roe resulted in a somewhat less than perfect match for red wine. The roe were in small enough amounts so as not to be objectionable and they did add a nice saltiness. The balsamic vinegar was more sweet than vinegary and did not compete with this red. The olive oil was again great, adding nice fruity, grassy tastes with a peppery finish. The octopus itself had a very neutral flavor (an euphemism for not much taste) but added great texture. We had the octopus slices with layers of the onion, cucumber which made it very nice. I made one more dish which we had with this red wine before changing to cold sake with tuna tartar (both dishes are subjects of future posts). 

Bamboo shoot Tosani 筍の土佐煮

Spring and early summer are the season for fresh bamboo shoots or takenoko 筍 in Japan but I have never seen fresh takenoko on sale at the grocery store here in the US. So, I have to use the pre-boiled and packaged variety. I have posted few bamboo shoot dishes in the past. This one is called "Tosa-ni" 土佐煮. Tosa is southernmost prefecture in the island of shikoku 四国 which is famous for bonito or katsuo 鰹 and dried and shaven bonito flakes called "katsuo-bushi" 鰹節.  Simmered vegetable especially bamboo shoot in broth made of bonito flakes seasoned with soy sauce is often referred as "Tosa-ni". I also added additional bonito flakes after the bamboo shoots were cooked and seasoned.

Ingredients: (for two small serving as a drinking snack) and directions:

1. Bamboo shoot, pre-boiled and vacuum packed (#1). I used only the bottom 1/3 for this dish and the rest was used to make something else.
2. Bonito broth, I made about 3 cups with two dashi packs with bonito and kelp which is much stronger than usual broth.
3. I sliced off the bottom 1/3, quartered and sliced into 1/2 inch quarter rounds (#2).
4. I cooked it in plain boiling water for 3 minutes and drained.
5. I put them back in a dry pan and added the bonito broth just covering the bamboo shoot (around 1/2 cup).
6. I added light colored soys sauce (1/2 tbs) and a splash of mirin (or you could omit the mirin).
7. Simmer with lid on until most of the liquid has evaporated (#3).
8. I added two small packages (or whatever amount you like) of bonito flakes and mixed to coat. If the moisture is not enough, you could add a splash of the broth or soy sauce depending on the taste of the cooked bonito (I added the broth).

Although I took several shortcuts (not using fresh bamboo shoot and not making broth from freshly shaven bonito flakes), it tasted very good. The bonito flavor combined with the savory saltiness of the soy sauce permeated the bamboo shoot and was further boosted with the additional bonito flakes on the surface. The bamboo shoot was tender but some firmness still remained. This is a perfect small "otoshi" dish to start the evening.

Chashu donburi チャーシュー丼

I am really running out of new things I can cook and post nowadays. My wife has really contributed a lot recently by coming up with some new dishes. Although our posts may not be as interesting or new, it is nice for us to have a record of the various dishes we ate that we can refer back to later. This is one such post. Using the same chashu pork チャーシュー I made chashu egg チャーシューエッグ, I made  this donburi 丼 or rice bowl with chashu, ajitsuke tamago 味付け卵, and spicy baked tofu 豆腐のピリ辛オーブン焼き for lunch. It was an unexpectedly pleasant and sunny day and we were lounging on our deck. This was a quick lunch to make since we did not want to spend too much time inside cooking.

I used the simmering liquid with which I made the chashu. It was concentrated; having reduced by 2/3 during the cooking of the chashu.  I let the remaining 1/3 jell by cooling it in the refrigerator and removed the congealed fat on the surface. I repurposed it by making a sauce/broth for this dish. I thinly sliced half of a medium onion and cooked it in the broth (1/4 cup) for several minutes with a lid on until cooked. I had blanched green beans. I sliced them on the bias and placed slices of chashu pork, green beans on the top of the cooked onion and cut the flame and let it warm up (not to cook further) with a lid on. Since I made baked spicy tofu that morning, I also added it to this dish. The rice was previously frozen and then microwaved to thaw. I added some of the broth to moisten the rice and the rest was poured over to my wife's bowl since she like more liquid than I do.

As I mentioned before, the egg yolk in ajistuke egg changes in consistency during the  marinating process. It becomes firmer; almost like a custard.  It also absorbs the flavor of the marinade. As far as we were concerned the egg was the star of the dish...but the pork was pretty good too, oh and there was the tofu; it was mighty fine. This was a perfect small lunch to enjoyed outside on an early summer day. I usually make some kind of miso soup but I did not this time to maximize the lounging time outside.

Ribbon salad リボンサラダ

This is an historic recipe with a story behind it.  Even though my wife had been cooking for her family since her early teens, she didn't enjoy cooking and it showed. She herself used to say nobody would starve while she was at the stove but there were better ways to enjoy life than eating something she put on a plate. She was infamous for her gelatin based creative concoctions so much so that when she was asked what to bring to pot luck dinners, she was usually told napkins would be just find.  She claims she became a much better cook after we got married (whether my influence or not, I am pleased to say that she did).

This recipe was one of her favorites from way way back (early 1970's?). She found it recently after going through a collection of old papers. She couldn't remember where it came from but it was printed on an old newspaper with references to addresses in Ontario, Canada. While she was wildly enthusiastic about making this recipe for me, I remembered some of the dishes for which she achieved her previous dubious fame (I believe a type of tomato-y jello was involved) and was somewhat less enthusiastic. It was fairly complicated involving a number of steps and my wife claimed that when she first made this dish, it sorely tested her culinary skills but this time she seemed well within her comfort zone. Despite my initial hesitancy, I was quite please with how well it turned out.  Unlike other ribbon salads which use flavored and artificially colored gelatin and tend to be sweet, this one is savory and can definitely play a legitimate role in any meal. Here we just served it alone (picture above). Bottom layer looks dark but top and bottom layers are the same savory tomato flavor separated by a creamy cottage cheese based center layer. (below).

This was a weekend light lunch and I served it with my salmon salad and baguette and a wedge of tomato seasoned with salt and olive oil. 

The ribbon salad was a perfect accompaniment for this cold salad on a hot day (we were hitting 90F).

Here you can see both top and bottom layers are the same with a nice white smooth cottage cheese layer.

Ingredients:

Red layer

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

3 1/2 cup tomato juice

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt1 tsp onion juice (we used grated onion).

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbs vinegar (we used rice vinegar).

White layer

1 envelope of unflavored gelatin

1/4 cup cold water

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese, mashed (We used small curd and pureed it with other ingredients in a blender).

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup finely diced celery

2 tbs finely chopped onion

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

To make red layer soak gelatin in 1/2 cup tomato juice 5 minutes. Combine remaining tomato juice with rest of ingredients and heat to boiling. Add gelatin and stir until dissolved. Pour half of mixture in 9 X 5 pan. Chill until set ( #1). Leave remaining half at room temperature. 

To make white layer. Soak gelatin in cold water 5 minutes then melt over hot water (we used a double boiler). Combine remaining ingredients puree in the blender. Add gelatin and chill until slightly thickened (#2). Pour over set tomato layer (#3). Chill until set (#4). Add remaining tomato mixture (#5) and chill until firm (#6). 

I first tasted the dish almost as soon as the layers had set. The Worcestershire flavor was rather assertive in the red layer. The white layer was creamy with a subtle onion and celery overtone. The next day, the flavors had a chance to meld. The red layer had calmed down quite a bit and tasted just fine. This is lots of work (mostly my wife's) but it is a nice cool savory dish perfect for hot summer. We were glad we resurrected this "ancient" recipe.