Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Tsukune with renkon 蓮根つくね
To show how this is constructed, left is the patty side and right is lotus root side on the top, respectively. I took a shortcut and I cooked this in a frying pan. Instead of making "tare" sauce, I just made a quick pan sauce to coat the tsukune.
There are many variations on what can be included in tsukune. The only consistent ingredient is ground chicken. One of the reasons I had for making this dish was to use barbequed chicken left over from the previous weekend. So, I mixed finely chopped cooked breast meat with store-bought ground chicken breast. I am not sure about the amount as usual but both the cooked and ground chicken were about 1 lb each. The idea here is that the cooked chicken adds texture and the raw ground chicken binds the tsukune together. You could add anything you like but this time, I added finely chopped scallion (5 stalks including green parts), grated garlic and ginger (about 1/2 tsp each but whatever amount you like), and 1 tbs of miso. Since the mixture was a bit stiff, I also added one whole egg beaten. I made 1/3 for this dish and 2/3 for usual tsukune. For the usual tsukune, I added coarsely chopped lotus root. I made 8 tsukune on lotus root as you can see below. I pressed the meat mixture so that some went into the holes of the lotus root.
With a small amount of vegetable oil (or dark sesame oil if you so prefer) on medium heat,
I cooked the meat side first for 1-2 minutes until the surface was nicely browned. I flipped them over and cooked for another 1-2 minutes. I then added mirin, sake and soy sauce (1tsp each) into the pan. I shook the pan, until a viscous sauce developed and flipped them over so that the sauce coated all surfaces.
I served hot with a sprinkling of powder “sansho” 山椒. Because I used only breast meat, it was a bit on the dry side especially when it was reheated later. But this is another good way to use up cooked chicken.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Chicken "tsukune" with lotus root; two ways 蓮根入り鶏のつくね、2種類
Tsukune mixture: I hand chopped to make ground chicken from thighs (2 large) but of course you could just buy ground chicken or use a food processor. I like to use thigh meat with a bit of fat. I mixed in finely chopped onion (1/2 small), ground ginger (1/4 tsp), sliced and chopped lotus root (1/4 of vacuum packed pre-boiled), yuzu-kosho (1/2 tbs or more). As I mentioned, one could add more ingredients such as ground nagaimo or yamaimo, tofu, beaten egg etc. Using the same mixture I cooked it in two ways.
In the first version, I spread the meat mixture on the square (1/4 of full nori sheet) of nori and fried it--meat side first and then nori-side. Dishes with nori involved often include a word "seashore" or "Isobe" 磯辺. So this is "Isobe" grilled chicken patty. I made an equal mixture of mirin and soy sauce and added it to the pan towards the end of cooking and coated the chicken patties. After removing the patties from the pan, I further reduced the sauce until it was rather thick and put back the patties to coat. I sprinkled Japanese "sansho" 山椒 powder. I served this with "kinpira" or braised lotus root (This was made from the remaining lotus root, a subject for another post). I should have taken pictures with this dish turned over to show the piece of nori.
The next day using the same mixture, I made the tuskune in the regular way (pan fried and then braised in mirin and soy sauce) and served it with celery salad with powdered kelp or "kobucha" 昆布茶 and olive oil.
Thursday, May 25, 2023
Root Vegetable Stew 根菜の煮しめ
The layer below shows three different kinds of fish cakes (straight chikuwa ちくわ), chikuwa with squid ika-chikuwa イカちくわ, ganmodoki がんもどき(all cut in half) and a knot of shirataki “musubi-shirataki 結び白滝”. Please notice, the taro “satoimo” is perfectly shaped since this is frozen packaged one.
Using prepared vegetables and assorted fish cakes, makes it much easier to make this dish. Beside using prepackaged items, the recipe is essentially the same as I previously posted.
Friday, January 4, 2019
New Year's day evening with Sushi Taro Osechi 元旦の夕, すし太郎のおせち
We were delighted to see our favorite "karasumi" 唐墨 or "bottarga" or sun-dried mullet roe this year as well (right upper corner) along with the other usual goodies.
This is the second layer. Miso-marinated beef tongue (right upper corner) is new this year. We like beef tongue but this is quite different from how we prepare it. Another one of our favorites "Monkfish liver terrine" or "ankimo tofu" あん肝豆腐 is peaking out on the right upper corner of the third (bottom) row.
Since I got frozen bluefin tuna sashimi block form Catalina Offshore products last December in preparation for the coming new year, we had some on New Year's eve and finished it New Year's day evening. The tuna was very good and it was between chu-toro 中とろand ko-toro 小とろ.
On the sashimi plate, we had tuna, steamed sea urchin, karasumi, boiled shrimp (leftover from making ozouni), white and red fish cake, salmon Russian marinade, marinated herring roe (this is one I prepared) and burdock root stuffed with mustard. This year, karasumi was sliced a bit thicker than usual so I grilled it lightly in the toaster oven before enjoying it.
The second small plate had my "Chicken matsu-kaze yaki" 松風焼 (left in the picture below, I used toasted walnuts instead of pine nuts so it is not really "matsu-kaze" or "wind over the pine"). The green vegetable is from the osechi box called "pickled Chishatou" ちしゃとう or celtuce. This is a food item I am not familiar with but it is a stalk of a type of special lettuce. It has a nice crunchy texture. This "Date-maki" egg roll is from the osechi box and the meat behind it is miso marinated beef tongue. It is firmer than I make it but it had a nice beef flavor.
The third small plate had "renkon" lotus root cut in flower-shape dressed in vinegar, marinated (I assume in miso) egg yolk with walnut (another of our favorites), smoke salmon rolled in thinly peeled radish and cumquat in syrup. Behind the renkon is steamed fish cake with matsu-take mushroom or "matsutake shinjou"松茸しんじょう(cut in half).
This is an octopus leg I dressed in mustard miso vinegar タコ足のぶつ切りの芥子酢味噌和え.
We had the same sake (the last bottle) as last year which we brought from Japan two years ago. Jurakudai daiginjou from Kyoto.
We thought these are the starter but after eating these and drinking, both of us were quite full and called it quits. It was a nice evening to start 2019.
Monday, December 14, 2020
Sushi Taro "regular" kaiseki box "普通”の寿司太郎会席弁当
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year 2011 明けましてお目出度う御座いました 2011
In any case, we started the new year with a good new year breakfast. Happy New Year!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Scattered sushi cooked in Donabe 炊き込み寿司
Monday, November 24, 2014
Kinpira lotus root レンコンのキンピラ
To retain a nice crunchy texture, I cut the lotus root (2/3 package) in half length wise first and then sliced rather thinly in half moon shapes. Since this packaged lotus root has already been cleaned and boiled, I did not have to do any other preparation such as soaking in water with vinegar. I removed the excess moisture from the slices by spreading them on a sheet of paper towel and blotting them dry. I put vegetable oil (1 tbs) and dark sesame oil and red pepper flakes (amount arbitrary) in a wok and then added the sliced lotus root and sautéed for a few minutes until the oil coated the surface (see below).
I then add mirin (1 tbs) and soy sauce (1 tbs) and braised it until liquid was almost all evaporated.
This is quite different from burdock root or daikon kinpira especially in texture. The lotus root had a nice crunchy texture. This was a good small dish to have it with sake. If I seasoned it more strongly, this would go well with white rice as well.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
"Kazunoko" Herring roe 数の子
First, I have to remove the salt from the kazunoko (called "shionuki" 塩抜き) by soaking it in weak salted water (I taste the salted water; just a nice salty taste you can drink if you wanted to). Although you could start with water and then finish "shionuki" with salted water. I prefer to use salted water from the beginning and change it several times in 3-4 hour periods. The reason is that if you remove the salt completely, kazunoko will taste "bitter". So, you need to leave some saltiness behind. Using salted water prevents the complete removal of the salt even if you forget and soak it too long. While soaking, I removed the thin white membrane which covers the roe by rubbing the surface with my finger tips under water. After "shionuki" and removing the membrane, herring roe is ready as shown in the lower left image. I tasted a small piece from the edge to make sure it is not too salty. I sometimes thinly slice this and serve it like sashimi with wasabi and soy sauce but I usually marinate it.
For the marinade, I make dashi broth from a kelp and bonito dash pack. I season with light colored soy sauce (to preserve the golden color) and sake. The amount of sake (or mirin if you like it sweet) and soy sauce are up to your taste but I tend to make a strong dashi packed with "umami" and go light on soy sauce. I gently boiled the mixture for few minutes to make sure the alcohol has all evaporated and tastes amalgamated. I let it cool to the room temperature and then refrigerate. I marinated the prepared herring roe for, at least several hours or over night in the refrigerator (The right lower image shows the roe after marinading). You should eat this in few days.
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Special take-out Kaiseki box from Sushi Taro 寿司太郎のテイクアウト特製会席弁当
Prior to COVID the omakase counter at Sushi Taro was our special-occasion-go-to place. As a matter of fact, we had a reservation in March this year but because of COVID, that got canceled. I knew for some time that, although the restaurant was closed, Sushi Taro has been doing take-out. But getting there either from home or work for the pick-up was impractical. Since I started thinking about the NewYear “Osechi” 御節 from Sushi Taro, I contacted them. I was delighted to find out that they are going to do Osechi for the next New Year and I quickly placed an order. During that interaction, I learned that they do special omakase kaiseki boxes-to-go and that they can deliver. I quickly placed an order. Delivery was scheduled for Friday at 5pm. We were like little kids in anticipation. I even "just happened" to come home from work a bit early for the delivery. It arrived in two, two-tiered (bento or modified jubako?) boxes. (a total of four boxes with three compartments each). We initially thought we got two identical sets but when we opened the second box, surprise! We were totally blown away. All compartments contained many wonderful different dishes. The first one had some cooked dishes, two different kinds of sushi. The cooked dishes in the top tier were still warm.
Sunday, December 26, 2021
“Shoga-yaki” ginger pork bowl “tei-shoku” lunch 豚の生姜焼き丼定食
A few weeks ago, my wife suggested that it has been quite a while since we had sukiyaki すき焼き and it would be nice to have some. I agreed, but when I went to the Japanese grocery store, I forgot to get the frozen "Sukiyaki meat" すき焼肉. So, the next time I went I was proud of myself for not forgetting the meat. But apparently I picked up the wrong thing. My first clue was when my wife said, “I didn’t know sukiyaki is made with pork, I thought it was beef.” Instead of sukiyaki beef, in my haste I had picked up thinly sliced pork for "shouga-yaki" 生姜焼き. Since this package was next to the "shabu-shabu" シャブシャブ beef, I assumed it was also beef but for sukiyaki. In my enthusiasm I bought not one but two packages of the stuff. All was not lost, however, as I may have mentioned before, in Hokkaido 北海道, where I am originally from, many families use pork instead of beef for sukiyaki as was the case in my family. So, we went ahead and used one of the packs of pork to make sukiyaki. It was not good. The pork was too lean and too thickly cut. It got hard when cooked as sukiyaki. (So note to self: next time when at the Japanese grocery store get appropriate sukiyaki beef). Meanwhile, since I had bought two packages of this pork, I had one package left and it was clear that it would not be used for sukiyaki. So, one weekend I decided to use the pork as originally intended and made “shoga-yaki” ginger pork. Pork shoga-yaki 豚の生姜焼き is a very popular dish in Japan. When I was a college student, coffee shops near the university served lunch in addition to tea and coffee. In addition to “Western-style” lunches such as sandwiches or spaghetti, most of the coffee shops also served Japanese-style bento 弁当 or teishoku 定食* and shoga-yaki was among the popular ones. I am sure this has not been changed even now.
*Digression alert: I am sure it is no need to explain “bento” but here it goes anyway. When “bento” is served in restaurant/coffee shop, it is usually a lidded rectangular box which contains the entire meal but unlike pre-packaged bento, the rice and dishes are warm or just made. "Teishuku" (please follow the link for illustrated guide) is the Japanese concept of a "complete" meal or "meal set" which includes a bowl of rice, soup, tsukemono 漬け物 (pickled or more likely salted vegetables), main dish (protein) and small "kobachi" 小鉢 side dish or bowl. In many "Taishu-shokudo" 大衆食堂 or "public" eateries which serve those who want drinks with food and those who want a complete meal, many different teishoku are available (the main protein dish varies and can be grilled fish, sashimi, or meat etc) but the remaining items, or “sides” such as soup, tuskemono, are usually the same for each available teishoku. The main and side dishes can be had as a single dish without other items (this is great especially if you are just drinking). It could also be "teishoku" for the price of a few more yen.
So, this is my rendition of "shoga-yaki" donburi teishoku 生姜焼き丼定食. In this case, the main protein and rice were combined as a donburi.
How to make pork shouga-yaki ginger pork (Although I posted "shouga-yaki" over 11 years ago, this time, I am using a more appropriate, albeit not perfect, cut of meat). I am sure that there are so many variations and preferences and, of course, you could use other meat such as beef but this is what I made.
The essence of this dish is thinly sliced meat sautéed and seasoned sweet soy sauce flavored with ginger. Using lean meat can make tough shouga-yaki and using fatty cuts such as thinly sliced pork belly will prevent that but the traditional cut to be used is "pork roast" meat 豚のロース cut thinly (thin enough but not paper thin).
Ingredients:
Thinly sliced pork, 4-5 slices for one meal size serving (in Japan, specially packaged "shouga-yaki" pork is available widely. The one I got here is a bit too lean, the perfect cut has more fat. I used the entire package which is about 20 slices).
For marinade:
Mirin, soy sauce, and sake (1:1:1) ratio, enough to marinate the meat plus more to add while cooking.
Grated ginger (amount arbitrary, totally depends on your taste, I used whole grated ginger but you can use just the juice from grated ginger).
Dash of dark sesame oil
(optionally, grated onion).
Directions:
Marinate the meat. The amount of the marinade is enough to cover all meat slices and a bit more (additional 1/4 cup). I marinaded for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
I drained the marinade (the excess marinade reserved) and spread the meat slices on a paper towel to remove excess marinade.
In the non-stick frying pan, add 2 tsp neutral oil on medium flame.
Set aside the cooked meat slices.
When all the slices are cooked, add the marinade to the pan (if not enough add more sake, mirin and soy sauce).
Add back the cooked meat with the accumulated juice and the onion .
Quickly cook and coat each slice with the marinade. Take it out and set aside.
Since I was planning to make a doumburi, I added a small amount of water at the end and heated the marinade to make sauce.
Assembly:
Top the rice with the shouga-yaki pork slices (I used 3 slices per bowl).
Pour in the sauce from the frying pan (just slightly moisten and season the rice).
Add any other garnish or topping (such as ginger julienne in vinegar or "benishouga" 紅生姜). I added seasoned shiitake mushrooms and blanched broccoli.