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.
Monday, April 10, 2023
Firefly Squid Scallion Pancake ホタルイカ入りネギ焼き
Ingredients (make 4 pancakes)
12 firefly squids (3 per pancake) or more if you like
50 grams grated nagaimo (mine was near 80 grams)
9 tbs chopped scallion (I used 5 stalks)
1 egg (I used 2 eggs)
2 tbs AP flour
1 tsp granulated bonito dashi (I used “Hondashi”ほんだし)
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbs vegetable oil
Directions:
Since I was using more grated nagaimo than the amount called for in the original recipe, I changed the amount of eggs as a binder. I did not add the firefly squid into the batter initially. I divided the batter into 4 portions and added 3 squid to each batch.
I heated up a non-stick frying pan on medium heat and added the oil. I poured in 4 potions as seen below.
After a few minutes or when the bottoms are set and brown, I flipped the pancakes and lowered the heat and continued cooking for another 2-3 minutes or until the center was done.
Sunday, December 11, 2022
Clam Chowder 子ハマグリのチャウダー
Recently while talking to my wife’s sister, she mentioned that she had made clam chowder using frozen baby clams. In the past, we used canned baby clams to make clam sauce for pasta as well as chowder. We always avoided using canned chopped clams which were very chewy and rubbery. Since we could not get our preferred brand of canned whole baby clams, we have not made either pasta sauce or chowder for a long time. We checked our regular grocery store (home delivery) and found that they carry frozen baby clams from Pana Pesca. We have had frozen squid and octopus from them before. We decided to try the clams. Around the same time, I came across YouTube video of New England clam chowder by Kenji Lopez-Alt. So it appeared that all the stars and the moon were aligned for me to make clam chowder. I made a chowder based on Kenji’s and my old recipes. I used a strip of bacon and used the bacon bits and chopped parsley as garnish.
Ingredients:
10.6oz (300gram) frozen baby clams, thawed and juice preserved
One medium onion, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup of AP flour
2 bay leaves
5-6 baby red potatoes, peeled and cut into small dice
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into small dice
1-2 strips of bacon (or salt pork)
2, 8oz bottles of clam juice
2 cups or less whole milk (amount adjusted based on the thickness of the chowder you like)
3 tbs olive oil + 1 tbs butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Fino sherry (optional)
In a soup pot, add the bacon and cook until crispy and set it aside leaving bacon fat in the pot.
Add the butter and oil and sauté the celery and onion until cooked but not browned (4-5 minutes on medium to low flame. I also seasoned this with salt and pepper)
Add the flour and cook for a few minutes (do not brown), add the clam juice and about1 cup of milk and stir on medium flame until thickened add more milk to adjust the thickness to your taste.
Add the bay leaves, the clams and simmer for 7-8 minutes.
Meanwhile cook the potato and carrot in a separate pot in salted water (I would have cooked the potato and carrot in the same pot in which chowder was cooking but I took the suggestion from Kenji to cook them separately so that the potatoes would not dissolve).
Drain the potato and carrot and add to the chowder.
Season with salt and pepper (you could use white pepper but I used black pepper)
For garnish, I crumbled the bacon strips and finely chopped the parsley
I also added a small amount of Fino sherry to the bottom of the soup bowl.
We were quite pleased with the quality of the clams. We had this as a lunch with several slices of rustic apricot cranberry bread which went very well.
Sunday, October 2, 2022
Take-out sashimi from Tako Grill タコグリルからのテイクアウト
We have been taking out omakase sushi and sashimi 刺身と寿司おまかせ from Tako Grill since March of 2020 after it closed for dining-in. I have posted a few of these take-out sashimi and sushi dishes. I usually re-plate them on two plates for one serving each. I usually use rectangular plates but this time, I used round plates we got recently which are currently our favorite.
Today’s sashimi was Oo-tro tuna 大トロ, hamachi はまち and botan-ebi ボタン海老 (could be Argentinian red shrimp). All were quite good. I also use all the trimmings such as the daikon or perilla from the take-out box.
We also got 4 deep dried shrimp heads (extra benefit of Botan ebi sashimi) which were also great. We got nearly filled up with these assorted sashimi but we finished with the serving of sushi (including one California roll with real lump crab) that was the last part of the take-out. We really enjoy this sashimi and sushi feast at home with cold sake. It is a great to kick back, relax and enjoy our meal with sake libation in the comfort of our home without having to worry about a drive back from the restaurant through traffic.
Friday, September 2, 2022
Firefly squid sautéed in butter and soy sauce ホタルイカのバター醤油炒め
Firefly squid or “hotaru-ika” ホタルイカ is very seasonal and, in the past, the only way we could enjoy it was to visit Japan especially Kanazawa 金沢 in the spring. On exceptional occasions far and few between we had firefly squid at Tako Grill. A few years ago, however, we learned that we could get boiled firefly squid from “Regalis food” in spring. This year, I ordered two trays which was a bit too much for us to consume all at once so, I froze a few small batches in vacuum packs partially as an experiment to see if it would work. Turns out it worked. We defrosted a batch in August and prepared a few dishes. This one (below) was particularly good. The firefly squid is sautéed in butter with deveined and deseeded Jalapeño pepper, shallot, seasoned with soy sauce (Actually I used x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce). I topped it with bonito flakes. This was inspired by one of the Japanese recipes I saw on line but I improvised based on the ingredients we had or did not have on hand.
Ingredients: (For 2 small servings)
Boiled firefly squid, about 30
1/2 Jalapeño pepper, deseeded and deveind and cut into thin juliennes
1/2 shallot, sliced into thin strips
1/2 tbs unsalted butter
2 tsp soy sauce (or x4 “Mentsuyu” 麺つゆ Japanese noodle sauce)
bonito flakes for topping
Directions:
Melt butter in a frying pan on medium flame
Add the jalapeño and shallot and sauté for a few minutes
Add the firefly squid and sauté a few more minutes
Add soy sauce (or x4 noodle sauce)
Serve immediately with a topping of the dried bonito flakes
Saturday, April 2, 2022
Firefly squid grilled in miso-scallion sauce ホタルイカのネギみそ焼き
One of the delicacies of Spring in Japan is firefly squid or “hotaru-ika” ホタルイカ. Like last year, we got boiled firefly squid from Regalis Food. Since I started seeing “Hotaru-ika” in the Japanese food blogs I follow, I checked the Regalis site but they were not available yet so I asked to be notified when they came in. A few days later, I got an email saying firefly squid was available. I looked for something else to purchase from their site but nothing drew my attention so I decided to fill out the order with two packages of the squid. A major part of the preparation of this squid is removing the stone hard eyes and beak before serving/cooking. (It is more difficult to remove the beak than the eyes. Unfortunately I was not completely successful in beak-removal on some of the squid as my wife so kindly pointed out to me after crunching down on several of the ones I accidentally left behind). I served the firefly squid with “sumiso” 酢味噌 with “wakame” 若芽 seaweed twice which is the most common and basic way to enjoy this. For some reason, this year’s firefly squid tasted better than the ones we got last year. Since this is such a simple way of serving the squid the quality really makes a difference. I then proceeded with other preparations to serve.
One of those new preparations is shown below; “firefly squid grilled in miso scallion sauce”. This is a perfect drinking snack and went so well with the cold sake we were having.The recipe came from e-recipe (in Japanese).
Ingredient: (for two small servings)
Firefly squid, about 20, both eyes and beak removed.
For sauce:
Scallion, finely chopped, about 2 tbs
Miso 1tbs
Japanese “dashi” broth 1tbs
Sugar 1-2 tsp
Soy sauce and white sesame (small amount, optional)
Directions:
Mix the all ingredients for the sauce (taste and adjust the amount of sugar and broth).
Place the firefly squid in a single layer in a oven-proof ramekin (picture below).
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Uni shutou with salmon roe 雲丹酒盗いくら入り
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Octopus and cucumber in sumiso dressing 蛸のぶつ切りと胡瓜の酢味噌あえ
This is nothing new; just a continuation of frozen and boiled Spanish octopus from Great Alaska Seafood. This is a good example of how an octopus leg cut can make a big difference in texture. Boiled octopus can be sliced thinly with a wave cut or cut into chunks called "Butsu-giri" ぶつ切り. The cut that is used depends on the firmness of the cooked octopus meat. Firm texture octopus it is quite chewy. A thick slice would be too difficult to eat. The thin wave cut provides a manageably chewy piece and the wave pattern catches any sauce that is used. Alternatively if the octopus meat is soft, the thinly slice wave cut doesn’t have any texture and basically dissolves when eaten so cutting it into chunks is the better choice. Since this octopus was a bit on the soft side, I opted for the chunky cut and made this classic "octopus and cucumber sumiso-ae" 蛸のぶつ切りと胡瓜の酢味噌あえ. I served this with store bought squid shio-kara (right)
Since this octopus leg was more tender than ones from Japan, this "Butsu-giri" cut really worked. It is not too chewy but has nice texture.
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Tender simmered octopus たこの柔らか煮
Ingredients:
Boiled octopus leg, thawed
200ml Japanese dashi (I made this from dashi pack).
1tbs soy sauce
2tbs mirin
2tbs sake
several think ginger slices
Directions:
I used an Instant pot with a small metal container insert with a silicon lid (you could use the inner pot of the instant pot).
I added the octopus and the seasoning liquid into the insert and put on the lid.
I added 1/2 cup water to the pot and using the metal holder that came with the insert, lowered it into the instant pot.
I cooked it on high pressure for 30 minutes with natural depressurization.
The picture below is after cooking.
One of the problems with the Instant Pot cooking is that the simmering liquid does not reduce at all.
So I decided to put the leg and the simmering liquid in a frying pan and cook it on medium flame for 15-20 minutes until the liquid reduced by half.
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Home-made Ricotta cheese marinated in scallion Jalapeño sauce
So my wife immediately came up with the idea of serving the marinated cheese on squares of toasted bread to soak up the flavored oil (shown in the next picture). This was great. (She cut the ears off the bread when making the bread sqaures. She even soaked these pieces in the flavored oil). The combination of the crunch of the bread, the softness and slight saltiness of the cheese all permeated with the flavor of good olive oil, scallion and jalapeño worked out well.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Extra virgin olive oil
3 scallions finely chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and deveined, finely chopped (leave veins if you like hot).
salt to taste
Sunday, September 5, 2021
Squid and daikon, simmered イカ大根
170 gram (6oz) frozen squid, thawed, washed, body cut into 1/2 inch thick rings, tentacles separated
3 inch long daikon, peeled, sliced in 1 inch thick pieces
4 thin slices of ginger, cut into small match sticks
1 frozen fish cake tube or "yaki-chikuwa" 焼きちくわ, thawed and cut into bite size
Green beans, cooked, cut in bias, arbitrary amount
For simmering liquid
1 cup (240-50ml) Japanese broth (I used a bonito and kelp dashi pack)
50-60ml "x4 concentrated" noodle sauce (from the bottle) or half and half soy sauce and mirin
For pre-cooking the daikon
Water enough to cover the daikon
One pinch of uncooked rice (or water in which uncooked rice was rinsed "kome-no togijiru" 米のとぎ汁).
Directions:
Simmer the daikon for 30 minutes or longer until cooked though and soft, rinse off the rice grain if needed (you could prepare the daikon ahead and keep this for a few days in the refrigerator before using).
Add the simmering liquid and the ginger in a pan on medium high flame and let it come to the boil, add the squid and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the squid just becomes homogeneously white/opaque. Take out the squid and set aside.
Add the daikon and the fish cake and turn down the flame and simmer for 15 minutes.
Taste the simmering liquid and if needed add more noodle sauce (or soy sauce/mirin).
Add back the squid and simmer to warm up (30 seconds to one minute).
Garnish with the green beans and serve warm (or cold).
The next day, I served this cold with the other squid dish I made. This dish is usually served warm but even cold, this was a great dish.
Thursday, September 2, 2021
Squid and potato, lightly simmered イカとじゃがいもの軽い煮込み
Ingredients:
170g cleaned and frozen squid and tentacles, thawed* (I used half of a12oz package), washed and the body cut into tubes, and tentacles cut into bite sized pieces
2 small potatoes (I used red potato), skinned and cut into 1/4 slices
150 ml water
1 tbs olive oil
salt to taste
1 tb white wine
1/2 garlic clove
For parsley sauce
5 sprigs of fresh parsley finely chopped (Since I did not have fresh parsley, I used combination of finely chopped scallion and Jalapeno pepper)
2-3 tbs olive oil
1 pinch salt
*The original recipe calls for a one large squid.
Directions:
Sprinkle the white wine on the squid.
Add the water, olive oil, the garlic and the potato in a pot. After it reaches boiling reduce the heat and cook 15-20 minutes with the lid askew. When the potato is cooked, season it with salt.
Add the squid and cook for 30 minutes stirring. Then cut off the heat and let it steep to finish cooking.
Serve with the potato on the bottom top with dollops of the sauce.
Saturday, August 21, 2021
Simmered eggplant and shime-saba with grated daikon 茄子の忘れ煮としめ鯖のおろし和え
Ingredients:
One package of shime-saba, thawed, lightly washed with sake, patted dry, thin skin removed, and then cut into thin (1/4 inch) slices.
2 tbs ponzu shoyu ポン酢醤油 (from the bottle, or equal mixture of rice vinegar or citrus juice and soy sauce)
2 inch long daikon, peeled and grated and excess moisture drained*
Rehydrate dried seaweed mixture, arbitrary amount (optional)
Chiffonade of perilla and lemon wedge for garnish
Directions:
In a bowl, add the shime-saba, grated diakon, seaweed and ponzu and mix, I also added additional yuzu juice (from the bottle) for a good measure. I let it marinate for several hours to overnight, then topped it with the perilla and lemon.
I made the eggplant dish since I got 2 Japanese eggplants at the Japanese grocery store a week ago and did not immediately use them. (My wife was kind enough to reminded me that eggplant, even the Japanese kind, does not improve with age.) The dish is also from the same web site I got the recipe for the mackerel dish. I decided to make this since it does not use any oil and looked healthy and simple. The Japanese name is "Wasure-ni" 忘れ煮 meaning "forgot that it was still simmering" indicating involving long simmering. The original recipe calls for "hoshi-ebi" 干しエビ, small dried shrimp, which is used to add "umami" flavor and fresh "myouga" 茗荷 but I did not have either one so I skipped the shrimp and substituted fresh myouga with vinegard myouga 茗荷の甘酢漬け we made almost one year ago as a garnish. I added slices of ginger in the simmering liquid whihc was not part of the original recipe. I served this with blanched broccoli rabe which is the closest we can get to "Nanohana" 菜の花.
Ingredients:
One Japanese eggplant (this one was on the larger side), remove the stem end, cut in quarters lengthwise, multiple thin slice cuts on the bias through the skin into the flesh but not all the way through and immediately soak in salted cold water for 10-20 minutes.
2 slices of ginger
Threads of ginger root for garnish (skin, slice thinly and then cut into thin threads).
For broth
1 cup Bonito broth (I made it from a dashi pack)
1/3 cup of concentrated Japanese noodle sauce (or mirin and soy sauce in equal amount).
two slices of ginger (original recipe calls for 1 tbs dried shrimp)
Directions:
Heat up the simmering broth until boiling
Put the prepared egg plant, the ginger slices and cover with a inner "otoshi" buta 落とし蓋 (I used a silicon "otoshi-buta" or cover it with an aluminum foil made it to a round, slight smaller than the pot opening, place the lid and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Monday, August 9, 2021
Tako Grill Take-out タコグリルからテイクアウト
Although someday, we may be able to dine-in again, we are quite happy with this arrangement. We also get some Japanese groceries which is definitively a big plus. We are regularly getting frozen edamame (they have the best quality edamame), Japanese crackers (especially my wife likes them), Tonkotsu ramen, and green tea ice cream daifuku among others. We hope this new format will work for Tako Grill as a business. We are certainly very happy with this format.
Friday, August 6, 2021
Big eye tuna sashimi 4 ways めばち鮪刺身 四通り
Monday, April 19, 2021
Firefly squid kara-age ホタルイカの唐揚げ
This is the dish I served using the third and the last tray of "hotaru-ika" ホタルイカ firefly squid. This is a standard "Kara-age" 唐揚げ. This also came from e-recipe.
Ingredients: (for 2 servings).
Firefly squid, boiled, 100grams
Flour and potato starch 1 tbs. each
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for deep frying.
Lemon wedges
Directions:
Heat the oil to 160C (or 320F)
Place the squid, flour, starch mixture, salt and pepper in a sealable bag and dredge the squid.
Deep fry for 1 minute or until the surface gets crispy. Drain and serve with wedges of lemon.
This is a great way to serve this squid. The surface and tentacles get crispy but the inside is soft.