Posted September 2nd, 2010 in Food | No Comments »
I used to buy white fish Nanban (deep-fried white fish in Nanban sauce) from deli in supermarkets. It’s vinegary sauce whips the appetite, and the sweetness of the sauce and the onion are best match with steamed rice.
I made this dish with salmon instead of white fish. The white fish we eat in Japan are different from those in supermarkets here. You can make this recipe with any white fish, but I thought I’d try it with salmon. I’m sure you can get the fish (that we eat in Japan) from some shops here too, but I believe almost everyone loves salmon and it’s easy to get from anywhere.
<Salmon Nanban> serves 2
- 125g x 2 Salmon Fillet
- 1 onion, small
- 1/2 carrot
- 1 red chili, small (optional)
- 4 tbs soy sauce
- 5 tbs vinegar
- 6 tbs sugar
- 1/2 tbs corn flour + 1/2 tbs plain flour to dust
- oil for deep-frying
- 1 tsp corn flour + 1 tsp water
- Slice onion and carrot thinly. Chop chili.
- Heat 1 tsp of oil in a frying pan, and fry onion and carrot. Add chili.
- Add the sauces to the pan, and bring to boil. Pour corn flour + water mixture into the pan, while stirring. Simmer for 1 minutes, and remove from the heat.
- Heat oil in a deep pan.
- Slice salmon into 1 cm thick pieces. Dust with corn flour + plain flour, shake off any excess. Deep-fry until golden and crispy.
- Drain any excess oil, and immerse into the sauce (at stage 3)
- To serve: Arrange the salmon in a serving plate, and pour over the onion, carrot and sauce. Best to be served with steamed rice.
＊ Check out Chicken Nanban recipe →
hereaa
Posted August 30th, 2010 in Food | No Comments »
I made this to eat at home, but it’s also a great item for picnic. It’s such easy to make and looks cute, like temari-sushi (small and ball-shaped sushi). You can add more colors such as red (red ginger), green (green veggie or green pickles), orange (tobikko) …
The good thing is, you don’t even need to make your hands dirty - shape it by using pieces of plastic wrap.
I used normal steamed rice (not vinegared rice) so this is not sushi. You can use vinegared rice if you like.
Makes 8~10
- 100g unagi (roasted eel)
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch of sugar
- about 3 small bowl-full of steamed rice (short or medium grain)
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- If you are using a frozen unagi, defrost and warm up in a boiling water. Cut into pieces.
- Beat egg with 1 pinch of sugar. Heat a frying pan and lightly grease the pan. Pour the egg and cook as if you are making very fine scrambled egg. Try not to color the egg. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Cut plastic wrap about 15cm x 15cm. Place a piece of the plastic wrap in a small bowl. (this makes easy to shape) Arrange a piece of unagi in the centre, and spoon scrambled egg around it. Drop 1.5 tbs of rice on top and close the plastic wrap. Shape into a round ball. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
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Posted April 22nd, 2010 in Food | 5 Comments »
Very simple pasta with smoked salmon and ao-nori. Ao-nori, also known as green laver, is dried and powdered green seaweed and it has distinctive flavor. You should have seen it as a topping on Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki and other Japanese dishes. This goes well with smokey salmon and mild Parmesan.
<Ao-nori Pasta with Smoked Salmon> serves 2
- 2 portion pasta
- 100 g smoked salmon
- 1/2 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbs (1g) Ao-nori
- 1 tbs margarin
- 1tbs olive oil
- Bring a large pot of water (salted) to the boil. Cook pasta to al dente.
- Meanwhile, chop onion and garlic.
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan, and sautee garlic and onion until fragrant.
- Add margarin, then smoked salmon, drained pasta and ao-nori. Mix through gently, and season. Turn off the heat.
- Serve on the plate and top with shaved Parmesan.
Posted April 6th, 2010 in Food | No Comments »
A cold entree idea. It is very easy to make, yet gives a great impression at the table. Mix wasabi to add a hint of authentic taste. All you need is packaged smoked salmon, white onion, mayonnaise and wasabi tube! (and snow pea sprout for garnish if needed)
Serves 4 as entree
- 100 g smoked salmon
- 1 white onion, small
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 5 ml lemon juice
- 2 tbs mayonnaise
- 1 cm wasabi from a tube
- snow pea sprouts to garnish
- Slice white onion very thinly across the grain. Immerse in a cold water for 5 minutes, then drain well.
- Arrange smoked salmon on a bed of sliced onion. Drizzle olive oil and lemon juice. Chill in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
- Mix mayonnaise and wasabi.
- Garnish the carpaccio with snow pea sprouts, and serve with the wasabi mayonnaise.
Posted March 8th, 2010 in Food | 2 Comments »
The keys to delicious, crispy and light tempura are:
- Don’t mix the batter too much ( as it will develop the gluten from the flour)
- Cold batter x hot oil
If you do so, the tempura stays crispy even when it’s cold.
- 45 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 80 ml water
- 1/2 tbs sake (cooking wine)
- 2~3 ice cubes
- Place water, sake and ice cubes in a bowl, and shift in the dry ingredient. Using a pair of chopsticks, lightly mix the batter. (there should be lumps of flour in the batter. Don’t mix too much!)
- Heat oil in a deep pan to 180℃.
- Coat prepared vegetables or seafood with batter, drain any excess batter, and deep-fry. (Don’t fry too many vegetables/seafood at once, as it will drop the temperature of the oil.)
- Drain, and serve with salt or tsuyu sauce.
* If you are making seafood tempura, you may want to dust with plain flour before coating with batter.
* Tsuyu sauce:
50 ml soy sauce
50 ml mirin
200 ml water
10 g katsuo-bushi (bonito flakes)
* mix all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 2 minutes. let it cool down, and remove the katsuo-bushi.
You can keep this for 2 days in the fridge.
Try…
- Thinly shredded onion and carrot, and chopped onion. (equal amount) Mix into batter. Using a spoon, scoop the mixture and carefully drop into hot oil. Deep-fry both sides until cooked through.
- Fresh herbs (eg: basil, parsley, coriander etc). Coat with batter lightly and deep-fry for 30 seconds. (both sides)
- Silver fish, or any small fish.
- Camembert cheese … my favorite
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