Rice
The Japanese use two main types of rise:
Uruchi Rice is translucent and the type of rice best suited for sushi, but is also a good rice for eating with vegetables. Genuine uruchi rice is not available in India, but American or Australian short-grained rice is a close substitute.
Mochi Rice or glutinous rice is an opaque white rice, which is round-grained and sticky. It is used mainly for chimaki and sekihan.
TO COOK RICE
Ingredients
200 g/7 oz urucihi rice (Japanese short-grained rice)
375 ml/13 fl oz water
Rice has the same significance in Japanese life as bread does in the West. It will normally be placed in a bowl on the table and then eaten as an accompaniment to other dishes.
As a general rule, when cooking rice, the ration of rice to water should be in the region of 1:1.2.
Method
Place the rice in a sieve and wash it several times until the water remains clear. Leave the rice to drain for 1 hour.
Put the required quantity of cooking water in a large saucepan with the rice and leave it to soak for about 30 minutes.
Bring the rice to the boil over a moderate heat, stirring occasionally, so that the rice does not stick. When it is boiling, cover and leave to simmer for a further ten minutes, until and the water has been absorbed. Reduce the heat as far as possible and leave the rice to stand for about 5 minutes.
Then remove the lid.
Serve the rice hot.
Essential hints to check freshness of fish and for sashimi preparation
ÞAs with all Japanese cooking, freshness is essential. In judging whole fish, remember
that the viscera and gills are the first parts to decay. Sniff carefully. Nothing should
offend your nose.
ÞTest the underbelly for springy firmness - a soft underbelly means that the viscera are
beginning to go.
ÞCheck the fish's eyes -they should look as bright and clear as if the fish was about to
leap out of your hands.
ÞThe gills should be bright pink.
ÞUse plenty of running cold water when preparing the fish fillets for sashimi to wash
away any "fishy" smell.
ÞThe prepared fillets are best kept, wrapped in light cheese cloth, in refrigerated
temperature of 1-4 c if not used immediately. The fish can be kept like this for 1 day.
ÞThere are various methods for cutting sashimi - the cut you choose should depend on
the type of fish you are using.
ÞThere are various methods for cutting sashimi - the cut you choose should depend on
the type of fish you are using.
ÞHaving cut your fish, arrange the slices attractively. Serving plates and garnishes
should be chosen with are as the presentation for sashimi is most important.
ÞGive each serve with a dab of wasabi paste and a bowl of dipping sauce. The wasabi
paste is mixed with dipping sauce by the guest to dip the fish slices into the sauce
before eating.
Sashimi (Raw, sliced fish):
ÞWhile you can always ask your fishmonger to fillet fresh fish for you, you are missing
an opportunity to come closer to the spirit of Japanese cooking if you do so.
ÞPreparing fish from scratch for sashimi will you increasingly sensitive to freshness,
and increasingly familiar with the characteristics and excellence of fish available on
the local markets.
ÞThe most important part of preparing sashimi, is to ensure that the fish is absolutely
fresh. Frozen fish must not be used (except for tuna fillets). A wide variety of fish can
be used for sashimi and either a single kind of fish, or mixture can be used.
ÞTo maintain freshness, all fish should be gutted and have their gills removed as quickly
as possible.
Cleaning and filleting of round fish (sanmai-oroshi, 3 pieces method):
1. Wash the whole fish in slightly salted water, then remove scales with short strokes, using a scraper or the back of a knife.
2. Remove the head by making an incision just below the pectoral fin. Cut gently in a diagonal down to the spine on both sides.
3. To clean the fish, cut along the belly and remove the innards. Rinse the cavity thoroughly with cold water at intervals. Run the tip of the knife along the spine to remove blood pockets and rinse again.
4. Rest your free hand gently on top of the fish and draw the knife gently along the fish's spine. Make long, light strokes. Retrace the cut more than once, going a little deeper towards the spine each time. Do not poke or saw the tender flesh.
5. Turn the fish and make an incision at the base of the tail down at the bone. Place a knife in this cut and cut smoothly right to left, lifting the fillet as you go. Repeat this process on the other side of the fish.
Cleaning and filleting of flat fish (Gomi-oroshi, 5 pieces method):
1. Most flat fish need to be scaled on the upper side only. Having scaled the fish, place it on a cutting board and, with a kitchen knife, make two deep cuts behind the gills, to remove the head.
2. Squeeze out the viscera by pressing on the upper part of the fish. Ease out any remaining bits on the central cavity with the tip of the knife. Rinse the fish thoroughly with cold water.
3. Then make an incision down the spine of the fish to the base of the tail, cutting to the bone. Place the edge of your knife in the spinal cut, and keeping your blade flat, cut along one side of the fish close to the dorsal fin towards the tail. Remove the fillet.
4. Reverse the fish and draw your knife along the other side. Remove the second fillet. Turn the fish over and repeat step three, gently lifting the other two fillets free.
SUSHI
How to Make Tasty Sushi from Rice
Small they may be, possibly only a mouthful, but Japanese cuisine would be incomplete without them. They are, of course, sushi. These delectable morsels look so inviting, but they are by no means so easy to make.
It is worth practicing the art of rolling and shaping sushi as it is a difficult skill to master. The nori leaf migt be too small for the filling, there might not be in the middle. The condition of the rice when cooked is also very important. It must not be too hard or too soft. Rice cooked for sushi should be mixed with rice vinegar in a wooden tub. The wood can thus absorb any excess moisture from the rice.
It is also very important that all the ingredients are at the same temperature, that is to say, room temperature. To roll sushi correctly, a special bamboo mat is required. This should be laid out on the work surface with the nori on top. The taste of the nori is enhanced if the outside of the leaf is first toasted over a hot flame. The nori is positioned so that a strip of the mat furthest from the body is left empty. The rice must then be spread evenly over the mori, taking care not to crush the grains.
Are the other ingredients completely dry? That is another important factor. Make a furrow in the middle of the rice and spread the filling into it. Now roll up the bamboo mat, so that the nori wraps round the rice.
The sushi roll should be firm, with the rice and filling not yielding when pressed. Moisten the edges of the nori and join them together. Remove the bamboo mat. Place the sushi roll on a chopping board, seam downwards. Have ready a bowl of ice water to which a few drops of rice vinegar have been added. Dip a smooth very sharp knife in the cold, vinegared water and slice the roll into six or eight pieces. If sushi rolls look too diffieult for the home cook, then nigiri-sushi should prove less daunting. A small ball of rice is shaped in one hand and the coating, usually raw fish, held in the other. The fish is then wrapped round the rice, with possibly a little wasabi horseradish dabbed on the fish. This delicious morsel is now ready to eat.
TO COOK SUSHI RICE
Sushi chefs use uruchi rice. It is stickier than long-grained rice nor can it be cooked like ltalian short-grained rice. Sushi rice require 10% less water. The correct ratio of rice t water should be 1:1.1. The missing 10% is replaced y a mixture of vinegar, sugar and salt.
To cook sushi rice the following proportions of rice, water, vinegar, sugar and salt are recommended:
Also only page
Ingredients:
3 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons mirin
400 g/14 oz uruchi rice (Japanese short-grained rice)
5 x 5 cm/2 in kombu
Method
Take a large saucepan and bring the rice vinegar, sugar, salt ad mirin to the boil uncovered. As soon as it comes to the boil, remove the pan from the heat and leave the contents to cool to room temperature. Wash the rice until the water runs clear and then leave it to drain for 1 hour. Put the rice and the kombu in a saucepan with 500 ml/16 fl oz water. Stirring constanly, bring it to the boil quickly. Then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for ten minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Keep warm at a gentle heat for 5 more minutes, then remove from the heat altogether and leave for a further 5 minutes. Uncover and remove the kombu.
Spoon the rice into an unvarnished wooden bowl and combine with the hot rice vinegar sauce. To allow any surplus liquid to evaporate, the rice should be stirred and fanned. This will also help to cool the rice.
To use
This rice can be used in any sushi recipe.
Simmering (Nimono):
à There are a vast number of simmered dishes in Japanese cuisine. Many of them are
extremely simple - merely ways of preparing a single fresh ingredient. A simmering
liquid is allowed to flavour small pieces of vegetable for a few minutes. The heat is
merely a means of fixing the flavour, for the dish is often allowed to return to room
temperature.
à Under this capacious heading (Nimono) fall not only delicate, bite-sized pieces of fish
served with a simple garnish, but also the great, bubbling stews that play an important
part in rural and regional Japanese cuisine.
à Dashi stock, sweet sake (mirin), sake, soy sauce and miso, in one combination or
another, make up almost all the simmering stocks that the Japanese use, although there
are endless subtle variations.
à Sake is particularly importatn as tenderizer for fish, and soy sauce is perhaps the most
significant flavour sponsor.
à The main rule of simmering is not to do it to excess. Simmering medium and time are
carefully adjusted for the ingredient in question, and no ingredient is allowed to loose
its natural texture.
à Many simmering techniques are merely means of imparting a subtle dashi or soy
flavour to a vegetable. Parboiling beforehand, which is done in many case, is a means
of sealing the colour and fresh taste, and it stands to reason that the subsequent
simmering should not undo this effort.
à The Japanese utensil for simmering the "drop lid" or "otoshi-buta" ensue that the
simmered food is completely penetrated by the stock, and cooks gently and evenly.
Deep frying (Agemono):
· Tempura is one of the most familiar of all Japanese dishes, and surely the most famous agemono dish.
· The crucial factor in making good tempura is the batter. This should be so light and subtly flavoured that it could almost pass as an elaborate seasoning. There are only three ingredients in it, and all three have an equally important part to play in producing the perfect tempura.
1. Egg yolk Is beaten very slightly first, then some ice water is added. Finely sifted flour is added last.
2. Reducing the egg amount will make the finished batter coating lighter in colour, more egg will make a golden tempura.
3. The amount of ice water determines the relative heaviness or lightness of the batter - for very light, lacy tempura, more water is added.
4. The flour should be barely mixed with the other ingredients - to achieve real lightness, the batter should look lumpy, undermixed and unfinished, and it must always be prepared just before you use it; thoroughly mixed, silky batter that has been allowed to set and settle, simple will not produce good tempura.
· Heat up the oil (safflower, peanut, corn, etc.) in a large heavy pan (preferably copper) to about 181C.
· Check the oil for heat by dropping a bit of batter into it. If the batter sinks sligtly beneath the surface, then comes right back up surrounded by little bubbles (without touching the bottom of the pan), your oil is ready.
· Dip each item into flour first, to ensure that each ingredient is perfectly dry and that the batter will adhere well.
· Then dip in the batter, shake a little to remove any excess batter, and slide into the oil. Fry each piece until lightly golden.
· In order to maintain the oil temperature, make sure that no more than a third of the surface of the oil is occupied by bubbling pieces of frying food.
· To maintain the oil temperature during the whole cooking process (approx. 3 minutes) is essential to avoid the food from becoming greasy.
· Remove the pieces from oil, place on absorbent paper to drain for a few seconds, then serve immediately on a plate which should be lined with attractive absorbent paper.
· Serve the tempura with a dipping sauce made from a combination of dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Heat up all ingredients until the sugar has dissovled and serve warm, with a little grated radish and ginger on the side for each guest to combine with the dipping sauce according to his individual taste.
· The tempura is dipped in this sauce before enjoyed while still piping hot.
SHORT GLOSSARY OF JAPANESE SPICES AND SEASONINGS
Ao-nori: green seaweed flakes. Do not confuse ao-nori with nori. Ao-nori is available in flakes or powder. It is normally used as a spice.
Goma: black or white sesame seeds. In some recipes, sesame paste is used. It is made by toasting the sesame seeds in a dry frying-pan, stirring constantly. Remove them from the pan the moment they start to release the oil and swell up. Grind the toasted seeds to a coarse paste in a blender or food processor before passing them through a fine sieve.
Goma-abura: sesame oil. An oil with a wonderful aroma of its own. It should be used sparingly.
Hikicha: green tea ground to a powder. The fresh tea leaves are dried carefully and finely-ground. Hlkicha lends a delicate fragrance and a little colour to many dishes.
Hijiki: dried, pressed seaweed. It must be thoroughly washed and left to soak for 30 minutes beofre use. Hijiki swells to something like 8 times its original size while soaking.
Kampyo: dried strips of gourd. The flesh of the gourd is cut into long thin strips and dried. White, evenly-shaped strips are considered the best. Kampyo has a distinctly sweetish aroma. Before use, the strips of kampyo are softened by moistening them slightly and rubbing them with salt. They are then left to soak in water for about 15 minutes and afterwards boiled in water until soft. They are mostly used in sushi and cooked dishes.
Kanten: dried red algae. They must be cleaned and soaked before use. This is not, however, necessary in the case of powdered red algae. Kanten is mainly used in the making of sweets.
Karashi: Japanese yellow mustard. Karashi is normally available in powdered form and miced with water before use. When making mustard, use only a little mustard powder with quite hot water. Leave it to stand, covered, for about 10 minutes until the spicy, aroma has had an opportunity to develop fully. If you need a substitute, use English mustard powder mixed with water.
Katsuobushi: dried bonito. After removing the scales, head, tail fins and bones, the bonito are divided into three equal parts. These are first steamed and then dried to form very hard blocks. Using a special tool, flakes are then scraped from the blocks, and these are used as the basic ingredient in fish stock (dashi). The best quality blocks are heavy, hard and shiny.
Kombu: dried seaweed. In shops you will find thicker seaweed leaves sold in a dry form. Kombu is an essential ingredient in fish stock (dashi). Before use, the seaweed, which comes covered with a thin white powdery layer, must be carefully wiped with a damp cloth. However, it must not be washed, since this powdery layer should be preserved.
Konnyaku: a transparent, gelatinous substance, processed from the tuberous roots of a vegetable called devil' tongue. Konnyaku itself has very little flavour, but it absorbs liquids and flavours readily. It is therefore better to pre-cook the konnyaku so as to improv its absorbency.
Kuzuko: arrowroot. It is very good for thickening sauces and leaves them with a somewhat translucent appearance. It is more easily digested than either wheat flour, potato starch or cornflour.
Mirin: sweet rice wine. This is a wine wich never actually reaches the table in a glass because it is exclusively used in cooking. Mirin is made from mochi-gome, a short grained and starchy rice. Mirin's alcohol content can vary between 13 and 22 per cent.
Miso: soya bean paste. A semi-solid paste made out of fermented soya beans which is used as a distinctive seasoning in Japanese cooking. Miso comes in several varieties, depending on the type of malt that was added to the soya bean pulp. The salt, starch content and colour also vary according to the different varieties available. The most common varieties are dark (red) and light (white) miso. Miso can be used in almost any dish.
Miyuga: a root plant related to ginger, though it is not quite so strong and aromatic. It is not usually available in India, so ginger can be used as an alternative.
Momiji-orosh: a spice which is best home-made. It consists of a piece of white radish (daikon) and two to three dried chili peppers. Make a small incision in the top of the peppers and twist them between your fingers in such a way as to cause the seeds to fall out. Then peel the radish and use a cocktail stick to make small hoes at one end. The holes should be of the same length and diameter as the chili peppers. Place the peppers in the holes and wait for a few minutes until the chilies have softened. Now grate the radish over a plate, squeezing some of its liquid out at the same time. The paste which is obtained in this way makes a spicy aromatic seasoning.
Nori: a dried, purple seaweed, the fine leaves of the sea weed are dried by stretching them out on a wooden frame to make a single leaf. This is how the paper-thin, black-green nori leaves are made. If nori is fried, it becomes crisper and takes on a slightly purplish colouring. Nori is fried on one side for only a short time in a hot, dry frying-pan. The aroma will develop more readily, if the seaweed is lightly crushed in the hand after frying. Sushi would be quite unimaginable without nori.
Ponzu sauce: a sauce frequently used in Japanese cookery. It is made by mixing an equal quantity of soy sauce and lemon juice.
Sake: rice wine. This wine is not just the Japanese national drink, but an important irtgredient in Japanese cookery. Sake is made from rice, rice germ (as a fermenting agent) and water. In its undiluted form it has an alcohol content of around 20 per cent. Its characteristic aroma gives many dishes their special flavour. At the same time, it brings out the flavour of other ingredients. If sake is not available, a plain soy sauce is adequate for cooking purposes.
Sansho: a spice made from the husks, leaves an spiky seeds of the ash tree. It is used in its ground form. Sansho (konasansho) has an unusual aroma and is not really comparable to any spice used in European cooking.
Shichimi toarashi: seven-spice powder. This is used in small quantities to add a strong spicy flavour to many dishes. It is based on cayenne pepper with the addition of six other spices mixed in equal parts, sansho, poppy seed, black sesame seeds, shiso seeds, linseed and tangerine peel.
Shiso: belongs to the same family as basil and mint and, like those spices, lends an aromatic, slightly peppery flavour to all dishes. The fresh leaves are used either whole or cut into fine strips. Shiso leaves have a very special perfume that can be likened to peppermint or lemon balm.
Shoga: root ginger. The gnarled, brown pieces of fresh root ginger are about 10 cm/4 in long when sold in the shops. However, ginger is also available in powder form. Ginger has its own very special aroma. Occasionally, it is possible to obtain fresh ginger juice. This should be used very sparingly.
Su: rice vinegar. This is less tart than European varieties of malt, wine or cider vinegar, which means it has a softer and fuller flavour and a sweet aroma. The naturally produced varieties of rice vinegar are recommended rather than the synthetic kings, as they have a milder flavour. The very best vinegars of all are those that have been made from rice and sake yeasts.
Togarashi: red chili peppers. These are very hot peppers that are used as a spice either whole or in ground form. Before adding these peppers to any dish, the little seeds found inside should be removed, as they are especially not. The seeds release bitter flavours during cooking and are best served separately at table. Always use rubber gloves when handling hot peppers and do not put your fingers near your eyes.
Umeboshi: pickled, salted plums. These are small plums that are pickled in a slightly acidic brine directly after picking. They can be used as a spice in many dishes. The plums are often chopped very finely, almost to a paste, and served as an accompaniment.
Wasabi: Japanese horse radish. It has an aroma similar to that of a pickle but it has a very strong flavour. Wasabi is available either fresh or in powdered form. Fresh wasabi is grated before use. Powdered wasabi is simply mixed with water and hen used directly as a paste. Whichever variety you choose, use it sparingly at all times, for wasabi is a very hot flavoring.
Tea:
In Japan, tea is served at the end of a meal. The final course of a formal meal is rice, pickles and tea. It has always been felt that there is someting rather poetic in this, since this trio is also the typical frugal meal of people without great wealth, and it serves to remind well-heeled dinners just how simple Japanese eating can be. If you can love this combination of crisp, subtly pungent takuan or senmaizuke pickles, filling and soothing white rice, and the rich but restaining flavour of fine green tea, you are truly on your way to becoming a Japanese epicure.
Tea spread firstly from china into the rest of Asia, and then throughout the world. Tea was known in Japan by around the eigh centry; it was originally a medicinal plant and a stimulant, used to keep meditating monks and sutra-copying scholars awade. The second great age of tea in Japan began in the twelfth century and coincided with the strong influence of Zen Buddhism. Tea drinking became closely connected with the precepts of Zen, and its use was confined mainly to the priesthood and aristocracy. In the sixteenth century, ordinary leaf tea became popular for all classes, and tea-drinking lost its aristocratic tone.
All Japanese tea is 'green', which means that it is steamed right after picking, a process that inhibits the enzyme changes that turn green tea into the 'black' variety. Bancha, the most common sort of leaf tea, is an all-purpose warmer-upper and thirst-quencher of the Japanese-the king of tea that is served in big mugs in ordinary restaurants.
Sencha, a higher-grade leaf variety, is richer in colour than bancha. It is not used as a thirst-quencher, and is drunk in small quanities, served in sushi shops or offered to special guests. Gyokuro or 'jewel-dew' is fine tea, the leaf version of offered to special guests. Gyokuro or 'jewel-dew' is fine tea, the leaf version of the powdered tea used in the tea ceremony. Tea-ceremony tea, or matcha, is an emerald-green, frothy tea that is prepared by whipping powder in ho boiling) water. Good matcha is brilliantly green and slightly bitter. Other tea varieties include: hoji-cha; lighy roasted bancha; genmail-cha: bancha with little kernels of popped rice added; and mugicha: not in fact tea, despite having the suffix cha(tea) attached to its name, but barley water, which is usually served chilled.
THE EQUIPMENT FOR THE TEA CEREMONY
Chakin: the linen cloth. It is always spotlessly white and is used to dry the tea bowl.
Chasen: the stirring whisk. It is made of bamboo and hand-crafted. There are more than 50 stages that an experienced maker has to go through to make a whisk from a single piece of bamboo. The shape of the chasen was designed hundreds of years ago and has changed little since. The best whisks come from chasenmura, which, when translated, reads stirrin whisk village.
Chashaku: the spoon for the tea. It is made of bamboo and is about 20 cm/8 in long. I is slightly curved at its lower enc.
Chawan: the tea-bowl. It can be simple and yet unique. I can be very beautiful and yet be very plain. It plain. It may be quite unremarkable and yet tell a to-hundred-year-old tale. In any event, it always has a special significance and is made from the very finest porcelain.
Fukusa: the small silk napkin. This is used symbolically to clean the tea caddy and the tea spoon in the guests' presence.
Furo: the charcoal-burning hearth. There should always be a slight draught, so that neither the coals nor the water become too hot.
Futaoki: a rest for the lid of the tea-kettle. The ladle, too, can be rested on this.
Hishaku: the ladle. It is made of bamboo. A new ladle is used for each tea ceremony.
Kama: the tea-kettle. It stands over the glowing charcoal and is filled with the finest fresh spring water. The water should always simmer gently and never become too hot.
Kensui: the slop-basin. This is used to hold the water that was drawn from the kettle with the ladle but was not poured into the tea-bowl.
Kobukusa: a larger silk napkin. It is laid under the tea bowl as this is handed to the guest. He takes hold of the napkin and tea bowl with both hands.
Matcha: the green tea. Fresh tea leaves are steamed, dried and ground to a fine powder in a stone mill. Green tea is rich in vitamin C. Only green tea, albeit in a number of varieties, is used in the tea ceremony.
Mizusashi: a container for cold water. It is filled with the same water as that in the tea-kettle, but this water id cold so that, should the water in the kettle become too hot, the youthful vigour of the water can be renewed with cold water.
Natsume: the tea-caddy. This is small and easy to handle. It is never filled to the brim with tea. Instead, there must be a rounded heap of tea inside it.
PALMS BREAKFAST
SALMON : Salmon marinated with salt.
Marinated after cutting at an angle - grilled.
RADDISH : Liquidized in a mix - water squeezed out lightly so that it remains
moist and juicy.
OMELETTE : Six eggs + add some dashi stock (beaten)
+ kikoman soya sauce (1 tbsp)
+ 2 pinch icing sugar
Cooking : Put omlette mix in a non stick pan - make a thin omelette, roll this omelette into the fresh one. Same process 5 times. Roll in sushi mat - ½ hour keep in the mat. Cut one finger width thick slcie.
DASHI STOCK : 5 It water + 25 gms dashi mix powder (tap water)
Heat - one boil
RICE : Wash rice-till water is clear.
Soak rice and water in equal quantity for half an hour. Put rice
water and cook rice with lid for 10 mts. Take lid out and dry out excess water. Then finish in oven at 120 deg. C for 10 mts.
POACHING LIQUOR FOR VEGETABLES:
2.5 LT Dashi stock
+ 1 tbsp saki
+ 1 tbsp kikoman soya sauce basic soup
+ 1 tbsp sashimi soya
EGGPLANT : Small eggplant split into eight without cutting the two ends. Deep fry - push ends together so that it opens like a balloon.
Soak wakame seaweed in tap water - till it opens out and becomes green.
Miso Soup:
From the basic stock take out required quantity and mix 2 tbsp of light miso paste. Do not boil after adding miso. Add dash out saki. It should not taste bitter or too strong.
Put eggplant, seaweed and chopped spring onions/garlic chives. Pour the miso soup just before service.
HOSKNKOK for rice set : fine julienne of raddish, cut 1 mm thick slices of cabbage, cut cucumber into half - take seeds out and slice finely (half moon shape).
Mix together with salt, finely julienne of ginger + Japanese 7 chili spices + icing sugar + toasted sesame seeds. Keep cold.
Before service squeeze out water slightly to make a round. Serve in monkey dish.
NORI SHEET : 3 pieces of nori sheet (1"x 2 ½")
TOFU : Cut tofu cake into half, and slice each half into ½ cm slices. Dust with corn flour and deep fry. After it is cold, poach it in poaching liquor till tender and leave in poaching liquid.
Before service : Take 3 slices out from the stock put in a bowl with lump of blanched spinach and finely grated ginger + 1 tbsp of poaching liquid. Swerve warm.
VEGETABLES : Turn carrot
Raddish
Pumpkin
Potatoes
Beans
Cauliflower
Mushroom
Beans facing the guest.
Blanched vegetables separately in plain salted water. Then cool and poach in poaching liquor. Leave it in stock.
CONGEE RICE
Jap. Rice cooked and garnished with 7 vegetables and dropp of wasabi + small dices of nori.
Roundals of raddish
+ Cauliflower florets
Bamboo shoot juliennes {} all blanched in poaching liquor
Black mushroom juliennes
Blanched spinach strips
Diced pumpkin
Turned raddish
ROOM SERVICE
COMP.A.
- Lettuce + juliennes of raddish and carrot (Base)
- + 3 slices of tuna (Raw)
- + 1 poached scallop (poach in plain water + saki mix, dip in ice water)
- + Raw salmon
Finely cut slices of salmon. 4 slices - rolled a flower.
COMP. B.
- Boiled Japanese rice rolled in nori sheet with glaze side out - 2 pieces.
- omelette - 3 slices of omelette
COMP. C.
King klip
Marination : 2 tbsp miso
+ 1 service spoon mirin
Marinate fish overnight : Coat with toasted sesame seeds. Cook below the salamander till 3/4th done.
Blanched spinach, makes a bund and trim from both sides.
Grated ginger.
COMP. D.
Sushimi soya sauce
COMP. E.
3 rounds of soba noodles rolled.
Soba noodles : blanch soba noodles in boiling hot water and cool Garlic chives chopped.
Soba sauce : Mirin + soya sauce + saki + base stock + Boil - cool - serve cold.
FRUIT PLATTER
Slice of apple
Water melon
Pineapple
Papaya
Anaar
JAPANESE LUNCH BOXES
I. Tempura of Prawns (1 nos), crab sticks (cut at a slent) and french beans (2nos of 1" length).
Ü Prawn Tempura : Shell prawns and devein, leave tails attached.
Ü For tempura dip items tempura batter and deep fry till crisp but not colured.
Uss 100 gm of tempura flour to 160 ml water for making batter.
II. Lamb chop pan fried/grilled chicken terriaki/grilled spring onion/bed of sauteed spinach with bean sprouts.
Ü For lamb chops, sear them on a medium hot pan with little oil.
Add the pared marinade and finish off quickly - not letting the marinade to burn
at theedge of the pan.
Marination for lamb:
Roasted sesame seeds : 150 gms
Saki : 3 tbsp
Kikoman soy sacue : 1 ltr (1/2 ltr while lending and ½ ltr while mixing)
Mirin : ½ tlr
Sushimi soy sauce : 3 ladles
Apple (skinned) : 1 no.
Onion medium : 2 nos
Garlic : 6 cloves
Ginger : 100 gms
7 spice powder : 1 tsp
Black pepper powder : 1 tbsp
Ü Blend together sesame seeds, half of saki, half of kikoman soy sauce, 1/2 of sashimi soy sauce, apples, onions, ginger, garlic, 7 spices, black pepper powder. Remove from blender and mix in remaining saki, kikoman and sashimi soy sauce, mix thoroughly with a whisk. Use this marination to cook the lamb chops. Before putting lamb chops in the bowl slice it 1/2 cm thick at a slant.
Ü For chicken Terriaki : marinate chicken with crushed black pepper. Half grill on skin side just to give marks. Skewer chicken breasts with two skewers parallel to each other starting from the tip of the breast. Smear with terriaki sauce (proprietory). Grill skewered chicken under salamander to cook, basting with more terriaki sauce and turning the sides over. Skin should be dry and shiny.
Before serving cut grilled breast at a slant and arrange with lamb chops on a bed of sauteed spinach and bean sprouts.
Ü For sauteed spinach - take raw spinach leaves, wash thoroughly and saute over a high flame with only salt and crushed pepper. Mix in bean sprouts before removing from fire.
III. Daikon with Ginger :
Blend white raddish with little water. Strain though a fine sieve.
Discard water. Form a pyramid of this raddish by pressing between your fingers, top it with some grated ginger.
IV. Sashimi of tuna, scallops, kingklip, salmon.
Ü Thinly sliced tuna steak - 2 nos.
Ü One piece of poached scallop - in water with a little sake
Ü Thinly sliced kingklip - m nos.
Ü Thinly slice smoked salmon - 3 nos. Folded like a rosette.
Ü Use a base of julienned raddish and carrots.
Ü At the back use soaked seaweeds and julienned crisp cucumber (kept in ice
cold water. Put a drop of wasabi in the front.
V. Boiled and poached potatoes :
Ü Turned carrot (1 nos), potato (1 nos), pumpkin (1 no.), cauliflower
(1 no.), raddish - (1 turned) and (1 sliced), 2 pieces of french beans.
V. Miso soup.
VII. Pickled vegetables:
Ü Made of blanched chinese cabbage cut into strigs, strips of pickled ginger and roasted sesame seed.
VI. Japanese sticky rice.
IX. Tempura tip.
Ü Kikoman soy sauce : 15 ml
Sashimi soy sauce : 10 ml
Saki : 30 ml
Mirin : 30 ml
Dashi stock : 100 ml
VEGETARIAN BOX
I. Vegetable tempura :
Brinjals : Small - cut into half - cut each half to form fans - secure with tooth pick.
Beans : 2 nos of 1 ½" length. Blanched and secured with a tooth pick.
Button mushroom : Stalk removed and kept whole.
Red Pumpkin : Thinly sliced. Skin removed
Baby corn : Kept whole (not too big)
Red capsicum : 1 no. (2" x 1" sized).
II. Diakon Salad :
Red pepper : 1 no. - fine julienne
Yellow pepper : 1 no. - fine julienne
Green pepper : 1 no. - fine julienne
Cucumber : 1 no - cut into half lengthwise. Remove seeds, cut into fine slices.
Lemon : ½ no.- juice
Onion : 1 no. - julienned - washed and squeezed.
Spinach leaf : ¼ beth. - blanched and squeezed of any water.
Mix all ingredients together. Add little mineral water to give moisture.
I. Veg. Tempura
II. Chicken Diakon Salad :
Ô Wasabe Mayonaise :
White msio paste : 300 gms }
Mayonnaise : 1 lt } mix all ingredients
Wasabe paste } together with a whisk
Caskew nuts }
Japanese 7 spice chili : 1 tsp
Sashimi soy sacue : 1 tbsp
Ô Chicken Salad :
Boiled chicken supreme : Boiling liquid -
Water : 500 ml
Sake : 1 tsp
Ginger : 2 slices
After chicken pieces are boiled, cool them, shred with hand.
Prepare chicken salad for Diakon salad. Add wasabe mayonnaise, diced orange segments and crushed roasted cashew nuts also. In place of water add wasabe mayonnaise. Mix together.
III. deep fried Brinjal wedge stuffed with diced brinjal quartered mushroom and baby corn whole cut into three.
Ô Daeng ga ku miso :
Brinjal cup - roundals of brinjal 1" in height.
Scoop centre of brinjal. Cut scoopedout portion into four. Deep fry.
Ô Cut one button mushroom into four. Deep fry.
Ô Cut one whole bay corn into three. Deep fry.
Ô Arrange these fried items in brinjal cup. Top with miso paste.
Ô Glaze under a salamander. Sprinkle poppy seeds.
Ô Finish under the salamander till poppy seeds turn golden brown.
Sprinkle with chopped sweet basil.
Miso Paste :
Dark miso paste : 500 gms
Sake : 1 tbsp - 15 ml
Mirin : 60 ml
Sugar breakfast : 4 tbsp
Eggyolk : 5 nos
Dashi stock : 60 ml
Cook everything together on a low flame till paste thickens up.
IV. Diakon Paste.
V. Boiled Vegetables (stew).
III. Sashimi :
Lobster tails, scallops, tuna.
Ô shell lobster tail. Devein. Poach in water with little sake. Refresh in chilled water. Cut tail into dices before serving.
Ô Slice tuna thinly - 2 nos.
Ô Scallops - poach in water with sake. Refresh.
Ô For serving use julienne of raddish and carrot as the base. Arrange lobster tail, tuna and scallops on it. Decorate with lettuce, 3 seeds of pomegranate. Put cucumber julienne and seaweeds. Put wasabi paste in front.
IV. Sashimi Soy Sauce.
V. Boiled veg. (stewed).
SUSHI
RICE : Wash rice thoroughly several times , till water runs clear/soak for ½ hour.
For 1.5 kg cooked rice (hot) use 1 pkt of sushi powder. Mix lightly to break rice into grains, without breaking the grains. Add 6 tbsp rice vinegar. Cool rice immediately by fanning. Keep covered with a wet cloth in a normal place for 15 minutes. Put in a warm place.
For making the sushi cut the filling eg; salmon, tuna, poached scallops into thin batons/strips. Clean the sushi mat cut one nori sheet into half, place the nori sheet on the sushi mat with the shining surgace on the mat. Wash hands with water, rice vinegar solution, make a ball of the rice and spread on the nori sheet thinly. Make a line along the center of the rice and apply wasabi paste. Put the filling and roll tightly.
UDON NOODLES :
For boiling use 300 ml of water per bunch of noodles (each packet has 3 bunches). A pinch of salt. Bring water to boil. Add noodles. Slowly stir them into the water. Boil for 10 ,omites (+) (-), little over al dent. Do not refresh but serve. Pour 8 small ladles of udon dashi over it. Garnish with spring onion chopped on one corner of bowl and tempura.
UDON DAHI :
Use 300 ml of dashi stock per person.
Kikkoman soy sauce : 3 ½ ladles (small)
Sashimi soy sacue : 1 ladle
Sake : 1 ladle
Mirin : 2 ladles
Salt : 1 tbsp
Ginger : 3 slices
MUSHROOM FOR SUSHI ROLL :
Black mushroom : 5 nos, sliced in strips
Dashi stock : 5 ladle
Kikkoman soy sauce : 3 ladles
Sake : 1 ladle
Salt : pinch
Icing sugar : 1 tbsp
Ginger : 2 slice
Poach mushrooms in this liquor till all liquid evaporates.
FOR MAKING SUSHI :
- Fold to get a square shape
- Wet knife with water and rice vinegar solution. Cut sushi mixture with this knife.
Japanese Breakfast and a La Carte Menu for Roomservice, Plams and Belvedere
Japanese cooking is the outcome of a long history and has a solid cultural background. But it is not an alien culture. Our culture is not difficult to understant. It is not really exotic at all, because the essence of Japan's culture is its closeness to nature. Like Japanese painting and poetry, our cooking, too, is simply the result of an acute awareness of seasons. The impoverished but cultivated court nobles learned to delight in the offering of each changing season as it came, making the most of nature's provender when each article of food fish, fowl, or vegetable was at its prime.
Making the most of nature's seasonal offerings with the utmost culinary artistry probably
gave rise to the traditional formal Japanese meal as we know it today, with its many small
courses each a work of art on which much time and thought are spent, the receptacles,
too, constituing an important part of the experience. While each dish in a Japanese meal
could quite easily be expanded in quantity to make a sizeable entree in the western sense,
it is a tradition of formal Japanese cuisine never to serve a large amount of any one thing.
Perhaps this is its biggest difference in relation to other cuisines.
A Japanese banquet consists of great many small portion. The Japanese meal is built
around the rice, the staple food that fills much the same role as potatoes in the united
States. Rice is what provides the energy requirements or calories
A major part of a Japanese meal is miso soup, served in small usually black or red
lacquered bowls, and made from a paste of soyabeans. Next to rice, it is the second most
common food served in Japan.
Breakfast :
Miso soup cooked rice
Squares of nori seaweed
Pan fried red snapper with soya sauce, ginger and grated radish
Japanese rolled egg omelette
Soba noodles with soya sauce juliennen of nori seaweed and wasabi
Smoked grilled mackerel with soya sauce
Japanese rice porrigde
Mix green lettuce with soya sauce
Green tea
Lunch and Dinner Choices :
Grilled smoked eel with soya sauce
Teriyaki steak and Japanese rice
Vegetable and prawn tempura
Ebi tempura udon with dashi
Sushi roll and sashimi
Jasmin tea
Mackerel with tomato and onion dressing
Wakame and tofu soup
Teriyaki salmon steak
Japanese cooked rice with bamboo shoots
Daikon salad
Boiled spinach and bean sprouts
Recipes for Japanese Food
Soups:
Tofu and Wakame Miso Soup 4 portion
4 cubs of stock
5 tbs of miso
1 tbs of miso
1/3 ounce of wakame
Method:
Boil the stock and add the tofu and wakame. Place the miso in a mixing bowl and add a
bit of the boiling stock and stir until it has dissolved. Pour into soup and allow it to boil
momentarily. Remove from heat and serve it.
Broccoli and tofu soup 4 portion
1 head of broccoli
100 gr. Of souft tofu
3 cups of soup stock
½ tsp salt
2 tsp soy sauce
1 piece lemon zests
Method:
Cut the broccoli into bite-size pieces and cut the tofu into two-inch squares. Boil the broccoli in water with a pinch of salt. In a sauce pan put three cups of soup stock and add the boiled broccoli, tofu and heat it. Add the salt and soy sauce. When the tofu is done, remove from heat and serve. Sprinkle lemon zest over soup just before serving.
Miso soup: 4 portion
3 ½ cups primary dashi or sadine stock
½ cup nameko mushroom or shiitake mushroom sliced
100 gr tofu
4 tbs red miso paste
ground sansho pepper
Method:
Make the stock of your choice and assemble the supporting ingredients. Nameko mushrooms are available fresh and in cans, they are similar to conventional button mushrooms, but have a slippery coating.
To cook soften the miso in a medium sized bowl by adding 2 tbsps stock and blending with a wire wisk. If you put the miso directly into the stock pot, it will not be properly held in solution, and the soup will be full of miso pellets.
Gradually ladle the softened miso into the stock in a medium sized pot, simmering over medium heat. (If you want satin smooth soup, strain the soup from one pot into another.)
When all the miso has been added and is dissolved, add the solid ingredients. The tofu can be cut into ½ inch (1 ½ cm) cubes over the stock pot. Keep soup at a simmer a few minutes until the mushroom and tofu are heated.
Remove from heat just before boiling point. Do not boil because it will change the flavour.
Dashi
6x15 cm (6 inch) pieces of konbu seaweed
1 ltr cold water
250gr dried bonito flakes
Method:
Dashi is to Japanese cookery. Its flavoure is uniquely Japanese, and it is used in numerous dishes. This dashi should be used for fine flavoured broths and sauces. Wipe the white film off the konbu with a clean damp cloth. Place the kobu in a saucepan with the water and bring it to the boil slowly. Just before the water boils remove the konbu and reserve it for dashi. Add the bonito flakes to the konbu flavoured water. Skim off any impurities from the surface with a laddle. Then turn off the leat. When the bonito flakes settleon the bottom of the saucepan, strain the dashi through a damp tea towel or muslin cloth, reserving the bonito flakes for dashi.
RICE AND CRAB/EGETABLE PORRIDGE
Serves : 4
Ingredients :
Cooked rice : 3 cups
Soup stock : 4 cups
Soft tofu : 1 caks
Crab sticks : 4 ounces
Trefoil (mitsuba) : 1 bunch
Whipped egg : 2
Salt : a dash
Sake : 2 tsp
Method :
Cut tofu into bite-size pieces, the crab sticks into 1 ¼ inch lengths and the trefoil (mitsuba) into 1 inch lengths.
Place the rice and soup stock in a covered pot then place over a high flame. As soon as it boils, remove the cover, reduce to a low flame and add tofu and crab sticks. Allow it to boil again and then add sake and salt, and stir. Pour in the whipped eggs and trefoil while stirring. Remove from heat, replace lid and steam until the eggs are done.
TOFU AND VEGETABLE MIX
Serves : 4
Ingredients:
Konnyaku (vegetable starch) : 1/3 cake
Carrots : 2
Soup stock : 4 tbsp
Tofu : 1 cake
Salt : ½ tbsp
Sugar : 3 tbsp
Snowpeas
Fresh shitake mushrooms or
Other mushrooms : 3
Light soy sauce : 1 tsp
Sugar : 1 tsp
White miso (shiro miso soybean paste : 1tsp
Mirin sweet sake : 1 tbsp
Sesame seeds : 3 tbsp
Methods :
Boil konnyaku and cut into 1 inch lengths the size of mathc sticks. Combine carrots and mushrooms with soup, sake, soy sauce, and sugar and boil until soft. Boil snowpeas in salted water ½ minute. Cut diagonally.
Crush sesame seeds with mortar and pestile. Drain excess walter from tofu by pressing against slanted board. Mix tofu, sesame seeds, salt, sugar, and sake. Drain vegetables and mix with tofu.
RICE WITH BAMBOO SHOOTS
Serves : 4
Ingredients :
Cooked rice : 3 cups
Bamboo shoots : 7 ounces
Sake : ½ cup
Light soy sauce : 1 tbs
Mirin : 2 tsp
Salt : ½ tsp
Trefoil stems
Method :
Thorougly wash rice and let it stand for about 30 minutes. Cut the bamboo shoots into thin bite-sized and soak in the mixutre of mirin, light soy sauce and salt. Briefly boil the trefoil tems, in a suitable pot, combine 3.3 cups of water with the rice, bamboo shoots and the mixture in which the shoots have soaked. Stir. When the bamboo shoots rice to the surface, boil briefly, remove from heat and serve. Sprinkle the trefoil stems on top just before serving.
ROLLED OMELETTE
(Dashi-maki Tamago)
serves : 4 (2rolls)
ingredients :
eggs : 3
dashi or light chicken stock : 1/3 cup
salt : ½ tsp
mirin or sugar : 1 tbsp
light soy sauce : 1 tbsp
radish (daikon-oroshi) : ½ cup
light soy sauce
vetetable oil
Method :
To prepare : in a bowl, mix eggs just so yolk and whites are roughtly mixed but not smoothly combined or frothy. In another bowl, combine roomtemperature dashi or light ckicken broth, salt, mirin or sugar and light soy sauce. (Sugar must be boiled until dissolved, then dashi cooed).
Pour beaten egg into the dashi mixture and fold just till combined. Divide egg-dashi mixture in half - each half will make one rolled omelette.
Grate giant white radish anf flavor with a few drops light soy sauce.
To fry : Keep empty frying pan (Japanese rectangular egg pan) over medium heat till hot. Lightly wipe pan with a cloth swab moistened with oil so only a slight oil film is left. Reserve swab to use again. Test pan to see whether or not it is hot enough for frying by placing a drop of the egg mixture into the center of the pan. It should sizzle. Maintain the pan at this temperature adjusting heat if necessary while making omelette.
When the pan is properly heated, pour 1/3 of egg mixtue for one roll into pan and tilt so egg mixture spreads in an even thin layer over the bottom. Break air bubbles formed in the first few seconds after the egg is poured into pan.
When egg sheets starts bubbling around edges and is 70 percent cooked, even though the centre top is still runny, tilt pan up and towards you, and with chopsticks or a spatula, roll the egg layer towards you. Leave the roll in the pan.
With the oily swab, oil the pan surface not covered by the omelette roll, then push the omelette back to the just-oiled part of the pan and continue oiling the remaining the pan surface. Reserve oil swab.
Keep the roll at the end of the pan away from and pour in the second third of the egg mixture. Again, tilt the pan so that the egg mixture covers the bottom of the pan evenly, then briefly lift the edge of the rolled omelette so that the raw egg mixture flows under it too.
When this secound puring of egg mixture begins to set, repeat the rolling operation, using the first roll as the core and wrapping the second sheet of fried egg around it.
Oil the pan again without taking the omelette roll out of the pan. Pour in the last third of the egg mixture and cook and roll in the same way.
Remove from pan and wrap in a bamboo mat. Press gently. A small quantity of broth like liquid should be given off. If no liquid is forthcoming, the omelette is overdone. Let rest 1 minut in the mat.
To serve : unwrap omelette roll from bamboo mat and slice crosswise into 2 inch (5 cm) rounds. Place 2 rounds per serving on individual plates and garnish each plate with a mound of soy-flavoured finely grated giant white radish.
Serve hot as a side dish for breakfast, a light lunch, or supper.
THIN OMELETTE
(Usuyaki Tamago)
portion : 3 7-inch sheets
ingredients :
Eggs : 2
Salt : 1/3 tsp
Sugar : 2 tsp
Method :
To prepare : Mix eggs roughly (do not beat) and stir in salt and sugar. Strain to remove stringy bits of egg white.
To fry : heat Japanese rectangular egg pan or 7 or 8-inc (18-20 cm) skillet over medium heat. Grease pan very lightly with an oil-dampened cloth swab. Test pan for temperature by dropping a bit of egg in the centre. It should sizzle.
Pour 1/3 egg mixture into pan and tilt quickly so egg mixture spreads evenly over the bottom.
Keep over low heat, and when surface of egg mixture is almost dry, use spatula to loosen edges and then insert spatula under a third or half of the sheet and carefully and quickly flip the egg over. Cook for 4-5 seconds.
Remove from pan and lay on a dry cutting board to cool. Regrease pan and use remaining egg mixture for 2 more thin, flat sheets. Cool.
Do not stack egg sheets while hot they will stick together. Use whole sheets as wrappers for other ingredients. For 'golden string' garnish, slice stack of sheets crosswise into very thin strings. If you wish strings to be shorter, cut sheet in hlaf before slicing.
TEMPURA
(color plate 16)
The classic " batter-fried" food in Japan is TEMPURA, which is no stranger to the west. What is now well known about this so-called typical Japanese dish is that in actual fact it was introduced, or at least devised, centuries ago by europeans living in Japan - the Spanish and Portuguese who established missions in southern Japan in the late sixteenth centure. The dish caught on with the Japanese, who added the thin, delicately seasoned dipping sauce with grated daikon mixed in. By now Tempura has passed so thoroughly into native cooking that its origin is almost forgotton.
SUSHI RICE
(Sushi-meshi)
the flavour of sushi rice varies somewhat with the seasons. In summer a little more vinegar is used. Ajust the flavor of the rice as you like.
Ingredients :
Short-grain rice : 3 1/3 cups
Water : 4 cusp
Giant kelp (konbu) : 3 inch (8 cm)
Dressing :
Rice vinegar : 5 tbsp
Sugar : 5 tsbp
Salt : 4 tsp
Method :
To prepare : Put rice in heavy-bottomed medium sized pot or rice cooker and add the 4 cups water.
Wipe kelp (konbu) clean with a damp cloth. You may slash kelp with a knife in a few places to enable flavors to be released more completely. Place kelp on top of rice in water.
Cover and heat over medium heat just until the boiling point. When just boiling, remove kelp and discard. Cover tightly, boil over high heat for 2 minutes, then turn heat down to medium and boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to very low and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand (on burner) with pot lid wrapped in a kitchen towel, 10-15 minutes.
Have the vinegar dressing prepared, dissolve the sugar and salt in the vinegar over low heat. Forcecook to room temperature by placing hot vinegar mixture in a metal bowl and twirling the bowl in a bath of water and ice.
To toss rice : Using a flat wooden spoon or proper rice paddle, spread the hot rice in a thin layer in a wide and shallow wooden or plastic bowl - some convenient substitute for a hangiri tub. To keep the grains separate, toss rice with horizontal, cutting strokes. This lateral motion will also keep grains from being bruised or mashed. While tossing, sprinkle vinegar dressing generously over the rice. You may not have to use all the vinegar dressing. Be careful not to add so much liquid that the rice becomes mushy.
At the same time that you are tossing the rice, cool it quickly and thoroughly with a hand-fan (or a folder newspaper). The tossing and fanning takes takes 10 mts. Taste to test whether the rice is room temperature.
To keep vinegared rice from drying out, when it has cooled to room temperature, place in a container and cover with a damp cloth. Vinegared rice should be beaten the same day it is prepared: it does not keep more than one day. It should not be refrigerated. Left-overs, if there are any, unfortunately cannot be stir-fried chinese-style to make fried rice.
Normally, the tossing of vinegared rice is not one of the things you see being done behind the counter if you go to a sushi restaurant. The rice tossing done by professionals - the sushi master or one of his juniors sweeping through the rice and air with paddles, and a cluster of apprentices furiously fanning - is pure theater. It is too bad this tossing is not done when everyone can see it, but this performance usually occurs before shop hours.
NOODLE BROTH
(Kake-jiru)
Portion : 8 cups
Ingredients :
Dashi : 8 1/3 cups
Salt : 2 tsp
Dark soy sauce : 3 tbsp
Light soy sauce : 3 tbsp
Method :
To prepare : In a large pot, bring dashi just to a boil over medium-high heat, and season with other ingredients. Remove and strain. Keep at a low simmer and use hot. You may prepare this noodle broth in advance, cool to room temperature, then refrigerate in a covered container in which it will keep up to 3 days.
TEPPAN-YAKI
Serves : 8
Fresh shrimp : 8 large
Chicken meat : 450 gms
Sirloin/tenderloin : 1 125 gms
Squid : 2 (13 cm)
Onions : 2
Fresh shiitake mushrooms: 8
Bean sprouts : 225 gms
Bell peppers : 2
Chopped onion
Lemon wedges
Salt
Method :
To prepare : you can clean and trim the ingredients to be grilled a number of hours in advance, refrigerate each separately, then arrange on a platter just before serving time.
Shrimp : remove heads and shells, but leave tails tached. Devein and wash.
Chicken : Cut boned chicken into 2 inch. Leaves skin on, but pierce with fork prong few times to keep it from shriveling white cooking.
Beef : Cut steak crosswise into ¼ inch.
Squid : score on both sides (crosswise on one side and lengthwise on the other) to keep meat from curl over heat. Cut in half lengthwise, then crosswise strips 1 inch wide.
Onions : insert toothpick to keep rings together , cut crosswise into ¼ inch thick rounds.
Mushrooms : Notch decorative crosses into cap mushrooms.
Bean sprouts : Wash, pick over, and drain.
Bell peppers : Seed and cut lengthwise into quarter.
Prepare sauces and condiments and refrigerated.
To cook and serve : Set the table with the griddle at the center. Individual place settings should consist of a plate and dipping bowl at the side in which to mix the sauces and condiments.
Bring the platter of ingredients to the table. Sauces should be in small ewers or servers, condiments in small bowls to pass.
Heat the griddle to high. Rub with a scant amout of salad oil. Lay the food on, a few pieces at a time, and cook, turning, till done. None of the ingredients takes longer than 7 minutes to cook, so do not make them tough by overcooking. The only ingredients eater with salt and lemon juice, instead of being dipped into one of the sauces, are shrimp, squid or other blodless seacreatures.
Sauce and condiment combinations :
Ponzu sauce with finely chopped green onion and red maple radish.
Sasame sauce with finely grated giant white radish and finely chopped green onion.
Salt with squirt of lemon (for seafood)
Variations : other possible ingridients : sliced pork, thin lamb chops, oysters, clams in the shell, scallops, sweet potato rounds. Japanese long onions or green onions cut diagonally, and for many but on everyone, sliced garlic.
NOODLE SUKIYAKI
(Udon-Suki)
serves : 6
Ingredients :
Dried udon noodles : 450 gms
Bean curd (atsuage) : 2 cakes
Ganmodoki : 4 cakes
Fish paste (kamaboko) : 1 cake
Bambo shoot : ½ cup
Anago eel fillet : 2
Shrimp : 4
Trefoil (mitsuba) : 8
Shiitake mushrooms : 12
Mochi (glutinous rice cake) : 6
Giant white radish : 10 cm
Spinach : 450 gms
Chicken thigh meat : 450 gms
Broth :
Dashi : 2 1
Mirin : ½ cup
Dark soy sauce : 1 cup
Salt : 2 tsp
Spicy condiments :
Fresh ginger : 4 tbsp
Green onion : 5 tbsp
Seven spice mixture (shichimi)
Lemon wedges or juice
Method :
To prepare : cook the dry noodles according to the basic recipe. Do not overcook; udon easily becomes mushy. Wash well in cold water, rubbing with your hands to eliminate surface starch. Drain well.
Line the platter with noodles, then arrange the other ingredients on top as you prepare them.
Some ingredients are available package and all that needs to be done is to cut them into bite-sized pieces. If the bamaboo shoots is whole, clean and cut into half-moon slices about ¼ inch thick.
Grill anago eel and cut into pink; leave tails attached.
Cut trefoil stalks into mushroom caps, or cut mushrooms in half if large.
If time allows, bake the mochi cakes so that they swell a bit, about 5 mts in a moderate oven. Cut them into 1 ½ inch square, depending on their size when purchased.
Since the daikon radish takes about 40 mts to cook, it has to be done ahead of time. Cut parboiled spinach into 2 inch lengths.
To cook and serve : Put the dashi and other broth ingredients into donabe or other large, flameproof casserole and bring to a simmer over medium heat. When broth is simmering, begin to cook, starting with seafood ingredients.
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