Years and years ago, I went on a trip to Korea and spent the whole time wrestling a debilitating craving for soba. Now, so I don’t fail to appreciate the food properly, I have a policy of preemptively getting as much Japanese into me as possible before going anywhere else.
This night was lovely Fukushima sake (in alarming cups), cream cheese with seaweed and tiny dried shrimp, beautiful pickled vegetables, salmon with gochujang and sea vegetables, fried Inca No Mezame potatoes (sweet and nutty yellow potatoes), and kettle-cooked rice with wild boar and pickled ginger. I’m also in love with the dishware at this place, if you can’t tell.
This recipe is very fishy -- it may not be to everyone's taste! But if you do really like fish, it's got a lot going on. The recipe calls for spherified double strength instant kombu broth, but it can easily be omitted or swapped for lumpfish roe (which is more accurate anyways, but outside my budget.) I'll be posting about easy home spherification later. This recipe is based on @aestherians' gnollish life. :)
Many of the other ingredients are uncommon, too, but because they are largely shelf-stable, they can be ordered from a variety of outlets. I like Penzy's Spices for juniper, smoked paprika, and other uncommon spices.
Ingredients:
Two 4-oz cans oil-packed sardines; boneless and skinless will lend a milder flavor and save you the trouble of removing the spines, but regular is fine too
One 14-oz can crushed tomatoes
One 14-oz can diced tomatoes
One small onion
Either 2 tbsp lumpfish roe, 300 mL of instant kombu broth, made at double strength and spherified, or omit.
4 oz precooked rice noodles or cellophane noodles
1 tsp smoked paprika, or substitute 1 tsp regular paprika and a couple drops liquid smoke
2 tsp minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
1/4 tsp juniper, freshly ground, or substitute black pepper
2 tbsp high-temperature oil, such as canola
Salt to taste -- brands of sardines can vary widely in salt level, so it will depend on what you buy.
Equipment:
A high-walled sauté pan, or failing that a wide bottomed soup pot. Don't be like me and use a frying pan - you can see the food barely fits.
A turner/hard plastic spatula.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2-4
Directions:
Finely chop onion. Drain sardines. If your sardines aren't boneless, remove the spine. If using cellophane noodles, cook according to package directions, drain, and set aside - otherwise the flavor will be too tomatoey.
Add oil to your pan or pot and heat on medium-low. Once it's hot, add onion. Cook until it begins to turn transparent, 3-5 minutes.
Add sardines and cook for an additional 3 minutes. As they cook, break them up with your turner.
Add garlic. Cook for an additional 30 seconds, then add juniper and smoked paprika. Cook for an additional 30 seconds.
Add both cans of tomato. Allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Add rice or cellophane noodles. Allow noodles to heat through, 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat, add kombu spheres or roe if using, and serve.
1/4 cup whole-wheat panko breadcrumbs (or gluten free flakey breadcrumbs)
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 tsp wholegrain mustard, divided
2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped dill, divided
1 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp finely chopped shallot
2 teaspoons capers, chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/4 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
2 cups baby rocket
1 Lemon wedges, for serving
Method
Heat oven to 400°F/200°C.
Drain salmon and flake into a bowl; stir in breadcrumbs, 2 tbsp mustard, mayonnaise, 1 tbsp dill, 1 tbsp shallot and capers until well combined.
Form into 8 patties (1/3 cup each); let rest 5 minutes.
In a large, pan over medium-high heat, heat 1 tbsp oil
Cook patties until golden brown, 4 minutes per side.
Transfer to oven and bake until hot to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes.
In a bowl, combine yogurt, 1 tbsp lemon juice and remaining 1 1/2 tsp mustard, 1/2 tbsp dill and 1/2 tsp shallot; season with salt and black pepper.
Toss rocket with remaining 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Serve salmon cakes with yogurt sauce, rocket salad and lemon wedges.
Original recipe by Self Magazine
Bloggers notes:
I found that the sauce/dressing had too much mustard in it for my taste and it overpowered the other flavours and would use less mustard in the sauce next time
Rocket = Arugula. It’s an annoying and confusing translation but everything makes sense once it is translated
My tinned salmon was decidedly NOT boneless so I must remind you all to check that before purchasing said salmon. Alternatively, salmon fillets that you cook up yourself will work just as well.
I thoroughly enjoyed this recipe however I would not recommend anyone with a lactose intolerance to have the sauce... I found out the hard way that there’s enough greek yoghurt per serve to do you in.
The patties are a good size, but remember to pack them tightly otherwise they’ll fall apart during the cooking process.
If you feel the serving size is a little on the small side, I recommend tossing some brown rice or quinoa in with the rocket. Toasted walnuts and/or pine nuts would also go nicely with the salad.
Pistachio-flavored chiitara, or processed cheese sandwiched between thin sheets of processed fish. Chiitara is a classic drinking snack, but the pistachio thing is new. Usually I’m happy to see a new pistachio product hit the shelves, but I imagine I might give this one a skip. I might even throw it *in* a skip actually—no, sorry, I just can’t resist a pun. Chiitara is fine, if not my favorite thing. If I see this three more times, I am probably gonna have to try it. Further updates as events warrant.
A delicious vacation dinner! This restaurant specializes in wappa-meshi (seasoned rice steamed in bamboo containers) and miso soup with fresh shellfish. The portion of shellfish was surprising! I chose mountain vegetables for my wappa-meshi, and it came with fresh tofu and shaved daikon with bonito flakes.
Everything was super delicious and it felt really healthy too. Then we went to leave and found out that somebody had paid our tab for us? The server wouldn't say who, so we kind of shouted an awkward thank you to the whole restaurant and bowed awkwardly to the air as we left. It was so sweet of whoever it was, but I felt a little guilty!
Delicious (and enormous) breakfast of local specialties in Amami Ōshima last winter. I was incredibly lucky to wind up at this inn, obviously, but doubly so as the owner just competed in the Tanita Gohan Local Food Contest as a representative of her prefecture!
Let's just cover some highlights because, wow, lots. The rice dish is called 鶏飯 keihan, or chicken and rice. You eat a bit of rice plain if you like, then add your own proportions of chicken, shredded omelet, pickled ginger, mushrooms, and aromatics, then pour chicken broth over it and mix!
You might recognize 魚みそ sakana-miso (shredded white fish with a sweet miso coating) and pickled 島らっきょう shima-rakkyō (island shallots) from the post linked above. And the greenish-black stuff in the rolled omelet and in the clear dish in the bottom left picture is モズク mozuku, a type of seaweed from Kyushu and Okinawa. It's usually served in a sweetened vinegar that I love, and this mozuku was extra delicious because it was harvested fresh by the owner and her husband. Man, what did I even come back to Tokyo for?
Easy meal: tuna rice with leftover kinpira and almond green beans (steam beans, toast almonds, dress with lemon, olive oil, salt, and pepper). For the tuna rice, I tried to reduce the sugar by cooking the carrots (and mirin and other seasonings) with the rice, then seasoning the tuna mildly and mixing it once done. I thought it worked, my husband thought it wasn't quite sweet/flavorful enough, so further experimentation is necessary.
More delicious Sendai foods! Tried sasa kamaboko, which is really tasty for surimi. Grilling it at the table was fun, and the charred outside was a nice contrast to the soft inside, which had a savory and slightly sweet flavor.
Also enjoyed some frozen sake with lemon and fried skewers. My favorite was either the salmon topped with roe and shiso or the mozzarella, tomato, and basil. For dessert, we tried another local specialty: zunda mochi! Incredibly soft and fresh mochi covered in sweetened edamame paste. It might sound strange but I loved it!
