Monday 7 June 2010

japanese vegetable hotpot (mizutaki)


serves 10 (generously)

SAUCE

2/3 cup lime juice (5 limes)

1 1/2 cup tamari

2 tbsp sake / sherry

1 cup finely grated daikon

4 tsp grated ginger

1 cup chopped green onions

TO DIP

2 md cabbage, cut in to ½ by 2 inch pieces (we used a variety of greens)

4 green onion bunches, cut in to 2 inch pieces

2 leeks, rinsed, narrow rings (discard dark green)

1 kg mushrooms, halved (use normal and all shitakes that we bought)

0.5 kg spinach, washed

1 tofu cake, ½ inch cubes

1 pound shrimp (should be raw, but we used cooked)

BROTH

3 cups water

8 inch konbu

Sauce: combine sake, tamari and lime juice (start with 2/3 and then add more to taste) and heat on low. Put dry ingredients in individual bowls. Add some of the sauce.

You need strong heat for this, stronger than the fondue we tried on the night. We have since done it with a table top hotplate and that rocked.

Start hotpot. Add konbu to cold water and boil, simmer for 2 minutes. Discard konbu.

With guests seated, add a little bit of each ingredient in the specified order. Then serve some people. Then repeat process. Order: leeks and tofu, then cabbage and mushrooms, then green onions, when nearly ready spinach (one minute only). Raw shrimp would have gone in first, cooked shrimp go in when serving. You can add rice to your bowl if you want to.



Saturday 5 June 2010

Sushi








We made way too much on the day, so I tried to adjust the recipe for about 4 people. In the end, it is hard to guess the right quantities with sushi because it all depends on how yummy you make it, and whether you have any substantial sides.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of Sushi rice (do not use normal rice, it won't work). You need approx 1/4 cup dry rice per roll of sushi.

Sushi dressing: 3 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tbsp suger, 1 tsp salt. Slowly heat vinegar and dissolve sugar and salt, do heat too much.

Step 1 (Early)

  • Wash sushi rice, drain in sieve and let stand for 1h

  • cook sushi rice, let stand for an additional 10 min

  • mix vinegar in and cool rice by spreading it out on a flat surface (cookie tray) and fanning it

Step 2 (Pre cooking)

  • make dashi (broth) from a 7 inch piece of konbu (japanese seaweed), simmer for 20 min

  • Cut 1 box of Portabello mushrooms in strips and fry with some garlic on medium heat.

  • make sushi style omelet, see below

  • cook edamame (young soy beans): Dump 1/2 bag frozen edamame in lg pot of boiling water, heat for 3-4 min, drain and sprinkle with salt

Step 3 (Cutting for sushi)

  • cut 2/3 cucumber in 4 inch strips

  • cut pickled 2 or 3 peppers in strips

  • cut 1 carrot in thin strips

  • cut 2/3 box of surimi (crab sticks) into strips

  • avocado: half, destone, strips, you probably need only half for the sushi but the rest tends to disappear anyway

  • cut some pickles into thin strips

Rolls that we will make:


California

Portabello

Veg

Edamame

avocado, surimi, cucumber, (sesame)

Portabello strips, (pickled bell pepper)

pickles, cucumber, avocado, daikon, sesame seeds, smoked salmon

surimi, edamame (whole)

NY - Smoked salmon

Carrot

Omelet


cucumber, cream cheese, smoked salmon

cucumber, carrot (cream cheese)

omelet, cucumber (mushrooms)




Sushi style omelet -Tamago yaki
Yield: 1 roll or sheet.

Beat four large eggs, 4 Tablespoons dashi (stock, see below), 1 Tablespoon sugar (or more to taste), 1 teaspoon mirin (sweet rice wine), 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce, and salt to taste. Strain as before. In a well-oiled tamago pan, pour in about a quarter of the mixture and spread as if making a crepe. As the mixture cooks, and as it bubbles and sets, roll it and move to the back of the pan. Reoil the pan and add more mixture, being sure to get some under the roll. Again, as it cooks, roll the roll to the front of the pan, then move to the back. Repeat until all the mixture is cooked. Remove the roll from the pan and roll as if for a sushi roll and squeeze out excess liquid. It can be rolled into a round or rectangular shape, then is sliced when cooled.


Friday 4 June 2010

Lemon Meringue Pie





Ingredients for the base:
Plain flour - 200g
Butter - 100g
Sugar - 1 soup spoon
Vinegar - 1 soup spoon (not too full)
Eggs yolks - 1


Ingredients for the cream/filling:
Egg yolks - 2
Sugar - half a cup
Very thin flour - 1 soup spoon (or just do it with the plain flour)
Water - half a cup
Milk - 0.2 litres
Lemon - 1 big or 2 smaller ones


Ingredients for the meringue:
Egg whites - 3
Sugar - 90g


Base: Quickly mix all the ingredients from the base with your finger tips. Make a ball and let it rest for about 30 min. [If you wish to use a bit less butter, you might need to add another yolk.] After that time, cover a pie container with the dough. Pierce it with a fork several times and place it in a medium hot oven (c. 180C) for about 20 to 25 minutes.


Filling: You can prepare the filling while you are waiting for the base to rest. Mix the yolks, sugar, lemon juice and grated peel, milk and the flour mixed with the water in a pot ready for the hob. Turn the hob on and let it simmer until it thickens. Once it's ready, pour into the already pre-baked base.


Meringue: Whip the whites until very smooth and then add the sugar. Place it over the filling in the pie container. Spread some sugar on top and place everything in the oven for another 10 minutes.


Best served chilled.


Note: You might want to use baking beans in the oven: they help to distribute heat more evenly and keep the base flat.