Three Tuna Recipes

Tuna is one of the easiest fish to start with in the kitchen, especially if you find sashimi grade tuna. Check with your fishmonger. At some stores, like some Whole Foods in and around New York City, the tuna is kept in a super-freezer. It's easy to defrost at home. I hope to post on it in the future.

This first recipe is simply sashimi grade tuna that is rough chopped and quickly seasoned with soy sauce and shichimi (seven spice). But feel free to use whatever you want like sesame oil, some Korean kochujan, etc. We marinate the fish for about five minutes and then serve it over rice.

This zuke couldn't be easier. Thinly slice the sashimi grade tuna, put in a bowl with

2 parts soy sauce
1 part mirin
1 part sake

and marinate overnight in a refrigerator. Serve over a bowl over hot rice.

This tuna tataki dish is always satisfying. There is something about the texture of the cooked exterior and the raw interior that makes this an appealing dish. Also, the nuttiness of the sesame seeds is a nice partner to the meaty maguro. Simply roll a sashimi grade tuna steak in sesame seeds, white or black. Then heat up a saute pan, ideally a non-stick one, add oil, and sear all sides. Let it rest before slicing. Serve with soy sauce and wasabi.

One dishes like this are mastered it becomes easier to branch out to cooking with other seafood.

Kiriboshi Daikon and Pork

Some of my favorite Japanese cookbooks are authored by chef Hiromitsu Nozaki of Waketokuyama. He was on NHK's Asaichi, a morning variety program, with some great ideas. This one adds some thinly slicked pork belly to the kiriboshi daikon. What is brilliant is about this is that the pork is so flavorful that there is no need to add dashi.

100 grams kiriboshi daikon
50 grams thinly sliced pork belly
25 grams julienned carrots
1/2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
green part of a leek

Simmering Liquid
75 ml water
15 ml soy sauce
15 ml mirin
1/2 Tablespoon sugar

Reconstitute the kiriboshi daikon in water. Cut into bite-size pieces. Blanch in hot water for one minute and drain in a strainer.

Cut the pork belly into 2 cm slices. Blanch in hot water.

Julienne the carrots.

In a pot saute the kiriboshi daikon in the vegetable oil. Add the Simmering Liquid and the leek (which adds some sweetness to the dish). Simmer until the broth reduces to half. Remove the leek. Add the pork and carrots. Simmer until most of the liquid has dissipated. Allow to cool in the hot pan. (This is when most of the flavors soak into the vegetables.)

Kiriboshi Daikon Furikake

Kiriboshi daikon 切り干し大根  is something I always have in our pantry. Dried strips of daikon can be quickly reconstituted in water and is a simple way to add another vegetable dish to the table. 

However, I get into the routine of always making the same dish time after time. Kiriboshi daikon simmered with some carrots and abura-age (deep-fried tofu) in a sweet soy broth. Sometimes I'll switch out the abura-age for some Satsuma-age (deep-fried fish cakes). Good, but not an exciting change from our old ways.

Today I had just a little bit of kiriboshi daikon left in a packet. I quickly rehydrated it in water, squeezed it of excess water, and cut it into small pieces. In a pan I sauteed it with some sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, and salt. It was a nice change-up from the typical nimono (simmered dish) we have. I had it as furikake over rice, but will try it next time over a salad.

Bacon Wrapped Enoki Mushrooms

Who doesn't love bacon? While it may not be a traditional Japanese ingredient, bacon is used from time to time in the Japanese kitchen. This enoki bacon maki is a popular okazu or side dish. Best of all, it is good whether hot or at room temperature. These usually get eaten up quickly, so if I want to use some for a bento it's best to save a few.

I can't be bothered with toothpicks to secure them shut. So instead I use longer slices of bacon and wrap up the bunches of enoki. Just saute until the bacon is cooked and you have a nice addition to any dinner. 

Ika Ninjin from Kibo by Elizabeth Andoh

Elizabeth Andoh's newest cookbook, Kibo, documents recipes from Japan's Tohoku region which was most affected by the triple calamity of 3/11. Some of the recipes are dishes that we often make at home. And some are new and that always means an adventure in the kitchen. We are always looking for new ways to include seafood in our diet so the Ika Ninjin (Squid Jerky and Carrot Strips) dish immediately caught our attention.

As Elizabeth explains in her well-detailed book, this dish from Fukushima is often included as part of the osechi New Year's cuisine as well as during the fall. It uses surume ika which is a dried squid that is sold in many Asian supermarkets overseas. Growing up my brother and I often chewed away at surume ika while watching television. My husband also likes it so it is something that is often in our kitchen. Along with carrots and a simple marinade of soy sauce, dark brown sugar, sake, rice vinegar, and togarashi. I left out the togarashi as I wanted to share this with friends who have kids.

We love the dish and when I brought some over to my friend's house she commented that it reminded her of matsumae zuke, a similar looking and tasting dish that includes kombu.

I won't include the recipe here as I hope many of you will pick up Elizabeth's eBook. It is only US $3.99 and part of the proceeds will go to a charity in Tohoku. It's a great book and as food lovers of Japan we can make a small contribution by purchasing the book and then by cooking up some of the food from Tohoku. Even better, pick up some Tohoku sake and have a few friends over to share some of the dishes in the eBook.

Five Questions for Debra Samuels

Debra Samuels is the author of My Japanese Table, published by Tuttle. The cookbook is filled with treasured recipes that are genersouly shared from Japanese friends of Debra's over many years in Japan. My copy has many dog-eared pages. Some of the recipes have already become staples in our home kitchen including an addictive salad dressing of garlic, soy, sesame oil, sugar, and rice wine vinegar. Shinji calls it the yakiniku-ya dressing as it is similar to the salad dressing found at many barbecue restaurants in Japan. Another favorite recipe is simple kinpira made from celery. The ingredients are always in the house and the dish can be whipped up in minutes. If you like Japanese home-style dishes or want tips on making bento, be sure to pick up her book.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Debra for Metropolis magazine where she shares her favorite shops and restaurants in Tokyo. She has piqued my curiosity to visit Sugamo. I had more questions for Debra that space didn't permit to print in Metropolis so have continued the conversation with her here. Also, she shares a recipe at the end.

1. Your book is filled with great bento tips. What are your favorite tips? 

I am really bonkers for bento. I love the boxes and the whole concept.

When introducing this to an American audience I had to be very aware of what would or could be embraced. My main point for people starting out is to think of using 5 colors which automatically increases the variety of food. Greater variety and smaller portions make for a balanced and satisfying meal.

The tip I think makes sense in being able to pull off a nutritious bento on a busy morning is preparing ahead of time. I particularly like making the chicken meatballs and storing them in the delicious stock in the fridge. Then it is just one step to simmering them in teriyaki sauce before placing them in the box. 

2. We love the desserts chapter. Any tips for someone wanting to make something Japanese and sweet at home?

Making Japanese sweets at home can use both familiar and unfamiliar ingredients.  For example a fusion dessert like matcha marble cake uses green tea powder with regular flour – so that is familiar and your results will be like a western cake.

But if you choose to make something with sweet rice flour, like  shiratama (mochi dumplings) or strawberry mochi dumplings, the process for handling the dough, the texture of the product is not familiar.  You should be prepared to experiment a bit.  

3.  Any tips for someone wanting to host a Japanese party at home?

Don’t get overly ambitious!  By which I meant don’t try to pull off 5 or 6 new dishes at once.  Mix them with other dishes that would work well with them, like a plain baked fish. 

The best and most fun way to throw a Japanese party is have a hand roll sushi party – temaki zushi.  The prep is all done ahead of time. You prepare a gorgeous display of vegetables: cucumber, avocado, sprouts, simmered shiitake and fish:  raw tuna, cooked crabmeat, smoked salmon and salmon roe  arranged on large platters.  Prepare the sushi rice, provide crispy nori  - roasted seaweed and everyone rolls their own creations into a cone.  And you enjoy the party.

I like to serve one salad with this to fill out the meal – a spinach, tofu and beansprout salad with sesame dressing. You will have  a big hit! (See recipe below.)

4. You spend part of your time in Boston. Any suggestions for sourcing Japanese ingredients in America?

I live in an area with many Asian supermarkets so it is easy for me to get anything I want, both fresh and dried.  Many well stocked American markets now carry Japanese ingredients because of the increasing popularity of Japanese food. So you can get short grain rice, nori, decent soy sauce, even mirin and wakame.  But if you aren’t near a market there is always the internet. What a difference that makes.  There are some great pan Asian markets who sell on line as well as Japanese markets like Mitsuwa that have online stores. 

The only thing one should never compromise or buy without knowing the source and preservation methods is raw fish.  And I mean NEVER.  All fish is not suitable for sushi. It must be sushi grade and that often means super frozen. 

5. Tell us about your other great book, The Korean Table.

I had the great fortune of co-authoring a Korean cookbook with my friend Taekyung Chung. I met her in Japan about 17 years ago.  Our common language is Japanese!  Korean food is now hugely popular in the United States in part due to large Korean American populations and the restaurants that grew up around them. The robust flavors and dishes are now familiar to Americans, like kimchi, bibimbap and of course Korean bbq.  

There weren’t many Korean cookbooks in English, so we thought it would be interesting. Both Taekyung and I are cooking teachers so we knew how to explain about ingredients and cooking techniques. I chose recipes I thought would be authentic and popular with Americans without frustrating them.  My favorite chapter in the book is the Basics chapter because it teaches you how to make so many different sauces that are so important in Korean cuisine.  The book is now in its 3^rdprinting so I think it achieved our goals of being accessible.

 Spinach, tofu and beansprout salad with sesame dressing

Serves 4

One 12-14 ounce cake of soft or medium tofu, drained

16 ounces fresh spinach or 10 ounce package of frozen spinach (defrosted)

2 cups water

2 cups fresh bean sprouts

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds     

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1-2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 scallion, minced

Sesame oil for drizzling

Salt

1. If using fresh spinach, fill a large bowl with cold water and set the spinach into the bowl.  Lift out the spinach and place in a large sauce pan with a lid. 

2. On medium heat, steam the spinach, with only the water clinging to the leaves, for about 2 minutes, or until the spinach has wilted.

3. Pour the spinach into a colander and rinse under cold water. Drain and squeeze out the water (if using frozen spinach squeeze the excess water from the spinach).  Place the spinach on a cutting board and cut into 2-inch pieces and place in a serving bowl.

4. In the same pan add 1 cup of water and the bean sprouts and a pinch of salt. Cover the sauce pan and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes.  Drain the bean sprouts and set aside.  

4.  Crumble the drained tofu on top of the spinach and mix together, until thoroughly incorporated.

5. Set the beans sprouts in a mound on the top of the spinach mixture.

6. In a small frying pan, on medium heat add the sesame seeds and toast for 3 minutes, stirring periodically with a wooden spoon to keep from burning, Fry until the sesame seeds begin to pop, darken and the aroma is released. Reserve 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds for garnishing and pour the remaining sesame seeds onto a cutting board. Chop finely. If you have a mini food processor pulse several times.   

7. In a small bowl combine the crushed sesame seeds, sugar and soy sauce. Mix until the sugar is dissolved.  Pour over the spinach. Sprinkle with reserved sesame seeds and drizzle with sesame oil.

Garnish with sesame seeds.  Toss together just before serving.   

Satsumaage Hijiki Nimono さつま揚げとひじきの煮物

A friend gave me some Satsuma-age fish cakes and the brilliant idea of making nimono of the cakes with some hijiki. I added some carrots and made the dish as we usually do using the fish cakes instead of abura-age (thin, deep-fried tofu). We loved this dish and will be making it again and again.

Hijiki is one of the dried sea vegetable that is always in our pantry. But we have fallen into the a rut with always making the same dish, simmered hijiki.

In the photo I've left one of the Satsuma-age cakes uncut so it will be easy to recognize in the market. It comes in different shapes, but this is a popular one. It sometimes is in the freezer section if you are shopping at an Asian market outside of Japan. Just let it defrost in the fridge.

30 grams hijiki
2 slices Satsuma-age (deep-fried fish cakes)
100 grams carrots, julienned

broth:
2 Tbsp. sake
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. mirin
salt to taste

Rehydrate the hijiki in water for 5 minutes. Then quickly blanch in boiling water and strain. Julienne the carrots and Satsuma-age fish cakes. It may be best to cut the fish cakes in half once before julienning.

In a saute pan simmer the hijiki, Satsuma-age, and carrots until the carrots start to soften. Then add the sake, sugar, soy sauce, mirin, and salt to taste to the pan. Put a lid on the pan and simmer for about ten minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. Be careful to watch the pan so that the sauce does not evaporate completely. If the carrots do not soften, add a small amount of water or dashi and continue to cook.

Serve at room temperature. Will keep in the fridge for about five days.

Simmered Squid and Daikon いか大根の煮物

Simmered squid and daikon is a great first dish for cooks new to squid. The best part of this dish is how tender the squid is. The hardest part of making this dish was cleaning the squid. If buying your squid from a good fishmonger you can ask them to clean it for you.


400 grams daikon
1 surumeika
20 grams ginger, cut into thick slices
vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups dashi
1/4 cup sake
2 Tbsp. mirin
1 Tbsp. sugar

Peel the daikon and cut into large chunks.

Clean the squid. Remove the head from the body. Remove the innards from the squid body and discard. (In our house, if the squid is fresh, Shinji keeps the liver, slices it, and eats it with soy sauce. I'll take a small bite but am not a big fan unless I've had some sake or shochu to warm me up to the idea.)

Carefully clean the legs and be sure to scrub carefully to remove the hard bits on the tentacles. Cut the legs just below the eye and be sure to remove the squid's beak or mouth. Separate the legs by cutting the meat.

For the body, be sure to remove the cartilage inside and carefully rinse the squid. Slice into rings.

In a pot saute the ginger in some vegetable oil for a minute. Add the daikon and squid and saute.

Add to the pot the dashi, sake, mirin, and sugar.

Simmer for 15 minutes or until the daikon is tender. Ideally with an otoshibuta (drop lid) or paper lid. Alternatively, a lid.

Garnish with julienned yuzu and shichimi togarashi (both optional).

Gomoku Gohan 五目ご飯

Changing up our routine of white rice I like to make takikomigohan. Rice steamed with toppings that are mixed into the rice after it has cooked. Some of my favorite takikomigohan are made with grilled fish like salmon or tai (sea bream). The salmon takikomigohan is especially nice when topped with ikura. Most important is to grill the fish before adding it to the rice pot to rid it of its fishiness.

Julienne the fillings. Here I have used (clockwise from top left) gobo (burdock root), abura-age (deep-fried tofu), konnyaku, carrots, and rehydrated hoshi shiitake (dried shiitake).

Here is the master recipe I use for rice, from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga of Nihonbashi Yukari. Most important here is his technique for rinsing and measuring the rice to determine the amount of liquid needed.

3 cups of rice
100 ml soy sauce
50 ml mirin
1 tsp. salt
water (as needed by using Chef Nonaga's recipe)

After rinsing the rice add to your rice pot. Top with julienned fillings. Add liquid and salt. Cook rice as usual. Stir up the rice pot after cooking to incorporate the fillings.

Key point here is that the amount of liquid remains the same as if you are making white rice. Just substitute some soy sauce and mirin. I also sometimes like to add a splash of sake. Another option is to add some sugar. Just be careful as the rice pot may scorch so monitor the heat carefully.

Takikomigohan is a free for all. Many different ingredients can be used including chicken, hijiki, kiriboshi daikon (dried daikon strips), mushrooms like maitake or shimeji, kombu, and much more.

Milk and Azuki Ice Bar ミルク小豆アイス

A food memory I have that dates back to when I was six years old was kakigori, shaved ice with syrupy toppings. I always had to have the creamy and sweet "miruku" (milk). The flavor was new to me, but I couldn't get enough of the sweetened condensed milk.

While I can't shave ice at home, I can make a miniature version of the dessert. My first attempt at making an ice bar with 100% sweetened condensed milk was a failure. It was way too sweet and didn't freeze properly making it difficult to remove from the mold.

For each bar I do 1 part sweetened condensed milk to 3 parts whole milk. Mix it thoroughly before pouring into the mold. If you want to include azuki beans it is best to freeze the milk in stages. Put some sweet milk in the mold and let it freeze. Then add some beans and cover with milk. Repeat this step once and then freeze.

I only wish I would have thought about making this a long time ago.

Kinoko Takikomigohan きのこ炊き込みご飯 Mushrooms and Japanese Rice

Who doesn't love a change-up? So many times in our house it is white rice for dinner. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Especially when our table is topped with a variety of dishes that call out for a simple rice that can go with any food. However, sometimes I get the urge for some variety in our rice pot. Takikomigohan is quick and can often be made with whatever leftover bits of vegetables are in the house. The rice is still washed and made the same. The only difference is that some vegetables are put in the rice pot at the end, and a bit of soy sauce, sake, and mirin are included with the water for steaming.

And the rewards are lovely. Mushrooms cooked with the rice bring a nice earthiness to the dish. The soy, sake, and mirin season the rice lightly. The following recipe from Chef Nonaga is the best I have found for cooking rice.

Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga's rice recipe.

Takikomigohan
2 cups of rice
150 - 200 grams of chopped Japanese fresh mushrooms (shiitake, enoki, shimeji, etc.)
1 Tbsp. each of soy sauce, mirin, sake
pinch of salt

Wash the rice as normal and put into rice pot. Top with mushrooms. The amount of liquid to add to the pot is as usual, just substitute in 1 Tbsp each of the soy sauce, mirin, and sake for some of the water. Add a pinch of salt to the pot and cook as usual.

Garnish with mitsuba or toasted sesame seeds (optional).

Feel free to add other ingredients like carrots, abura age (deep-fried tofu), or konnyaku. Chicken can also be added, just be sure to cut into bite-size pieces first. If adding seafood like fish (salmon), be sure to cook the fish first, ideally grilled.

Yoshoku - Hamba-gu

One of the strangest requests I had when working as a chef was a client who wanted to have "hamba-gu". What was interesting about this request was that the client was the president of a Japanese seafood company. He was also entertaining a client that evening so while I would also be preparing many Japanese dishes to accompany the sashimi that the president would make, I had to cook a "hamba-gu".

I cooked the president a Western style hamburger and served it to him on a bun with all of the condiments. The president laughed as it was obviously a "lost in translation" moment. He said that he wanted a "hamba-gu" not a "hamba-ga-". The lightbulb went off and I realized that he wanted a yoshoku style hamburger, often eaten in Japan.

Luckily there was enough ground beef left and I quickly returned to the kitchen and mixed it with an egg, bread crumbs, and milk and cooked it up. The president was happy and I made a mental note to listen more carefully.

A hamba-gu to me is basically a mini meatloaf that is cooked in a pan and not baked in an oven. Finely mince some onions, add to ground beef with some bread crumbs, an egg, and some milk. Season with salt and pepper. Cook in a hot pan until cooked through. For a simple sauce add some Worcestershire sauce to some ketchup. Serve with hot rice.

Simmered Hijiki Nimono ひじきの煮物

Hijiki is a dried sea vegetable that is always in our pantry. Simmered with some vegetables in a sweet soy broth it is a staple dish in our house, both on the table, and in obento. In this photo I used what we had in the house at the time, celery and carrots. But, other vegetables that are great in this dish include gobo, renkon, simmered soy beans, and pea pods.

30 grams hijiki
2 slices abura-age (thin, deep-fried tofu)

roughtly 100 grams each of julienned or thinly sliced vegetables:
carrots
celery
gobo
renkon
pea pods

or simmered soybeans

broth:
2 Tbsp. sake
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. mirin
salt to taste

Rehydrate the hijiki in water for 5 minutes. Then quickly blanch in boiling water and strain. The abura-age also needs to be blanched in boiling water to rid it of excess oil then sliced into julienne strips. Best to cut it in half once lengthwise before julienning.

In a saute pan simmer the hijiki and any vegetables (except for the pea pods) and cook until the vegetables start to soften. Then add the sake, sugar, soy sauce, mirin, and salt to taste to the pan. Put a lid on the pan and simmer for about ten minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. Be careful to watch the pan so that the sauce does not evaporate completely. Add the pea pods and cook for one to two minutes.

Serve at room temperature. Will keep in the fridge for about five days.

Ham and Pea Pods

This simple dish was often served at my local izakaya when I lived in Shinjuku. The mama-san of the shop would blanch pea pods and toss them with sliced ham and dress with mayonnaise. Sometimes hard-boiled eggs would find their way into the dish. This can be made quickly, is a nice way to add another dish to the dinner table, and leftovers can be used for obento.

Chilled Japanese Green Tea

A cold cup of green tea nourishes me throughout the year. Years ago I used to brew Japanese green tea and then chill it in the fridge, a long process. But that has become easy with tea packs that can be brewed with room temperature water.

Some of these packages are loose teas, but the ones that are a breeze to use are the tea packs. Simply put in a pitcher of water and let steep in the fridge overnight. If you are unable to find the pre-packaged tea packs, then it is possible to pack up your own teas and steep the teas overnight. I have had good luck with most teas. The only tea I haven't had good success with steeping in the fridge is hojicha.

Here are the tea packs.

What you want to look for when purchasing the tea is "mizudashi" 水出し, the characters on the top right hand side below the name Kunitaro.

And, as these are Japanese-style teas, we don't add any sugar or sweet syrup to the teas. If you are used to drinking Southern-style sweet teas it may take some time adjusting your palate to these. But I find them refreshing and satisfying.

Kabutoyaki - Grilled Fish Heads

One of the easiest fish dishes to grill up is kabutoyaki or fish heads. Simply season with salt and grill. The photo above is of tai or sea bream, the flesh which is delicate and light on the palate.

For a meatier fish, try hamachi or buri (Japanese amberjack). This fatty fish will drip a lot of fat while cooking so just be careful for the flame and smoke.

In Japanese supermarkets fish heads are often for sale. I have seen it at Japanese or Chinese markets in the USA. Or, if you have a good fishmonger, ask him to save some heads for you.

And, be sure to dig around with your chopsticks and get every little nugget and piece that you can find when eating this. I usually give up pretty quickly and I am always amazed at how much more Shinji can dig up once I am done with a piece.

Garnish it with some lemon or ponzu. And, I love having this with a glass of shochu on the rocks.

Satsumaimo Gohan 薩摩芋ご飯

Satsumaimo (sweet potatoes) are in season at the moment. Usually we make a sweet dish called daigaku imo from the starchy sweet potatoes. Looking to spice up our donabe of white rice with something new I cooked the sweet potato with the rice. A nice change-up when topped with some toasted sesame seeds.

Using this recipe for cooking rice (from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga of Nihonbashi Yukari), simply add some salt to the rice pot. For the sweet potatoes, wash carefully (but leave the skins on), cut into slices, about 1/2 inch, and let rest in a pot of water to rid it of its excess starch.

Add the sweet potatoes to the rice pot and cook as you would cook white rice normally. No need to add extra water. Just use the amount based on Nonaga-san's recipe in the link above.

When serving top with toasted sesame seeds.

Lekue Steam Roaster スチームロースター

Note - the first three photos come from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga's website.

I received one of these Lekue steam roasters. It can be used in the microwave or in a regular oven. It's ideal for assembling and cooking in one dish, making cleaning easy. Steam can escape from the side vents but it will cook and steam at the same time.

Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga of Nihonbashi Yukari's recipes for seafood and some side dishes that are seafood friendly was included in the steam roaster.

Here is a professional photo of okra, nori, and mushrooms. Below is my dish that I made at home.

It took less than a minute to assemble, a few minutes in the microwave, and then it was done. We loved this as a side dish and will make it again.

This was another one of chef Nonaga's side dishes in his cookbook. Simply slice up some cabbage and a chikuwa (toasted fish cake), add mayonnaise and miso then cook in the microwave.

Also a big hit and a dish we will make again as these are items that are usually in our fridge. Also, it gives me inspiration to make other similar dishes.

Lekue is originally a Spanish product and is available in major countries. It is easy to clean as well. My only advice is to be careful when removing it from the microwave. Once I was caught off guard by the steam coming out of the side vents and it was very hot.

Kombu and Enoki Tsukudani えのきと昆布佃煮

Tsukudani is a dish we often have in our fridge. As we are often making dashi from scratch we have kombu that can be recycled into a new dish. Tsukudani can be kombu simmered in a sweet soy sauce by itself, or you can add items like mushrooms to it.

For this version of Tsukudani, I have added some enoki mushrooms that I had on hand.

It is a bit intense in flavor so I always serve this with some rice. Start with reconstituted kombu, not dry kombu.

1/2 cup kombu, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup enoki, cut into small pieces (or shiitake)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp sugar

Bring the soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar to a boil and then add the kombu and enoki. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until most of the liquid dissipates.

Will keep for about a week in the fridge.

Quick & Easy Ankimo Monkfish Liver 鮟肝

Ankimo is often called foie gras of the sea. The liver of the monkfish resembles foie gras, without the fattiness. It's lighter in flavor and delicate on the palate. I am a big fan of foie gras so would never compare the two, but wanted to mention it here as this is how it is most often referred to. It's in season right now and is a great partner for sake or shochu.

Most Japanese monkfish liver is consumed at its harvest port so it’s very rare to find it in the market. Most monkfish liver in the market is imported from the USA or China. Monkfish liver from the USA is fresher than Chinese, and as a result the price is often double the price of Chinese monkfish liver.

It's very easy to cook at home, if you can get your hands on some.

First, remove the bloodline. Then salt the liver, let it sit for twenty minutes, and then remove the excess water. Sprinkle it with sake to rid it of its fishiness. Wrap it in aluminum foil in the shape of a sausage and tie up each end. Steam for twenty minutes. Cool it in ice water. Slice into thin slices. Serve with grated daikon radish and some citrus dressing and soy sauce. This is how the Japanese traditionally eat monkfish liver.

The photo is some ankimo we made recently. Shinji plated it with julienned myoga, kombu, daikon, and shiso.

The steamed monkfish liver can also be pan-seared with some olive oil like foie gras. This can then be served with a Western-style sauce.