Hot Pot with Nerimono: Oden

02Nov09

Autumnal weather means hot food is once again inviting. My daughter and I went shopping for ingredients to make a Japanese hot pot on the evening before she returned to California. The hot-pot dish is called “oden” in which an assortment of fish-cakes and dumplings are cooked in dashi, kombu stock, or chicken stock, with other ingredients including daikon, konyaku, and potatoes. It was great fun to see the variety of fish and seafood cakes or dumplings; we couldn’t resist buying too many because they looked so interesting.

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Filed under: Fish and Seafood, Japanese Food, Nabemono, One Pot Cooking   |  9 Comments
Tags: oden

Mentaiko Spaghetti: wafuu supagetti

30Oct09

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Some time in the ’70s people began to experiment with Japanese flavors. Essentially, things that are usually eaten with white rice were mixed into or put on top of spaghetti. Until recently, wafuu pasuta or wafuu supagetti was unknown in the West, and not seen on menus of Japanese restaurants frequented by tourists. I read in many blogs that it’s popular in homes and small cafés (kissaten) and as Japanese food has become popular in the U.S. we can now enjoy some very interesting flavor combinations.

Filed under: Fish and Seafood, Japanese Food, Noodles, Western Influenced food   |  9 Comments
Tags: mentaiko, yoshoku

Black Sesame Seared Tuna

27Oct09

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My daughter is visiting again, and she loves tuna, so of course I had to make this unique seared tuna for her. There are hundreds of recipes for seared tuna, ample evidence how popular Japanese food is in the U.S. But this recipe is special because it uses crushed black sesame seeds. The fish is marinated and coated with black sesame seeds, then flour, and finally quickly deep-fried. The black and pink make a striking appearance, and the deep fried crisp coating makes a lovely contrast with the succulent tuna.

Filed under: Agemono, Deep-Frying, Fish and Seafood, Japanese Food, Salads, Dressings, and Sauces   |  2 Comments
Tags: maguro, tuna

Ikayaki: Pan-fried Squid Patties

21Sep09

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I told my daughter I would make squid patties for her when she visited last June, but our time then went by too fast. (edit: I just realized how odd that would sound to a mother with a 4-year old. The child wanting squid dumplings…) This visit was only a three to four day weekend [...]

Filed under: Fish and Seafood, Grilling and Pan-Frying, Japanese Food, Yakimono   |  2 Comments
Tags: squid

Fried Ginger-Flavored Salmon

16Sep09

http://1tess.wordpress.comNote to self: Buy an new thermometer. Oh, and maybe spend more than $5.
I’d prepared the fish and started to heat the oil for frying when I noticed the little red line on my thermometer was no longer solid, but dashed.
-– -—- – ——- – –—- – ——- – -––––— ——— – — —— ———- – -––––—––— ———
Luckily, one can check the temperature of oil without a thermometer. There are two methods:
Submerge the tips of cooking chopsticks (they are long enough that you won’t burn yourself) in the oil.
Drop a small amount of a flour-water batter into the hot oil.
Details included.

Filed under: Agemono, Deep-Frying, Fish and Seafood, Japanese Food   |  6 Comments
Tags: salmon