I really like her, she simplifies Japanese food to the shreds for the home cooks. As usual, her tuna donburi looks delicious and simple enough to make.

Shiokara (塩辛, Shiokara?) is a food in Japanese cuisine made from various marine animals that consists of small pieces of the animal’s meat in a brown viscous paste of the animal’s heavily salted, fermented viscera. The raw viscera are mixed with about 10% salt, 30% malted rice, packed in a closed container, and fermented for up to a month. Shiokara is sold in glass or plastic containers.

The flavor is quite strong and is considered something of an acquired taste even for the native Japanese palate. The taste of shiokara lingers in the mouth. One method of enjoying it is to consume the serving at one gulp and to follow it with a shot of straight whisky. Some bars in Japan specialize in shiokara.

In Korean cuisine, Jeotgal (젓갈) or Jeot (젓) is similar to shiokara but ingredients and amounts of salt are differently used. A small amount of Jeotgal made from anchovies or shrimps is often used in the making of kimchi.

Check out this thread on how to make your own: Squid Shiokara

Part 1

Part 2

It looks really yummy. i think I am gonna make some in muffin pans and it’ll be HUGE!

This is a 5 minute video paying homage to Japanese food that I’d like to share with you. We eat with our eyes, they say. “They” being some of the most famous chefs in the world :)

Enjoy! Now i feel like fresh toro sashimi :P

Not for the faint of heart. All for sake of knowledge:

Sashimi has a lot to do with knife techniques. So aside from having a good knife that is sharp, you need to know where to cut to give you the perfect slices. This video in action is not something you get to see in any Sushi bars as most sushi chefs would rather not divulge their technique.

I am not saying this is perhaps the REAL deal. It’s close to and it gives you a pretty good idea how to start cutting your fish. Oh, your fish has to be REALLY fresh, of course.

No freshwater fish for sashimis, general rule of thumb. Fresh was water fish has parasites but not saltwater fishes. :)

I know Japanese love their octupi and other cephalopods, namely the squids or cuttlefish. They even think the ink drink-worthy *squirms* Okay, i love eating them as well although i don’t know about drinking their ink. The Japanese calls them tako, you will see them braised in a reddish kind of sauce in sushi places and they are really, really delicious! I have a recipe to share. A curry recipe that you might love, which involves octupi (btw, octupi is just plural for octopus if you didn’t know). It’s very simple as the curry is great with rice or with bread. I know the Japanese love their chicken and beef curry which they slather over plates of rice, perhaps this is something new for you guys to try. Before the recipe, here’s a cutesy (or grotesque) picture from my boiling pot of curried octopi :P

please don’t eat me!

It might just turn you vegetarian eh? :P

Anyway, without further adue, here’s the recipe:

1/4 cup of curry base (blend 3 onions, 1 knob of garlic, 1inch ginger, keep the extras for other curries :))
1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon of fennel
1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
1 star anise
3 cloves
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 cup curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon paprika powder
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons oil
5 octopus
2 tomatoes, halved
1 medium sized eggplant, chunks

Method:
1. Heat oil in pan and add all the ingredients in except water, octopi, tomatoes and eggplant. Saute until fragrant for about 8 mins.
2. Add water and let it come to a simmer before you add your eggplant.
3. After that, add your octopi in and tomatoes, cooked for 10 mins under medium heat.
4. Scoop out your octopi and tomatoes and let the broth simmer under low heat for another 10 mins.
5. Serve your octopi curry with rice and freshly sliced cucumbers.

Source: A Series of Kitchen Experiments

Kushiyaki Salmon

Many of you probably know what Yakitori (焼き鳥, やきとり) is - it’s basically a Japanese type of skewered chicken. But the Japanese also skewer other meats, seafood and poultry to which they call it Kushiyaki. However, the term Yakitori can sometimes be refered to skewered food in general. Skewered food are also called brochettes or satay in other parts of the world. So today, I am going to present to you my version of skewered yakitori but instead of chicken, I’m going to use Salmon, which is then wrapped in bacon. And instead of using mirin and sugar, i used honey as my marinate - which i think gives it that nice brown caramelized flavor.

Kushiyaki Salmon - The Raw

This is a very simple and very easy to make recipe. You can make a lot in advance, which makes this a very good party food ;) The salmon wrapped in bacon gives it a unique smokey flavor which complements the honey and soy marinate. And since it’s bacon, the drippings from it ensures that the salmon stays moists and succulent after it’s cooked!

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

For the fish marinate:
1 tbsp of grated ginger
2 cloves of grated garlic
1/4 cup of soy sauce
3 tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon pepper

500 g of Salmon fillet, clean and cut into 1 inch chunks
10 strips of bacon or more
1 onion, quartered

bamboo skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes

Method

1. Combine the ingredients for the fish marinate together. Stir well and set aside.
2. Make sure that your salmon cubes are dry off excess water. It helps to marinate better. Put the pieces into a container.
3. Pour the fish marinate into the salmon cubes and make sure the marinate covers every bit of the pieces. Cover and marinate for 2 hours at least.
4. Take your bamboo skewers and skewer a cube of salmon and alternate with a little bit of onion, and continue until you reach the tip of the skewer.
5. take a slice of bacon and drape it around the skewered fish. Set aside and repeat step 4 and 5 till you’re out of fish.
6. Let the skewers sit in room temperature for about 30 minutes before you start baking them in the oven. Pre-heat oven to 400 Fahrenheit or 205 Celsius. You can also barbeque this… it’s prefect for bbqs! But since it’s winter where i am, i have to make do with an oven……pfft.
7. Put each skewer on a baking pan and bake for 45mins. Turn over the skewers once after 15 minutes. At the final 5 mins of the cooking time - turn the grill on and grill till the brochettes are a little brown.

Source: A series of Kitchen Experiments; Wikipedia

Sashimi

Now, the Japanese are perhaps the ONLY people in the world who eats their fish raw save for a handful of people in Latin countries and Italy where they eat their fish and beef raw with a squeeze of lemon and herbs, they call it Carpaccio. So today, we’re going to focus on Sashimi, notoriously mistaken for as sushi by *most* of our western counterparts who didn’t know any better. Frankly,all my western friend who have never been exposed to much asian/japanese culture (as in i have been their first asian friend) do not know the difference between sushi and sashimi. But then again, sushi and sashimi are quite similar… but not similar that they are the same.

Anyway, that’s not the main reason of the post here. Today it’s all about the freshes of the freshes of fish.

Sashimi (Japanese: 刺身) is a Japanese delicacy primarily consisting of very fresh raw seafoods, thinly sliced into pieces about 2.5 cm (1 inch) wide by 4 cm (1½ inches) long by 0.5 cm (¼ inch) thick, and served with only a dipping sauce (like soy sauce with wasabi paste and thinly sliced ginger root, or ponzu), and a simple garnish like shiso and shredded daikon radish.

To make sashimi work, you need to use sushi grade fish. And that means, the fish has to be the freshes in the market. Sushi grade fish are perhaps more expensive than the usual - esp in Canada and US where sushi grade fish are reserved for restaurants and cheffies mostly. The look of a sushi grade fish is distinct - translucent, glossy flesh that springs back at a mere touch and does not smell AT ALL except for the smell of sea salt. So unless you know your fish seller well, you’re not likely to get any good stuff readily available.

The number one rule in choosing fish for your sashimi is that you should ALWAYS use salt water fish and never fresh water fish. Reason being, in fresh water fish, even though it’s fresh it’s not necessarily free from other pollutants such as parasites and bacterias that normally wouldn’t grow in salt water conditions. I get goosebumps thinking about what could be in a raw fresh water fish really but yes, always choose salt water fish like mackeral, bonito, octopus, squid, tuna, salmon, milk fish, yellow fin, trout, sea bream, sea bass and king fish (among others). And Of course, the notoriously poisonous fugu (blowfish), one of Japan’s highest level in form of delicacy that’s all about risks.

Fugu Sashimi

To eat fugu sashimi, make sure you go to certified fugu chefs only because one drop of its poison is enough to kill you instantly - however if you survive a fugu experience, you’ll probably say you went to heaven and came back becos the exquisite taste of fugu is unlike any other sashimi you’d ever eaten. How would i know? Well, many people who has eaten fugu and lived to tell the tale told me…of course their fugu meal cost them a bomb too. Fugu is expensive. There are also people who tells me that the novelty of eating fugu is just the risk that it could kill you, taste wise it’s just real bland. Hm…to each his/her own i suppose..

Chirashi Sushi

Here’s a picture of my favorite sashimi - Toro Sashimi

Toro Sashimi

Here’s a simple sashimi and rice recipe that i absolutely love - it is categorized under sushi but to me, i think this dish is the link between sushi and sashimi - Chirashi Sushi. It’s basically, Japanese rice topped with sashimi. I love mine with raw salmon roe and Toro (the fattiest part of tuna) - it’s absolutely divine with wasabi, soy sauce and bonito flakes (i heart bonito flakes).

But this recipe is a recipe I modified to suit my cravings, it’s an adaptation from About.com

Chirashi Sushi ala Expedit

Ingredients:
3 Cups of cooked Sushi Rice
4-6 rehydrated/fresh shitake mushroom
1 teaspoon miso
1/3 cup water
300 gram block of Toro (Fatty Tuna OR just normal sushi grade Tuna)
100 gram salmon roe
Omelette
sliced cucumbers

Soy sauce, mirin and wasabi for sauce.

Method:
1. Cook rice. Click here to see how to cook the perfect sushi rice.

2. Cut your cucumbers into fine slices diagonally (cos it’s prettier that way). Set them aside. Flavoring your mushrooms: add miso and water in a pan, add mushroom and cook till liquid dissipates. Slice them finely and set aside. Make your omelette the way you know how and cut them into strips.

3. Take your Toro out from the fridge. Make sure your knife, cutting board and hands are clean. I’m a freak when it comes to handling and eating fresh, uncooked food.

4. Your toro should be in a square block, just cut them into 0.5 cm slices with a very sharp knife. It’s essential to have a sharp knife in your kitchen then preparation and cutting will be very pleasant. And since I like my fish to be thinner than usually, I am not going above 0.5 cm in thickness. you can also cut your fish in strips as well if that’s what you like.

5. Scoop some hot sushi rice into a bowl, add your mushroom slices, toro slices and your salmon roe…arrange them nicely. Spread your cucumber slices around the bowl and add strips of omelette over the top of your rice.

6. Add equal parts soy sauce and mirin and add as much wasabi as you want. Mix into a sauce. Pour over your sashimi and rice and add some bonito flakes, if you’d like.

7. Eat. :)

This is my version of Chirashi sushi - of course, you can put whatever toppings of fresh fish you like. This recipe feeds 4 people.

Source: Wikipedia; Haacked, About.com

Suddenly Boing Boing and Mother Digital started posting links to sushi-making machines manufacturer Tomoe, so I decided I should link to it before it becomes a meme and 3Yen is left behind in the dust… In fact, I came across this website a while ago, when I was planning on getting a whole series of machines: a cotton candy one, a crepe one, a pop corn one, etc. Then I got wiser and realised I should hire a sushi chef full time instead… But that’s another story.

Anyway, Tomoe has put up a pretty good website, promoting their very cool machines. And although there is a fair chance you are not going to buy one, you should go read how they work, how they were invented, what makes a good sushi, and so on. At least, go there for the pictures…

Regarding the photo at the top (MSR-3000W):

- This machine is the most high speed in the world．
- The producing capacity of this machine is 50pcs/minute (3,000pcs/hour)
- So you will be relieved even when a peak hour operation．
- The table and the hopper was made low to improve working efficiency
- Control panel used touch panel type. All you have to do is any used from install．
- The exchang of the amount of Wasabi became possible by the easy operation．
- The Front panel was made by the new specification, too．
- It is excellent in the durability and there won’t be a trouble．