This is a Japanese inspired dish by Nigella Lawson and to be honest, it is delicious as I have tried it myself,with a little twist. Sake Salmon on rice is a quick and easy meal that you can prepare as soon as you get home from work. It is a great comfort food as well because rice, when cooked properly, is absolutely delicious. For this recipe, I would use calrose or sushi rice. But if you want, you can use any long grain rice you have in your pantry. The star of the show is your protein and your rice is merely your vessel to carry these wonderful flavors into your mouth :)

Do not over cook your salmon. I know that sounds a little silly because you cannot really overcook salmon with its high fat content unless you threw it into the burner and left it there to carbonize. But what I mean by not overcooking the salmon is to still leave it a little raw inside. As such, the freshness of your salmon is imperative to a good Sake Salmon on rice and to your health. The last thing you want is to be running to the toilet after a meal.

So, off with the recipe:

Marinade for the salmon
Wasabi paste
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil or any cooking oil
1 teaspoon of chopped red chillies (optional)
1 tablespoon sake, or two ;)
2 salmon fillets

Sauce for salmon and rice:
1/4 cup sake
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon wasabi paste

Chopped green onions/spring onions to garnish

Cooked rice (enough for two or three)

This recipe serves two to three individuals depending on how hungry you are.

Method:
In a freezer bag, wasabi paste, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, oil, and sake and add the salmon fillets. Leave to marinate for about 15 minutes.

Heat a smooth griddle or nonstick skillet until hot, and cook the salmon fillets for 1 minute on one side then a minute on the other side – you want the salmon to still be raw inside but wrapped with a nice cooked outer layer . Remove the salmon and let them rest for 10 minutes on a wooden board and cover them with a sheet of tin foil for 10 minutes.

Bring the sake to a boil in a tiny little saucepan, like one you might melt butter in, to let the alcohol taste evaporate. Take the pan off the heat and add the other sauce ingredients.

Unwrap the salmon fillets, removing them to a wooden board for carving as you do so. Cut them with a very sharp knife into 1 inch slices.

Arrange the salmon slices on hot rice on 2 plates (or three). Spoon over the sauce, letting it gloss the fish and drip here and there over the rice. Scatter the chopped green onions/spring onions on top.

Simple grub that should take you as long as you need for your rice to cook. And I do mean every word of that :)

Have you ever eaten hamo? May it be cooked into a rich broth or barbequed, it is not food for the squeamish.

Hamo is essentially pike eel to the Western world. In Japan, hamo is a delicacy that is popular around the Kansai region, particularly Kyoto. To prepare hamo, you need a chef that is skilled at eels for the this slippery sea creature. Do not mistaken hamo for the common unagi, as hamo is smaller and slender and is prepared either broiled, deep-fried or in soups.

Do you have an eel recipe you would like to share?

I am sure you’ve had some very delicious Japanese food with Octopus? You can buy octupus pre-prepared and cooked in any Japanese store. However, preparing it yourself maybe a little daunting. Where do I make the incision is the most frequently asked question. This video has the answer to your Tako preparations :)

Please ignore that George Micheal background music, it’s ….inappropriate but god knows why they put it there. Otherwise the video is a helpful one :)

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

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