Western style Sushi

This recipe shows that you can make delicious sushi using Western ingredients. Why not experiment using your own favourite ingredients? Gomokuzushi
INGREDIENTS


    * 800g sushi rice
    * 12 slices smoked salmon
    * 100g sliced ham
    * 100g cheddar cheese
    * 2 pickles
    * 3 eggs
    * some salt
    * some capers

HOW TO COOK

   1. Cut the ham, cheese and pickles into 5mm cubes.
   2. Pour the beaten egg and salt in a heated frying pan to make scrambled eggs.
   3. Place the sushi rice, ham, cheese, scrambled eggs and pickles in a bowl, mix well, and serve on a plate. Cut the salmon slices in half and then place these on top. Garnish with capers.

Tempura Dipping Sauce

Although tempura is sometimes served sprinkled with salt, this is the classic accompaniment to a classic Japanese dish. Ten-Tsuyu
INGREDIENTS

    * 200 ml water
    * 50 ml mirin
    * 50 ml soy sauce
    * a handful of katsuobushi (bonito flakes)

HOW TO COOK

   1. Put all the ingredients in a pan and heat until boiling.
   2. Remove pan from the heat and leave the sauce to cool. Once cooled, filter it through a sieve. Drain the katsuobushi well to take all the flavour out of the sauce.
   3. The most popular additional ingredient for tempura sauce is daikon oroshi (grated radish). When grating daikon (peeled), don't grate too roughly and drain well before serving.

Tempura

This most quinessential of Japanese dishes seals the flavour of a variety of ingredients within a coating of light, crsipy batter. Tempura
INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

    * 1 egg
    * 100ml cold water
    * 100g plain flour
    * selected vegetables and seafood

HOW TO COOK

   1. Break the egg into a bowl, add the water and mix well
      The eggs, water and flour for the batter should be chilled in a refrigerator to make the batter crispy.
   2. Add the flour, sifting out any lumps then mix together with chopsticks, moving them to the right and left. Don't move them in a circular motion, or the tempura will not be crisp when fried.
      Don't mix the batter too much, just mix it roughly so that some of the flour can still be seen in the mixture.
   3. Heat enough oil to cover the tempura to a high temperature (up to 180 degrees) in a deep frying pan. (You can test that the oil is hot enough by dropping a small amount of mixture in the pan. It should form a crisp batter immediately).
      In order to keep the oil temperature constant, don't fry too many ingredients at the same time.
   4. Dip the vegetables in the batter and deep fry immediately. When they begin to change colour, remove them from the pan and place them on kitchen paper to drain any excess oil.
      When removing the excess oil from the tempura (by placing it on kitchen paper), don't do too many pieces at once, as too much oil will remain on the tempura.
   5. The hard vegetables (i.e. squash, sweet potato etc.) should be cooked carefully, making sure the oil is at the right temperature. Finally, fry the seafood (i.e. prawns, squid and fish). Before dipping in batter, cover each ingredient with flour to prevent the oil from splashing up when frying. Remember to remove any batter that has separa

Temakizushi

This is a very relaxed way of enjoying sushi and a great idea for a party, with everyone helping themselves to rice and toppings and having a go at making their own. Temakizushi
INGREDIENTS

Makes 2 rolls

    * 800g sushi rice
    * 8-10 sheets of dried seawed
    * cut into quarters (adjust according to the number of sushi)
    * 120g raw tuna
    * a few chives
    * 1 packet of natto (50g)
    * 4 umeboshi
    * 4 shiso
    * 1 can of tuna
    * some Japanese mustard
    * some Japanese soy sauce
    * some mayonnaise

HOW TO COOK

   1. Chop up the raw tuna and mix it with the finely chopped chives. (This will make a negitoro roll)
   2. Stone and crush the umeboshi, chop the shiso into fine strips and mix them together. (This will make an umeboshi roll)
   3. Stir the natto well, mix it with a small amount of mustard and soy sauce. (This will make a natto roll)
   4. Remove the oil from the canned tuna, and mix it with mayonnaise. (This will make a tuna-mayonnaise roll) You can roll sushi with salad leaves instead of seaweed. You can use other fillings such as takuan, cucumber, rolled omelette, thinly sliced.
   5. Each person scoops up enough rice for 3-4 bites (about 60g), places it on a sheet of dried seaweed, adds the topping of their choice and rolls it up to eat.

Simmered Plaice

This basic recipe is a classic method for preparing a 'simmered' fish dish Karei no Nitsuke
INGREDIENTS

    * 2 pieces plaice
    * a small piece of ginger skin

    * [A] 150 ml water
    * 1 tbsp sugar
    * 1 tbsp soy sauce
    * 1 tbsp sake

HOW TO COOK

   1. Mix the ingredients of the simmered broth [A] in a shallow pan with the ginger skin and bring to the boil.
   2. Put the pieces of plaice side by side in the pan with the skin sides up. Cover the plaice with a piece of cooking foil slightly smaller than the pan in diameter.
   3. Simmer for 15 minutes then remove the cooking foil and scoop out the broth with a spoon and pour over the plaice. Simmer for a further 3-4 minutes.

Scattered Raw Fish Sushi

INGREDIENTS

    * 250g sushi rice
    * some wasabi

    * [ Toppings ] 3 slices tuna (20g each)
    * 2 slices sea bream
    * (15g each) 1 ark shell
    * 1 scallop
    * 1 shrimp
    * 1 slice squid
    * 2 slices rolled omelette

HOW TO COOK

   1. Pour 70ml hot water over the squid to parboil, and prepare the seafood according to the Nigirizushi recipe.
   2. Make the rolled omelette in the same way as for the Egg Nigirizushi, and cut 2 x 3cm width slices.
   3. Arrange all the toppings on the rice and serve in a bowl, garnish with wasabi. This dish is eaten with chopsticks.

Salmon Teriyaki

This is an extremely popular way of serving salmon in Japan, basted with a soy sauce-based sweet sauce.
INGREDIENTS

    * 2 pieces salmon
    * sprinkled with salt

    * [A] 2 tbsp soy sauce
    * 1 tbsp mirin
    * 2 tsp sake
    * 2 tsp sugar

HOW TO COOK

   1. Place the salmon, skin side up, on a gridiron and grill (medium heat). When the surface becomes light brown, turn the fish over and grill the other side as well.
   2. Place the ingredients for teriyaki sauce [A] in a small pan and simmer, stirring constantly, until it becomes slightly sticky
   3. Cover the top of the salmon with 1/3 of the sauce and grill at a medium heat. When the sauce becomes dry, repeat the process twice to use up the sauce.

 

Deep-fried Chicken Nuggets (Tori no kara-age)

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized cubes

For the marinade:

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 30g (1 oz) root ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and grated
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the coating:

• 2 tablespoons cornflour
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• vegetable oil, for deep frying
• 2 slices lemon, to garnish