Finely Chopped Tuna on Rice

I've been on a slight health kick lately, probably subconsciously linked to new years resolutions! But also, the summery weather has just been calling out to me for fresh produce and evening jogs through Hawthorn. So despite the posting of sweets and other goodies, my diet has been largely composed of veges and unprocessed foods. Like this!

Before cooking this dish i had been going weeks with a craving for tuna sashimi. But how does one make an entire meal out of raw fish? An appetizer alone was not going to satisfy me, and when i tried to get a table at Kenzan@GPO there was no seats available!

Fear not, i found this fantastic recipe from Neil Perry on the Cuisine website. This i believe is the first Neil Perry recipe i've ever cooked (well, adapted), and i am happy to say that i'm not in the least disappointed. This meal was so fresh and zingy, and really luxurious but healthy at the same time. Highly recommended to anyone who likes sashimi and a bit of spice!

'Streetcart' Chicken & Rice

So, shame though it may be, I've never actually been to New York. This dish, however, gets its name from the New York street carts that reputedly serve up this delicious dish to hungry fans on NYC sidewalks.

I'm glad to see the Food Truck concept finally making it's way to Melbourne. Melbourne streets have been devoid of food stalls for years now, after the last of the late night hot dog stands was sent packing. But now i believe food trucks creep around, particularly the Collingwood areas. I can only hope they'll come to Hawthorn one day!

Anyways, this recipe which i found from here,  is a deliciously fragrant, garlicky and spiced mixture of slightly smokey meat and soft, fluffy rice. The original recipe for the sauce was too sweet for me, so i omitted the sugar.

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Okay, so it's not really risotto weather! But when you've got a craving, you've got a craving. This recipe actually comes from Jamie Oliver and it is delicious. I love that the main part of the mushroom flavor is cooked separately from the risotto, so that each bite of the risotto is not the same monotonous strong mushroomy flavor. I was dubious about the 'dressing' of lemon on the mushrooms at first, but having savored this dish i can say it works magnificently. Definitely the most delicious risotto i have made to date.

Hainanese Chicken

In the days when i lived in a shared house, i shared what was possibly the least inspiring kitchen ever. An old oven, electric stovetop, and a lack of my own cooking equipment led to a proliferation of burrito packets, quick pastas and frozen meals. The few dishes that i did cook were distinctly... awful. But the biggest kitchen sin i committed was palming off chicken boiled chicken thighs with rice and soy sauce as as quick 'Hainanese Chicken'. I did this dish a great disservice because what i cooked was not even a slight homage to the real deal.

Hainanese Chicken is prevalent at Hawker stands in Singapore, where people line up for miles to savor the delicately poached (never, ever boiled) chicken, served with the broth in which it was cooked and delicious rice cooked with fat from the chicken. Every Singaporean and Malaysian i meet seems to be a connoiseur of chicken and rice, so it is with a sigh of relief that i cooked this dish for unsuspecting caucasian folk. Surprisingly though, my dish came out equal to any i have had in Melbourne. Normally when i've had it in Melbourne, it has been served with soy sauce and sometimes chilli, but after making it i've become a devotee of the deliciously fresh and zingy ginger dipping sauce.

Congee with Chicken, Ginger and Scallions

So i was home sick today with a bit of an upset stomach. But i didn't let that stop me cooking; in fact, it presented the ideal opportunity for me to make something i've been wanting to make for a long time: congee!

Congee is a Chinese rice porridge soup; the most basic congee is simply a soup of salted rice cooked for a long time until the soup is thick and the rice is dissolving into the liquid. There are countless other versions, and you can be quite creative as to what you add to the congee: meat, fish, mushrooms, vegetables... anything really. 

This recipe follows closely to the other other congee i've ever had, made by my friend Mark. The ginger, amongst it's many other benefits, is said to aid digestion, and the soupy rice is filling and satisfying yet easy on the stomach. This is the eastern version of 'moms chicken soup' to cure what ails ya.

Katsudon

One of my sisters was once a notoriously fussy eater. She's definitely come out of her culinary shell in the last few years, but as i was munching down on this dish i thought about how much she would enjoy it. Sometimes Japanese food can be off putting to fussy eaters, but i think i've done a good job of creating the ultimate westernized Katsudon; what is essentially 'nugget, rice and chicken soup!'. But don't let that put you off, this katsudon really hits the spot, particularly as Melbourne mopes into it's dreary cold season.

Donburi, or don for slang is a term that refers to a Japanese 'rice dish' or one bowl meal comprising generally of soup, rice, meat and vegatables. In a previous post i put up a recipe for oyako donburi or chicken rice bowl, and this time i thought i'd try my hand at katsu don, or crumbed porkchop rice bowl which is a little bit more intricate.

Thanks to Shizuoka Gourmet  for providing me with the basics of how to make this dish, but i've changed things around to suit my tastes an an ultimate 'comfort' food. The biggest change is replacing the dashi broth with a chicken and soy broth.

Note that the recipe below indicates ingredients for 3 but in the photos i actually only made a single serving of katsudon. 

Aburi Wagyu with Radish & Ginger Fuzz and Crisp Garlic

This week on a business trip i went to a Japanese restaurant in Brisbane called Sono. The food there was absolutely amazing! One of the dishes they had was aburi wagyu, an unusual almost tataki style dish, but the resultant flavour was very different. This recipe began as an attempt to replicate that dish, but finding no example recipes online, i decided to make it my own with the addition of rice and a much fresher mixture on top of the wagyu. I'm pretty proud of the results!!

Ingredients

• About 100gm wagyu fillet
• 1 cup sushi rice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 5 small radishes
• 1 2 inch knob ginger
• 3 tbsp light soy
• 1 lemon
• 4 tbsp mirin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 spring onions, slivered

Method

Rinse the sushi rice and cook with 1 cup water over low heat until water has evaporated.

Lay the sushi rice out on a plate to cool.

Combine the 3 tbsp mirin with the salt and sugar and heat until dissolved together.

Sprinkle the mirin mixture over the rice and carefully toss. Set aside

Heat a frying pan to high heat with no oil.

Sear the outside of the wagyu fillet for 30 seconds on each side and then transfer to fridge immediately to halt cooking process.

Finely grate the radishes with 1/2 clove garlic and 1/2 inch of ginger. 

Heat in a frying pan over very low heat, being careful not to brown, until some of the spiciness has left.

Set aside for later.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan.

Finely slice the remaining garlic clove and fry until golden, then transfer to a paper towel.

Pare off a slice of the lemon's peel and 'fillet' out any of the white as below.

Thinly slice the peel into long thin strips.

Wet hands and shape rice into small logs and place on serving plate.

Very thinly slice the wagyu fillet diagonally.

Layer the wagyu on top of the rice pieces.

Top the wagyu with a small amount of the ginger and radish fuzz. 

Top the fuzz with 2 thin slices of the lemon peel.

Top with slivered spring onions and a slice of the fried garlic

Serve with ponzu sauce.

Ponzu Sauce

Finely grate the remaining ginger.

Combine the soy, 1 tbsp mirin, and 1 tbsp of the lemon juice in a cup.

Press the ginger in a sieve over the cup to extract 1 tsp of ginger 'juice'.

Mix together and pour into serving dishes.

Pineapple Fried Rice

I love fried rice! I could eat mountains of it. My favorite fried rice is actually the standard stuff you get in any westernized Chinese restaurant in Melbourne with the peas, tiny shrimp and little pieces of Chinese sausage. Yum!!! But Thai style fried rice is much more a meal on its own. The sweetness of the pineapple permeates through the rice, providing a depth of flavor along with the shrimp paste. And tacky though it may be, it just looks mouth watering seeing it piled into a pineapple bowl!

Ingredients

• 2 cups jasmine rice, cooked and then kept in refrigerator overnight
• 1 pineapple
• 3 long chillis
• 5 spring onions
• 1 medium bunch coriander
• 2/3 cup cashew nuts, crushed
• 1 tbsp dark soy
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 250gm prawn meat 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1egg

Method

Cut the pineapple in half lengthways.

Cut out the flesh as best as possible and chop into small chunks. Scoop out any remaining flesh and discard.

You should be left with 2 pineapple bowls and a bunch of pineapple chunks

Finely chop the chillis, garlic, coriander and spring onions, slicing a little bit as well for garnish.

Chop the prawns into large pieces.

Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat.

Add the chillis and garlic and stir fry until fragrant.

Add the prawns and par cook

Add the rice and stir through. 

Make a well in the centre of the rice and crack the egg into it and quickly stir through the rice.

Whisk the shrimp paste, soy and fish sauce together briefly.

Add the pineapple chunks, cashews soy, fish sauce and shrimp paste to the rice and mix through.

Taste for seasoning and add more soy if necessary.

Remove from the heat and fold through spring onions and coriander.

Serve in the pineapple bowl garnish with more spring onions and chilli.

Basic Oyako Donburi

Oyako Donburi is one of my favorite Japanese comfort foods. Beating it is katsu don however when i saw how many calories that dish has, i freaked out and decided to go for the healthier alternative. The word 'Oyako' i believe can be translated to 'mother and son' and refers to the chicken and egg that dominate the dish. Served over sticky Japanese rice and ladelled with a sweet dashi broth, Oyako Donburi is very easy to make, but takes a short while to cook properly.

Note that this is the most basic version! Feel free to add whatever tickles your fancy: shitake mushrooms, tofu pieces, chilli, anything!

Ingredients (per serve):

• 150gm skinless chicken breast, sliced
• 3/4 cup dashi broth (i used chicken broth because i dont like dashi much)
• 1/2 a white onion finely sliced
• 1tbs mirin
• 1tbs light soy
• 1 large egg lightly beaten
  
• 2 spring onions sliced on the diagonal to garnish
• Japanese steamed rice 1 cup, to serve
• 1 tsp peanut oil
  

Method: 

Heat the oil in a pan over med-low heat (note that the pan should be small enough so that when the dashi is poured in, it will cover at least half of the chicken slices).

Layer the onions on the bottom of the pan. Do not stir them!

After 5 or 6 minutes of letting the onions sweat and begin to caramelize, lay the chicken sliced on top. Still don't stir!

Gently pour in the wet ingredients.

Poach until the liquid has halved in quantity and the chicken is fully cooked.

Pour the egg over the top of the mixture (DONT STIR) and let the pan simmer until the egg is almost cooked.

Using a spyder (or whatever you can), transfer the chicken, egg and onions over the bowl of steamed rice, trying to move each serve in 1 piece.

Ladel over the remaining broth and garnish with the spring onions.