Tag Archive for 'Seafood'

Smoked trout and buckwheat rolls

Published
by
marc
on August 3, 2008
in Appetizer, Dinner party, Seafood, Summer and picnic
. 16 Comments

On the way to the Union Square farmers market yesterday I was met with a downpour of torrential rain. Rather than wait in the steamy subway station I decided to make a run for the Barnes & Noble at the north end of the square. By the time I made it across the street to the bookstore, there was water dripping off my shorts. I threw a furtive glace at the stocky security guard by the entrance and made a bee line for the escalators, leaving a trail of water in my wake.

Upstairs, I hunkered down in the cooking magazine section and started flipping through the rack of cooking magazines. Regular readers know I rarely cook out of cookbooks. This also applies to magazines, which I don’t subscribe to since they have a tendency to wind up in an unread pile in my shoebox of an apartment. Still, I do occasionally enjoy flipping through them since they have more photos than words.

This recipe was inspired by a photo in this month’s Gourmet Magazine. I didn’t actually read much more than the caption and all I can recall is something about “forest wraps” with Romaine Lettuce and Bulgar. After the rain subsided, I went back out to the market and happened upon an amazing looking head of Romaine Lettuce that was still covered with spatters of earth.

I’ve gone on before about the virtues of cooked lettuce (here and here), but using blanched lettuce as a wrapper had never occurred to me until I saw the pic in Gourmet.

I can’t really think of any other dish that makes for an accurate comparison to this one. It’s somewhere between Dolmades, and Vietnamese spring rolls, but has a combo of flavours and textures unlike anything I’ve ever had. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how this was going to turn out and gave it about a 20% chance for success. But part of what I enjoy so much about cooking is experimenting, and this turned out to be a great success.

These rolls make for a great light meal while having a lot more substance than a salad. The smokey buckwheat and sweet smoked trout come together with the creamy boiled egg to make a delicious crumbly filling. The steamed lettuce leaf holds it all together, adding its own green vegetal flavour and crunch. The rolls are finished with some minty yogurt sauce and pine nuts that add a creamy tangy bite and freshness to it all.
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Chirashi Sushi

Published
by
marc
on June 29, 2008
in Japanese and Seafood
. 14 Comments

For those of you that have never had it, chirashi sushi i a bowl of vinegared sushi rice topped with a bunch of colorful stuff. At most sushi restaurants this means covering the rice with slices of various raw fish, but that’s not always how it’s made.

Growing up my mom used to make a vegetarian version with simmered shitake mushrooms, carrots, egg, sugar peas and benishoga (red ginger) for any potluck or party we’d go to. It makes for a great party dish because it’s something you eat at room temperature and the ticker-tape-confetti of toppings makes it look very festive.

My rendition is a bit more decadent, capturing the essence of the sea. The ingredients aren’t cheap, but it’s still cheaper than going to a local sushi restaurant and it isn’t nearly as hard to prepare as it looks. I made this in about an hour, but if you make some of the stuff ahead of time it can be assembled in even less time.

If you’re squeamish about uni (or any of the other ingredients) you could obviously sub them out, but steamed uni is not nearly as off-putting as the raw kind they have at sushi restaurants. Cooking it gives it more structure making it more cheese like in texture (though not flavour) while retaining its sweet creaminess.
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Slow roasted salmon with peanut curry sauce and snap pea slaw

Published
by
marc
on June 21, 2008
in Asian, Dinner, Dinner party, Roast, Seafood, Southeast and Uncategorized
. 12 Comments

When it comes to seafood, common knowledge tells us to cook it hot and fast, so when I saw slow roasted Steelhead on the menu at the Painted Lady in Newberg Oregon, I was skeptical. I guess curiosity won over my skepticism because I ordered it.

The dish as a whole was a disaster. There was so much going on I can’t even remember half the things in/on/around the steelhead, but the limp overdressed arugula and prosciutto were memorable as was the fact that the dish was sooo salty I couldn’t taste much of anything else. Though in all fairness to the restaurant, the service was very friendly and the appetizer and dessert were both good.

So if it sounds bad and tasted bad, why would I make my own rendition?

As I said, the dish as a whole was a disaster. The slow roasted Steelhead on the other hand was transformational! As I was eating it, I went back and forth between oral bliss as the Steelhead melted into a pool of flavor on my tongue and utter indignation over the travesty that was on my fork.

Determined to fix this injustice I spent the next few days contemplating what I’d pair with the moist and melty morsels. This peanut and spicy red curry sauce melds perfectly with the creaminess and earthiness of the roasted salmon while the crispy, sweet and minty slaw strikes a pleasing juxtaposition, that will cool your palette and bring a smile to your face.

A couple things to note, use the best sockeye salmon or steelhead trout you can find (wild and line caught ideally). When making the sauce, don’t let it boil as the oil will separate (I turned my back for a few minutes as I was reheating it and it boiled which is why the photo doesn’t look so great).
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Paella

Published
by
marc
on June 8, 2008
in Seafood, Spanish, Spring and Uncategorized
. 23 Comments

Being Asian, I like rice. Being Japanese, I love seafood. Add to that my affinity for smoked meats and it’s no wonder why Paella is one of my favourite foods off all time. Sadly it’s so often relegated to the ranks of mediocrity by pan wielding Cretans manning the stoves at “Spanish” restaurants here in the States. Perhaps I’m being a little harsh, but if you’ve been disappointed as many times as I have by mushy or dry paella you can probably relate.

I have to be honest though, I’ve never been to Valencia (or Spain for that matter). I have had a lot of paella though and I can’t imagine a Valencian being okay with bland pasty mush with chewy bits of mystery seameat. On rare occasion I’ve had a memorable paella, and this is my attempt at recreating some of the best ones to grace my non-Spaniard palette.

I was actually planning on doing something with a pork butt and green tea today, but after seeing Heather’s post about Orzo with Linguica and Clams at Gild the Voodoolily this morning, my menu made an abrupt turn.

For me, a truly great paella is loaded with meat and seafood, with an intense smokey flavour coming from browned Chorizo and tender chunks of chicken. The seafood should be fresh, plump and succulent including things like shrimp, octopus, squid, mussels, or whatever other seafood is fresh at the fish monger today. The rice should be overflowing with umami having a velvety texture and a deep golden hue imbued by the saffron and soffrito. Most importantly, there has to be a layer of mahogany brown soccarat at the bottom of the pan from the rice and sauce caramelizing to the pan.

The following recipe achieved all my goals and best of all it’s simple enough to make on a weeknight. While I always encourage you to improvise your own version, here are a couple tips for a successful paella.

First, make sure you use the right kind of rice. Ideally you’ll find some Arroz Valencia, but if it’s not available, Arborio or Carnaroli will do. Second, make sure you get the right kind of Chorizo. Mexican Chorizo is not the same. There are also a lot of impostor “Chorizos” out there that are really just cooked sausages with paprika. Spanish Chorizo is cured and is typically pretty dry. If in doubt, get one that’s actually from Spain.

So what’s your favourite rice dish?
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Tofu stuffed squid

Published
by
marc
on June 5, 2008
in Japanese and Seafood
. 9 Comments

Over the past month I’ve seen a couple bloggers writing about stuffed squid and it got me curious. Kyoto Foodie posted about ika meshi that they picked up at Takashimaya. Then last night, Jonny at We Are Never Full posted a delightful looking Morcilla Stuffed Squid.

On the way home from work tonight, I stopped by the Japanese grocery and they had some giant squid that was so fresh I could have sworn it winked at me. Taking that as a sign I picked 1 up (yes, just 1, this thing was almost 2 feet long with tentacles). I decided to stuff it with pressed tofu and and some veggies to go along with the cherry blossom rice I’d picked up a mix for.

Having never been a big fan of squid (other than battered and deep fried), I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it, but it was good, not mind blowing, but good. The stuffing was crumbly, savoury and moist with the surrounding squid firm but not chewy, all happily glazed in caramelized teriyaki sauce.

For a veggie alternative I think the tofu mixture would be fantastic stuffed into “age” (deep fried tofu pockets, the things used to make inari sushi) then simmered in some dashi.

What’s your favorite stuffed squid recipe?

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