Japanese cooking; Zesty honey soy Chirashi zushi
In the previous entry titled "Japanese cooking:Sushi and soy sauce", I wrote that one of the culture shock when I came over to the states was "Soy sauce".
The package is labeled as "Soy sauce",but it did not taste it right. It had funky taste to it. I had to try a couple of brands and even kikkoman USA products were not something I felt it right.
After some search on true "Soy sauce",I finally found one,and I use only the particular Soy sauce,and nothing else.
The soy sauce I use is called " Extra fancy whole bean soy sauce" from Kikkoman Japan:it is imported from Japan and is sold at Asian stores. It is big plastic bottle. You can see the soy sauce I use in the picture below.
Extra fancy whole bean soy sauce..
I was wondering why soy sauce made here is so different in taste for a while. But now I have the answer.
I found out that the ingredients are different. The one I get from Asian store has 4 ingredients in the label:water,soybean,wheat,and salt. Other soy sauce even kikkoman USA product has more than 4 ingredients..Chinese brand's soy sauce has caramel coloring. Here is good site to talk about how soy sauce can be made differently.
Another thing that made me surprised is "Sushi" here in US is so expensive! Back home, I probably can eat 3 times more amount of food with the price you pay for one plate of sushi here in the states.
Also, most of the time, packaged sushi has dried out sushi rice, and fish does not taste as good as it will be back in Japan. I am not sure if the fish used for Sushi back home is fresher than here because our country is surrounded by the sea.
Then, so-called "Japanese restaurant" is not really offering real authentic Japanese food,and more of western style Japanese food. Sometimes, ingredients they use for the dish are not right.
For example, I ordered "Su-no-mo-no with octopus". Su-no-mo-no dish is a dish that has vegetable such as sliced cucumber or seafood such as octopus and they are marinated in vinegar base sauce (vinegar,sugar,soy sauce and ginger) but the restaurant dish was with straight vinegar and,I ate one piece of octopus but that was it. I could not eat it more.
Sometimes, I find name of the dish is wrongly used for the particular dish.
For example, I saw "Don Katsu" in Japanese restaurant in the states,but there is no such thing in Japan.
There is a dish called "Katsu don", which deep fried pork cutlet with Panko bread crumbs are cooked with soy sauce,sake,mirin,ginger with added sliced onion and lightly beaten egg is poured and cooked through and those egg,onion,pork cutlet are placed over hot steamy rice.
I knew that my husband was not much of a fan of "Katsu don" so, I cautioned him that if the menu meant what I think it was,then it is not something he would want.
Waitress said it is a deep fried pork cutlet over the bed of rice and no egg or onions cooked together in soy flavored sauce.
To me, it sounded more of a dish what we call "Ton Katsu",simply deep fried pork cutlet with Ton Katsu sauce over them.
Ton katsu sauce is thick almost like A1 sauce consistency but has Worcester sauce flavor and it got bit sweeter taste to it and Ton Katsu sauce is served with deep fried pork cutlet with shredded cabbage to cut the fat from the dish and served with rice.
In Japanese,"Katsu" also means "to win" and sometimes families make either Katsu don or Ton Katsu day before kids' entrance exam with hope they will pass the tests.
I did not point out the error on the menu, but there are some occasions like that and sometimes, I wish they travel to the country they would serve the meal from,and learn the basic of the cooking there and use that knowledge for their restaurant business..
If you like to eat authentic Japanese food,I recommend to eat at restaurant where Japanese staff is making dishes. Or you can make on your own for fun. It really not that difficult to make one.Plus much cheaper than ordering at sushi bar or buying pre-packaged sushi.
When you look for Japanese restaurant here in the states, often times, you would find the term "Hibachi style" but did you know that in Japan, "Hibachi" is heating device in Japan. Not cooking tool.
The word "Hi" means "Fire" in Japanese. "Bachi"means "bowl" so, it is fire bowl if you translate it to English. It usually made with ceramic and it contains charcoal to keep the room warm.
It is funny to find so many strange Japanese culture are introduced as Japanese culture here in the states.
In many parts of the world, Japanese dish many people can recognize is "Sushi". But what sometimes wrongly introduced is the idea that topping of sushi is vinegary rice with raw fish. The topping does not have to be raw fish. It can be some vegetable topping and just like pizza here in the states, you can create your own topping as you like.
Some of the toppings I used to like at sushi restaurant back home were corn kernels mixed with mayo, shredded crab with sliced cucumber and mayo, omelet, broiled eel with sweet sauce (Anago) etc..
On the talk of topping of sushi, Japanese mayonnaise and American mayonnaise do not have the same taste. When I tasted mayonnaise here in the states for the first time, I thought mayo here tastes funky.
So,I looked up the ingredient.
Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise has vegetable oil,egg yolk,vinegar,salt,monosodium glutamate,and natural flavor;6 ingredients total.
American mayonnaise has soybean oil,water, whole eggs and egg yolks,vinegar,salt,sugar,lemon juice, calcium disodium edta,and natural flavor;9 ingredients total.
I am not sure if different ingredient I typed in red are the culprit to make American made mayonnaise tastes funky to me or not, but I find both Japanese made soy sauce,and mayo both seems to have less ingredients than American made soy sauce and mayo.
I am getting used to the flavor of American mayo,but when I found a bottle of kewpie mayonnaise at local grocery store, I just had to pick it up. I love Japanese mayonnaise
If you like to try and see how different Japanese mayonnaise would taste, look at International aisle or at Asian store and look for the mayonnaise bottle with cupid on. That cupid is their logo and usually cap is red color and it should be easy for you to find.
Recently, I was in the mood for Sushi and,I picked up smoked salmon and I made Sushi dish which I would call it "Zesty Honey soy Chirashi zushi".
Zesty Honey soy Chirashi zushi..
Base of the idea is Sushi but I implemented Chinese fried rice idea to go with it so, it is kind of like fried sushi rice served like Chirashi zushi style.
If you like to make more authentic sushi, you can find Sushi recipe at previous entry titled "Japanese cooking; Sushi and soy sauce".
My husband is not a big fan of traditional sweet vinegary rice so, my version of authentic sushi rice in the previous entry has soy sauce and wasabi mixed in to give it a zing to it.
With this sushi dish, I put sushi rice on plate,pour the topping on top and the style of sushi is called "Chi ra shi zu shi :meaning sprinkle sushi".
So, how do you make "Zesty Honey soy Chirashi zushi"? Here is how.
Ingredients for sushi rice;
20 oz wt Kokuho rose rice cooked
3 tbs soy sauce
3 tbs honey
2 tbs Mitsukan Rice vinegar
1/16 tsp wasabi paste
Ingredients for the topping;
black sesame seed
-Vegetable medley-
3/4 carrot sliced
1/2 sweet onion sliced
1/8 Cubanelle pepper sliced
1/8 red pepper sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
Morton's Natures Seasons
- Scrambled eggs-
3 Large eggs
2 oz heavy cream
Morton's Natures Seasons
1/2 tbs butter
-smoked salmon-
2 oz wt Scottish smoked salmon sliced into strips
(recommend St.James smoke house; Scotch reserve Scottish smoked salmon)
First, rice I use is my favorite brand "Kokuho Rose Rice". You can find them at International aisle at local grocery store.
Kokuho Rose Rice..
<Zesty honey soy sushi rice>
1. If you have no cooked rice, start with rice and cook them.
** When rice is cooking, make " Sushi zu":Sushi sauce if you will:
2. To the sauce pan,add 3tbs soy sauce, 3 tbs honey, 2 tbs Mitsukan Rice vinegar,and 1/16 tsp wasabi paste and bring it to boil and lower the heat to simmer for about 5-10 minutes and turn it off.
** For the traditional sushi rice,make sauce as following;To the small bowl, add 4 tbs Mitsukan Rice vinegar,2.5 tbs of table sugar,1 tsp of table salt.
** Wasabi paste is concentrated in flavor and a little goes long way. Be careful with the amount you add to the sauce. If you use wasabi powder, you may need more than the amount shown in the recipe. Add little by little and adjust the heat level.
3. When rice is done, add the rice to skillet on medium high heat, and break it down with wooden spoon, and add the sushi sauce little by little and break lump of rice and stir the rice in the skillet gently
4. Now, you made sushi rice so,you can make any topping you like and sprinkle over the rice and you have got your own "Chi ra shi zushi".
<Toppings>
I usually make toppings like scrambled eggs, thinly sliced cucumber,sliced deli ham, and protein such as smoked salmon bits or shrimp cooked in sweet soy based sauce etc....
In Japan, sushi bar we used to go to had topping like corn kernel mixed with mayo,crab mixed with mayo, or tempura shrimp,grilled teriyaki eel, sashimi etc. You can always be creative and make your own version of sushi.
Now you know that sushi is not always with raw fish and you can be creative on it,and there are more than rolled up sushi.
<vegetable medley>
1. To the skillet add Extra virgin olive oil and 3/4 carrot sliced and cook till it gets softer a little and add 1/2 sweet onion sliced,1/8 Cubanelle pepper sliced,1/8 red pepper sliced and season it with Morton's Natures Seasons
<Scrambled egg>
1. To a measuring cup,crack 3 Large eggs and add 2 oz of heavy cream,sprinkle Morton's Natures Seasons with blue cap,and beat the egg mixture in the measuring cup until everything in the egg mixture mix well
** You should not see egg white, egg yolk separated. Egg yolk,egg white, and heavy cream etc should be mixed well, and beaten egg mixture should have even color.
** Mixing until everything mixed well ensure that the air would get in into the beaten egg and you can get fluffy scrambled egg
** When my mother has taught me how to make scrambled egg, she taught me to use the chopsticks and tilt the measuring cup or container that has egg in it a bit to your side and beat the egg with chopstick with motion from right hand corner to left side corner, moving chopsticks out from the egg and back in to right corner side to left side corner with rather fast speed.
By doing so, you can get a lot of air inside the beaten egg and you can make yummy scrambled egg. But you should not over-beat the egg.
2. Put the 9"-10" skillet on stove with medium high heat and add about 1/2tbs butter and let it melt
3. When butter is melted, tilt the skillet side,forward, etc and make sure the surface is buttered.
4. Pour all the beaten egg-heavy cream mixture onto the skillet and,using the wooden spoon, stir it circular way and push the egg toward center and repeat for about a couple of times with rather slow speed.
** Pushing the egg toward center ensure that the runny egg can settle faster.
5. By 2nd or 3rd circular stir with pushing egg toward center, you would see the egg start to set better
6. When almost all eggs are set, you can then break the egg into larger pieces and when you think all cooked through, you can place them into a bowl
<Assembling the zesty honey soy Chirashi zushi>
1. Place scoop of zesty honey soy rice on the center of the plate
2. Top the rice with scrambled eggs, vegetable medley,and smoked salmon strip and garnish with black sesame seed.
** I like to grind black sesame seed over the plate
Makes; 2-3 servings
Enjoy!
The package is labeled as "Soy sauce",but it did not taste it right. It had funky taste to it. I had to try a couple of brands and even kikkoman USA products were not something I felt it right.
After some search on true "Soy sauce",I finally found one,and I use only the particular Soy sauce,and nothing else.
The soy sauce I use is called " Extra fancy whole bean soy sauce" from Kikkoman Japan:it is imported from Japan and is sold at Asian stores. It is big plastic bottle. You can see the soy sauce I use in the picture below.
Extra fancy whole bean soy sauce..
I was wondering why soy sauce made here is so different in taste for a while. But now I have the answer.
I found out that the ingredients are different. The one I get from Asian store has 4 ingredients in the label:water,soybean,wheat,and salt. Other soy sauce even kikkoman USA product has more than 4 ingredients..Chinese brand's soy sauce has caramel coloring. Here is good site to talk about how soy sauce can be made differently.
Another thing that made me surprised is "Sushi" here in US is so expensive! Back home, I probably can eat 3 times more amount of food with the price you pay for one plate of sushi here in the states.
Also, most of the time, packaged sushi has dried out sushi rice, and fish does not taste as good as it will be back in Japan. I am not sure if the fish used for Sushi back home is fresher than here because our country is surrounded by the sea.
Then, so-called "Japanese restaurant" is not really offering real authentic Japanese food,and more of western style Japanese food. Sometimes, ingredients they use for the dish are not right.
For example, I ordered "Su-no-mo-no with octopus". Su-no-mo-no dish is a dish that has vegetable such as sliced cucumber or seafood such as octopus and they are marinated in vinegar base sauce (vinegar,sugar,soy sauce and ginger) but the restaurant dish was with straight vinegar and,I ate one piece of octopus but that was it. I could not eat it more.
Sometimes, I find name of the dish is wrongly used for the particular dish.
For example, I saw "Don Katsu" in Japanese restaurant in the states,but there is no such thing in Japan.
There is a dish called "Katsu don", which deep fried pork cutlet with Panko bread crumbs are cooked with soy sauce,sake,mirin,ginger with added sliced onion and lightly beaten egg is poured and cooked through and those egg,onion,pork cutlet are placed over hot steamy rice.
I knew that my husband was not much of a fan of "Katsu don" so, I cautioned him that if the menu meant what I think it was,then it is not something he would want.
Waitress said it is a deep fried pork cutlet over the bed of rice and no egg or onions cooked together in soy flavored sauce.
To me, it sounded more of a dish what we call "Ton Katsu",simply deep fried pork cutlet with Ton Katsu sauce over them.
Ton katsu sauce is thick almost like A1 sauce consistency but has Worcester sauce flavor and it got bit sweeter taste to it and Ton Katsu sauce is served with deep fried pork cutlet with shredded cabbage to cut the fat from the dish and served with rice.
In Japanese,"Katsu" also means "to win" and sometimes families make either Katsu don or Ton Katsu day before kids' entrance exam with hope they will pass the tests.
I did not point out the error on the menu, but there are some occasions like that and sometimes, I wish they travel to the country they would serve the meal from,and learn the basic of the cooking there and use that knowledge for their restaurant business..
If you like to eat authentic Japanese food,I recommend to eat at restaurant where Japanese staff is making dishes. Or you can make on your own for fun. It really not that difficult to make one.Plus much cheaper than ordering at sushi bar or buying pre-packaged sushi.
When you look for Japanese restaurant here in the states, often times, you would find the term "Hibachi style" but did you know that in Japan, "Hibachi" is heating device in Japan. Not cooking tool.
The word "Hi" means "Fire" in Japanese. "Bachi"means "bowl" so, it is fire bowl if you translate it to English. It usually made with ceramic and it contains charcoal to keep the room warm.
It is funny to find so many strange Japanese culture are introduced as Japanese culture here in the states.
In many parts of the world, Japanese dish many people can recognize is "Sushi". But what sometimes wrongly introduced is the idea that topping of sushi is vinegary rice with raw fish. The topping does not have to be raw fish. It can be some vegetable topping and just like pizza here in the states, you can create your own topping as you like.
Some of the toppings I used to like at sushi restaurant back home were corn kernels mixed with mayo, shredded crab with sliced cucumber and mayo, omelet, broiled eel with sweet sauce (Anago) etc..
On the talk of topping of sushi, Japanese mayonnaise and American mayonnaise do not have the same taste. When I tasted mayonnaise here in the states for the first time, I thought mayo here tastes funky.
So,I looked up the ingredient.
Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise has vegetable oil,egg yolk,vinegar,salt,monosodium glutamate,and natural flavor;6 ingredients total.
American mayonnaise has soybean oil,water, whole eggs and egg yolks,vinegar,salt,sugar,lemon juice, calcium disodium edta,and natural flavor;9 ingredients total.
I am not sure if different ingredient I typed in red are the culprit to make American made mayonnaise tastes funky to me or not, but I find both Japanese made soy sauce,and mayo both seems to have less ingredients than American made soy sauce and mayo.
I am getting used to the flavor of American mayo,but when I found a bottle of kewpie mayonnaise at local grocery store, I just had to pick it up. I love Japanese mayonnaise
If you like to try and see how different Japanese mayonnaise would taste, look at International aisle or at Asian store and look for the mayonnaise bottle with cupid on. That cupid is their logo and usually cap is red color and it should be easy for you to find.
Recently, I was in the mood for Sushi and,I picked up smoked salmon and I made Sushi dish which I would call it "Zesty Honey soy Chirashi zushi".
Zesty Honey soy Chirashi zushi..
Base of the idea is Sushi but I implemented Chinese fried rice idea to go with it so, it is kind of like fried sushi rice served like Chirashi zushi style.
If you like to make more authentic sushi, you can find Sushi recipe at previous entry titled "Japanese cooking; Sushi and soy sauce".
My husband is not a big fan of traditional sweet vinegary rice so, my version of authentic sushi rice in the previous entry has soy sauce and wasabi mixed in to give it a zing to it.
With this sushi dish, I put sushi rice on plate,pour the topping on top and the style of sushi is called "Chi ra shi zu shi :meaning sprinkle sushi".
So, how do you make "Zesty Honey soy Chirashi zushi"? Here is how.
Ingredients for sushi rice;
20 oz wt Kokuho rose rice cooked
3 tbs soy sauce
3 tbs honey
2 tbs Mitsukan Rice vinegar
1/16 tsp wasabi paste
Ingredients for the topping;
black sesame seed
-Vegetable medley-
3/4 carrot sliced
1/2 sweet onion sliced
1/8 Cubanelle pepper sliced
1/8 red pepper sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
Morton's Natures Seasons
- Scrambled eggs-
3 Large eggs
2 oz heavy cream
Morton's Natures Seasons
1/2 tbs butter
-smoked salmon-
2 oz wt Scottish smoked salmon sliced into strips
(recommend St.James smoke house; Scotch reserve Scottish smoked salmon)
First, rice I use is my favorite brand "Kokuho Rose Rice". You can find them at International aisle at local grocery store.
Kokuho Rose Rice..
<Zesty honey soy sushi rice>
1. If you have no cooked rice, start with rice and cook them.
** When rice is cooking, make " Sushi zu":Sushi sauce if you will:
2. To the sauce pan,add 3tbs soy sauce, 3 tbs honey, 2 tbs Mitsukan Rice vinegar,and 1/16 tsp wasabi paste and bring it to boil and lower the heat to simmer for about 5-10 minutes and turn it off.
** For the traditional sushi rice,make sauce as following;To the small bowl, add 4 tbs Mitsukan Rice vinegar,2.5 tbs of table sugar,1 tsp of table salt.
** Wasabi paste is concentrated in flavor and a little goes long way. Be careful with the amount you add to the sauce. If you use wasabi powder, you may need more than the amount shown in the recipe. Add little by little and adjust the heat level.
3. When rice is done, add the rice to skillet on medium high heat, and break it down with wooden spoon, and add the sushi sauce little by little and break lump of rice and stir the rice in the skillet gently
4. Now, you made sushi rice so,you can make any topping you like and sprinkle over the rice and you have got your own "Chi ra shi zushi".
<Toppings>
I usually make toppings like scrambled eggs, thinly sliced cucumber,sliced deli ham, and protein such as smoked salmon bits or shrimp cooked in sweet soy based sauce etc....
In Japan, sushi bar we used to go to had topping like corn kernel mixed with mayo,crab mixed with mayo, or tempura shrimp,grilled teriyaki eel, sashimi etc. You can always be creative and make your own version of sushi.
Now you know that sushi is not always with raw fish and you can be creative on it,and there are more than rolled up sushi.
<vegetable medley>
1. To the skillet add Extra virgin olive oil and 3/4 carrot sliced and cook till it gets softer a little and add 1/2 sweet onion sliced,1/8 Cubanelle pepper sliced,1/8 red pepper sliced and season it with Morton's Natures Seasons
<Scrambled egg>
1. To a measuring cup,crack 3 Large eggs and add 2 oz of heavy cream,sprinkle Morton's Natures Seasons with blue cap,and beat the egg mixture in the measuring cup until everything in the egg mixture mix well
** You should not see egg white, egg yolk separated. Egg yolk,egg white, and heavy cream etc should be mixed well, and beaten egg mixture should have even color.
** Mixing until everything mixed well ensure that the air would get in into the beaten egg and you can get fluffy scrambled egg
** When my mother has taught me how to make scrambled egg, she taught me to use the chopsticks and tilt the measuring cup or container that has egg in it a bit to your side and beat the egg with chopstick with motion from right hand corner to left side corner, moving chopsticks out from the egg and back in to right corner side to left side corner with rather fast speed.
By doing so, you can get a lot of air inside the beaten egg and you can make yummy scrambled egg. But you should not over-beat the egg.
2. Put the 9"-10" skillet on stove with medium high heat and add about 1/2tbs butter and let it melt
3. When butter is melted, tilt the skillet side,forward, etc and make sure the surface is buttered.
4. Pour all the beaten egg-heavy cream mixture onto the skillet and,using the wooden spoon, stir it circular way and push the egg toward center and repeat for about a couple of times with rather slow speed.
** Pushing the egg toward center ensure that the runny egg can settle faster.
5. By 2nd or 3rd circular stir with pushing egg toward center, you would see the egg start to set better
6. When almost all eggs are set, you can then break the egg into larger pieces and when you think all cooked through, you can place them into a bowl
<Assembling the zesty honey soy Chirashi zushi>
1. Place scoop of zesty honey soy rice on the center of the plate
2. Top the rice with scrambled eggs, vegetable medley,and smoked salmon strip and garnish with black sesame seed.
** I like to grind black sesame seed over the plate
Makes; 2-3 servings
Enjoy!
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