LA FOI GRASSE

Mamma konstruerade ett sjögrästorn med räkor för söndagslunchen. Fick avnjuta en tonfiskversion vid födelsedagsmiddagen, och visst smakade det. Det finaste är att receptet är lätt som en plätt, då man egentligen bara behöver marinera sjögräset litet (och kanske fisken). Resten radar man bara på varandra och så är det klart!

SEAWEED TOWERS with AVOCADO AND SOME FANCY CREATURES OF THE SEA

seaweed, soaked in cold water for 10 minutes
ready-made seaweed marinade mixture or:

Dressing (adapt amounts depending on the amount of seaweed used): 

2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp japanese soy sauce
1,5 tbsp sesame oil  

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avocado, cubed
fresh tuna, cubed and marinated in rice vinegar and soy sauce
or
shrimps
herbs for decoration 

1. Prepare the seaweed. Marinate for at least half an hour.
2. Prepare the rest of the ingredients.
3. Place a cylindershaped ring on a plate and start building the tower: The seaweed is placed at the bottom, followed up by the avocado and topped with the tuna or shrimps. Garnish with something green. Serve immediately.

Omkring lunchtid kändes som en bra stund att vandra in på centrumtrakternas innergårdar för att inmundiga sallad & islatte på Espresso Edges sommarterass (följ Café - Inner yard skyltarna som syns på Sofiagatan). På terassen finns ett stort lummigt träd som ger extra stämning. Min favoritterass, överlägset!

Sen var det dags att ty sig till metro-buss-båt kombinationen och dra mot ön. Hallon och björnbär är bäst. Passlig balans syra och sötma. För att inte tala om konsistensen!

Mot kvällen började matfesten! Jag blev vansinnigt bortskämd, ovan ett paket med olika sorters sjögräs (marinerade), avokado och en ack så syndig liten bit gulfenad tonfisk.

Nästa rätt bestod av kräftor.

Stor klo och rostat bröd.

Vissa skal var av det hårdare slaget.

Den tredje rätten bestod av gyozas med lammfyllning. Gjorde en annan sort också med räkor, nomnom. Snäll familj som orkat satsa så, nu känns det helt okej att än en gång vara ett åt äldre.

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Birthday celebrations continued throughout the day!

No one thought that there would be a fabulous small yem of a restaurant hiding behind this door in Omotesando.

Some skewers with chicken meatballs (behind) and some misomarinated chicken with wasabi to start off with.

Moving on to some octopus, tomatoes and mushrooms topped with shiso leaves.

Some chicken and salmon roe wrapped with a sheet of nori.

<3 Tokyo.

Since I’ll be living in Tokyo within a couple of months, I got a bit inspired. This meal was made for a bunch of around 10-12 hungry guests. 

BEEF TATAKI

~1 kg beef thigh
salt
oil

Marinade:

3 dl rice vinegar
2 dl soy sauce
1 dl sake
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1,5 tbsp sugar
1 onion, thinly sliced

1. Mix the ingredients for the marinade in a pan and let the sugar dissolve. Remove from the heat.
2. Rub the salt into the meat. Let stand for a while. Now rub in the oil. Tataki is a japanese cooking technique, where the meat is plunged into cold water after having been grilled in order to stop the cooking process. Now, fill abowl with cold water. Heat a frying pan and sear the beef until 5mm of the flesh is cooked. When seared on all sides, dip the meat into the water for a few seconds. 
3. Wipe the meat dry and let it rest in the marinade in the fridge for 24 hours.

The next day:

1. Remove the meat from the marinade and slice thinly.
2. Strain the marinade, keeping the liquid and the marinated onions. 

Garnish:

1/2 cucumber
a bunch of fresh herbs (preferably shisho leaves, but since they are tricky to find, I used flatleaf parsley, perilla and lemon basilic)

1. Slice the cucumber diagonally, then cut each piece into matchsticks. 
2. Place some cucumber, the marinated onions and garlic and some herbs on each slice of meat. Roll the slices and lock them in shape with some cocktail sticks.
3. Serve the tataki beef rolls with the marinade as a dip.

My mother felt a bit inspired, too, and made these sesame-rolled salmon pieces.

SESAME ROLLED SALMON with an edgy WASABI SAUCE

600 g fresh salmon
roasted sesame seeds mixed with some fried seaweed
parsley
wasabi powder
crème fraiche

1. Cut the salmon into long, thin strips (maybe four of them). Sear them in a pan, just for a short while so that only the surface is cooked, while the interior remains raw.
2. Roll the salmon strips in the sesame seed-mixture. Pack each strip individually in some clingfilm and keep in the fridge until the guests have arrived
3. The sauce: Just mix 1 dl of crème fraiche with the wasabi powder (taste to see how much you’ll need) 
4. Before serving, cut the salmon into bite size pieces through the clingfilm. Place them on a serving plate and top with the wasabi sauce and a leaf of parsley.

SEAWEED SALAD with sesame oil

different kinds of salad leaves
15 g dried wakame (mix with other kinds of seaweed according to what you find)
3 spring onions, sliced thinly
2 avocados, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced in whatever shape that seems good
fresh herbs (parsley, chives…) 

Dressing:

1 dl rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 cm finely grated fresh ginger

1. Soak the dried seaweed in a bowl of water for 10 minutes.
2. Mix the ingredients for the dressing. Arrange the vegetables and add the seaweed.. 
3. Mix the salad with the dressing just before serving.

CHICKEN TERYAKI

1 kg chicken breast, cut into chinks
2 spring onions

Marinade:

2 dl sauce teriyaki (ready-made)

or

Heat up 3/4 dl sake, mirin and soy sauce in a pan. Let 1 tsp sugar dissolve in the mixture and reduce the sauce during 5-10 minutes.

1. Let the chicken marinate in the teryaki sauce over night (or for a minimum of two hours). Grill the chicken on skewers with pieces of the spring onion between each piece of chicken. If you don’t have any skewers, fry the chicken in a pan and serve with the spring onion on top.

TEMPURA

sweet potato, sliced
aubergine, sliced
courgette, sliced
perilla leaves (to substitute for shisho leaves)
tiger prawns
vegetable oil, for frying
sesame oil 

Sauce:

4 dl water with 2 tsp dashi-no-moto (can be substituted with vegetable stock)
1 dl soy sauce
1 dl mirin 

Batter:

1,5 dl ice cold water
1 egg
flour 

1. Fot the sauce: Mix the ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat.
2. Beat the egg. Let the water get as cold as possible, then mix it with the egg. Now add the flour and beat gently - the batter is supposed to be a bit lumpy (I of course missed this part in the process, better luck next time).
3. Heat the oil (150-180°C). Dip the vegetables and the prawns in the batter and fry them in the oil. Drip off excess oil on kitchen paper and serve immediately with the warm sauce.

Most recipes found in Emi Kazuko’s and Yasuko Fukuoka’s book Sushi and Traditional Japanese Cooking (Lorenz Books, 2008).