The Japanese Kitchen

Benjamin

Shio Koji Marinated Salmon

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Shio Koji Marinated Broiled Salmon

Shio Koji Marinated Broiled Salmon

Here’s a quick recipe for salmon marinated in shio koji. If you are unfamiliar with koji, it’s a type of mold that is used to make sake and miso. In sake production, koji is added to cooked rice and is responsible for the conversion of the starches present in rice into fermentable sugars.

Shio Koji

Shio Koji

When combined with salt it also makes a great marinade that enhances flavor and tenderizes. The texture is similar to fish marinated with miso, but the flavor is lighter. So if you don’t want to over power piece of fish or meat with a miso marinade, try using shio koji.

If you are able to find shio koji, this recipe quick and easy.

Recipe for Shio Koji Broiled Salmon

Ingredients:

Fresh salmon steak
Shio Koji Marinade

Directions:

Preparing Koji Marinated Salmon

Preparing Koji Marinated Salmon

  1. In a small bowl combine 1 part shio koji to 10 parts salmon. In my case, the salmon steak weighed about 600 grams, so I added about 60 grams of the shio koji marinade.
  2. Allow to marinate for 3-4 hours in the refrigerator.
  3. Broil and serve.

 

Chicken Katsu

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Chicken Katsu

Chicken Katsu

One of those family favorites and a classic of Japanese home-style cooking. The Bull Dog brand tonkatsu sauce is a must have with this dish. Serve with grated cabbage, rice and miso soup.

 

Recipe for Chicken Katsu

Ingredients:

1. Chicken breast, de-boned and skinned
2. Soy bean oil
3. Flour
4. Eggs
5 Salt and Pepper
6. Panko bread crumbs
7. Tonkatsu sauce
8. Lemon slice

Directions:

Chicken Katsu prepping station
1. Fillet the chicken breast so they have an even thickness. If the chicken is thicker than 1/4 inch you will prolong the cooking time and the breading may become too brown. We are looking for a nice golden brown when done cooking. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Prepare your station. You will need a bowl or flour, lightly beat eggs and some panko.

3. If the chicken is overly moist, the breading will not stick well. Pat dry with  a paper towel if needed.

Breading Chicken Katsu

Breading Chicken Katsu

4. Dust the each chicken breast with flour, lightly dip in the egg, and apply the panko breading.

5. Deep fry in 350 degree soy bean oil until done. Cooking time is about 4 minutes, but slice them before serving and check to see that they are properly cooked.

6. That’s it.

 

 

Do You Dulse?

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Dulse

Dulse

Seaweed, kelp and the many variations of sea vegetables are so common in Japanese cooking, I was pleasantly surprised to try this red kelp with a long history in European cooking. It’s savory, beaming with umami and a near certified super food. I sprinkled a little on my salad the other night, and it was delicious. It’s rich, savory taste makes it a versatile, flavor enhancer to many dishes. Go ahead. Do a little dulse.

Fermented Cabbage , Beets & Ginger

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image

This one will take about two weeks for good fermentation. When finished it should it should be tart with a mild beet taste. You can vary the amount of freshly grated ginger to your liking.

Recipe for Fermented Cabbage, Beets and Ginger

Ingredients:

1-2 heads cabbage , shredded
1 medium beet , grated
2 tablespoons grated ginger
Diamond Crystal salt

Directions:

1. Grate cabbage, beet and ginger using a mandolin. Careful!
2. Using a digital scale, weigh the the cabbage, beets and ginger. For fermentation, I always weigh the ingredients by the gram and multiply the total amount .025 to get the proper amount of salt.
3. Now place the shredded cabbage, beets and ginger in a large bowl and sprinkle evenly with salt. Let this sit for about 30 minutes.
4. Compress the cabbage by gently squeezing the cabbage. I do this to reduce the volume and make it easier to get all the ingredients submersed in the brine.
5. Place all the ingredients into an air-lock container. Place a large plate or pickle weight on the top. For lacto fermentation, you want an anaerobic environment or the absence of oxygen. I once wrote lengthy HACCP plan for fermenting kimchi, so if you want more details about fermentation safety – send me a message.
6. Let this sit out for about 3-5 days. It should become noticeably acidic.  If you have a ph meter, 4.2 is ideal but anything below 4.6 is considered acidified.
7. Once you’ve reach the right acidity, transfer to mason jars and store in your refrigerator.
8. That’s it!

Pickled Cucumbers with Shiso

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pickled-cukes-shiso

This is the time of year for serious pickling and canning. The farmers markets are approaching their peak and it’s easy to get your hands on a large bucket of cucumbers for a modest price. If you can find Japanese cucumbers even better, but the small to medium sized cucumbers sold for dill pickles are great when in season.

Tsukemono Recipe: Pickled Cucumbers with Shiso

Ingredients:
1-2 pounds of pickling cucumbers washed and sliced
kosher salt
1-2 inch strip of konbu
Brine:
2/3 cup shiso vinegar
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

Directions:
1. Weigh the cucumbers on a digital scale in grams. Multiply this number by .035. This is how much salt you will need. For example, 1000 grams of cucumbers will require 35 grams of kosher salt
2. Sprinkle the cucumbers evenly with salt and add konbu. Place the cucumbers in a large bowl and cover with a heavy plate. Store in the refrigerator overnight, and then gently squeeze and drain cucumbers of excess brine using a strainer.
3. Combine all brine ingredients in a sauce pan and heat up until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved. Let the brine cool.
4. Add brine to the cucumbers. You’ll need enough brine to cover the cucumbers. Let the pickles sit for a day in the refrigerator before serving.

Red Shiso Vinegar

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shiso-vinegar

Nice flavored vinegar for making pickled daikon and pickled cucumbers and more.

Shiso Vinegar Recipe

Ingredients:

3-4 cups rice vinegar
1 bunch red shiso leaves washed, trimmed and coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Combine vinegar and shiso in a clean glass jar. Allow to sit in the refrigerator for 3-4 days until it reaches desired strength.
2. Strain and store. I usually keep it in the refrigerator.

Sources/Inspirations: The pickles you find at a Japanese grocery store.

Brewing up A Brown Ale

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brown-ale
At this moment of 2013 in Minneapolis and elsewhere I’m sure, it seems that everybody is brewing beer and I’m no exception.  About this time last summer, I got the bug.  I don’t why I didn’t start earlier. It’s much easier than it sounds and you probably already have most what you need ( stock pots, strainers, thermometer, scale,  stove, a cool basement) .

If your looking for some books on how to brew beer, check out the following:
How to Brew by John Palmer
Beer Craft
Brooklyn Brew Shop Book

Brown Ale Recipe
Batch Size: 3 Gallons
Grains:
5 lbs Maris Otter Malt
.25 lbs Caramel 40L
.25 lbs Caramel 80L
.25 lbs Chocolate Malt

Hops:
.3 ounces Perle  ( pellets )
.5 ounces East Kent Goldings ( pellets )

Yeast:
Safale S-04 English Dry Ale Yeast

The beer after primary fermentation.

The beer after primary fermentation is complete.

Notes:
Steep grains in 7 quarts water at 152 F for 1 hour
Sparge with 3 gallons of water at 165 – 170 F
60 minute boil, add .3 ounces perle hops at start of boil
and 2/3 east kent goldings at 30 minutes and 1/3 at 55 minutes.

Sources/Inspiratons: Based on the WGD brown ale recipe in the Brooklyn Brew Shop’s Beer Making Book: 52 Seasonal Recipes for Small Batches

Simple Vanilla Ice Cream

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A recipe for vanilla ice cream or to use as a base for other flavors.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole organic milk
2 cups organic heavy cream
1-2 teaspoon vanilla extract
130 grams white sugar
18 grams invert sugar
2 egg yolks

Directions:
1. Combine milk, cream and sugars in a small sauce pan on medium heat.

heating ice cream

2. Lightly beat egg yolks.
3. While stirring constantly, add the egg yolks to the base and heat to 180 F.
4. Remove and immediately chill the hot ice cream base in an ice water bath.
cooling-ice-cream
5. Strain and refrigerate 12 – 14 hours.
6. Process in an ice cream machine, freeze and enjoy.

Sources/Inspirations:
CIA Baking and Pastry Book
Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Recipe Book

 

 

Invert Sugar

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Invert sugar is sweeter and less prone to crystallization, so it’s good for desserts like ice cream.

Ingredients:
8 ounces  [ 226 grams ] fine sugar
3/4 cup water
juice from 1/2 lemon

Directions:
1. Simmer slowly until thick ( about 1 hour ).
2. Cool and store in the refrigerator. Will last a long time, but may pick up off flavors if kept in the refrigerator too long.