Fresh salmon salad rolls

By Periplus Editors, Quick & Easy Asian Tapas and Noodles


Reprinted with the express permission of Tuttle Publishing.

Inspiration for these gorgeously delicate rolls comes from Yu Sheng, a raw fish salad eaten by Singaporeans during the Lunar New Year celebrations. Light, fresh and nutty flavors come prettily bundled in rice paper wrappers, with little dabs of tasty tobiko fish roe lending an elegant finishing touch.

Makes 24 rolls
Preparation time: 25 minutes

6 dried rice paper wrappers (see note)
10 oz (300 g) fresh salmon fillets
Wasabi tobiko or salmon roe (see note), to garnish
Green onions (scallions), to garnish

Filling
1/2 cup (50 g) finely shredded carrot
1/2 cup (75 g) finely shredded daikon
2 tablespoons minced coriander leaves (cilantro)
3 tablespoons sweet plum sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons crushed unsalted roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, dry-roasted in a skillet until brown
3 teaspoons lime juice

Make the Filling by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and toss to mix well. Set aside.

Quarter each dried rice paper wrapper and trim the sides to form 4 squares. Briefly soak the squares in water to soften, then pat dry with paper towels.

Cut the salmon fillets into 24 very thin slices. Place a slice of salmon and 1 tablespoon of the Filling onto each rice paper square and roll up tightly into a bite-sized piece. Garnish with tobiko or salmon roe and green onions, and serve chilled.

Note: Dried rice paper wrappers are sold in Asian food stores in plastic packets containing 10 or more wrappers. They are round and white, about 10 in (25 cm) in diameter. Pale green wasabi tobiko roe is tobiko roe that has been flavored with wasabi. Fresh wasabi tobiko roe can be purchased in packets in Japanese supermarkets.

Wakame and Tuna with Soy Dressing

By Susie Donald, Masano Kawana, and Adrian Lander, Japanese Homestyle Dishes: Quick and Delicious Favorites (Learn to Cook series)
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Reprinted with the express permission of Tuttle Publishing.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 30 mins
Assembling time: 3 mins

2 sheets (10 g) wakame
2 cups (500 ml) water
Two 6-oz (170-g) cans of water-packed tuna
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 Japanese cucumber, thinly sliced
1 tomato, diced

Dressing
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons sesame oil

1. Soak the dried wakame in a bowl of cold water to soften, about 20 minutes.

2. To make the Dressing, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and oil in a small bowl, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

3. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Blanch the wakame for 30 seconds, drain and rinse under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels. Remove any hard veins from the wakame and slice it into 1/2-in (1-cm) strips.

4. Drain the tuna and place it in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and use a fork to break the tuna into bite-sized pieces.

5. Combine the wakame, cucumber and tomato with the tuna and toss with the Dressing. Serve immediately.

Mixed Seafood Hot Pot  (Yosenabe)

By Debra Samuels, My Japanese Table

Reprinted with the express permission of Tuttle Publishing.

The word “oshare” usually refers to someone who is fashionably dressed, but I have also heard it exclaimed over a particularly gorgeous display of food. For me, there is nothing more “oshare” than this Mixed Seafood Hot Pot. This is a one-pot wonder, mixing seafood, chicken, tofu, glass noodles, and vegetables. Once the preparation is done, you are home free — the cooking happens at your table (or stovetop). Fish fillets with the skin on helps the fish hold its shape. Whole clams, succulent scallops, and giant shrimp give the broth a briny undertone, and the tofu and glass noodles absorb the flavors from the stock. A communal earthenware pot is set in the middle of a table alongside the beautifully displayed platter of raw ingredients. A citrusy soy sauce with a generous dollop of grated daikon sprinkled with red pepper flakes sits in individual bowls for dipping. Diners leisurely make their way through the platter, replacing whatever has been removed from the pot. This communal style of eating around a hot pot on a tabletop burner is a favorite way to entertain or gather around the table. I use a deep two-handled stainless steel electric skillet that looks beautiful and does a great job. At the end of the meal, thick, chewy udon noodles are added to the tasty broth and served hot. This is served in soup bowls.

Serves 6-8
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cooking Time:  40 minutes

6 cups (1.5 liters) water
One 3 in (7.5 cm) kelp (kombu)
4 chicken drumsticks
¾ lb (350 g) salmon fillet, skin on
¾ lb (350 g) white flesh fish, skin on one side (red snapper, halibut, or cod)
8 hard shell clams (little necks or cherrystones)
8 fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 block firm tofu 14-16 oz (500 g), drained and cut into 8 pieces
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into 2 by ¼-inch pieces (5 cm by 6 mm)
One half medium Chinese (Napa) cabbage, (12 oz/350 g) cut into 3 in pieces (7.5 cm)
1 bundle enoki mushrooms, trimmed and separated into small bunches
2 leeks, cleaned and sliced, on the diagonal into 8 pieces
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons mirin
1 tablespoon sake
12 extra large shrimp, deveined and peeled with tail-on
8 sea scallops
4 green onions (scallions), sliced into 4 pieces
4 oz (125 g) harusame (potato starch) noodles (or rice stick noodles)
8 oz (250 g) cooked udon noodles can be simmered in rich broth at the end of the meal.

Dipping Sauce
½ cup (125 ml) soy sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix together and serve in a small pitcher.

Condiments
8 oz (250 g) daikon radish, peeled
Japanese red pepper powder (toga-rashi)

Grate the daikon on the smallest holes of a box grater to get a slushy mixture. Serve in individual bowls. Sprinkle on the red pepper powder for an added kick.

1 Put the water and kelp in a large, deep electric skillet, or stovetop casserole and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Remove the kelp and set aside.

2 Add the chicken drumsticks to the kombu stock. Bring to a boil and skim the foam from the surface of the stock. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Continue to skim the foam from the broth until completely clear. Remove the chicken and set aside. Turn off the stock.

3 Cut each of the fillets into 6 pieces. Set on a serving platter.

4 Rinse the clams and soak in water for 10 minutes. Drain and set on a platter with the other ingredients.

5 Remove the stems from the shiitake mushrooms and wipe the tops with a wet paper towel. Incise an X on the mushroom cap. Set on the platter.

6 Add the tofu, carrots, cabbage, enoki, leeks, and green onions to the arrangement.

7 Follow the instructions to reconstitute the potato starch noodles. Drain and add to the platter. Your beautiful display is done.

8 Add the soy sauce, mirin and sake to the prepared chicken and seaweed stock and bring to a boil. Lay the chicken, bone ends toward the center, to the hot stock. Add half of the fish, shrimp, scallops, vegetables, and clear noodles, in their clusters to the pot but alternating the groups. Set 4 clams, bottom side down, around the dish and tucked in among the ingredients. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 3 minutes or until the clams open. Remove the cover and cook for another minute.

9 Each diner helps themselves to the fish and vegetables. Everyone pours a little of the dipping sauce into a separate small bowl. Add a spoonful of the spicy daikon mixture and begin dipping the cooked food into the sauce.

10 Bring the stock back to a simmer. And repeat until all the ingredients have been used.

Tuna with Avocado-Wasabi Puree

By Harris Salat, The Japanese Food Report and The Japanese Grill

Here’s another popular preparation from Matsuri, Tadashi’s restaurant—rich, creamy avocado meets dense, intense tuna, with the wasabi and lime juice adding heat and bite. Use only sushi grade tuna for this recipe (yellowfin or bigeye [ahi] tuna are great choices) and perfectly ripe avocados. Allow the fish to come to room temperature before grilling, and grill quickly—we like our tuna cooked rare, as we explain in the method. If you prefer, grill the fish for 3 minutes for medium-rare or 4 minutes for medium, but not more than that; if you overcook tuna, it turns tough and rubbery.

2 avocados, cut into small chunks
1 tablespoon wasabi
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped chives (you can substitute with finely chopped scallions)
4 tuna steaks, about 3/4 inch thick (about 2 pounds)
Garlic soy sauce marinade (see below)

Marinade
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, grated
fresh ground black pepper

Add the avocados, wasabi, lime juice, salt, and chives to a bowl, and mash the ingredients together with a fork. Set aside.

Pour the garlic soy sauce marinade onto a baking dish or sheet pan. Lay the tuna steaks in the marinade and gently flip them 4 times until the fish is evenly coated.

Preheat a grill to medium-hot heat. Brush the cooking grate clean and oil it well. Grill the tuna quickly, for about 2 minutes, turning once. You want to just sear the surface and quickly caramelize the marinade. The tuna should be rare to almost raw inside. Remove from the grill, spoon the avocado puree on top of the tuna and serve immediately.