New Asian Cuisine » Roy Yamaguchi

Seared Ahi with Lilikoi-Shrimp Salsa

grace — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:47:45 +0000

Seared Ahi with Lilikoi-Shrimp Salsa

Roy/newasicui-20" s Fish and Seafood: Recipes from the Pacific Rim

Serves 4 as a main course.

Ahi Tuna steaks for 4 people

1 ripe passion fruit, halved
4 ounces extra large shrimp (about 4) peeled, deveined, and diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cup Maui or other sweet white onion, minced
1 large Roma tomato, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
2 tablespoons scallion (including green parts), finely diced
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, minced
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Scoop the seeds and pulp from the passion fruit with a spoon and press it through a fine-mesh sieve. Reserve the juice (about 1 tablespoon) and discard the seeds and pulp. Put the shrimp in a small bowl and toss with the olive oil to coat. Set a dry stainless-steel sauté pan over high heat and, when hot, add the shrimp. Sear, turning often until evenly pink, about one minute.

2. Transfer to a non-reactive bowl and add the reserved passion fruit juice, onion, tomato, scallion, cilantro, Tabasco sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well to combine. Cover and refrigerate.

3. Put the ahi on a plate, coat with peanut oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set a dry cast-iron skillet over high heat for 2-3 minutes and, when hot, sear the ahi for about 30 seconds on each side for rare, or about 1-1/2 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Transfer the ahi to serving plates and spoon salsa over the tuna, letting the juices from the salsa run onto the plates.

Interview with Roy Yamaguchi

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:47:43 +0000

Born in Tokyo, chef Roy Yamaguchi was inspired by the Hawaiian flavors his family incorporated into family meals. The creator of what he calls “Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine”, Yamaguchi, who moved to Hawaii in 1988, mingles Hawaii’s abundance of fresh, local ingredients with French and Japanese flavors to create dishes that are simultaneously vibrant and sophisticated, while hinting at the traditional.

New Asian Cuisine sat At The Table with this cookbook author, television personality, and owner of the renowned, eponymous string of “Roy’s” eateries, to find out how he keeps cool and heats thing up in the kitchen (and the backyard!) to get the very most out of summer.

NAC: You recently, in partnership with Anheuser-Busch, offered a special food and beer pairing menu at your restaurant. Did you create the menu first and then pair beers with your dishes, or design the menu around the beer?

YAMAGUCHI: It was a combination. I made a menu first of the food items that I enjoy and thought I would enjoy making and eating, and then when Anheuser-Busch gave me the list of beers, I selected a few that I thought would be really great with food. Once we tasted the beers, we thought about the types of flavors that would compliment the beer. This is not my first time doing a beer pairing. I enjoy drinking beer.

NAC: What are your favorite beers?

YAMAGUCHI: I really enjoy drinking the Michelob Honey Lager that Anheuser-Busch puts out. I think that’s a terrific beer. You can drink it with food, or alone. It’s a sweeter beer so, naturally, something spicy is a good contrast. I enjoy it with barbecue. Especially with babyback ribs!

NAC: What are your favorite summertime dishes?

YAMAGUCHI: All I do is barbecue when I’m at home. I do simple things. I enjoy barbecuing ribs, which I’ll marinate in butter, granulated garlic, white wine vinegar and Hawaiian salt. Marinate the ribs for a few hours and then just grill it, slowly, so that I can get more smoke and get the flavor of the wood. Or I’ll do my own teriyaki with ribeyes, which I enjoy more than any other steak. I marinate that in my own teriyaki, or I do one with my own sweet and savory rub that has Hawaiian salt, peppercorn, garlic, lemon zest, parsley and more herbs. I like doing chicken also with granulated garlic and butter, Hawaiian salt, lemongrass and ginger

If you use a stronger wood when you smoke something at a lower temperature, there’s a big difference in flavor because the woody flavor gets infused into the meat itself.

NAC: You’re known for pioneering Hawaiian fusion cuisine. What inspired you?

YAMAGUCHI: Basically, my type of cooking comes from my childhood memories of my father’s cooking. His meals used the flavors of what Hawaiian cuisine was when he was growing up. Be it soy sauce or wasabi or tomato flavored beef stews. I’ve taken the root of what he made at our dining room table and incorporated a lot of the bold Asian flavors that I discovered when I traveled through Asia. I actually started working at a French restaurant in the late 70s, early 80s, and then when I started on my own, I incorporated the French sauces with the old Asian flavors. In Hawaii, we use a lot of seafood; it’s a very integral part of our menu. Also, there is a high quality of ingredients being grown here; the produce, the herbs. So [Hawaiian fusion is] bold Asian flavors, French sauces, utilizing fresh fish and fresh, local produce.

NAC: We thought that ‘fusion’ was a considered a four-letter word!

YAMAGUCHI: People used to say that ‘fusion’ was a no-no word, but when you really think about what fusion is, fusion is what this world is made out of! It’s cross-cultural. Even in certain cultures, there has always been fusion, a mix. People go from place to place, and bring their own cooking, and then things start to change. People travel throughout the world and bring something and take away something. There has always been this fusion going on. It is a natural progression in life and it continues into the modern age.

Roy Yamaguchi

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 23:01:02 +0000

ROY’S
6600 Kalanianaole Hwy
Honolulu, HI 96825
808-396-7697

find more Roy’s at:
www.roysrestaurants.com

Roy Yamaguchi is regarded as a pioneer who mastered a distinctive style, which brought his cooking to the forefront of contemporary gastronomy. There are now 30 Roy’s, including 22 in the Continental US, 6 in Hawaii, 2 in Japan and 1 in Guam.

The first Roy’s opened in Honolulu Hawaii in 1988. At the time, chef Roy Yamaguchi was the first chef ever to blend European cooking techniques with the fresh local ingredients found in Asia and the Pacific Rim. He calls this style of cooking Hawaiian Fusion cuisine, a tempting combination of exotic flavors and spices mixed with the freshest of local ingredients, always with an emphasis on seafood.

Yamaguchi has also published two cookbooks, Roy’s Feasts from Hawaii and Hawaii Cooks: Flavors from Roy’s Pacific Rim Kitchen.

Chili Lobster Congee with Harbin Miso Broth

grace — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:47:45 +0000

Chili Lobster Congee with Harbin Miso Broth

By Roy Yamaguchi, Author,Roy’s Fish and Seafood: Recipes from the Pacific Rim

Serves 4

Chicken Broth
5 chicken bones
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup ginger, chopped
1/2 cup lemongrass, chopped
1/2 cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 gallon water

Rice
1 cup Japanese White Rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth

Congee Stock
1/4 cup Korean Miso
1/4 cup Saikyo Miso
5 lobster heads
1/2 cup lemongrass, chopped
1 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1/2 cup ginger, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalk, chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 gallon of water
2 bottles Harbin beer

Lobster Chili
1 Maine lobster, meat from a 1 1/2 lb lobster
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
4 pieces of garlic, grated
1 tablespoon green onion, thinly sliced
1/2 egg lightly beaten
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon Sambal
1 tablespoon mirin

Garnish
8 spinich leaves
4 large cilanro sprig
1 teaspoon ginger, hair thin julienned

Final Rice Preparation
1 1/2 cup cooked rice
1 tablespoon green onion, thinly sliced rounds
1/8 cup dried yuba, julienned
1/8 cup edamame peeled
4 large shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup enoki mushrooms
1/8 cup chinese lop chong sausage,diced
1/8 cup char-sui, diced
4 cups congee stock
Harbin Beer

Chicken Broth
Combine all the ingredients in a soup pot and simmer slowly and reduce down to about a qt. Strain, skim off fat and reserve.

Rice
Rinse the rice under cold water untill the water turns clear. Strain and pulverize the rice in a food processor to about half its size.Place the rice and chicken broth into a soup pot and slowly cook the rice but stirring it periodicly until the rice is cooked thru and reserve.
Note : If the rice has absorbed all the broth while cooking continue to add more broth. Do not worry if the rice has not absorbed all the stock. This dish is like a porridge.

Congee Stock
Combine all the ingredients except for both miso and place them into a soup pot and simmer for about 1 hour and reducing the liquid down to about a quart of liquid. Add miso to the broth. Cook for about another 15 minutes and strain. Note: For a stronger miso flavored broth add more miso paste.

Lobster Chili
Cook the lobster in a pot of boiling water for two minutes and remove lobster meat from the shell. Combine with all the remaining ingredients and marinate for about an half an hour in the refrigerator. To cook, quickly pan-fry the lobster in canola oil till fully cooked. Note: The lobster will remain rare after two minutes of cooking. This to prevent overcooking of the lobster at the final cooking step.

Garnish
Fry the spinach in canola oil till crispy.

Final Rice Preparation
Combine all the ingredients except the beer and bring to a boil in a soup pot and turn down heat to low. While stirring the rice mixture continue to cook for another couple of minutes to make sure the shiitake mushrooms are cooked.

To serve add 2 ounces of Harbin beer or to your desired liking and divide the congee into 4 bowls. Place the lobster on top of the congee and garnish with fried spinach, cilanto sprigs and ginger julienne on top of the congee and serve immediately.
Note : If you do not serve this dish immediately the rice will continue to absorb the liquid and not become less liquidy.