Saba Hoedeopbap, Mackerel Fried Rice

I'm still thinking about that place, so I'm sharing one more recipe before I move on to more July 4th-ish things.  This meal's got a little more... fusion.  It's based on my love of Japanese saba rice (stir-fried rice with cured mackerel) and a Korean bipbimbop or hoedeopbap where cooked rice and raw fish and veggies gets thrown in a super hot bowl and topped with an egg yolk before you add sauce and stir it around as so it cooks through.

I was going to do a bipbimbop with a firm-fleshed fish, but they didn't have quite what I wanted at the counter and the Spanish mackerel looked shiny and fresh and I suddenly remembered how much I loved oily-fish fried rice -- it's like the seafood version of chorizo fried rice, and it's some very yummy, stick to your ribs, belly-filling goodness.  I figured combining with greens and a rich sauce bipbimbop-style wasn't going to hurt it any and extra crunchy rice bits could only make it better. [I was right!]

[Speaking of the sauce, I was going to use fish sauce as a component until I noticed the expiration date on mine (ew) but it turns out the primary ingredient is anchovy puree and I keep a tube of anchovy paste in my fridge to punch up pasta sauces... unless my little brother is watching.]

As for the cooking method, it was too hot in my tiny place to use my broiler to get the pot as hot as a real bipbimbop and I wanted to make sure my mackerel was fully cooked, so this variation uses two pans (plus whatever you use to cook the rice ahead of time).


Recipe: Spanish Mackerel Fried Rice

Simple Temaki [a.k.a. Japanese Tacos]

I've had some amazing Japanese food in my day.  I discovered sushi late in college and was fortunate to get an expense-paid visit to Tokyo when JG was working over there for a bit... though I think I was still too new to the cuisine at the time to make the most of my trip.  After moving to Austin, I fell in love with a modern Japanese place and even developed an unfortunate habit of of putting any raw thing in my mouth based on the things they [carefully and safely] served.  It was exquisite.

I learned the importance of toasting nori at this lovely place -- and that's the key to a tasty handroll.   The greatest thing about a hand roll is that it doesn't require skill as there is no rice shaping involved.  I also learned that the hand roll [temaki] is the Japanese equivalent of a sandwich with a similar origin story: a noble -- too obsessed with the gaming table to come away for a meal -- ordered his servant make him something he could eat with one hand.  It seems a little too close to the Earl of Sandwich story, but maybe it's a case of culinary convergence.

Temaki is the only sushi I'll make at home because doesn't require skill.  I don't want to spend the money for sashimi-grade fish for a weeknight meal, but there are times when I want that refreshing satisfaction of a sushi meal mid-week, and the hand roll hits that spot... plus they're fun to make:  All it takes are toasted seaweed sheets [nori], a bowl of vinegar rice and an array of sliced veggies, sauteed mushrooms for a meaty texture, and occasionally kani [fake crab sticks make from pollock that I find disturbingly delicious in a distinctly non-crab way].  You fill one corner, roll it up into a cone, and eat it quick before the nori goes soft. It's a casual week-night food at its best.

It takes a lot of practice to make true sushi rice look and taste right and involves lots of fanning and folding.  I've seen it done many times and I'm not even close to mastering it... but with a little tweaking I've created a brown rice version with the right flavor and a close enough texture for the at-home hand roll.


Recipe: Simple Temaki, Japanese Tacos

Scallop Tacos, Two Ways

 Local scallops were on sale here in Yankee Land, so I picked up more than I needed for dinner [but not nearly as many as I wanted].  The first night I made a ceviche with lime/serrano/shallot and garnished with fresh corn and cilantro from my herb garden.  The next night I seared the scallops [one side only] and served them with sliced avocado, toasted pepitas, and roasted corn on the side.

The ceviche was so deliciously delicate in flavor that it might've been better if I'd used some of my lettuce as a wrapper instead of the hearty, store-bought tortillas... the seared scallops held their own and were phenomenal.

Recipe: Scallops for Tacos

Fragrant Mussels with Coconut Flakes

A friend saw my request for Indian recipes and directed me to the BBC's Indian Food Made Easy.  I had more coconut to use and mussels were on sale, so mussels with dry coconut was a no-brainer.

It was easy, as promised.  I made a half recipe, used quartered grape tomatoes, and didn't cook the mussels separately. Instead, I added 1 1/2 cups of water to the onion/spice/tomato mixture and threw in the mussels after it cooked down.

The recipe makes use of garam masala, an Indian spice blend generally containing ginger/cardamom/coriander/cumin/pepper/nutmeg/cinnamon that has quite a few recipe variations [like curry powder] and is usually added at the end of cooking because it's considered less robust than using the whole and/or freshly ground spices typical of the cuisine -- it's like using a shaker of "Italian seasoning," theoretically, Italian dishes should have varying amounts of basil/oregano/garlic/onion/lemon depending on the dish, but that shaker makes everything taste vaguely Italian in universal way. Garam masala varies widely depending on the producer and those made commercially tend to use more of the cheaper spices, but it's still a potent blend for my American palate and the resulting dish was delicious in a vaguely Western Indian (coconut/tomato/seafood/rice) sort of way.

We ate all the mussles and had a little brothy goodness left over.  I stirred in some leftover rice to soak it all up, and tonight we will have leftovers-fried-rice with Indian spices and mussel broth. I'm excited.