Month: March 2013

Thai Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango (Khao Neeo Mamuang, from Thailand)

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Thai Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango is a Southeast Asian dessert which combines rice, coconut milk, palm sugar or white sugar, and mango. The dish is simple and quick to make, but it does require care in buying ingredients and possibly learning a rice steaming technique which may be new to you — Thai sticky rice has cannot be cooked like other rices because if it touches any boiling water while it is cooking then it will get mushy. It is important to use Thai sticky rice, which is a special type of sticky or glutenous rice which is soaked in water overnight before being steamed over (not in) water, because the texture of this rice is an important part of this dish. Chinese glutenous / sweet rice is something different and cannot be used as a replacement. In order to make sure you are buying the correct type of rice, make sure your sticky rice was grown in Thailand or Laos (it may be marked as “sweet rice”). You will also need to plan ahead and soak …

Salmon Chirashi with Ponzu Daikon Radish Sprout Salad

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  Sushi for a weeknight: Sushi doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming. There are many types of sushi that are so quick, easy, and affordable that they can be made for a weeknight meal. One example is chirashi, which literally means “scattered sushi”; it is usually presented either as sushi rice topped with a decorative arrangement of ingredients or as sushi rice and other ingredients mixed together. This style of sushi is quick to make since there is no need to roll sushi or shape the rice for nigiri. If you set out nori with this dish, then handrolls can also be made at the table, which is something that William and I enjoy greatly; it is fun because everyone gets to make their own sushi. The handrolls look especially pretty with some daikon radish sprouts in them. My recipe for salmon chirashi has three components: sushi rice, salmon sashimi, and a salad of daikon radish sprouts dressed with ponzu sauce. Sushi rice is quick to make, especially if you have a rice cooker, since you just …

Sushi Rice

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Sushi rice is very easy and quick to make since it requires only three steps: washing the rice, cooking it, and tossing with a vinegar marinade. The most important thing is to use a short grain Japanese style rice and to make sure you cook it well (it shouldn’t be mushy). Preferably buy a rice grown in Japan or California. Japanese style rice is generally one of two varieties: sasanishiki or koshihikari. Koshihikari has many subtypes, including hitomebore, akitakomachi, hae-nuki, hi-no-hikari, kirara, tama-nishiki, kagayaki, and tamaki-mai; often koshihikari will be identified by only its subtype. These types of rice give the best texture for sushi. Preferably use rice that was harvested more than 6 months ago. Some rice may be labeled as “new crop rice”, which is rice that is sold just after harvest from October through February. When it is freshly harvested, the grains are moister since the grains have had less time to dry out; it is too moist and tender for sushi though it is wonderful as table rice (use less water than normal and use the …

Ponzu Sauce

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Mark Bittman says that “an all-purpose sauce from Japan, ponzu is the rough equivalent of vinaigrette.”; ponzu is a citrus flavored soy sauce which can be used as a dip, marinade, or salad dressing when mixed with a little oil. The ingredients for ponzu sauce are, clockwise from top: soy sauce (shoyu), bonito flakes, bottled yuzu juice, kelp (konbu), ruby red grapefruit, mirin. The first time I made this I was able to obtain a single fresh yuzu, which are in season in the winter. Since it is now spring, and yuzus are out of season, now I have some bottled yuzu juice to make ponzu sauce next time. Yuzu are yellow but unlike lemons they are round and unevenly dimpled (see picture below). They are in season usually around November and December. They will keep one to two weeks fresh (longer in the refrigerator), and can be frozen for long term storage, so if you find some for a good price, buy several and freeze them. Defrost in the refrigerator before juicing. Source: Modified from “Yuzu-Flavored …

How to Make a Sushi Handroll

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Sushi hand rolls are extremely quick to make (much quicker than rolls or nigiri which take much more time to shape), and can be made at the table by individual diners if you lay out all the ingredients. The handroll shown above has sushi rice, salmon and daikon radish sprouts. Serve with soy sauce and wasabi. To make a hand roll, fold 1 sheet of nori in half along the longest edge. Place the nori shiny side out (the shiny side is always outside for anything you make with nori), and put a few Tbsp of sushi rice on the diagonal from the top left corner to the bottom middle. (Optionally you can dab wasabi on the seaweed first or on top of the rice). Lay long strips of fish and other ingredients on top of the rice. Gently fold the bottom left corner up to the middle top, and continue rolling to make a cone. Eat with soy sauce and wasabi, preferably immediately after it is made since the nori will lose its crispness …