JAPANESE FOODS
The Japanese have a long and beautiful tradition of healthy and delicious foods. From cold water fish, such as tuna and salmon, high in Omega-3’s, to rice (opt for whole grain when you can) and soy-based tofu, seaweed, vegetables, ginger and that oh-so-irresistable green Wasabi paste- a Japanese horseradish. I love the diet! They do not herald carb-heavy breads or crackers or cakes in their menus, as with American and European diets. And other than a nod to ice cream, with green tea or ginger sorbet, they pretty much exclude dairy products.
So if you are going dairy and gluten free, this countries designer style foods are an easy transition, requiring little thought. Here are a few suggestions. You can find the ingredients in the ethnic aisle of your supermarket, a specialty health food grocery, or an Asian market. You will get used to the terms and names of things, so don’t shy away!
MISO SOUP
INGREDIENTS
4 cups water
4 shitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2 oz. Bonito dried fish flakes/granules
6 oz.(1 small box) firm tofu, cubed
1 tbsp Sake’ (optional, but nice)
4 tbsp miso paste, or shiromiso
1 tbsp Tamari wheat-free soy sauce
2 scallions, sliced fine
1 nori (seaweed) wrapper, cut in strips
2 tsp white sesame seeds, toasted
DIRECTIONS
Add water to a pan, heat, and add bonito fish flakes. Stir in sake, soy sauce, and salt to taste, if desired. Add cubed tofu and sliced mushrooms, allowing to simmer gently for about 3 minutes. Now add miso paste and stir until it has dissolved. Turn off heat, add the sliced scallions, and divide between four bowls. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of the toasted sesame seeds over each bowl, and serve! Serves 4.
YAKITORI CHICKEN
2 chicken breasts, cut into 24 chunks
4 scallions, cut into 18 pieces
6 wooden skewers, soaked in water
1/2 cup yakitori marinade (see below)
DIRECTIONS
Soak the skewers in water for 20 minutes. This prevents burning! Meanwhile, make the marinade. Pre heat the broiler to high. Thread 4 chunks of chicken and 3 pieces of scallion, alternately, onto each skewer. Brush the skewers with marinade, then cook under broiler for 4 minutes on each side, brushing again with yakitori when turning. Plate the skewers, sprinkling with the remaining marinade. You may also choose to provide a small dipping dish of the yakitori sauce with each serving. Makes 6 skewers, for 2 or 3 servings, depending.
YAKITORI SAUCE
6 tbsp Tamari wheat-free soy sauce
4 tbsp sake
6 tbsp mirin (sweet rice vinegar)
2 tbsp superfine sugar
Put soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar in a small pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue to simmer for one minute. Remove pan from heat and cool. Reserve some of this sauce for drizzling over finished chicken. You may want to double the ingredients if you want to provide personal dipping sauces of Yakitori with each serving.
SUSHI ROLLS
Don’t be intimidated by the idea of rolling your own sushi! I learned at home, with a friend, so the embarrassment of too large and loosely pressed rolls was spared me, and surpassed by the intoxicating flavor and taste of freshness. With practice, you just get better. You will need a bamboo stick sushi rolling mat, and a wide wooden sushi rice spoon. You can buy these affordably in sets in some specialty groceries or kitchen supply stores. Also, keep plastic wrap on hand for the inside out-rolls. Nori strips are those flat dark green sheets of pressed seaweed that are used to roll up your sushi. And if you can locate it, I prefer the tiny orange fish eggs, known as flying fish roe, for topping the cut pieces, or rolling the inside-out rolls in. This section begins with making sushi rice, then onto rolls. Compai!
SUSHI RICE
1 1/2 cups sushi rice, or short to medium grain rice
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt combined
Rinse rice under cold water until the water runs clear. Strain, then place in pan with water (or use a rice cooker and follow directions). Cover pan and bring rice to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, let stand for another 15 minutes, do not remove the lid!
Turn rice into a wide, flat-bottomed, non-metal bowl. Pour over the sushi rice seasoning (rice vinegar, sugar & salt, combined). Using quick, cutting strokes, cut the seasoning into the rice, fanning it as you work. You can do this in front of an actual fan, of hold the spoon up high and let the rice drop down into the bowl. DO NOT STIR as this may break the grains. Keep cutting and fanning until the rice is room temperature and looks shiny. Keep it covered with a cloth, and use immediately. It is reccomended you do not refrigerate mixed sushi rice.
PHILLY ROLL
Ingredients:
2 oz. fresh, sushi grade salmon, cut into 1/2 ” strips
2 sheets nori (seaweed wrapper)
1 cup sushi rice
@2 oz. Tofutti/dairy free cream cheese
Wasabi paste, soy sauce, pickled ginger, as garnish
Directions:
Lay a sheet of nori wrapper flat on top of your rolling mat. Divide the rice into 2 equal portions. Wet your hands, and spread one portion of rice over the nori, as evenly as you can. Re-wet your hands as often as needed. Leave a 1/2 inch border at the top edge, for sealing the roll.
Dip a finger into your wasabi paste, and drag it across the length of the rice/wrapper. Place a line of the sliced salmon strips, then another thin strip of the cream cheese above that.
Pick up the nearest edge of the rolling mat. Slowly roll the mat away from you, to wrap the nori over and around the fillings. Use light pressure, lifting the mat out of the way as you roll. Press the roll into the bare border of nori. To seal the roll, it helps to dip a finger in water, run it over the edge of the seaweed wrapper, roll and press to seal.
Transfer your roll onto a cutting board or smooth surface. Taking a very sharp knife, wet it under running water, shake off the excess, and cut the roll in half. Wet again, if neccessary, between slices, and cut each half into 3 equal pieces. Repeat with the second half, for 6 pieces. Repeat, making another roll, cut into 6 more pieces.
Arrange your Philly salmon roll pieces on a plate (preferably a square, japanese style plate, for visual effect!). Serve with a shallow dipping dish of soy sauce, a dollop of wasabi paste, and a pinch of pickled ginger. Enjoy!
CALIFORNIA ROLL
Ingredients:
@ 1 cup sushi rice
2 nori sheets
1/2 avocado, sliced thin
2 long slices cucumber, seedless
2 lengths of crab leg or imitation crabmeat
Flying fish roe or toasted white sesame seeds
Tamari wheat-free soy sauce, wasabi paste, pickled ginger
Directions:
Divide sushi rice in half. Place a sheet of nori wrapper on top of your rolling mat. With wet fingers, spread half the rice evenly over the wrapper, leaving at least 1/2 inch border at the top. Dip a finger in wasabi paste, and drag it across the length of rice on the bottom of the roll.
Lay a line of avocado strips, followed by a strip of crabmeat, and thin strips of cucumber sticks, de-seeded.
Pick up the nearest edge of the rolling mat, and slowly roll away from you, gently pressing as you wrap the nori around the filling. Lift the mat out of the way as you roll. Take a wet finger and run it across the end border of the nori, and finish rolling, pressing the edge against the finished roll to seal it.
Transfer the roll to a cutting board, seam side down, and cut in half with a very sharp, wet knife. Cut again, for four larger pieces. Turn onto a plate, flat side up, and spread the tops with flying fish roe or toasted sesame seeds. Transfer to a presentation platter, adding a dollop of wasabi, a fat pinch of pickled ginger, and serve soy sauce in shallow dipping bowls.
INSIDE-OUT ROLLS
Inside out rolls reverse the ingredients of a sushi roll, with the green nori sheet being rolled up backwards and inside the roll, rice on the outside. Lay down your nori sheet on the sushi mat, and spread with rice, as described above. Now cover the rice with a sheet of plastic wrap. Lift and flip the wrapper over, so that the plastic covered rice surface is now pressed against the mat, and the green nori wrapper is facing up. Spread with a thin line of wasabi, and add your ingredients, as above.
Now you begin to roll away from you, lifting the plastic covered mat away from you as you go. Press the nori border into the rice as you finish, giving the roll one final gentle squeeze to hold its shape. Pull up the remaining plastic to reveal your inside out roll. Sprinkle sesame seeds over a wide plate, and roll the rice covered sushi roll in this, coating it with sesame. Transfer to a cutting board, and cut in half, then in half again, for four pieces. Repeat, with the remaining ingredients, for another roll. Plate these, and garnish with the usual dollop of green wasabi paste, pickled ginger, and serve with soy sauce.
