A Western Style Sashimi Preparation

Having a bite of Hawaiian albacore (tombo) may change the way you feel about yellowfin tuna. While still mild, tombo has more depth. It is rich, silky, and absolutely divine. And, when purchased from the proper sources, is highly sustainable. What’s not to like about that?

Substitute tombo where you would normally incorporate yellowfin tuna. It makes an excellent sashimi, nigiri, and spicy tuna.

Here’s a fun sashimi like preparation to try that uses olive oil, Parmesan cheese and a zip of lemon juice. This is a loose method that leaves room for your own additions.

Albacore Tuna Crudo

4-6 ounces Hawaiian albacore tuna (per person), cut into 1/4 inch slices

1/4 cup high quality olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

pinch of salt

a twist or two of freshly ground black pepper

1/8 small red onion, shaved and soaked in cold water

1/2 bunch raw asparagus, peeled into shreds with a vegetable peeler

Parmesan cheese

Arrange the tuna slices flat on a serving dish.

1. For each person, arrange the tuna slices down the center of an oblong plate. Alternately, arrange slices around the edges of a round plate.

2. Prepare the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper.

3. Shave some of the Parmesan over the plate of tuna.

4. Toss together the shaved red onions and asparagus. Mix in a tablespoon or so of the dressing before mounding over the tuna.

5. Drizzle with more of the dressing to taste. If desired, top with more shredded Parmesan.

6. Serve immediately.

Olive oil, lemon juice and Parmesan cheese provide plenty of flavor.

Green Tea Creme Brulee

I am particularly fond of the earthy flavor of matcha, Japanese green tea powder. Maybe I go on a little green tea kick here and there – inserting it into condiments and especially desserts. But I won’t apologize for that. It is delicious and when you’re not in the mood for drinking it, why not eat it?

Going beyond green tea ice cream, here’s an easy recipe for an elegant green tea creme brulee. To ensure success with this recipe, you should:

1. Use the best quality green tea powder you have access to. Yes, it is expensive. Thankfully, a little goes a long way. I used The Republic of Tea Matcha because my husband drank (or hid from me!) the imported stuff he purchases. It was reasonably priced and had just the right flavor I was hoping for.

2. Get a blow torch. No need to buy an expensive cook’s torch from the kitchen stores. You can get a torch from the hardware store for about $12. This is my preference because the flame is better. Also, you can use it for searing seafood.

3. Use 2 kinds of sugar. Top your finished creme brulee with turbinado sugar. The thick crystals melt and caramelize quickly and leave you with that desired crust to poke through. Using standard granulated sugar just browns the top. And speaking of granulated sugar, be sure to use it when preparing the custard.

Green Tea Creme Brulee (Makes 6)

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

8 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

6 egg yolks

2-3 teaspoons matcha green tea powder (or more to taste)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

about 1/4 cup of turbinado sugar

Mint sprigs for garnish, optional

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Gather six 1/2 cup capacity ramekins or brulee dishes and set aside.

Heat heavy cream and 1/2 of the granulated sugar

2. Stir together heavy cream and 4 tablespoons of the granulated sugar in a heavy bottomed pot. Heat over medium heat, to a near boil.

Preparing ingredients in a heat proof bowl

3. In a heat proof bowl, stir together the remaining 4 tablespoons of granulated sugar, egg yolks, matcha and vanilla extract. Add a generous splash of the hot cream mixture and stir well to prevent curdling. Add the rest of the hot cream mix and whisk until mixture is smooth.

Ramekins ready for the water bath and oven.

4. Use a ladle to divide the mixture between 6 ramekins. (There may be some foam/bubbles in the mixture at this point. If you like, strain it. I leave it because I find that it generally doesn’t affect the end result.) Place the ramekins on a sheet tray or in a deep roasting pan. (I like the deep roasting pan because of the convenient handles.)Put the tray or pan into the preheated oven. Add water to the pan, being careful not to get any into the ramekins. Ideally, you want the water deep enough to reach about 1/3 up the sides of the ramekins.

5. Bake for 25 minutes. At this stage, check the custards for doneness. They should be somewhat firm around the edges, yet a little jiggly in the center. This is a personal preference, so continue baking (or not), depending on how firm you like your centers. Keep in mind that they will set more once cooled.

6. Remove tray or pan from oven. Take the ramekins out of the water bath and allow to cool at least 15 minutes before refrigerating. Refrigerate the creme brulees for at least 1 hour before serving.

7. To serve, Place a hefty tablespoon of turbinado sugar on top of each creme brulee. Shake it around to cover evenly. It should be covered just to the point where the sugar sticks, but doesn’t have much loose sugar floating around.

Torch it!

8. Heat the sugar with a blow torch, being sure to keep the flame moving over the surface. When you’ve reached your desired “burnt” sugar likeness, stick a mint sprig on top (if desired) and serve. Consider serving the dish with a napkin in case the ramekin becomes hot from the torch.

Crackly crust, soft interior

Feel like being inspired? Or just need a kick in the old “motivational butt”? Watch Author and Activist Casson Trenor’s TedxSF talk on activism. His enthusiasm is extremely contagious.

TedxSF- Casson Trenor

More from Casson Trenor

The book: Sustainable Sushi- A Guide to Saving the Oceans One Bite at a Time

The Website: SustainableSushi.net

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the spicy tuna debacle. But just in case, here’s a quick summary: A major 19+ state Salmonella Bareilly outbreak has diners and health experts concerned about the safety of one of America’s most popular sushi items. And for good reason. This current salmonella outbreak can cause symptoms of diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps within 12 to 72 hours of infection and may endure for 4 to 7 days. A major supplier of frozen Nakaochi Scrape has recalled some 58,000 pounds of a frozen yellowfin tuna. And the FDA is now urging diners to avoid ordering spicy tuna and other products that contain the infamous “pink tuna slime”.

While there is no way to avoid all of the risks of eating uncooked seafood, there are certainly ways to minimize them. You certainly don’t have to give up spicy tuna completely. Just keep these points in mind before contemplating that next spicy bite:

1. What are the origins of this tuna?

This is the most fundamental question of all. Don’t even consider placing a piece of ANY raw seafood in your mouth before you have asked this question and received a satisfactory answer. It seems basic, but make sure you place an emphasis on THIS tuna if you want to order something that may contain chopped tuna. Like it or not, many sushi restaurants will use a lower grade tuna for spicy tuna than the pristine specimens displayed in the case. When asked simply, “Where does your tuna come from?” you will get answers regarding the displayed tuna. But a better question is to point at the pretty tuna and ask “Do you use this tuna to make your spicy tuna?” If the answer is no, ask to see what the spicy tuna tuna looks like. A reputable sushi restaurant and honest chefs have nothing to hide.

2. Consider the price of your spicy tuna roll.

There is a reason why grocery store, cafeteria, buffets and quick-go sushi products are inexpensive. The infamous Nakaochi Scrape “aka the pink tuna slime” is an inexpensive product. And guess what?

We must demand a higher standard.

Every sushi restaurant in America that orders from large suppliers has access to similar pre-packaged, frozen, pre-scraped, color enhanced tuna. Be assured that the profit margin from this product tempts the majority of them. (I personally have been asked many times in the past by bottom line oriented owners to consider using such products. There was nothing to consider. The answer was always no.) It’s cheap, it doesn’t change colors (ever wonder why some spicy tuna rolls are pink?), and you can literally dump it out of a bag and into a bowl for mixing. And it is marketed quite attractively as being a virtually waste-free product. In short, it is gross and flavorless. You as the consumer absolutely must demand a higher standard. And you as the consumer must be willing to pay for it.

3. Take matters into your own hands.

Skip the sushi bar altogether and look to reputable fish markets. You can order high quality tuna from a great company like i love blue sea and make spicy tuna that tastes better than your corner market or restaurant with flopping standards. You’ll excuse me if I seem to take offense at what is being passed along as spicy tuna. I’ve always felt spicy tuna to be an elegant tartar, so flavorful and tempting, that one should have to exercise extreme willpower to willingly mask it inside of a sushi roll. If spicy tuna does not begin in this manner with the backdrop of the highest quality yellow fin and/or albacore tuna, it does not belong inside a sushi roll and most importantly, not in your mouth.   

Spicy Tuna Recipe

Final food for thought – Now that the tuna scrape incident has sushi lovers’ attention, will this curiosity expand? Will we consider the implications of what each bite of seafood, raw or cooked, has on our overall health? The overall health of our planet? It is unfortunate that people had experience such horrific symptoms before we started paying attention. Let’s not wait until it happens again before we begin digging deeper and considering the origins our seafood.

Salmon Skin Sushi Roll

Do you prefer your sushi traditional or more on the creative side?

When talking with sushi lovers, the subject of creative license versus “stick to the basics” is polarizing and often a topic of great debate. If you tend to fall on the “stick to the basics” end, then you may become quite disappointed with sushi over the next few years as global seafood sustainability issues become more of a concern. The sushi industry is a major contributor to issues of seafood sustainability. Environmentalists warn that sushi lovers may soon live to see the extinction of the bluefin tuna, sushi’s trophy fish.

Before imagining a sushi bar without bluefin tuna, let’s think back to the creation of the California roll. Though we may think of the California roll as a roll to satisfy beginning sushi palates, it didn’t begin that way. According to Trevor Corson’s The Story of Sushi, the California roll was created to please the palates of Japanese businessmen at the restaurant Tokyo Kaiken in the late 1960’s. Chef Ichiro Mashita was having difficulties obtaining toro and needed a way to satisfy the rich taste and creamy texture of the fatty tuna belly. He resourcefully used avocados, which were plentiful, combined with crab to create the sensation of toro on the tongue. His creation later became one of the most important developments in sushi history – a development that was heralded because toro was unavailable.

Over the years, the California roll has became quite popular and has landed a permanent spot on sushi bar menus across America. But for all its popularity and ingenuity, the creative precedence it has set often gains mixed reviews for other would be classics. The idea of sushi being a creative endeavor rather than a strict regimen to be followed has worldwide critics suggesting that creative sushi isn’t sushi at all. These critics insist that sushi ingredients remain the same, no matter what.

And that brings us back to bluefin tuna (and many of the other seafood species we should avoid). If in fact what environmentalists and scientists suggest about bluefin tuna being on the verge of extinction is true, what will sushi lovers do when the supply is exhausted? What will we eat this time when toro, which incidentally comes from the fatty belly of the bluefin tuna, is unavailable? Will we embrace the world of sushi creativity and allow our sushi chefs to apply Mashita’s ingenuity? Or will we abandon sushi altogether?

Or will we embrace the world of creative sushi now while there is still a chance for the bluefin? If we could learn to eat less bluefin and allow our palates to be tantalized by some of the other fish in the sea, perhaps the bluefin population may stand a chance at survival and enjoyment for future generations.

Let’s embrace this new style of creative sushi. If we as sushi chefs uphold the highest standards of the cuisine while applying our creative interpretations, nothing is lost. And as diners, if we insist on knowing the origins of our seafood and avoiding those that should not be consumed, we can do our part in maintaining ocean friendliness. (And perhaps discover new favorites!)

Sustainable Seafood Resources 

Recipes for Photos Seen above:

Salmon Skin Maki

“Cat”erpillar Maki with Eel-Free Eel Sauce

Tired of spending a fortune on sushi? Learn to make your own.

The secret is out!!

I’ve spent the past several months working on a sushi cookbook. It was the beginning of last week when I started receiving texts and emails “Hey, I saw your book on Amazon!”

Imagine my surprise at the efficiency of the digital world. The book won’t be available for purchase until September, but Amazon already has my info for all to see.

I was waiting for a little closer to the publication date, but what the heck. I’ve been wanting to talk about it anyway.What is this elusive cookbook I speak of? It is titled Sushi Secrets: Fabulous Sushi you can Easily Make at Home (Tuttle, September 2012). The premise of the book is to show you how to make fabulous sushi right in the comfort of your own kitchen. Recipes are relevant for those that live in areas from Mississippi to Montana to Manhattan. In otherwords, no matter where you live, I will share with you methods for making sushi and secrets for finding all the right ingredients. There are even recipes for appetizers, cocktails and desserts made with your leftover Asian pantry staples.

Sushi Secrets offers full color photos, step by step preparation methods, easy to follow recipes and money saving tips for purchasing ingredients.

Sushi Secrets: Fabulous Sushi you can Easily Make at Home (Tuttle, September 2012) by Marisa Baggett, foreword by Trevor Corson

Turn leftover mashed potatoes into these beauties.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There have been many times in the past when I’ve considered incorporating some of the Asian pantry staples I use on a regular basis into the holiday meal. But in the end, I’ve kept it mostly traditional. My family enjoys and looks forward to those Thanksgiving food traditions we’ve established and I enjoy knowing what my menu is going to be.

What I like to do is fuse my leftovers with a little Asian flair. Grab up your kimchi, wonton wrappers, panko, ramen, and yes, sushi basics and check out a few clever ways to use up Thanksgiving leftovers:

Cranberry Sauce

• Mini fried pies – Mix cranberry sauce with a little sugar, ground and fresh ginger, splash of bourbon, butter and cornstarch. Place a hefty teaspoon in the middle of a wonton wrapper. Seal the edges tightly in any shape you like and fry until the wrappers are golden. Dust with powdered sugar and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or egg nog.
• Toasted Walnut and Mushroom Maki - Make this delicious veggie roll without the oven-dried tomatoes. Add a good smear of cranberry sauce inside before adding the walnuts and mushrooms.

Turkey

• Turkey & Kimchi Pita Pizza – Toss kimchi with some pizza sauce. Spread over a pocketless pita. Top with cooked turkey (shredded or diced). Add some shaved onion or chopped scallions. Top with Parmesan or shaved Asiago cheese. Heat in the oven (400 degree F) until cheese melts.
• Baked Curry Buns – Make these crunchy buns using chopped leftover turkey instead of ground lamb. Get more leftover bang by using leftover veggies like green beans in the mix, too.
• Turkey and Egg Donburi (Turkey and Egg over Steamed Rice)- Simmer shredded turkey in a skillet with a little water, soy sauce, mirin and finely grated ginger to make a thin glaze. Keep warm. Scramble an egg. Place steamed rice in a bowl and top with the glazed turkey and the scrambled egg. Top with chopped nori strips.

Mashed Potatoes

• Potato and Bacon Dumplings – Use this gyoza recipe to create a delicious variation on dumplings. Omit the ground chicken and substitute and equal amount of mashed potatoes. Add a few slices of crumbled, cooked bacon to the mixture. The dumplings can be deep fried for extra crunch or cooked gyoza style.
• Potato Korokke (Potato Croquettes) – Form cold mashed potatoes into small ovals. (If you like, you can mix in vegetables or scallions before making the ovals.) Dip the potato ovals in egg white and coat with panko (Japanese breadcrumbs). Fry in oil heated to 350 degrees F until golden and warmed through.

Ham

• Miso Ramen – Get rid of the seasoning packet inside the pack and use turkey stock or another stock as the base for the soup. Boil the noodles in the stock and stir in miso paste to taste. Add chunks of ham, turkey, and green leafy veggies like kale, sauteed cabbage or spinach. For extra yum factor, add a poach or boiled egg. Top with chopped scallions.

Curried Pumpkin Gyoza - Not Your Typical Veggie Gyoza

It’s pumpkin time! Here’s one of my favorite ways to use pumpkin – curried pumpkin gyoza.

Curried Pumpkin Gyoza

Makes about 25

• 1 cup pumpkin puree (about 1/2 can)
• 3 oz firm tofu (about 1/2 block), mashed
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (leaves only)
• 1 block Japanese curry, dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• gyoza wrappers
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 teaspoons water

1. Make the filling by mixing together the pumpkin puree, tofu, scallions, garlic, cilantro leaves, dissolved curry, soy sauce and panko. If the mixture is a little lumpy, you can use a spoon to “chop” things up a bit more.

Be sure to leave room to seal the edges.

2. Lay out a few gyoza wrappers on your work surface. Keep the rest covered with a damp cloth to prevent them from drying out. Place a teaspoon or so mound of the filling in the center of each wrapper. Dip your finger in the cornstarch water mixture and paint the outer edges of each wrapper.

Pinch the edges tightly to seal.

3. Fold the wrappers toward the center until the outer edges meet. Crimp the edges tightly with your fingers. Repeat the steps for filling and creating the gyoza.

Letting the bottoms brown in oil adds a pleasant crunch to the finished gyoza.

4. To cook, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a heavy bottom frying pan. Place a few gyoza in the pan and cook until they begin to get nicely golden on the bottom. Grab a top that fits the pan. Using the top as a shield, add 1/4 cup of water to the pan and cover the pan with the lid. Cook until the water is dissolved and the gyoza wrappers are sufficiently steamed, about 3 minutes. Use a spatula to remove the gyoza from the pan.

5. Wipe the pan clean before cooking each batch.

Just a little light sodium soy sauce is perfect for dipping.

6. Serve the Curried Pumpkin Gyoza warm with light soy sauce for dipping.

Curry pan, or fried bread filled with savory Japanese style curry, has always fascinated me, except for one minor thing. The frying. I know that as a Southerner I’m supposed to love all things fried and crispy. And I do adore fried things. But sometimes you just have to get away from the grease, especially when you’ve invested the time and energy in wiping down all the oil spattered cabinets.
A baked version of the treat can be just as lovely. An abundance of panko (Japanese bread crumbs) layered on top of the buns just before baking adds plenty of crunch without having to drag out a deep pan and frying oil.

Be sure to use Japanese curry. Thai style curry will yield a very different result. Blocks of the Japanese variety can be found in most supermarkets.

Curry Filling – Make this ahead and allow it to cool completely for best results. I make mine the day before and keep in the fridge. Just be sure to wrap it well so that you don’t eat it all before it’s time to make the buns.

• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 blocks Japanese curry
• 1 carrot, diced and boiled
• 1/2 potato, diced and boiled
• 2 tablespoons frozen peas
• good handful minced green onions

1. Heat enough oil in a skillet to coat the bottom. Add the onions and cook them until they begin to turn translucent. Add the ground lamb and cook until it is no longer pink. Drain away the oil and set the lamb onion mix aside.

2. Bring the water to a near boil. Add the curry blocks and stir to dissolve. You can add a couple of splashes of water if necessary. The goal is to end up with a ketchup consistency paste. Stir in the carrot, potato, peas and green onions. Add the lamb onion mix and stir well. Allow the curry mix to cool completely.

Buns

• 1 cup water (about 110 degrees F)
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/3 cup honey or molasses
• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
• about 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 1 egg white + 1 teaspoon water

1. Place the water, oil, honey and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Attach the dough hook and mix for a couple of seconds. Allow the mixture to set for about 5 minutes or until the yeast gets foamy.

Mixed dough

2. Add 2 cups of the flour, the salt and 1 egg to the bowl. Mix well. Add more flour, about 1/4 cup at a time allowing each to mix well. You want the add enough flour to make a dough. Not too stiff, not too wet.

Risen Dough

3. Mix the dough for 5 minutes. Cover the bowl with a towel and place in a warm spot. Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size. This may take 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.

Roll it out and cut

4. Generously flour a work surface. turn the dough onto the surface and flatten. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a thickness of about 1/4 inch. With a circle cookie cutter (about 3 in), cut dough into circles. You may re roll the dough once and cut more circles.

Fill with Lamb Curry

5. Flatten the circle. Place a generous helping of the lamb curry filling in the center of each circle. Pinch the edge of the dough up and around the filling tightly. You should have little oblong parcels. Place each parcel 1 inch apart seam side down on a sheet tray covered with parchment paper. Let the buns rise again for 30 minutes.

Brush with Egg Whites and Cover with Panko

6. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush each bun with the egg white water mix. Cover each bun with a generous amount of panko. Bake the buns until golden, about 20-25 minutes.

7. Eat hot off the pan. Store leftover buns in the fridge. Reheat in the oven before serving. These buns also freeze well.

Savory Goodness

Sushi Style Shooters - Fresh Seafood, Sake, Ponzu and Quail Eggs

Oysters have always been a natural for shooters – their fresh ocean-y liquid is like a complementary soup when taken on the half shell. This, of course is elevated when topped with mignonette and all the lovely sauces that can top them. But they aren’t the only seafood suited for this privileged treatment. Sushi style shooters made with scallops, chunks of yellowfin tuna, salmon, and fresh tilapia make tasty shooters. And oh what fun for cocktail parties! For parties, fill a serving tray with crushed ice or rock salt. (If using rock salt, keep the prepared shooters in the fridge and replenish the tray as needed.) Nestle the shooters into the tray and watch everyone have a good time.

Here’s how I build a basic sushi shooter:

Pick your seafood. Start with small chunks of your favorite sashimi seafood. For my shooters, I used sea scallops. Add a couple of manageable bites to shot or sake glasses. Don’t add too much. Less is more.

Top with good quality sake.  A good chilled sake subtly picks up the flavor of the seafood added and gives it a little punch. After all, you’re “drinking” seafood. I think that justifies a little punch. Sparkling sake is an interesting choice if you prefer a sweeter flavor. If you’re feeling frivolous, skip the sake and top the seafood with hefty dose of high quality bubbly.

Ponzu. Just a splash of ponzu adds a salty note and a hint of citrus. If using champagne, omit the ponzu. A squeeze of citrus such as grapefruit, blood orange or Meyer lemon is a better option.

Aromatics. Minced green onions, cilantro and finely grated ginger are my favorite additions to shooters. It’s best to pick one aromatic per shot, otherwise they can overpower the other flavors.

Extras. I like to serve quail egg yolks with my sushi shooters. You can drop them right in the shot or sake glass or serve them on the side as a build your own shooter. Keeping them in the shells makes a snazzy presentation. Other good extras include salmon roe, masago, serrano pepper slices, and dabs of sriracha.

Enjoy!