Ochazuke - お茶漬け - かまきの食事時間#10

美味しくて簡単な日常日本料理です。

Ochazuke (お茶漬け[おちゃづけ]) is a common Japanese household dish which literary translates as pouring tea onto cooked rice. Various toppings can be added, but seaweed and salmon are the most popular ones. The common tea for the dish is green tea, but I used genmaicha instead because of is additional rustic flavor.

The following is my recipe of making Ochazuke. Too bad I don't have any Japanese styled ceramic bowl to accompany this.

Ingredients (serving for 4):
Rice - 2 cups
Salmon fillet (Skin On) - 1
Dried Seaweed - 1 sheet
Dried Skipjack Tuna Flakes (鰹節[かつおぶし]) - as desired
Eggs - 1 per person
Tsuyu Sauce - 100mL
Garlic - 3 cloves
Genmaicha Tea (玄米茶[げんまいちゃ]) - 50g

1. Wash and cook rice.

2. Season salmon fillet with salt and pepper, and then pan-fry with garlic.

3. Remove the salmon fillet when cooked, and "shred" with spoon.

4. In a tea pot, add in the tsuyu sauce. Place the genmaicha tea leafs in the filter and then add boiling water. Wait for 2 minutes.

5. Shred the dried seaweed sheet with hand into small pieces.

6. Place cooked rice in bow. On top, place the salmon and seaweed.

7. Cook egg in the form of similar to egg Benedict.

8. Add the tea into the bowel until 2cm below the tip of the rice. Place the egg and dried skipjack tuna flakes on top, and finish with a sprinkle of Genmaicha tea leafs.

9. Serve

お茶漬けを作りました！長時間のために日本料理を作っていませんね。今回の料理に福岡県からの玄米茶を入れました。

どうぞごゆっくり召し上がってください。

Pan-fried Whitings with Lemon and Grapefruit - 揚げ牙鱈とレモンとグレープフルーツ - かまきの食事時間#9

昨日、魚を突然食べたくなるので、地元の海鮮市場に行った。

Whiting (牙鱈[きばタラ]), is a silver colored cod-like fish that is available in all season but best during the winter. The name "whiting" is a common term given to a number of different fishes based on its appearance (rather than biological class). Currently, thirteen "whitings" are found around Australia. The fish itself is very tender when fresh, and quite flavorsome; although not as much as the other cods.

Following is my recipe for making pan-fried whitings with lemon and grapefruit (揚げ牙鱈とレモンとグレープフルーツ). The idea of using lemon and grapefruit came after watching an episode from Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmare.

Ingredients (for one):
Whiting fish fillets - 2 pieces
Grapefruit - half
Lemon - half
Garlic - 2 cloves
Chives - as desired
Crushed mixed nuts - as desired
Corn flour - as required to cover fillet
Brown sugar - half table spoon
Salt as desired

1. Season the whiting fillets with salt and pepper, then coat the whiting fillets with corn flour.

2. Pan-fry the fillets with garlic and olive oil.

3. While waiting for the fish to cook, peel and cut grapefruit into bite sizes, and mix with brown sugar.

4. Plate the grapefruit, then lay the whitings on top. Garnish with lemon juice, chopped chives, and crushed mixed nuts

揚げ牙鱈とレモンとグレープフルーツを完成！ちょっと西洋らしい料理です。
どうぞごゆっくり召し上がってください。

Tom Yum Soup - トムヤムクン - かまきの食事時間#8

すべてのタイ料理は甘さ, 辛さ酸味が需要です。

I walked through the Asian market in Sunnybank the other day, and browsed through the pre-made sauce section for cooking ideas. There, I ended up in the Thai food section, which highlighted the popularity and complexity of making Thai dishes. Thai food is all about spices, with the well-balanced strength of sourness (酸味 [さんみ]), spiciness (辛味[からみ]), and sweetness (甘味[かんみ/あまみ]). However, such combination requires multiple herbs and spices, where its preparation is time consuming for most house-holds. I took up the challenge to see if I can re-create an authentic Thai dish from scratch.

The following is my attempt to make a popular Thai dish, called the Tom Yum Soup (トムヤムクン) [泰式酸辣蝦湯/冬蔭功湯].

Ingredients:

Smoked pork bone - 1 piece

Bacon - 3 slices

Red cod fillet - 1 piece

Prawn - 6 pieces

Lemon - 1 whole

Grape fruit - half

Garlic - 6 cloves

Onion - 1 whole

Spring Onion - 2 sticks

Tomato - 1

Lemongrass - 3 sticks

Thai Basil - as desired

Red chili pepper - 3 (or as desired)

Chicken stock - 500mL

Water

Salt - as desired

1. Pan-fry garlic and diced bacon in the stew pot, then add in the smoked pork bone, spring onion and lemongrass (I wrapped the spring onion and lemongrass together as they were only intended for flavour and not to be served in the dish). Add water and chicken stock. Cook for 10 minutes.

2. Squeeze lemon and grape fruit, then add diced chili (removing its seeds), tomato and onion.

3. Separate the head of the prawns, and add them into the stew. Cook for 60 minutes on low heat.

4. Only add the peeled prawn and fish into the pot about 4-5 minutes prior to serving. I also added diced oyster blade steak to my own liking.

5. Add Thai basil on top, and serve with noodle or rice.