In California and Hawaii, we’ve been spoiled for good sushi. Whether it was Tokkuri Tei in Honolulu, Akane in Los Altos, Sakae in Burlingame, or the inimitable Sushi-Man in San Francisco, we feel that we’ve experienced some of the best sushi around. Despite the fact that Kuching is known for its fresh seafood, however, it is not known for having good sushi restaurants.
Our friends Mike and CW both told us to bypass the local Kuching sushi restaurants and just wait until we get to KL or Singapore. Well, we made it to Singapore, we were looking for a place to have dinner after our trip on the Singapore Flyer, and we found the Hibiki Japanese Restaurant on the ground floor of the Singapore Flyer terminal. Let’s have some sushi!
Sushi, or Not Sushi? That is the Question
Well, it turns out that Hibiki restaurant is more of a Japanese buffet restaurant instead of a sushi joint. At least, a Japanese buffet was all they had on offer that night. No ala carte!
Nowadays, we eschew buffets because Annie and I don’t really eat that much and neither do the kids. We never get our money’s worth like we used to when we were ravenous teenagers. But what the heck, we’re on vacation! We decided to just go for it.
The buffet system at Hibiki is not what you’d normally expect. Instead of having all the food laid out on a long table at room temperature, you just tell the waitress what menu selections you want and she’ll run back to the kitchen where they prepare your order. It’s a little slower this way, but at least the food is at the correct temperature.
First to come out was this chawanmushi, a savory steamed egg custard with mushrooms. It was very light and tasty. The kids gobbled theirs right up.
Chawanmushi at Hibiki Restaurant, Singapore
Hibiki doesn’t have much in the way of sushi, but they do have some maki (rolls) like the inside-out California roll and soft-shell crab roll. They also had some sashimi selections, including salmon, swordfish, and amaebi (sweet freshwater shrimp). The salmon was amazingly fresh, while the amaebi were quite enjoyable. We ordered a few more plates of these.
Sushi and Sashimi at Hibiki Restaurant
Annie’s mum ordered up some shrimp and veggie tempura. Also quite nice, but I think the batter was on the heavy side.
Shrimp and Veggie Tempura at Hibiki Restaurant
We ordered a few grilled items as well, including the asparagus wrapped in pork belly (awesome!) and this nice chicken yakitori. Both these items got extra callbacks.
Chicken Yakitori at Hibiki Restaurant
There were a few misses among the dishes, like a dismal agedashi tofu (no bonito shavings? come on!), a boring tabemono, and a grilled unagi fail (too much ginger, didn’t taste right). Service was okay, but the two waitresses got slightly overwhelmed when tables started filling up and they were preoccupied running back and forth from the kitchen. The dessert course was this tart pomelo-flavored jelly, which, though a bit sweet, was a nice save.
Pomelo Jelly at Hibiki Restaurant
With all said and done, we came out a few pounds heavier and about 150 Singapore dollars lighter. Quite full, but not quite satisfied because we still didn’t get the sushi we wanted. At least the weather outside was nice and balmy so we could walk off (a bit) of dinner.
Here’s a shot of the Singapore Flyer from the ground level at night. Like the Flyer, we’ll come ‘round Singapore again. Maybe we’ll find some really good sushi next time.
I love trying out new recipes and new dishes. I’m not one who likes to eat the same thing over and over (though for breakfast, I almost always have toast with peanut butter—go figure, I’m a study in contradictions!). I’m the same with leftovers, unless it’s something I really, really like, I don’t care too much for leftovers. Thankfully Nate will eat up all the leftovers for me. My human “garbage disposal” so to speak ^_^.
So I like to experiment with new recipes and I’m willing to serve them to friends even if it’s the first time I’m making it. This doesn’t always work out as some dishes don’t turn out great the first time (case in point is a braised duck recipe I made recently for a party—I’m NOT blogging about that until I perfect that recipe). But I’m grateful I tried this recipe because the salad turned out perfectly the first time and is simple enough to make with few ingredients. Nate and I agreed that we could have just eaten this dish on its own as a meal.
Make Extra for Leftovers
I did adapt the recipe a little. Instead of just using half a carrot and half a cucumber to one chicken, I used one carrot and cucumber each. I think this ratio is better anyway plus you then won’t have half of both to figure out what to do with. And the extra means you get a little bit more salad to eat—which Nate and I both did later that night happily! The hardest part of this recipe is the julienning of the cucumber and carrots. Other than that, it’s basically just boiling and shredding a chicken breast, and making the dressing. Toss is some toasted sesame seeds and you’re good to go. The one recommendation I have is that you don’t toss the dressing with the salad till you’re ready to serve it. This will ensure the cucumbers don’t give out too much water and make the salad soggy. Also, if your cucumbers are very seedy, make sure to remove the seedy part first before julienning.
Japanese Sesame Salad with Chicken, Carrots and Cucumber
adapted from Kumiko's Kitchen Ingredients 1 Cucumber
1 Carrot
1 half chicken breast
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seed Method 1. Boil the chicken breast until cooked. Cool in cold water, and then shred by hand.
2. Julienne the cucumber and carrot into long, thin ‘match-stick’ pieces.
3. Mix the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and sesame seeds together with the chicken and salad.
Japanese pumpkin, braised in sake, sugar and soy sauce. An easy side dish, packed with lots of color and flavor.
I was looking for some side dishes to serve with my Niku-jaga the other day when came across this dish. I remember having eaten it once, a while back with some friends but I had forgotten all about it until I saw this recipe online. I immediately wanted to make it because I love kabocha and pumpkins in general! Lucky thing, kabocha squash (or at least something very similar in shape and colour) are found in abundance at the local Kuching markets.
This dish is so easy to make, plus it really packs a lot of flavor! If you cannot handle too much sugar, try substituting some of the sugar with agave or a sugar substitute like Splenda. This dish would make a nice option for a holiday side dish if you’re looking for something different. And, it doesn’t take any room in your oven! What more could you ask for?
Kabocha No Nimono (Braised Kabocha Pumpkin)
adapted from Savory Japan Ingredients: 1 lb kabocha (I used half a large kabocha)
2 1/2 cups water
5 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp sake
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp soy sauce Method:
1. Prepare the kabocha. Cut in half if using a whole kabocha. Scoop out the seeds (which can be roasted like pumpkin seeds) and slice into wedges about 1 inch wide at their widest. If the pumpkin is large, cut the wedges in half. The skin can be eaten if it is smooth; if not, peel, but leave some of the green skin for contrast. 2. Combine the simmering ingredients and boil the pumpkin pieces, covered, for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to a simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the pumpkin can be easily pierced with a fork, but is still firm. Take care not to simmer too long, or the pieces will become too soft and will fall apart.
3. Transfer carefully to a plate. If there is a lot of simmering liquid left, continue to boil the liquid till it is reduced to about half a cup. Pour the pot juices over the hot pumpkin. This will allow the pumpkin to soak up the flavor as it cools.
4. Serve in a large bowl or if you want, in individual small plates. Refrigerate leftovers in the remaining pot liquid. It will keep for several days.
Enjoy! Cheers, Annie
Hungry for more kabocha squash / pumpkin recipes? Click below:
Niku-jaga is the Japanese equivalent of Western-style “meat and potatoes”. Just like its Western counterpart, it is total comfort food.
Niku-Jaga (Japanese Meat and Potatoes)
The first time I had this dish was at the kitchen of my graduate dorm in Hawaii (yes, thatplaceAGAIN!). A Japanese friend of mine was making it and the smell was heavenly. She offered me a small bowl and it was sooo good. I shared it with another Japanese friend who lived next door to me and she was transported back to Japan. She then proceeded to make it within that week herself (but she used ground beef—remember we were poor graduate students!).
I found out later that niku-jaga is a much loved dish in Japan though there are regional differences. The first time I made niku-jaga, I invited some friends over to share the meal with me. My friend’s boyfriend comes from Japan. He looked at my niku-jaga, gave a sniff and said, “oh, you made it Kansai style”. He did eat it but proceeded to tell me all about how great Kanto-style niku-jaga is. Those from Tokyo (Kanto) area have a distinctly strong soy-flavored, less brothy dish. Other regions have a lighter and more brothy dish. Ah well…differences are what makes food such an evolving thing. I LOVE it! As a matter of fact, as I looked up this niku-jaga dish, I realized that this dish has seen some evolution alright! I even watched an episode of Iron Chef that had the challenger chef coming up with his special niku-jaga dish. Some niku-jaga recipes uses pork instead of beef. Other recipes for niku-jaga include more vegetables. So not only is this dish yummy, you can create many variations of it by adding other vegetables (carrots, mushrooms, burdock root) or changing the meat around (ground beef is also acceptable). I’ve since made niku-jaga using several different recipes. I find that I really like the recipe I got from “The Japanese Kitchen” by Hiroko Shimbo (yes, I really likethis cookbook!). For this recipe, I believe the style of the niku-jaga is more Kanto-styled. Compared to the first one I made, this is a kicked up version which is very flavorful and addictive. Using dashi instead of water makes a subtle but important difference. Also, cooking with a drop lid helps the dish to not accumulate more water thus keeping the sauce more intense.
Key Ingredients
And one key ingredient in niku-jaga is the onion. Though Shimbo recommends using one medium onion cut into wedges for the dish (the other is just for marinating), I would definitely use two. They add a lovely sweetness to this dish that complements the meat and potatoes like nothing else. I did adapt the recipe a little bit. Shimbo recommends that the potatoes be parboiled and then sautéed in a pan before being added to the braise. I find that this causes the potatoes to not absorb as much of the cooking liquid. It does help to keep the potatoes from falling apart but I didn’t like that the potatoes didn’t absorb as much of the flavors. So I have eliminated this step and just added the potatoes straight into the braise without cooking. Use a sturdier potato like Yukons or reds and you will avoid them breaking apart in the braise. Keep them in large chunks so they will hold better in the braising. As for the soy sauce, if possible, use Kikkoman or other Japanese brands for this dish. I always keep different types of soy sauce in my house. For Chinese cooking, I will use Chinese soy sauces which contain a little sugar. For Japanese and Korean dishes, I normally go with Kikkoman. Try this recipe out and see if you don’t gain a pound after not being able to stop eating it with the rice. And yes, please don’t leave out the rice—this dish just calls for rice to accompany it.
Niku-jaga (Braised beef and potatoes in soy sauce)
adapted from “The Japanese Kitchen” by Hiroko Shimbo Ingredients: 10 oz beef sirloin, sliced thinly across the grain
2-3 medium onions, one sliced thinly, the other 1-2 cut into thin wedges
1 lb potatoes (I used Yukon golds, don’t use Russets as they tend to fall apart in a long braise), left whole if small enough or cut into large chunks
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 cup second dashi (preferable) or water
2 Tbsp sake
2 Tbsp sugar (or mirin, which I prefer)
1/4 cup Kikkoman soy sauce Method:
1. In a bowl, combine the beef and the sliced onion. Marinate the beef for 30 mins.
2. In a medium pot, heat the sesame oil. Remove the beef from the marinade, discarding the onion (don't try to use the onion--it will taste like rust--yes, the first time I made this, I was too pake and used them in another stir-fry and it didn't taste good at all). Add the beef to the pot, and cook it until it turns pale.
4. Add the potatoes and onion wedges to the beef, and give several large stirs. Add the dashi and sake, and bring to a boil. Cook the mixture over low heat, covered with a drop lid (I used foil that I crimped so that the foil just barely sits on top of the ingredients before covering with the lid), for 10 minutes.
5. Add the mirin or sugar, and cook for 5 more minutes.
6. Add the soy sauce, and cook the mixture until the liquid is almost all absorbed--that can take between 20-30 mins.
7. Serve it garnished with some chopped green onions.
What Japanese meal would be complete without miso soup? Sure, you could make it from prepackaged stock but it's more fun to do it from scratch!
Miso Soup From Scratch
Updated 3 Dec 2009
Originally posted 10 March 2007
My son loves miso soup almost as much as he loves Mac and Cheese. Whenever we are at a Japanese restaurant, it’s so easy to feed him. Get him a bowl of miso soup and a bowl of rice. He would take that bowl of rice and proceed to dunk it all into the bowl of miso soup, treating it almost like rice soup! Then, in less than 10 minutes, he would’ve slurped up the whole bowl and many times, would ask us to get him another one. We always watched in bemusement because it’s so simple and so cheap (compared to our love for sushi which costs a gazillion times more!) to make. Happily I’ve learned to recreate miso soup at home for him.
Miso Soup-er Easy
And miso soup is so easy to make! Not only that, it’s fast. It’s not like making chinese bone soups which require hours of simmering for it to taste really good. Miso soup requires only a dashi to make. And dashi is not something you simmer for long. It’s a quick cook which yields a yummy soup. Of course, you could go the easier route by using instant dashi packs or even instant miso soup packs but do give this a try. The flavors, when making your own, are more subtle and will contain less MSG than the instant ones. Once you have the dashi made, it’s just a simple process of prepping some tofu, green onions and wakame seaweed. Then a few spoonfuls of miso and – tada - miso soup! One good trick I’ve learned from watching my friend make miso soup is when adding the miso paste, place it into a strainer and rub the miso paste in the soup base through the strainer. This will prevent clumps of miso paste from sinking to the bottom of your pot and also strains out the larger bits of beans that makes the soup gritty. Another lesson I learned is to never bring your miso soup to a hard boil. It should just barely come to a boil before lowering the heat to a simmer. This preserves the flavors of the soup without making them harsh. Give it a go if you’ve never made miso soup from scratch!
6oz soft tofu, cut into cubes (more if you like your miso soup to have more tofu)
2 Tbsp wakame seaweed, soaked in some water to soften
Wakame Seaweed for Miso Soup
2 stalks of green onions, sliced thin Method:
1. Heat up dashi to near boil.
2. Add miso paste and mix till dissolved in dashi. Use a small strainer to mix the miso paste into the dashi.
3. Bring to simmer. Add tofu, wakame that has been softened and green onions. Serve immediately.
Miso Soup From Scratch
Enjoy! Cheers, Annie For the use of wakame seaweed, I am entering this dish in the Weekend Herb Blogging roundup, administered by Cook Almost Anything and hosted by Just Making Noise
Dashi is a simple broth that is a very important component to a lot of Japanese foods. The Japanese use dashi as a base for miso soups, noodle soups and as a liquid in many simmering braises.
Making Dashi
We’ve been living in Kuching for a little over 3 months now. We’re settling in all right, getting to know the place and people. But we haven’t had a big party of guests over to our house yet, like we used to do almost weekly back in San Jose. We really wanted to invite our friend Paul (who welcomed us on our first day to Kuching) and his family over for a meal.
Annie mulled over the different menu options and eventually decided on a Japanese menu. Of course, there would have to be miso soup. She also wanted to do niku-jaga (meat and potatoes) dish. Both dishes call for dashi as part or most of the ingredients list.
The base of making dashi is the use of kombu/konbu (a dried piece of kelp seaweed) which is placed in cold water then heated to almost a boil. The other ingredient is katsuobushi (bonito flakes) which is added after taking the kombu out. These days, you can get handy instant dashis that you just add to water. But there is nothing like making your own dashi from scratch. And they are not very hard to make at all.
Smells Like the Sea
On its own, dashi is not very strongly flavored but it has a very nice "sea" aroma. And when used to make miso soup (miso is really salty already), it adds that briny sea flavor to the soup. My Japanese friend tells me that the flavors are different based on the kind of kombu you use. I had some miso soup at her home where she had used some very good quality kombu and the miso soup was excellent. I got this dashi recipe from The Japanese Kitchen by Hiroko Shimbo. I love this cookbook quite a bit. Shimbo has done a great job in presenting Japanese food to a novice and her book shows her evident love for the details of cooking Japanese. Sometimes, she does get a little bit too complicated for me and I do simplify when I think it’s necessary but her detailed instructions and steps are what makes this book a lovely instructional on traditions of Japanese food and cooking. Try out this dashi recipe if you’ve never made your own from scratch. The ingredients can easily be found in Asian grocery stores (Japanese and Korean stores will have more choices of kombu and bonito flakes but in a pinch, the other Asian groceries will also carry at least one of each of the above items).
First dashi
adapted from The Japanese Kitchen by Hiroko Shimbo Ingredients:
3-4 pieces of dried kombu, about 6 inches in length each (seaweed)
a large handful of bonito flakes (around 1 cup pressed down)
2 quarts water (about 8 cups) Method:
1. Wipe kombu with damp cloth (do not rinse kombu). Place kombu into pot with cold water.
Wiping Kombu
2.Heat pot over medium heat and wait till it's almost boiling. Do not let it come to a boil. Once you start seeing some bubbles, remove kombu.
3. Reserve kombu for second dashi. Add bonito flakes now to the broth. Heat for roughly two minutes. Turn off the heat and wait for bonito flakes to sink to the bottom.
Adding Bonito Flakes to Dashi
4. Pour broth through a sieve and reserve bonito flakes for second dashi.
Second dashi
1. Take another 2 quarts of water and put kombu and bonito from first dashi into pot of water. Heat until almost boiling and then simmer for 15 minutes or a bit more. Remove kombu and bonito and reserve stock. Note: Use first dashi when you want clear dashi flavors like miso soup, or dishes that are lighter and where the dashi carries the dish.
Use second dashi for stronger flavored dishes like those that contain meat where the dashi is not the main player in the dish. You can also make it vegetarian by not adding the katsuobushi. Instead, add dried shiitakes (rehydrated first) to the stock and you will have a mushroomy flavored dashi. We’ve also tried adding ginger to our dashi for a little extra heat. Play around with your dashi—if you want a more fishy flavor, try adding some dried anchovies. The added ingredients do change the character of the dashi so be mindful of that when you are thinking of adding different flavors. Once you have your dashi, there are plenty of ways to use them. Look out for our coming posts on Miso soup and Niku-jaga (braised beef and potatoes) that utilize dashi. Cheers, Annie I am entering this recipe in the Weekend Herb Blogging roundup for this week, administered by Cook Almost Anything and hosted by Just Making Noise.
Easter is now behind us and we were left with lots of boiled eggs to deal with. This is what happens when you have kids and neighbor’s with kids and we end up coloring a lot of boiled eggs and then in order not to waste them, we have to find ways to eat them all up without resorting to devilled eggs or egg salad sandwiches.
Too Many Easter Eggs
This past Monday, I came up with two ideas—Oden and Thai Son-in-law Eggs. I’ll post about the latter in a future post but for today, let me talk about Oden. Oden is one of those Japanese dishes that I learned while studying in Hawaii (I tell you, that international dorm has been more successful in giving me numerous culinary experiences than actual studying experiences!).
Japanese Oden
Some Japanese students at the dorm made Oden and shared it with me. I loved it and have since recreated it myself several times. Oden is a really simple dish that is perfect when the weather is still cold and you’re not feeling like anything too heavy.
The base stock is a dashi made with kombuand bonito flakes. I’ve cheated by using the Japanese Hon Dashi (Bonito Fish Soup Stock) when I’m in a hurry. Depending on your needs, feel free to make the stock from scratch or use the Hon Dashi (which is what I did this time around). If you have access to an Asian/Japanese grocery store, you could even get a pack of oden soup base mix and then your work is made even simpler.
Build on the Base
The rest of the ingredients is a mixture of daikon, boiled eggs, and different types of fishcakes. Some recipes call for the addition of konnyaku (konjac gelatin) and potatoes. That is the beauty of oden—it allows for a mixture of ingredients based on what you like.
I LOVE fishcakes of all sorts and I love going to the Japanese store and browsing all their different fishcakes and choosing the ones I want to put into my oden. One of the fishcakes I discovered that I absolutely love is called hanpen. If you can find this, you have to try it. It’s a very soft fishcake that comes in a block and that you cut into triangles to add to the soup stock. It expands quite a bit as you simmer the soup. The texture is pillowy soft and airy. It’s a textural wonder and very different from any other fishcake I’ve ever had. I always try to put that in when I can.
The only other ingredients besides the fishcakes that I feel are necessary are the daikon and boiled eggs.
Japanese Daikon Radish
I sometimes add the konnyaku for the textural component it lends but decided against it this time. And if you can get it, do get some of the seasoned yellow Japanese mustard to eat with it. They sell them at Asian grocery stores right next to the wasabi tubes—same brand, different colored mustards.
Once you’ve boiled it for a while, serve it with rice and fight for the fishcakes and ingredients you like best!
Japanese Oden
serves 6-8
Ingredients: 1 lb daikon (about 3 medium sized ones), cut into 3/4 inch rounds or if really big, halved and then cut into 1 inch half moons. 6 hard-boiled eggs, shelled 4-5 packages of assorted fishcakes (I like to get one packet of hanpen, one kamaboko, sliced, some fried fishballs and various other shaped ones) 1 package of konnyaku (cut into 8 triangles or if you want to be fancy, cut into flat rectangles, then cut a slit in the center and turn over to form ribbon pattern)* 6 small potatoes, halved* 7 cups dashi (make your own or use 7 cups water and 1 tsp hon dashi) 1/3 cup soy sauce, or to taste 1/4 cup mirin, or to taste 1 Tbsp sugar, or to taste Hot yellow mustard paste
*optional ingredients
Method
1. In a large pot, heat dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sugar over high heat. Add daikon. Bring stock to boil then turn down to low and simmer for 30 minutes. 2. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the mustard, and simmer partially covered for about 2-3 hours. Add more water if necessary. Don’t allow the broth to reduce by more than half. 3. Taste the broth and if needed, adjust seasonings by adding more soy sauce, mirin or sugar as needed. The flavors should be lightly salty-sweet. 4. Serve the oden in bowls alongside rice and the mustard paste.
You guys know about our favorite fishmonger in the whole world right? His name is Pat and he runs Mission Fresh Fish out in San Leandro. You can find him at several farmer’s markets around the Bay Area. We’ve talkedabout hima loton this blog. See, his fish is truly the best I’ve come across. And this is one of the things I get the most from him—salmon collars.
Salmon Collars – Cut From Right Behind the Gills
I first came to know of salmon collars when I started visiting Pat’s booth at the Saratoga Farmer’s Market. The salmon collars were packed in ziplock bags and put next to all the fish bones and other ‘scraps’ leftover from his filleted fish. One of his staff recommended the salmon collars to me as the cheaper alternative to buying his salmon fillets. They told me that it was just as delicious if not more because of all the fat on it. So much fat, it’s almost like having salmon toro!
Get the Right Kind of Salmon
So I came back home that first time with a bag or two of the salmon collars and prepared them as they said—just salt and pepper it then broil. And it was the most delicious thing. This is when I had my epiphany. Salmon can taste so amazing when youget the right kind. And this was the right kind—wild King Salmon. I cannot go back to any store bought salmon anymore (the variety of salmon really counts and King Salmon is truly KING among the salmons).
And Pat sells his salmon collars at the most reasonable price. Would you believe that he charges only $4/lb for these salmon collars? Yes, you heard me right—only $4/lb. These days, when I go to get them, I come back with at least 5-8 lbs each time. I freeze them in bags and go through them in about 2 weeks.
Easy Prep, Intense Flavor
Prepping the salmon collars is so easy. I just cut each salmon collar into three parts—the two side fin parts and I’m left with one small steak piece.
Three Pieces of the Salmon Collar
I lay them all out on a baking tray (wrap the tray in foil for even easier clean up) and salt them with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides.
Salmon Collars Laid on Baking Tray
If you want them to taste more intense, leave the salt on for about 30 minutes before you broil the salmon. This technique is the Japanese way of cooking fish “shioyaki” style. And it’s really delicious.
I once made this dish for a catered dinner and someone asked me what I had seasoned the fish with. She could not believe that all it was was salt and pepper. It’s the fish, people! If it’s good fish, it tastes so good that you don’t really need anything else. Plus, salt done right can be the most amazing flavor component. You don’t need much of anything else.
Fifteen Minutes and Done
I then turn my oven to broil and set the rack at the highest level, closest to the broiler. Pop in the fish, leave the oven door slightly ajar and set the timer for 7 minutes (please check on yours as different ovens have different broiler intensities—I did this at a friend’s house once and it browned a lot faster). Basically, you want the fish to brown and get some nice charring (not burning!) before flipping them over.
Once the timer beeps, turn fish over and broil for another 6-7 minutes (normally shorter time because fish is warm and oven has gotten hot too) or until it is a nice golden brown with bits of darker charred color.
Broiled Salmon Collars
Remove from oven. Plate up and make a pig of yourself sucking up the succulent fish and all that tasty, oily yumminess!
Broiled Salmon Collars
If you’ve never had salmon collars, you need to make a point to get yourself to your nearest fishmonger and ask them for it. If you’re in the Bay Area, find out which farmer’s market Pat is at that is closest to you. Just don’t buy him out—save some for me! Don’t forget—Wild King Salmon is the way to go. Everything else just doesn’t come close.
Broiled Salmon Collars with Rice and Stir-Fried Veggies
Cheers, Annie
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We went to Sakae Sushi in Burlingame, CA to celebrate Annie’s birthday with some of the best sushi in the Bay Area. In Part 1, we talked about all the great sashimi we had. Now it’s time to talk sushi…nigiri sushi.
When most Americans think of sushi, they think of California rolls, Caterpillar rolls, Dragon rolls, etc. You know, a tube of rice and relatively small pieces of fish mixed with the likes of cucumber, avocado, fake crab, cream cheese, mayonnaise, you name it. Sometimes it’s even drizzled with a sweet sauce. It’s basically a way to avoid tasting raw fish, which I guess is not big with the Western palate. (No wonder I see a lot of people absolutely drown their sushi in soy sauce and horseradish!)
Japanese do eat rolled sushi (called maki) but they don’t tend to hide the fish. Nigiri sushi puts that fish right on top. And that’s the way we like it!
Halibut Fin Nigiri at Sakae Sushi in Burlingame
Halibut is one of our favorite fishes for sushi. But this is not your normal halibut fillet cut. The meat is taken from around the fin area of the fish instead. It is very thinly sliced (can you see the dab of wasabi underneath the fish?) and has a slightly firmer texture. He seasoned it with a few drops of lime and sprinkles of salt. It was good, but I thought he was a mite too heavy with the salt.
Premium Mackerel Sushi at Sakae Sushi in Burlingame
We’ve had some pretty good aji (mackerel) sushi in our time. This is “seki aji”, premium mackerel from Kyushu. Mackerel has a really strong, almost bitter flavor if you don’t prepare it right. The skill of the chef really comes into play here. He has to know the fish’s characteristics and how to best marinate / prepare it in order to bring out all the best flavors. Here, it is served with chopped green onion and minced ginger. Perfect!
Striped Jack Sushi at Sakae Sushi in Burlingame
This fish is called “Shima aji”, or striped jackfish. It has a more delicate flavor than the mackerel. No need for stronger garnishes like ginger or green onion.
The Most Important Element in Sushi
I want to point out here the rice ball underneath the fish. You may think that the fish is the most important component in sushi. Not true. Our old friend and sushi chef Ryo used to say that fresh fish is just the minimum requirement to good sushi.
The rice (or shari) is actually the most important element in sushi. It is the base on which you build great sushi. The rice must be able to hold together in one ball, yet break apart into individual grains in your mouth. It must be able to absorb the sweet vinegar dressing yet not turn into a sticky mush. If made right, the rice and the fish will actually hold together, even if turned upside-down.
You can’t just put any old rice in a steamer, push the button, and expect good sushi rice to come out. It takes skill and experience to know how to make good sushi rice. Respect the rice maker!
Minced Otoro and Uni Gunkan Maki at Sakae Sushi in Burlingame
When we first started getting into good sushi, we believed that toro, the fatty cut of tuna, was the ultimate cut. Little did we know that there are different grades of fatty tuna. Otoro, the fattiest of them all, will literally melt in your mouth.
The same with really fresh uni (sea urchin roe). Our sushi chef had already given us uni on our crab, salmon and scallop sashimi. We noticed he pulled out a different tray of uni for this one. These uni were about half the size of the Santa Barbara uni we had earlier. I didn’t ask their origin, but I surmise that these were actually from Japan.
When he set this “gunkan maki” sushi down, our chef said that there was no name for this creation. He just made it up. “I call it ‘King Sushi!’” he laughed.
An appropriate name. We put that sushi in our mouths and chomped down. The minced otoro and the unijust melted away and gooshed all over. WOW. Simply amazing.
Torched Salmon Sushi at Sakae Sushi in Burlingame
Everytime we’ve gone to Akane Sushi in Los Altos, they’ve made us a pair of torched salmon nigiri. At first I thought it was a novelty, but wasn’t really impressed with the flavor. When we saw our chef pulling out the torch again for this salmon sushi, we balked.
“We’ve had this torched salmon before at another restaurant, and didn’t like it. Which do you like better, torched or not?”
“I like it torched. It melts the fat and brings it out of the fish.”
We savored the salmon sushi. “Wow, this is good! I like it! What’s different?’
“You have to marinate the salmon first for three hours to get rid of the fishiness. Then it won’t be so fishy when the fat melts out.”
Aha. Again, skill.
Taking a Break, Making Some Friends
We were well into the meal and feeling fine. The restaurant was full of customers, so our chef was pretty busy filling orders. We were content to sit back for a while and take a break.
The couple sitting next to us at the bar struck up a conversation. The husband, Eric, opened with “I notice you’re taking pictures of all your dishes. Are you a food blogger or are you just taking pics for yourselves?”
Hee hee. Good question! I handed him one of our Foodbuzz Featured Publisher cards. This started a very pleasant conversation.
It turns out that Eric and his wife Angela also have a food blog, tastebound.com, which chronicled their eating adventures while Eric was studying in Sydney, Australia. Unfortunately, life got in the way and they haven’t blogged since 2007.
But they recently moved to the Bay Area to work, and are now living in San Francisco, one of the foodiest food cities in the world. We gave them some suggestions for places to eat like Zuni Cafe and Hog Island Oysters. Hopefully, they will begin to chronicle their foodie adventures once more.
Back to the Action
After the break, our chef asked us if we still wanted more sushi. We asked him if there was any fish that we hadn’t tried yet. He looked over the fish in the case before us. “I think I’ve given you all the fish.”
Oh. But then we noticed that he took a block of something out from the fridge below the counter. What was that? It looked like fish. But there were streaks of fat throughout the meat that made up almost half of the block.
I think this was the first time I’ve ever had Kobe beef. It’s such an expensive meat that I just couldn’t imagine buying it. In fact, this is probably the most expensive pair of sushi ever.
But it was goooood. Even though the Kobe beef was just lightly seared on the outside and still raw on the inside, it was as tender as can be because of all that intramuscular fat. We had no trouble eating this at all!
Red Snapper Sushi at Sakae Sushi in Burlingame
That Kobe beef sushi should have been it. It was the pinnacle of an exceptional meal. I should have stopped there. But no. I got greedy.
Our chef hadn’t given us tai (snapper) and I wanted to compare it to what I enjoyed at Akane in Los Altos. So I asked him to make a tai nigiri for me.
He had to pull the tai out of the fridge under the counter. Then he served it without a piece of shiso leaf like they do at Akane. So I was disappointed, both because the fish itself was not the right temperature, and also because there wasn’t any shiso. But it’s all my fault. I should have just trusted the chef to give me only the best.
Deep Fried Shrimp Heads at Sakae Sushi in Burlingame
All night, I had been watching the chef make sashimi platters which included amaebi, or sweet shrimp. He’d also include the raw heads of the shrimp on the platter. I wanted some deep fried amaebi heads.
So I asked the chef if I could get some deep fried shrimp heads. He didn’t have any more shrimp in the case, but he told me wait. “We have some in the back.”
Sure enough, a few minutes later, this plate of deep fried shrimp heads arrived. They were piping hot out of the oil. Their legs and antennae were like thin, crispy shrimp crackers. The heads are a little more substantial. You bite into them and you get this complex, savory taste that is unmistakably shrimp-dilly-ishous! We ate everything.
Finishing Up
We were done. It was getting late and we had to get back to reality and go pick up the kids before heading home. We asked for the bill.
Our chef didn’t actually know how much the bill would come out to. He only wrote down what fish we ate and let the waitress calculate the bill. When he found out how much it was, he was shocked.
We weren’t. After many times of eating high quality sushi at Ryo’s Sushi-Man, we knew to expect a hefty price tag. Not only were we paying for the freshest, highest quality fish, we were also paying for the skill and creativity of the chef preparing that fish for us.
And that is the difference between an affordable meal of high quality fish at Akane versus a blow-out-the-bank meal of high quality sushi at Sakae. And that is why we only go out for sushi twice a year (or less). We just can’t afford to do this all the time.
So here’s our dilemma – once we’ve had sushi of this caliber, how can we go back? No way we’re going to any sushi boat-type restaurant ever again. We’re spoiled for good sushi!
Do We Have a Winner?
There’s no doubt that Sakae Sushi is one of the best sushi restaurants in the Bay Area. The quality of the fish is excellent. The skill and creativity of the chef is at a high level. But remember that there was something more that we were looking for.
We were looking for that chef connection. The same way we connected with Ryo. Where he was more than a chef, but a friend.
We didn’t feel a strong connection with our chef that night. “Seki” was quite new to the restaurant, having been there only one month. The old-time chefs at Sakae, Hiro and Jun, must have been working at Sakae’s new sister restaurant, Noboru, which had just opened up recently.
“Seki” was pretty much fresh-of-the-jet from Tokyo. While his sushi-making skills are undoubtedly top-notch, his English skills need work. So we have a very basic communication issue.
Which leaves us with another dilemma – should we try out the sushi bar at Noboru where the chefs there would be easier to converse with, or stay with “Seki” at Sakae? Suffice to say, we’ve found a great sushi restaurant, but not one that we could become “regulars” at. The search continues.
Saturday was Annie’s birthday, and we wanted to go out for a special sushi meal to celebrate the occasion. We had talked about going back to see our favorite sushi chef, Ryo of Sushi-Man in San Francisco. But Ryo was tragically killed in January, and we were left looking for a restaurant worthy to replace the high quality of sushi and service that Ryo gave to us.
I made reservations at the bar for the two of us on Saturday night. We knew we were going to get top quality fish, so we had no problems going omakase. But would we make a connection with the chef, as we did with Ryo?
Sakae Sushi is located in downtown Burlingame. It looks just like a neighborhood sushi joint. Not too flashy, but comfortable. When we arrived, most of the tables were filled with customers but our reserved seats at the bar were right in front of the sushi chef.
“Seki” Mori, Sushi Chef at Sakae Sushi in Burlingame
Only, this chef didn’t look like either the owner, Hiro or the sushi chef Jun, as advertised on the restaurant’s website. This guy was new. At least he seemed competent at his station. We watched him put together a rather delicious looking sashimi platter for some other customers. Then he turned to us.
“What do you want tonight?” he asked politely.
“OH-mah-Kah-say,” we replied.
“Omakase? That means I choose, yes?” he said, pointing to himself.
“Yes, we trust you. Please give us your best.”
At that point, he smiled and began to work.
(I have to point out that there actually were a couple of items on the whiteboard menu up on the wall called “omakase”. But I suspect that these are treated more like special set sushi or sashimi platters rather than a true “chef’s choice”, non-set-menu dinner. That’s probably why he needed to confirm that it really was his choice.)
Special Sashimi Platter from Sakae Sushi in Burlingame
Our first course was a sashimi platter. On the left is bonito garnished with thin slices of raw garlic. The chef described it as coming from Shikoku island, not mainland style. In the middle are seki saba (mackerel) from Kyushu and also tako (octopus), garnished with green onions. On the right is hirame (halibut) that is garnished with minced toasted sesame seeds. The bonito with the raw garlic was surprisingly good. Annie thought that the sesame on the halibut really makes the dish.
Minced, Torched Yellowtail at Sakae Sushi in Burlingame
As we were working through the first platter, the chef minced a small pile of wild winter buri (yellowtail) into a paste, then combined it with miso and minced green onion. Then he took a propane torch and seared the outside of the paste for a few seconds, leaving the inside still raw. He said that this style came from Chiba County, near Narita airport The flavor was just amazing.
Salmon, Scallop and Uni Sashimi Platter at Sakae in Burlingame
Our final sashimi platter was this beautiful creation. Thinly sliced cucumber on the bottom, a dollop of crab salad in the middle. Small slice of sake (salmon) followed by a nice portion of hotate (scallop) on top of that. Then, the pièce de résistance– fresh Santa Barbara uni (sea urchin roe). He drizzled lines of sweet sauce on top of that and then torched the whole thing again with his propane burner.
I have never seen anything like it before. The taste? Out of this world. We normally don’t like uni because it can be too fishy. But this uni had no fishiness to it. It just melted away as soon as you put it into your mouth. Combined with the crisp cucumber, firm scallop and creamy crab salad, it made for a delicious textural experience. The only thing we didn’t like was that the sauce was a little too sweet.
Of course, we weren’t at Sakae for just sashimi. We were here for the sushi, and by that we don’t mean California Rolls, Caterpillar Rolls, or any other kind of Americanized “gateway” to raw fish. We’re hard core, baby! Bring on the nigiri!
©2006-2010 House of Annie. House of Annie's text and photos are licensed under a Creative Commons 