HAPPY NEW YEAR, though belated!!

Got a deadline of my PhD thesis correction on 31st January. So I needed to stay away from my blog. I shall powerfully post other dishes, including Christmas Leftover series after I submit it!!

In Japan, family gather up along with a festive cuisine called 'Osechi' on New Year's Day (1st January). Likewise Christmas in Europe, New Year's Day is very important for family in Japan. I tried some of them.

• Datemaki (right top): sweet omelette with fish paste 
• Kuri-Kinton (right bottom): sweet mushed potato with chestnut
• Namaru (left bottom): pickled radish and carrot with sesame seeds
• and salmon sashimi with ikura marinated with soy sauce and sake. 

 I also made Ebi-shinjo (right), a steamed shrimp paste with enoki mushroom.

Though not osechi, the main dish was roast lamb from Ginger Pig served with mashed parsnip with lemon sauce.

Ozoni, soup dish with shimmered veggies is essential for the Japanese New Year's Day. The contents is varied to region to region. This is my mom's style of Tokyo (?).

Datemaki

Ingredients:

• 5 Large eggs 
• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• 2.5 tablespoons of mirin
• 120g of red-snapper or sea bass or hanpen (japanese fish cake) (this time, I used  60g of hanpen and 60g of sea bass)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• Vegetable oil (for baking)

*I referred the recipe of Yoko Arimoto, a Japanese cookery teacher

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients in a mixer for 1 min

2. Heat up a large frying pan or a shallow pan over medium temperature. Grease the bottom and side with vegetable oil. Pour the datemaki batter into the pan then close it with a lid

3. Cook it for 25 mins over minimum temperature. Pierce the middle part of datemaki with a toothpick. If nothing comes with the pick when it is taken out, it's the sign that datemaki is ready 

4. Place datemaki immediately over a scroll. Cut the two opposite sides parallelling to the sides of the scroll. Place cut pieces in the front side 

5. Roll up datemaki from the front to the end tightly

6. Bind dakemaki with rubber bands and rest it at least over night. The process 4.-6. should be done while the datemaki is warm

7. Slice datemaki to serve with soy sauce and wasabi. It lasts 4-5 days in the fridge.

Total cost: 4-5 pounds. Depends on the price of fish and other ingredients
Time to prepare: 40 mins

Thank you for reading my blog!!

Best wishes for 2013!!

Christmas Roast Leftover Remake 7: Omurice (Rice Omelette) with Roast Goose 

Omurice is a genius invention for using leftover rice and meat as introduced many times in this blog. Leftover Christmas Roast also worked well.

Ingredients (for two people)

• 2.5 cups of cooked rice 
• 1/2 large onion
• 3-4 eggs
• green peas (if available)
• 3tablespoons+ of Tomato Ketchup 
• 50g of leftover Christmas Roast Poultry
• salt and peppr
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Directions

1. Watch the Omurice scene in a cool film "Tampopo". 

2. Chop Christmas Roast and onion into pieces

3. Microwave rice for 1 min (this process makes rice easy to combine with other ingredients). Grease a frying pan with vegetable oil and fry onion and Christmas Roast for 3-4 mins

4. Add rice and combine while frying over medium temperature

5. Season the rice with tomato ketchup and pinches of salt and pepper

6. Place the rice in oval shape on a plate by using a bowl (please refer: http://japanesegourmet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/japanese-rice-omelet-omurice-sunday.html)

7. Make a flat omelette in a small frying pan and place it over the top of the rice

8. Draw whatever you like with ketchup over the Omurice.

Time to prepare: 20 mins
Total Cost:????

Christmas Roast Leftover Remake 6: Pumpkin Soup with Goose Bone Stock and Bread Pudding with Plum Compote 

The natural flavour from the stock prepared with leftover Christmas Roast Goose enhances the real taste of vegetables and then the soup becomes very elegant. 

It is definitely different from the one using chicken stock cube (though I enjoy it usually).

Ingredients for Pumpkin Soup (for 3-4 people)

• 1/2 of medium sized pumpkin
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 branch of celery without leaves 
• 1 tablespoon of butter 
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 400-500cc of goose bone stock (or 400-500cc of water and a half cube of chicken stock. In this case, avoid to use salt)
• (sour cream)
• (dill)

Directions

1. Microwave the pumpkin for 3-4 mins. Peel the skin and chop into rough pieces

2. Chop onion and celery into pieces and fry them in a deep pan with butter for 3-4 mins

3. Add pumpkin and soup stock, gently cook until all ingredients become tender for 5-6 mins

Goose Stock came out from freezer!!

4. Blend the soup for 3 mins. Once it gets smooth, put it back to the pan and add salt. Serve the soup with sour cream and some dill or chopped parsley on top.

I also add plum compote prepared at Le Cordon Bleu Christmas Dinner Workshop into the bread pudding.

Directions:

Cut bread into small bite sized and soak with 200cc of milk. Grease the baking tray with butter. Prepare caramel with 50g of dark sugar with 1 tablespoon of water and spread it on the bottom of the baking tray. Place bread, plum compote and rasin in the tray. Combine 2 eggs, 50g of sugar and 300cc of milk and pour into the tray and grill it in oven over 160C for 25-30 mins.

Total time to prepare: 10 mins for Pumpkin Soup and 40 mins for Bread Pudding

Total Cost: ??? Extremely inexpensive since most of ingredients are leftovers

Christmas Roast Leftover Remake 5: Marinated Salmon with Soy sauce 2

Salmon Flakes on Rice: Keep Calm and Eat Bento

Directions

Grill soy-sauce marinated salmon for 5-6 mins in oven over 200C. Mash the salmon into flakes and top on the cooked rice with some nori (seaweed black paper).

Salmon flakes are nice rice-topping for bento!! 

Hope Mr. Husband could calm himself at his office with this.

Time to prepare: 6-7 mins (except the time to draw letters with black paper)
Total Cost:???? (Extremely inexpensive)

Christmas Roast Leftover Remake 4: Marinated Salmon with Soy sauce 1

Soy Sauce-Marinated Salmon Salad with Wasabi and Avocado

Smoked salmon or citrus marinated salmon is very popular ingredient for Christmas Dinner appetiser.

I usually marinate leftover sashimi or smoked salmon with soy-sauce and mirin. 

This time, I used the leftover citrus marinated salmon other ingredients from the Christmas Dinner Workshop@ Le Cordon Bleu

http://japanesegourmet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/christmas-dinner-workshop-le-cordon.html.

Direction to marinate salmon

Put raw/smoked/marinated salmon (roughly 70g) with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and sake/mirin in a closable container and leave it at least for overnight.

This will last for 2-3 days. 

Ingredients of Soy Sauce-Marinated Salmon Salad with Wasabi and Avocado

• Salmon marinated with soy sauce and sake
• 1/2 avocado
• Whipped cream with lime and horseradish (leftover from the workshop@Le Cordon Bleu) or instead, sour cream
• wasabi
• (leftover blini or pan cake)

Directions

Slice avocado into 5mm and serve with marinated salmon, sour cream topped with wasabi. 

Leftover blini was also very nice company for this salad!!

Time to prepare: 5 mins
Total cost: ??? extremely inexpensive

Christmas Roast Leftover Remake 3: Teriyaki Roast on rice with avocado, grilled shiitake and spring onion

• Teriyaki Christmas Roast on rice with grilled shiitake and spring onion
• Grilled aubergine with fried squid salad
• Tofu with sesame oil and sea salt
• Miso soup with turnip

This is very easy, quick, economical and tasty transformation of Christmas roast!!

Ingredients

• 200g of Leftover Christmas Roast  
• 2-3 Spring onions
• 4-5 Shiitake mushrooms
• 1/2 avocado
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of mirin (if mirin is not available, replace it with 2 tablespoons of sake and 1 teaspoon of sugar)
• (cooked rice)
• (sesame seeds)

Directions

1. Chop spring onion, Christmas roast into 1.5cm length. Place all ingredients except soy sauce and mirin on baking tray and grill them over 200C for 5 mins

My Christmas Roast Goose was frozen so I cut it into bite sized after grilling

2. Put soy sauce and mirin in a heat-safe container and condense the teriyaki sauce in microwave for 1 min 

3. Once the roast and veggies are nicely grilled, turn the heat off. Pour the sauce over them and place it back into the oven to cook for another 2-3 mins over residual heat

4. Chop avocado into small bite sized and combine with grilled stuff. Top Teriyaki Christmas Roast and grilled veggies with sesame seeds. You can also enjoy this dish by serving with cooked rice. 

Time to prepare: 10 mins
Total cost: 1.2 pound