Shinya Shokudo : Canned Maguro Rice (Tuna Rice) - Season 2 Episode 15

Shinya Shokudo : Canned Maguro Rice (Tuna Rice) - Season 2 Episode 15

深夜食堂 2 （第15 话） - 鲔鱼 （金枪鱼）美奶滋盖饭

Maguro Rice - Inspired by the series Shinya Shokudo

When you become a mummy, the food that you cook tend to revolve around what is good for the kids and what the kids will tend to eat and it is really difficult to try new recipes when they are picky eaters.  My girl does not like sweet stuff and rejects cakes and biscuits.  My boy tends to be suspicious of new food and would like to stick to the traditional stuff.  Once in a while, you must really starve them to introduce new food.  Used to be able try new stuff during lunch and that too stopped as I now make packed lunch for my husband when I am free and that means catering to his taste as well.

Anyway I watched the Japanese series "Shinya Shokudo" last school holiday and have been meaning to try out new recipes and I finally got a chance since I was on medical leave yesterday and that meant I would stay at home and try something simple.  I did butter rice in the morning, and finally managed to try out the canned maguro don.  It is really simple and nice and taste like a modified and improved version of  the traditional tuna mayo filling that I make for my sandwiches, except, this time the filling is topped on rice. I served mine with miso soup and I really liked it.

The recipe below makes actually 3 servings....so you can make and use the left over for sandwiches later.  I refrigerated mine in an airtight container and it will be my lunch today as well.  By the way, the recipe is quite versatile, adjust according to taste.  If you like more of a spiced up version, a little more wasabi would be good.  Potentially, these could be for my kids so I reduced the wasabi.

Recipe : Canned Maguro Rice (Tuna Rice)

 Servings: 2-3 

Ingredients:

 

•  1 can of tuna -  I used tuna chunks in water so that I can salt according to taste.  You can use brined tuna or tuna in oil.

•  2 tbsp of mayonnaise

• 1/2 tsp wasabi  ( You can add more if you like a little more spice.  We can't get fresh wasabi in Singapore, but if you could I think it would taste better.)

• 1/2 tsp of miso

• 1 small yellow onion

• Salt to taste.

• 1 sprig of spring onion ( also known as scallions) - You may use chives but it makes it more English I guess.

• Cooked japanese white rice (warm)

 

Method:

1. Shred the spring onion parallel to its fibres and soak in chilled water.  It will cause the spring onion to curl up and makes it pretty for garnish.  

(In the original TV series, I think seaweed was used, but I am having my rice with wakame miso soup so I decided to substitute with spring onion.  For the Japanese, I think it is important that their food looks good - served with the correct utensils, having the right colour and I do agree it whets the appetite.)

 

2.  Dice the onions finely and set aside.

3.  Drain the canned tuna and place in a mixing bowl. Add in the mayonnaise and wasabi and mix well with a fork. 

4. Add in the chopped onion and mix well as well.  Taste and add salt if necessary. 

5. Scoop warm japanese cooked rice in a bowl.  Place some mixed maguro (tuna) and top with the prepared spring onion.

You may serve with miso soup to complete the meal.

Notes:

For mayonnaise, I tend to like to go for the Japanese mayonnaise and the brand by Ajinomoto....it's more for the ingredients....I tend to read the ingredients in detail and the one I get contains eggs, vinegar, salt and sugar - I see less weird chemical names that I don't recognise.

I also think that the rice will taste good if it has a sprinkling of toasted sesame...it gives it a more complex texture and it ups the calcium content at the same time. :)

 

Shinya Shokudo - Butter Rice (深夜食堂 - 牛油拌饭）Season 1 - Episode 5

Shinya Shokudo - Butter Rice 

深夜食堂 - 牛油拌饭 ( Season 1 - Episode 5)

(Butter Rice - Picture Taken from the film Shinya Shokudo)

I was introduced to the Japanese series of Shinya Shokudo by my sister-in-law when I went over to visit her in Australia last December break and took the whole time to finish both season 1 and season 2.  Really liked some of the tips that they gave at the back of each show.

One of the recipes that I have been wanting to try is butter rice.  I really love butter and I do like Japanese rice.  Didn't have a chance to try it as my husband thinks that my love for butter is crazy....(hm....however he doesn't really understand....different recipes call for different styles and texture of butter).

Had a chance to try it today as I am on medical leave and I cooked a pot to Japanese rice for lunch, my rice cooker can take only at least one cup of rice, that leaves me with enough cooked rice for two meals.  Anyway, really really liked it!  I ate it all up and forgot to take photos so will have to use the image clipped from the series.  Next time, I will take it with miso soup and I think it can be my simple breakfast for some days.

Anyway for the rest of the rice, I am going to try to make the tuna rice in the afternoon.

Butter Rice (Recipe)

1 serving of steamed rice (warm from the rice cooker)

1 small knob of cold butter ( salted or unsalted)

A few drips of light soya sauce (Shoyu)

1.  Ladle the warm steam rice, preferably straight from the rice cooker, into a small bowl.

2.  Place a small knob of butter (about 1 tsp - a pinky finger size) onto the rice.

3.  Let the rice warm the butter for about 30 s, use the chopstick to wrap the butter round the rice a little. (Do not microwave !!!).  The butter will melt a little into a creamy texture.  If you microwave, it will turn into oil and separate into the milk solids and oil instead and the taste will be different.

4.  Drip a few drips of shoyu on it.  Stir the butter, rice and shoyu together and serve.

Notes:

• Soya Sauce.  I prefer to use Japanese soya sauce that has been traditionally brewed not Chinese soya sauce.  If you look at the ingredients and compare you will know why. Let us also look at the manufacturing traditional soy sauce and the chemical soya sauce.  (You can skip this part, if you are not interested in the Sciences.)

• Generally,  Japanese soy sauce is made from wheat, soy beans and salt and goes through two fermentation phases of a few months.  During the first fermentation phase, the Aspergillus mold produces enzymes that will break down wheat starch into sugars, wheat and soy proteins into amino acids and seed oils into fatty acids. Salt brine, yeasts and lactic bacteria is added before the second fermentation phase and in the second phase, the bacterial and enzymes work together and react with each other to produce sugars and ammino acids forming roasty-smelling pyrazines, acids and alcohols which combine together to form fruity esters.  The raw sauce then goes through high-temperature pasteurisation which further encourages browing reactions between amino acids and sugars.  (McGee, 2004) What results is a naturally brewed soya sauce which nutrients have been broken down properly for absorption by the body that is also concentrated, mouth-filling and full of unami.

• In contrast, most of the Chinese soya sauce I find the supermarkets seemed to be the industrially produced chemical soy sauce containing sodium benzoate which I read somewhere is carcinogenic.  (Ok, I am not sure about it, but the sodium benzoate makes me uncomfortable)   According McGee (2004), these soy sauce are produced by using concentrated hydrochloric acid to break down defatted soy meal. The caustic mixture is then neutralised with sodium carbonate, and flavoured and coloured with corn syrup, caramel, water and salt.  This results in a flat taste compared with the traditionally brewed soya sauce.  

• Somehow, I do not feel comfortable taking in so much chemicals for the industrially produced soy sauce so I always make sure I get those traditionally brewed, organically grown soy beans and I make sure I read the label.

• Butter.  Somehow different brands of butter produce different taste.  For me, I personally stick to Lurpark butter, the flavour carries a lot more depth and is less salty.  The aroma in baking is great too. On the down side, the price is usually about more than 20% more than the other butter.  So when there is sale I tend to stock up.  I usually keep in the fridge, but I read somewhere recently they can be kept in a freezer for a longer period.

Stir Fried Bittergourd with Sliced Pork in Miso Paste

The Japanese, Korean and Chinese cultural holds much similiarities due to historical reasons.  So for many foodstuff found in one culture, you can almost see a similar rendition in another. 

One of the favourite condiments that my mother used to enjoy using is the salted soya beans.  However, with my occurence of breast cancer, my husband tends do frown when I use it as many of the version sold in the supermarkets contains preservatives and sodium benzoate which is said to be carcinogenic.  I have however found that the Japanese miso has a similar taste to the salted soya beans and have since replaced that in many of the dishes I used to cook with salted soya beans.

Miso is fermented soya beans that is said to contains live cultures which are supposed to be good for the digestive system and helps in detoxification.  It is also zinc, copper, potassium and lecithin which are thought not only to promote the immunity system but also aid in prevention of breast cancer, and hence my husband do not object too much of it when I use it in cooking.  But it is also to be noted that miso is salty and hence high in sodium, however one is also unlikely to use too much of it because of its saltiness.

This dish presented here is one of the renditions of the dishes my mother used to cook but with miso instead.

Recipe:

1 bittergourd.   Sliced lengthwise and then cut into smaller segments (left).  Sprinkle with a teaspoon of sugar and salt.  Mix well, and set aside for 30 min.  The sugar and salt draws out the bitter juices.  Just before cooking, squeeze the bittergrourd with hands, and rinse under the running tap to remove the sugar and salt. Drizzle with the juice from one small knob of ginger that has been grated.

1-2 stalks of chilli  (de-seeded and chopped finely)

3-4 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)

100 g of collar pork (sliced thinly).  Marinate with a little pepper and light soya sauce.

2 tsp of miso mixed in a little warm water.

sunflower oil

Method:

1.  Heat the wok, drizzle in sunflower oil, and stirfry the garlic and chilli till fragrant.

2.  Add in the sliced collar pork and fry till it is almost cooked.  Then add in the bittergourd and stir-fry well.  The wok should be relatively dry.

3.  Add in the miso paste that has be softened with a little warm water.  Off the flame and fry the mixture well.  The miso should not be overcooked as it said that it will kill the cultures in the miso.  Once, mixed well, the dish is ready for serving.

This is one of my favourite dish I like to use in my lunch bento as it is not too saucy and yet flavourful.

Hokkaido Fair Is At Tampines Mall (2nd - 11th July 2010)

Isetan Tampines is having the Summer Hokkaido Fair again! 

Details:  2nd - 11th July 2010

Venue :  Tampinese Mall (Singapore) Atrium and 2nd Level

  My family and I really like Japanese food, so when Isetan (Singapore) has their Japanese fair, I will always try to make my way down to take a look.  Looking at the food alone makes me a very happy person, so my husband is always willing to oblige.  I don't actually buy a lot at the fair, only the things I will cook or eat, though I am always tempted to buy, if I don't I will definitely end up spending a lot.

  These are some of the stuff I bought at the fair today:



Japanese Dango Rice Cakes:

I love Japanese Rice cakes, either as sweets (dessert) or the ones lightly grilled and cooked in savory soups.  The ones in the fair are mainly for snacking.  I got the flavours which I like which are, the black sesame one (left), the green tea one with red bean paste (middle) and the tri-coloured ones with the read bean wrapped inside (right).  The first and the second cost SGD$2.50 each and the tri-coloured ones are SGD$3.50.



Butter Manju

These are sweet Japanese "pancakes" wrapped in sweet paste.  They are my children's favourite.  They come in red bean paste and custard fillings.  There is also a white red bean paste which I have not seen before.  But the white red bean paste is only available on weekdays.  I got 8 custard and 2 red bean paste ones as my children favoured the custard ones, though my husband wished there were also chestnut fillings ones which were not seen at the fair.  (Price: One for $1.30 and 10 for $12)

Crunchy and Sweet Kombu Crackers with Seasame Seed:

I am not a person who much on snacks the whole day, but I always like seaweed and sesame, so found this interesting.  I like the taste of this snack as it is crunchy and sweet and has a strong tinge of sesame, and anyway kombu is supposed to be good for health.  There are variety of snacks at this stall, mostly cuttlefish and squid which comes in a variety of flavour.  The snacks cost $10 each, getting 5 will entitle you to one more pack that is free.

I only got 2 - this and the dried wakame below.

Dried Wakame:

I always have wakame in my kitchen as I use it alot.  I add it to miso soup, instant noodles (it is instant fibre for my children!) and also I love to pickle wakame and cucumber which goes very well with white rice or even as an appetizer for a meal. 

I tend to favour the Japanese ones over the Korean ones as I find the taste more refined and less fishy.  I usually get a small pack at the supermarket for about $7.80, so when there is a Japanese fair at Isetan, I will make it a point to stock up as it costs significantly less.  This pack is 100g for $10.






You get the promotional brochure at : http://www.tampinesmall.com.sg/promo/2010/JUL/Hokkaido.pdf