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. :)

 

Onion Omelette

This is one of the simplest dish that everyone in my family loves and it is a great way to get my children to eat more onions.  It is also a dish that can be easily whipped up at anytime in my kitchen as I always have onions and eggs.  Okay so this is how the receipe goes. 

*Serving Size : 3 -4
*Preparation Time (including the cooking): 15 min

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 1-2 large yellow onions  (Proportion depends on whether you like more eggs or onion.  You may use the red onions, my mother-in-law favours this)
• sea salt, pepper, soya sauce (shoyu)  and fish sauce (optional)
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil (or any other cooking oil)

Procedure:

Peel the onions, wash it and slice it into slivers.

Heat the wok up using medium flame.  When the wok is evenly heated, drizzle in a layer to cooking oil.   While the oil is heating up, peel and slice the onion into slivers.  (See diagram left.)

Add the onion into the wok and lightly fry.  Drizzle in about 1/2 tsp. of light soya sauce at this moment.  This will make the onion more flavourful.  When the onion slivers start to brown at the edge, lower the flame so that it will not char.

At this point break the eggs into the bowl, add in about 1/4 tsp of sea salt, a pinch of pepper, 1/2 tsp. of light soya sauce and a dash of fish sauce.  The fish sauce is optional, but it does enhance the flavour of the eggs, so I always add it when I make omelette as I already have a bottle in my kitchen. (My mother used to swear by it.)

Mix the eggs up with a fork (or chopsticks).

Spread the onion in the wok evenly out on the base of the wok.  Pour the egg mixture over onions. Increase the heat to a medium flame.  Leave the mixture to cook and brown on the undersides.  The omelette is ready for flippling, when the centre of the omelette starts bubbling and the oil starts foaming from the edge of the omelette.

When the lower side has started browing (above) flip the omelette to now brown the top side, I usually split the omelette in half across the diameter using my spatula and flip one-half over with the spatula before flipping the other one in the same manner.  If it is difficult to manage you, you can quarter the omelette and flip each part by itself. 

Comments: 

1. 
   
   This omelette is cooked slightly different from the western way of cooking in which usually the raw onions are just mixed into the whole omelette and cooked.  The light frying in the first part makes the onion more fragrant.
2. 
   
   This is a great dish with Teochew Porridge.  If cooking for Teochew Porridge, you can add in a little more sea salt as the porridge is bland and this enhances the taste of the porridge.
3. 
   
   Again it is a very versatile dish, sometimes I add in shrimp or carrots or both for variations as well.  If putting in carrots and shrimp, you can lightly fry them after the onions start browning before adding in the mix.  When carrots and shrimp are added in, it becomes the common Egg Fu Yong dish which cost about $8 - $12 at a zi-char stall (a small stall selling dishes prepared on the spot either at a hawker centre or coffee shop in Singapore).