Dashimaki Tamago だし巻き卵

So what's the difference between a tamagoyaki and a dashimaki tamago? Well, they are basically the same thing, just that the dashimaki tamago has more Japanese stock mixed in, so the texture is more pillowy or juicy so to speak.

I also think that Dashimaki tamago has a more mouthful name. Sometimes I would just explain this dish to others as dashi tamagoyaki, easier to be understood by westerners. 

Dashimaki tamago だし巻き卵 - 

Ingredients (about 3 to 4 pieces)?

• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon Japanese tsuyu
• 1 teaspoon mirin
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• Some olive oil

Dashi/Japanese stock:

• 800ml drinkable water
• 1 medium piece kombu
• 10 grams katsuobushi (bonito flakes)

How?

Start with homemade Japanese stock/dashi. Use a medium pot and add in one medium piece of kombu. Use a scissor to cut into smaller pieces if the size doesn't fit. Pour in 800ml of drinkable water and turn on the heat.

Keep it just under boiling temperature. Once hot enough, turn-off the heat and let the kombu soak in there for an hour.

Later on bring the pot close to boiling temperature again. Once achieved, heat-off and add in 10 grams of bonita flakes. Soak for couple minutes.

Drain out the ingredients and keep the stock, that'll be our basic Japanese stock/dashi. Wait till cool enough before using it dashimaki tamago, at least cool enough so that it won't cook the egg when beating together.

For the egg mixture, crack 4 eggs to a bowl, I used a measuring cup instead. Also add in 4 tablespoons of dashi, 1 teaspoon of Japanese tsuyu, 1 teaspoon of mirin, and 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar. Beat till the sugar has been fully dissolved.

Use a tamagoyaki pan, also have a piece of paper towel folded into a square on the side. Drizzle just a little bit of olive oil to the pan and use that paper towel to evenly smear the oil throughout the area.

Switch to medium or medium low heat and wait till the pan warms up a little. Scoop some egg mixture to the pan and sear till the bottom almost set. Start rolling the egg from the outside then inward, to create almost a tube in the end. 

Push that tube outward then use the paper towel again to smear some more oil to the empty area. Scoop some egg mixture to the empty area. Meanwhile lift up the egg tube a bit, so that the newly added egg mixture can flow underneath. It'll help binding the earlier egg tube with the new layer.

So again, wait till the bottom seems set then roll in the tube to form an even bigger tube. By now the shape should resemble a rectangular block more than a tube. Repeat the step one more time if you prefer a bigger sized dashimaki tamago in the end. Once all set, carefully move the dashimaki tamago to serving plate.

I'm using single serving tamagoyaki pan here, so the final portion is perfect for one serving. If you're using bigger tamagoyaki pan, most of the time you can slice the final egg block and turn into few individual servings.

You'll definitely have way more dashi left after making dashimaki tamago. You can use that as a stock for other dishes. What I did this time is that I used the leftover dashi to cook the rice, substituting the usual plain water. It'll give you a lightly flavored rice as a result, gentle yet won't overpower any other dishes served with the grains.

Other tamagoyaki recipes:

• Stronger tasting tamagoyaki with a brush of sesame oil
• Kanikama and shiso tamagoyaki 蟹肉棒紫蘇玉子燒

Salmon and Dashi Takikomi Gohan Using Brown Rice 炊き込みご飯

No fuss rice cooker recipe, especially hassle-free for people who doesn't want to deal with greasy kitchen in the end.

This time I'm using brown rice and homemade Japanese stock. However, if you would like to skip the stock making process, simply add some Japanese dashi powder instead, can't be easier than that.

Salmon and dashi takikomi gohan using brown rice -

Ingredients (about 6 portions)?

• 4 rice measuring cups brown rice
• 2 or about 440 grams salmon fillets
• 700ml Japanese dashi (or use some dashi powder instead)
• 1 medium fried bean curd skin 油豆腐皮
• 1/4 cup hijiki
• 1 small bundle or about 250 grams Japanese mustard spinach コマツナ
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 pack or about 100 grams brown beech mushroom
• 2 tablespoons Japanese tsuyu

How?

Rinse the brown rice, basically just like how you would prepare the rice usually. Once ready, drain and set aside first. 

You can make the Japanese dashi from scratch by soaking the kombu and katsuobushi in water. I have an old post Japanese fried tofu pouch and beef udon, from there you will find more details on how to make Japanese dashi.

However, if it seems too troublesome, simply add some Japanese dashi powder to warm water instead, or use any sort of already made Japanese stock.

Add 2 tablespoons of Japanese tsuyu to the rice then pour in dashi till it reaches about 3.5 cups measurement inside the rice cooker pot. Mine was about 700ml. Give it a quick mix. Set aside while prepping other ingredients.

It's important to soak the rice first especially we are using brown rice. Otherwise the grains can be too tough or not fully cooked through in the end if skipping the soaking time.

Double making sure there are no bones hidden somewhere inside the salmon. Remove the skin before use.

Either use hot water to rinse the fried bean curd skin or soak in hot water for a short moment. This will help drawing out excess oil from the tofu skin. Once ready, squeeze out the liquid then cut into strips.

Peel and cut the carrot to strips, like julienne the carrot, but it doesn't have to be too thin. Trim-off the mushroom ends then separate to individual pieces. Destem the Japanese mustard spinach and cut to shorter sections. You can use bok choy instead or other similar Asian leafy greens.

Transfer prepped ingredients to the rice cooker. I would add the carrot first then leafy greens last, putting bean curd strips, hijiki, and mushroom in between.

There is no need to mix the ingredients with rice. Mostly because we are using brown rice, so I prefer to keep the rice on the bottom, suppose to get fully cooked-through more easily that way.

On the very top, transfer salmon fillets over.

Press that button on the rice cooker and simply cook away. If you have a specific setting for takikomi gohan, choose that instead.

Once ready, remove the inner pot from the rice cooker.

Remove the fish fillets. Fluff the rice and make sure all the ingredients are evenly blended together.

Roughly break the salmon into large chunks then add back to the rice mixture. Just give it a few gentle mix again. The salmon rice should be ready to serve.

Remember not to over-mix the rice once adding back the fish. We are aiming for chunky salmon texture, so over-mixing can cause the salmon to break into tiny pieces instead, not good.

Other takikomi gohan recipes:

• Pork bamboo shoot and shiitake takikomi gohan
• Chicken and gobo takikomi gohan (鶏ごぼうの炊き込みご飯)
• Japanese hijiki no takikomi gohan ひじきの炊き込みご飯

Seared Eggplant with Dried Shrimp and Garlic 醬燒蝦米茄子排

If you want a little change on the usual ways of cooking eggplant, this post might be the right place to look for.

Let it be sliced, diced, or even mushed, these are the common ways to prepare eggplant in both eastern and western countries. But how about steak-shaped? Or more so like a fillet. 

Ready the eggplant into a big square or rectangular steak was somewhat a fun thing to do over the past year. There are many short videos on social media, mostly for Chinese and Japanese recipes using seared eggplant steak. The basic idea is the same, steam then sear the eggplant steak first then added with somewhat heavier seasonings. And here's my version of the recipe.

Seared eggplant with dried shrimp and garlic 醬燒蝦米茄子排 -

Ingredients?

• 1 long eggplant
• 2 tablespoons dried shrimps
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 stalk scallion
• Some toasted white sesame seeds
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine 米酒
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

How?

Peel the eggplant then cut into 2 or 3 long sections.

Steam the eggplant for about 10 minutes. Once ready, remove and wait till cool enough to handle by hand.

After cooling off a bit, make a slit on the eggplant but don't cut all the way done. Gently spread out the eggplant from the cut to flatten it. Score one side, usually the top side of the eggplant steak if needed to help it to stay flattened. 

While preparing the eggplant, soak the dried shrimps in drinkable room temperature water for 10 minutes. Once ready, drain and pat dry then give the dried shrimps a fine chop.

Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Destem and chop the scallion, we are going to use the green part only for garnish in the end.

Have a pan ready and drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil or other preferred cooking oil. Switch to medium high heat and wait till warm. Add in flattened eggplant pieces scoring side down. Sear till the bottom turn slightly golden, flip and sear to other side till golden again.

Once ready, have a big plate lined with paper towel. Transfer eggplant over. The paper towel will help in absorbing excess oil.

Still using the same pan, drizzle more oil if not enough to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Add the dried shrimps and garlic. Stir-fry and cook till aromatic. It might be slightly darkened but definitely not burning the garlic.

Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice cooking wine, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Cook till the sauce has been reduced a little.

Add back the eggplant and make sure both sides are evenly coated with the sauce. Once checked, transfer to serving plate. Sprinkle toasted white sesame seeds all over then garnish with some chopped scallion greens.

This is my Chinese way of prepping eggplant "steak." I've also scrolled through some Japanese recipes, in which they turn the eggplant into a more kabayaki style of seasoning. And the look highly resembles unagi don, one of the Japanese classic rice dishes. 

That would be fun too, with the sweet and savory flavor often found in Japanese dishes, I suppose you can even sprinkle some sansho powder for a pop of refreshing aroma. 

Other recipes using eggplant:

• Eggplant rollatini with marinara and pesto sauce
• Eggplant and minced pork spaghetti 魚香茄子義大利麵
• Cubed eggplant and ground pork stir-fry with spicy fermented bean paste
• Eggplant and tomato stewed rice 雙茄豬肉燴飯

Pan-Fried White Fish Fillets Served With Green Olive and Parsley Salsa

It was truly a relief when I found out Mister actually loved this fish recipe. The reason why I worried so much is because he wasn't a big fan of green olives and red wine vinegar, which happened to be two of the main flavor sources for the dressing.

Surprise surprise, I guess it's either the cooking done right or I got lucky with the flavor combination. In the end, he really enjoyed the fish. Not just ok or a simple praise, but truly loved. He specifically said it was so good. I guess I deserve a few pats on the shoulder for that.

Pan-fried white fish fillets served with green olive and parsley salsa - 

Ingredients (for two medium fillets)?

• 2 medium white fish fillets
• Some flour
• Some salt
• Some black pepper
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• Some lemon wedges

Salsa:

• 8 green olives
• 1 small bundle flat leaf parsley
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 3 garlic cloves
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard or yellow mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

How?

Have some flour with the amount enough to coat both sides of the fish fillets. Ready the flour on a big plate and mix in some salt and black pepper. I used about 2 pinches of salt here.

Coat the fish fillets with the flour mixture on both sides. I got skin-on rockfish fillets here but no bones. 

To make the salsa, remove the pits from the olives then chop the flesh. Mainly use the leafy part for the flat leaf parsley, give it a rough chop too. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Zest 1 lemon then slice to six wedges.

Mix together the prepped olives, parsley, lemon zest, garlic together with 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons of mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Set aside till the end.

Drizzle about 4 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet and switch to medium heat. Once hot, add in the fish fillet skin side down first. Don't move it around too early, wait till the bottom seemed golden or slightly browned then flip and continue to sear the other side.

A side note, during the searing process, the fish will start to "puffed" up when in contact with heat. You can use a weight to keep the fillets pressed down. Or I simply use my spatula to press it down when searing.

Once the bottom is almost golden brown, add 3 lemon wedges. Slightly press on the lemon to help releasing some juice. We'll continue to sear the fish and both sides of the lemon wedges towards the end. Remember to flip the lemon once the bottom side turn slightly browned. 

Make sure the fish has been fully cooked through. Transfer both the fillets and seared lemon wedges to serving plate. 

Don't get too bothered if the seared coating doesn't look too pretty. We will cover it with salsa, so no one will notice (wink*). That said, let's spread the salsa all over the top of the fillets and serve with the remaining 3 lemon wedges.

You can make this fish like an entrée and served with a side of salad, perhaps some sort of potato too. However, I actually paired it with quinoa basmati rice, a bit western and eastern fused together, but they really did work in harmony.

Also for the green olive and parsley salsa, on top of using it on grilled or pan-fried fish, I think it'll also taste good with grilled chicken. Give it a try will you?  

Extended reading:

• Fish fillet packed with kicking spices - blackened fish

Bitter Gourd Cooked With Chinese Pickled Cucumber 壺底油瓜煮苦瓜

Westerners might not know about this dish, but it's one of the common food that will show up on Taiwanese's dining table. The basic idea is to cook the bitter gourd with some sort of Chinese canned pickled melon. However, I used pickled cucumber instead, which comes with denser taste plus a bit sweeter touch. 

The final flavor is somewhat similar doesn't matter you use pickled melon or pickled cucumber, just look for Chinese canned version, and you'll get the correct taste in the end.

Bitter gourd cooked with Chinese pickled cucumber 壺底油瓜煮苦瓜 - 

Ingredients?

• 1 white bitter gourd
• 4 medium pieces Chinese pickled cucumber 壺底油瓜
• 4 tablespoons juice of Chinese pickled cucumber
• 1 small bundle cilantro
• 3 tablespoons olive oil or other preferred cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon rock sugar
• Some salt (optional)

How?

Cut the bitter gourd in half lengthwise them scrape off the seeds and membrane. Slice the bitter gourd to rectangular chunks. Chop the cilantro and set aside for later use.

Into the pan, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil or other preferred cooking oil. We are using a bit more oil to semi-sear and semi-fried the bitter gourd, so don't go too easy with the amount of oil used.

Switch to medium heat and wait till the oil gets hot. Add in the bitter gourd and sear till slightly golden on some sides.

Add in 4 medium pieces of Chinese pickled cucumber or pickled melon along with 4 tablespoons of that canned juice. Also add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. 

Adjust the heat so the whole thing can keep at a medium bubbling stage. Cook till the sauce has been reduced a little. You can break the pickled cucumber to smaller pieces while cooking down the sauce. 

Add in 1/2 teaspoon of rock sugar. Cook till the sugar has been fully dissolved. Remember to flip the bitter gourd once a while to ensure even cooking. 

Taste and adjust if needed. In the case of not salty enough, add salt instead of soy sauce.

Plate and garnish with chopped cilantro.

I used white bitter gourd here because the vendor told me it's less bitter compared to the green varieties. However, it's up to you on the bitterness level. On top of that though, I think white bitter gourd looks better when cooked in dark sauce. That brownish color literally translate the taste as more flavorful in my head. 

Extended reading:

• Bitter gourd stir-fry with salted black beans

Kinpira Gobo きんぴらごぼう (Burdock Root Cooked In Japanese Seasonings)

Some people like to soak the gobo, that's burdock root in Japanese, in water once peeled and cut. By doing so, it can help the burdock root from turning to darker color. But please don't bother for this recipe, especially we are going to cook the burdock root in soy sauce, that means eventually the whole thing will get a brownish hue in the end anyways.

Kinpira gobo きんぴらごぼう - 

Ingredients?

• 1 medium burdock root
• 1 medium carrot
• 300 grams ground pork
• 2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sake (Japanese rice cooking wine)
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

How?

Peel and cut the burdock root to strips, just like julienne it. Peel and cut the carrot to strips too. I used a grater instead for the carrot to save more time and energy, not a fan of prepping carrot with knife here.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of sesame oil to the pan and switch to medium heat. Once warmed up, add in ground pork and stir-fry till it changes to somewhat white color, like 90% cooked-through.

Add in burdock root strips and carrot strips. Mix once a while and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add in the main seasonings for this classic Japanese recipe, which is soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar. The ratio is about 2:1:1:1, but I did use more sugar for a sweeter taste. This dish is supposed to be on a slightly sweeter side in case you never tried it before.

Stir-fry and cook for another 5 more minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. It should be somewhat sweet and savory to the taste.

Towards the end, mix in toasted white sesame seeds. Scoop to serving container and enjoy.

This dish can even served cold or under room temperature. 

When traveling in Japan, sometimes you'll find kinpira gobo as one of the side dishes in a bento box. In which the bento is usually served cold or under room temperature, since Japanese don't necessarily heat up their bento boxes most of the time. So to enjoy this dish cold, no problem.

Other recipes using burdock root:

• Chicken and gobo takikomi gohna (鶏ごぼうの炊き込みご飯)
• Not quite the regular miso soup, it's tonjiru time (豚汁)