Homemade Rocks! Maki Mania

Posted on September 3, 2011


The other day my husand and I hosted a cocktail party, and just to shake things up, I decided to serve homemade maki. I’ve never made maki before, but reading Sushi: Taste and Technique by Kimiko Barber and Hiroki Takemura, http://www.amazon.com/Sushi-Taste-Techniques-Kimiko-Barber/dp/0789489163 gave me the needed courage.  Scoping out the offerings in a couple of local Japanese restaurants, I came up with a good idea of what I wanted to make. The results were stunning. And, I must admit, that once I assembled the ingredients, which was admittedly a bit time-consuming, the rolling and slicing were easy.

I don’t have a recipe to share (it would take me a week to accurately record and photograph everything I did), but I will share two key points: make sure you season your rice well with a mix of rice vinegar, mirin, sugar, and salt, and make your rolls tight so they hold together nicely, especially if you include a lot of ingredients in large rolls. You can see from the photos that I used various combinations of smoked salmon, cucumber, steamed French beans, steamed carrots, omelette, sauteed mushrooms, and crab sticks. I did the traditional seaweed on the outside, and then tried rice on the outside coated with black and white sesame seeds.

Wasabi, soy sauce for suhi, which is a lot milder than regular soy sauce, and Japanese pickled ginger are all essentials. Hungry yet?

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Healthy Bagels and Toppings

Posted on June 14, 2011

The average large plain bagel contains about 200 calories (sometimes up to 400 calories!) and has very little nutritional value. In order to enjoy a guilt-free bagel, opt for whole wheat or multi-grain bagels that provide some fiber, ideally 8 grams of fiber. Be wise about your bagel toppings, too, which can turn a healthy breakfast, lunch, or snack in to a high-fat nightmare. Following are some suggestions for healthy toppings.

Healthy Bagel Toppings

Low-fat or fat-free cream cheese
Spreadable processed cheese wedges, such as Laughing Cow
Tub margarine that does not contain partially hydrogenated oil (stick margarines contain PHO)
Fat-free ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
Reduced-fat cheeses, such as cheddar
Lean lunch meats, ham, or turkey
Peanut butter or other nut butters
Hummus or other bean dips
Marmite or Vegamite (Yeast-based savory spread)
Low-sugar jams
Smoked salmon or tuna fish

*This list comes from Eating for Lower Cholesterol: A Balanced Approach to Heart Health with Recipes Everyone Will Love.

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Two-Star Michelin Chef Curtis Duffy Comes to KL…and Brings Some Unique Flavors of America!

Posted on May 2, 2011

What happens when a two-star Michelin chef from Chicago comes to town as part of an event called, “The Best of America,” held at the Hilton KL? He brings good things! At a cooking demo followed by a lunch, a lucky group of 30 learned how to make this olive oil poached salmon. Duffy seals the raw salmon with the oil in a bag using the sous-vide method, then he poaches it for 45 minutes at 118 degrees F. The finished fish, of a buttery yet firm texture, is combined with the flavor of licorice coming from lacy strips of fennel bulbs and a fennel leaf emulsion. A mustard vinaigrette, chopped black olives, red sorrel leaves, anise hyssop, sweet cicely leaves and fennel blooms round out the rest of the flavors. The accompaniment: a smattering of airy, crisp crackers made from tapioca flour, akin to rice crackers. Salmon and fennel are two of my favorite foods…so I truly enjoyed this dish and its fresh, green, spring-like presentation.

Soup followed…a healthy, earthy combination of barley and quinoa enveloped in veil of amaranth, moistened with a toasted sunflower seed consomme. At Duffy’s cooking demo, I learned that there are 12 garnishes in that dish, yes, twelve! Sultanas, caramelized pearl onions, puffed amaranth, fried sunflower seeds, sunflower sprouts, burgundy amaranth, quails grass, chive tops, chive blossoms, lemon balm, sweet woodruff, and Queen Anne’s lace. Let’s here it for fresh herbs!  Duffy described the flavor profile as earthy, nutty, and dark, with raisins and onions for sweetness, and the lemon balm to lighten and highlight.

I’ve never come across a palate cleanser quite like this before: liquid sudachi (a small, green Japanese citrus fruit described as a mandarin hybrid with a tangy grapefruit-like flavor) wrapped in coco butter and white chocolate with nepitella mint resting on a bed of super fine sugar. These white balls came with an official warning from the chef and waiter: put it in your mouth and keep your mouth closed. Why? Because the perfectly tart liquid center squirts out like a geyser. At the cooking demo, we learned how to make these lovely balls…I will give it a try someday.

Finally, this sinful dessert reminds me of the game Candyland. Strings of chocolate Manjari ganache form a checkered path along which one might fall into a pool of caramel spiked with cassia buds, puddles of blueberry and lemon puree, a sand pit of brown butter powder, or hit a rock of cocoa. Mountains of hazelnut financiers are buried under the winding path, one of them topped with a quenelle of mandarin ice cream garnished with dill, banana mint, and candied rind. All I can say is, Wow! I’ve never experienced so many flavor combinations on one dessert plate. The chocolate rush was so intense I felt like a kid again.

As part of Duffy’s gastronomic program he also prepared a six-course dinner, including all of these delicious dishes plus…sea urchin with rhubarb, hojo santa and hyssop bloom (excellent flavor combo); Nantucket bay scallops with romaine lettuce marmalade and white poppy seed milk (okay, the milk was a little too funky for me); and grilled Wagyu beef ribeye with smoked coconut pudding, yuzu puree, preserved kumquats with African blue basil (really nice, even if I’m not a red meat eater…my husband loved it).

During an interview, when I asked Duffy to describe his cuisine, he said, “thoughtful-progressive.” He’s right on both counts. I predict a third star will come his way someday.

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Delectable and Simple Teriyaki Salmon

Posted on March 27, 2011

Easy and intensely satisfying (healthy, too!). The other day at a lunch in honor or the Australian Ambassador to Malaysia, I served this teriyaki salmon alongside delicate yet meaty green tea soba noodles and crisp-tender Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce. The salmon recipe is adapted  from Blue Ginger: East Meets West Cooking with Ming Tsai by Ming Tsai and Arthur Boehm, a cookbook I’ve owned for many years and am now just beginning to peruse and cook from with delicious results.

Serves 4
1 cup soy sauce
Juice and zest of 2 oranges
3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
4 skinless salmon fillets (about 6 ounces each), preferably center cut for even thickness

  1. Combine the soy sauce, orange juice and zest, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half or syrupy, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame seeds. Allow to cool, then transfer the sauce to a baking dish, add the salmon, turn to coat, and marinate for 1 hour.
  2. To cook, preheat the broiler or prepare an outdoor grill. If using an outdoor grill, spray the grill with cooking spray. Grill or broil (I broiled my fish) the salmon over medium-high heat, turning it only once and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side (the cooking time will depend on the thickness of the salmon…you can check doneness by gently separating the meat with the tip of a very sharp knife to see if it is cooked through). Baste the salmon as it cooks. Serve immediately.

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Tips on Buying Fish and Shellfish

Posted on March 28, 2010

Salmon for Dinner

As the spring and summer grilling season kicks off, here are some tips to help you navigate the seafood counter or your local fish market! Remember, too, that your fishmonger is a terrific source of knowledge. Ask him or her about amounts, best cuts, and optimal cooking methods and times. If you are not going home right after shopping, request to have  your seafood placed in a bag of ice. Enjoy!

Tips for buying fresh fish filets and steaks

  1. Look for firm, shiny flesh that gives slightly when pressed. Flesh should not be mushy, and it should not separate easily.
  2. If the head is on, the fish’s eyes should be clear and should bulge a bit. Avoid dull, cloudy, sunken, or bloody eyes.
  3. The gills should be bright pink or red, not brown or gray.
  4. The fish should have a pleasant ocean-fresh smell, not a fishy or ammonia-like odor.
  5. Scales (if on the fish) should be shinny and should cling tightly to the flesh.
  6. Steaks and filets should be moist, not slimy or dry, and the color should be uniformly bright, not dull.

Tips for buying live crabs, lobsters, and shrimp

  1. Legs should be lively when touched unless the crustacean is soft-shelled (such as soft shell crabs).
  2. The tail of a live lobster tail should curl under when lifted up. It should not hang limp.
  3. Shellfish should feel weighty, not light or dry.
  4. Raw shrimp should have translucent shells with a grayish green, a pinkish-tan, or a pink tint. They should be moist and firm, not mealy.

Tips for buying live clams, mussels, oysters, scallops, and other mollusks

  1. Shells should be tightly closed. If they are open, they should shut immediately when gently tapped. Discard gaping shells that do not close when tapped.
  2. Shells should be moist and intact, not cracked, dry or chipped.
  3. Mollusks should have a clean ocean-fresh scent, not a fishy odor.

Tips for buying shucked clams, mussels, oysters, scallops, and other mollusks

  1. Meat should be plump, not shriveled, dark, or dry.
  2. Meat should be free of shell and sand particles.
  3. Liquid should be clear, not cloudy or opaque, and it should be less than 10% of the volume.
  4. Mollusks should have a clean ocean-fresh scent, not a fishy odor.

Tips for buying frozen fish and shellfish

  1. Flesh should be frozen solidly.
  2. Fish should be contained in a tight, moisture-proof package.
  3. Fish should not have any freezer burn or ice crystals.
  4. When thawed, fish should pass the same test as outlined for fresh fish and shellfish above.
  5. Frozen fish should remain frozen until it is thawed for cooking. Do not refreeze fish or shellfish.

Tips for cooking fresh fish

  1. Marinades and dry rubs add tremendous taste to fish, and the choices are endless. Play around to find your favorites.
  2. Keep marinating fish refrigerated; do not leave it at room temperature. Do not use the plate or platter that held the raw fish to serve the cooked fish. Discard any marinades or sauces that came in contact with the raw fish. Do not serve them as sauce and do not recycle them.
  3. The healthiest and tastiest ways to cook fish are grilling, broiling, poaching, steaming, pan sautéing, or baking. Avoid deep frying.
  4. 10-Minute-Per-Inch Rule for Fish: Measure fish at its thickest point (if stuffed or rolled measure after stuffing). If baking (at a high temperature), grilling, broiling, poaching, steaming, or sautéing, cook the fish for about 10 minutes per inch of thickness. Add 5 minutes of cooking time to the total cooking time for fish wrapped in foil or covered with a sauce. Double the cooking time for frozen fish that has not been thawed prior to cooking.
  5. Fish is done when the flesh turns from translucent to opaque. It should flake easily with a fork or knife. A thermometer should read 140 degrees F when cooked.
  6. Cook fish skin-side down. The filet or meat will slide off the fish easily when cooked.

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Take the Bones Out of Omega-3

Posted on July 29, 2009

raw-salmon

If you want to eat more fish but are scared of choking on the bones, fear no more. This trick should help you get rid of pin bones from salmon and other fish filets. Drape the filet, flesh-side up, over an inverted medium-size or large bowl, depending on the size of the filet. To remove the bones, use fish-bone tweezers, small pliers, or your hands and a paper towel for gripping and pulling. The pin bones should protrude, but run your fingers down the center of the filet to make sure you remove all of them.

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More Omega-3 in Wild or Farm-Raised Salmon?

Posted on April 30, 2009

Salmon for DinnerThere is no definitive answer to this question because so many variables need to be considered, including the diet of the fish. In general, farmed-fish that are fed fishmeal and fish oil tend to have more omega-3s than those fed a grain-based diet heavy on vegetable oils (a common choice because it is cheaper). Wild fish eat a naturally varied diet, including krill and other sea creatures, plus algae. All “Atlantic salmon” is farm-raised, a reality stemming from the fact that wild sources have been depleted from the ocean. All “Alaskan salmon” is wild, and much of it is canned. The “Pacific species,” including coho (silver) and Chinook (king) can be wild or farmed. Bottom line: On the whole, it is probably safe to say that wild-caught and farm-raised salmon have approximately the same amount of omega-3s. Read more www.sierraclub.org/e-files/wild_salmon.asp; www.edf.org/seafood; www.edf.wa.gov;   www.blueocean.org; www.montereyabyaquarium.org.

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