Watermelon "Tuna" Sashimi

I had this at an amazing restaurant called Planta Queen in Fort Lauderdale (highly recommend, other locations nationally) and hoped I was able to replicate it somehow. It really felt like I was eating salmon sashimi. I found this recipe on Australian website - Nourishing Magazine and changed it a little I've left the recipe for the sashimi in the top and added the sushi rice at the bottom if you want to turn it into sushi or nori rolls (shown with avocado). I would say the overall finished product wasn't bad but it just didn't have the tuna flavor I was hoping for.

Watermelon "Tuna" Sashimi 

Ingredients

¼ small seedless watermelon

3 Tbls sunflower oil

Marinade

2 Tbls tamari

2 Tbls mirin

1 Tbls Ume Plum Vinegar

2 tsp sesame oil

¼ cup rice vinegar

For serving

Pickled ginger

Wasabi paste

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C/350F.

For the watermelon sushi, cut two 10 x 2½cm blocks from the fruit without the skin. 

Add 2 Tbls of sunflower oil to an ovenproof dish and place the watermelon blocks in this. 

Drizzle with the remaining 1 Tbls of oil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. 

Remove from the oven to turn the watermelon over before returning it to bake for another 10 minutes, watching to make sure it doesn’t brown. 

Remove from the oven to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, combine the tamari, mirin, sesame oil and rice vinegar in a small bowl. 

When the watermelon has cooled slightly, pour the marinade over the top, cover with foil and sit it for 20 minutes before placing it in the fridge for at least 1 hour (or overnight).

I rebaked it after marinating for a day because I still found it a bit crunchy and this helped it become more chewy.

Serve with wasabi paste and pickled ginger.

For Watermelon Sushi;

Prepare Sushi Rice.

To assemble the sushi, form a handful of the sushi rice into a 5cm log and repeat with the remaining rice. Take the marinated watermelon and slice it on an angle to mimic tuna sushi before laying it over the rice. I like to dot wasabi paste on the rice before layering over the watermelon.

Top with pickled ginger to serve.

Japanese Tofu Tonkatsu

I used vegan GF cereal to make the Panko crumbs traditionally needed for this comforting Japenese favourite! I tried with tofu from the recipes but it all fell apart and was a bit tasteless. If you baked some thinner "schnitzel style" tofu first it may turn out better, in the end I had the best luck with the processed vegan chicken brand. This was a mix of recipes from Mama Went Vegan, Cupful of Kale and All Recipes.

Vegan Chicken (I used Gardein Scallopini)

Panko bowl;
1/2 cup Panko (homemade or bought if you can find GF vegan ones!)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano

Soak Bowl;
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1 tsp arrowroot powder

Flour Dredge Bowl;
1/2 cup rice flour (or a light flour)

Oil for frying

Tonkatzu Sauce

1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon mirin (Japanese sweet wine)
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced

Method

Mix your separate bowls and set aside.

Make the sauce first so that it's ready, you can already reheat it.

For the sauce whisk ingredients together in a small saucepan and heat on low until sugar is melted and ingredients are well blended and warm to serve.

Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a non-stick pan on a medium heat.

For the "chicken" or tofu bake or fry slightly on both sides first so that you have a firm layer.

Then dip in rice flour bowl, dredge in the soak bowl and then dip into the Panko crumb mixture coating well.

Pop it on the pan and fry till golden on both sides, a few minutes on either side.

place it on a paper towel and allow to cool.

Once all your pieces are done and are cool enough to touch, slice with a very sharp knife on the diagonal and tranfer to a serving plate. We served with rice but you can serve with whatever you like.

Pour over Tonkatzu sauce.

Fried Shiitake & Chili Mayo Sushi

Adapted from a recipe on Olives for Dinner this delicious sushi option is flavorsome with heat and crunch. Kind of like a spicy California roll.

 

Fried Shiitake & Chili Mayo Sushi

Ingredients

Sushi Rice, cooled (around 2-4 cups cooked)
Nori papers
2 egg replacers
1 cup corn starch
1-2 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms (if using dried, soak in hot water for 30 minutes)
1/4 cup vegan mayo
1-2 Tbls sambal olak (chilli paste)
oil for frying


Method

Heat oil in a large frying pan, around 1-2" up the side of the pan, and set to medium-high.
Make up egg replacers according to packet instructions and set aside in one bowl.
Place corn starch in a separate bowl.
Slice mushrooms into strips, add to egg replacer and then into corn starch, coating well.
If oil sizzles when a drop of corn starch is dropped in then it's ready.
Add the mushrooms to the oil and let fry for around 3 minutes then remove and place on a paper towel.

In a small bowl whisk together the mayonnaise and chilli paste.
On a large flat surface lay out the nori paper and with damp hands grab around 1/2-1 cup of sushi rice and spread along the bottom third of the paper.
Drizzle some spicy mayo along the middle and place mushrooms end to end on top of the sauce.
Start rolling from the rice end and roll as tightly as possibly.
When you get to the end I find wetting the edge slightly helps it stick together.
Put to the side and start the next roll.
Once finished start with the first roll and using a VERY sharp knife cut slices in the desired length.
Place on serving plate and garnish with the rest of the mayo.
I used a ziplock bag with a hole cut in the corner to drizzle with more precision.
Serve with Tamari, pickled ginger and wasabi.

Flower Nori Roll

This is a copy cat version of a sushi roll I used to get at Osaka Japanese in Layton, Utah - well as best as I can remember anyway. It wasn't on the menu but when we first started going there they told us about it. Avocado, cherry tomatoes and cilantro in an outside nori roll with a sweet miso dressing or sweet mustard  wasabi dressing.

 

Flower Nori Roll

Ingredients

Sushi Rice, cooled
Nori paper
cherry tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
cilantro, roughly chopped or stemed
avocado, sliced
red onion, finely sliced
Sesame seeds for coating

Sweet Miso Dressing

1/3 cup mild miso paste (white or light brown)
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbls sake
3/4 water (or dashi)
Whisk all ingredients together and if using a non liquid sugar heat slightly to melt the sugar.
I out it in a squeeze bottle to drizzle with more precision.

Sweet Mustard Wasabi Dressing

1 Tbls Dijon/yellow mustard
1 tsp wasabi paste
1 Tbls Agave syrup
1 Tbls hot water
Whisk together till combined.

Method

If you're doing the outside rolls using a sushi rolling mat is the easiest ways, if you don't have one you can roll with the nori on the outside.
Place sushi rice in the top of the rolling mat and cover a rectangle around 1/3 of the length that the nori paper is and using damp hands push down till flat.
place the nori paper on top, rough side facing up.
In the bottom edge of the paper, away from the rice, place the avocado, cilantro, red onion and tomatoes.
Start rolling from the filling end up until the rice is on the outside, press firmly with the mat to ensure it stays together.
Remove mat and sprinkle sticky rice with sesame seeds.
Let sit for a few minutes until cutting so it becomes firmer.
Using a VERY sharp knife slice desired size sushi pieces.
Drizzle with Miso Sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Basic Miso Soup

Homamde Miso Soup is so easy and delicious! Sometimes I love it with brown rice for breakfast. Definitely is very comforting during the winter months! Once you know the basic recipe you can add mushrooms or other vegetables to change it up.

Basic Miso Soup
Serves around 4 as a side.

Ingredients

1/4-1/2 Cup Miso Paste (whichever kind of miso you prefer)

1 litre/1 quart of Dashi*

Extras:
1/2 block of cubed tofu
Shredded dried seaweed
2 green onions chopped


Method

Heat Dashi till boiling then remove from heat.
Stir in the miso paste and stir till completely dissipated.
Add in the extras and reheat if necessary but do not boil for it will alter the flavour of the miso.


*Dashi
Dashi is a Japanese stock made by place a 3" x 4" piece of Konbu seaweed in 1 litre of water.
Let it soak for 30 minutes then bring to boil for 20 minutes. Remove Konbu before using stock.
Note this used Kombu can be reused to make "Second Dashi", a weaker stock, or cut up and used in a stir fry or soup.

Japanese Pickled Mushrooms

This is a great filling for nori sushi rolls! Recipe from Examiner website.

Japanese Pickled Mushrooms 

Ingredients

1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1/4 cup sake
1/4 cup rice vinegar
6 cups thinly sliced fresh matsutake or shiitake mushroom caps


Method

In a large saucepan, bring to a boil brown sugar, soy sauce, sake, and mirin. 
Add mushroom caps, and return to a boil for 5 minutes. Turn off heat. 
Add rice vinegar. Toss mushrooms well. 
Allow to cool, cover, and refrigerate for 1-4 weeks. 
For longest storage, marinate fresh mushrooms at their peak and store in a sterilized glass jar.

Sushi Lunch

Made a delicious vegan sushi lunch for my family;

Nori rolls: avocado & teriyaki tofu
Teriyaki Oyster Mushroom Boats
Bean Curd Parcels (you can buy the bean curd parcels already marinaded from an Asian grocer and just stuff with sushi rice)

Served with Tamari soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi paste...YUM!

Daikon Steak (Japanese Radish)

Radishes are a nutrient rich root vegetable that is often overlooked because of it's bitter flavour. I love daikon radish but never really knew how to cook it. My friend Faith who lives in Japan gave me this wonderful recipe. I served with Japanese plum wine...yummy!

Daikon Steak

Ingredients

1 Daikon radish, peeled and sliced into 1.5cm rounds
Oil for frying
1 Tbls soy sauce (I used tamari)
1 Tbls mirin (or 1/2 Tbls rice vinegar + 1/2 Tbls agave)
Shiso leaf (Japanese basil) (optional for garnish)

Method

Put daikon pieces in a bowl in the microwave with cling wrap to steam the daikon for about 3 minutes, or use a steamer for 10-15mins.
Then in a frying pan brown each side of steamed daikon in oil, when it is lightly brown on each side you remove daikon to plate.

Make a sauce with soy and mirin ( sweet Japanese cooking wine) and pour over daikon or keep in a bowl for dipping.
If you want more sauce just use equal amounts of ingredients.
Garnish with shiso leaf.

Daikon Radish

Agedashi Tofu

This recipe comes from Just one Cookbook blog. Agedashi tofu is a traditional deep fried tofu dish served with dashi-based sauce. Various vegetables and mushrooms can be added in the sauce.

Agedashi Tofu

Ingredients

1 block meduim firm tofu (momen tofu)

Corn flour/starch for dusting
1 green onion, chopped finely
1 Tbsp daikon radish, grated (optional)
Japanese chilli flakes (optional)
vegetable oil for frying.

Sauce

1 cup dashi stock
2 Tbsp soy sauce (I used Tamari)
2 Tbsp mirin

Method

Drain tofu for 5-10mins on a plate.
Cut tofu into large or small pieces (depending on preference).
In a small saucepan heat dashi, mirin and soy sauce. Once heated through on a medium heat, set aside.
In a large frying pan add oil (deep pr shallow frying as per preference).
Once oil is boiling dredge tofu in corn flour and fry evenly so that all sides are golden brown.
Remove and place on paper towel.
In a serving bowl place the tofu and pour over sauce and add desired garnishes.

Soba Noodle Soup

This is another recipe from "Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat" by Naomi Moriyama. The dish is meant to be eaten cold but I find it just as good hot. Just make sure the soba noodles you buy are 100% buckwheat if gluten is an issue for you. Some brands contain wheat.

Soba Noodle Soup

Ingredients

450ml Japanese dashi** or vegan fish stock (dashi is more subtle but more fiddly)
100ml mirin
100ml wheat free soy sauce
350g dried soba noodles
1 spring onion, thinly sliced
100g finely grated daikon radish (optional)
2 Tbls ground white sesame seeds (optional)
Wasabi (fresh or from tube)
1 square nori sheet, torn into thin ribbons (optional)


Method

Combine stock, mirin and soy sauce in a medium saucepan over a high heat and bring to boil.

Turn off heat and let cool to room temperature.
Bring a large saucepan of water to boil and cook soba noodles as per packet instructions.

After cooking, rinse thoroughly and drain.
To serve place a portion of noodles in a bowl, cover in soup and place all garnishes in small bowls on the side so everyone can choose according to taste.

** Dashi is a Japanese soup/dipping sauce base made from seaweed and bonito flakes.
To make Japanese dashi (or soup base) take a 10cm x 10cm piece of kombu seaweed and add to 1 litre of cold water.

Bring to almost boil and immediately remove kombu to avoid bitterness.
Add vegan fish flakes (such as dulse flakes) or just use vegan fish stock.
Bring to boil and take off heat, allowing to sit for a few minutes.

Drain liquid through a sieve lined with muslin to remove flakes and prevent stock from becoming cloudy. (Personally if I'm just using dulse flakes I'll leave them in the soup base because they have a lot of nutritional value.)
Store in refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Japanese Tofu-Carrot Dish

This recipe comes from the book "Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat" by Naomi Moriyama.

Japanese Tofu-Carrot Dish

Ingredients

2 x packet (8 x 13cm) of usu-age tofu (thin fried tofu) - I used Soyco Japanese Style
2 Tbls sake/rice vinegar
2 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp soy (I used tamari)
1 tsp salt
1 tbls vegetable oil
6 medium carrots, chopped into matchsticks (or grated)
1 Tbls white sesame seeds (I used chia seeds)
2 tsp sesame oil


Method

Squeeze out extra liquid from the tofu and then slice thinly on the diagonal.
In a small bowl mix together sake, sugar, salt & soy until sugar is disolved.
In a large prying pan heat the vegetable oil on a mendium-high heat and fry the tofu and carrots for 3 minutes, until carrots are soft and tofu is browned.
Add the soy mixture and reduce heat to low-medium until thoroughly mixed through and liquid is reduced.
Remove from heat and stir through sesame oil and seeds before serving.

Japanese "Egg" Soup

I'm having a bit of a Japanese theme this weekend so I'm dusting off all my favourite recipes and attempting to veganise them. This egg soup recipe was my favourite from a cooking class I took many years ago. The taste was very similar but the look is slightly different because with the original the egg cooks in ribbons where as tofu is less hospitable. If there is such a thing as vegan fish stock then use it in place of the fish paste and fish sauce (in relation to amount of water that is needed)

Japanese "Egg" Soup

Ingredients

3 tps vegan fish paste
1 Tbls vegan fish sauce
3 1/2 cups water
1 small packet of silken tofu
2 egg replacers (as per packet instructions)
1 Tbls soy sauce (I used Tamari)
1 Tbls cooking sake (or Japanese rice wine)
1 tsp potato starch mixed with 2 tsp water
2 shallots (spring/green onions) chopped
salt to taste
Chilli flakes (optional)


Method

Bring the water and stock to boil in a medium - large saucepan.
Stir in soy sauce and sake.
Add potato starch mix and stir quickly.
In a medium bowl whisk egg replacers with silken tofu & shallots, adding more water if needed for that "beaten egg" consistency.
Continue stirring the soup (creating kind of a gentle whirlpool) as you pour in the tofu mixture.
Once warmed through serve, adding more salt if needed or chilli flakes if you prefer it hotter.

Teriyaki Tofu

Teriyaki sauce is so much nicer homemade than packet and far simpler than you might think. You may not have some of these ingredients in your house but you can get them from the supermarket and they will last a long time. Lovely as a slap of tofu and rice or as a stir fry strips with vegetables. The photos are showing small strips of tofu because I was using them for sushi rolls.

Teriyaki Tofu


Ingredients

2 packets of tofu - I used Japanese style medium tofu
OR
1 packet of extra firm tofu, pressed, cut into sticks and fried (recipe here)

Marinade;

4 Tbls sake or rice wine vinegar
8 tsp soy sauce (I use Tamari because it's GF)

Sauce;

100ml Mirin
4Tbs Soy Sauce (I use Tamari)
2 tsp granulated sugar


Method

Chop your tofu into desired slices and soak in the marinade for 30mins.

Once ready blot extra marinade off.

Mix Sauce together till sugar has dissolved.

Over a medium-high heat fry the tofu until lightly cooked then take out of frying pan.

Add sauce to pan and simmer for a few minutes.

When sauce starts to caramelise add tofu back and cook for another minute before taking off.

Serve with rice and/or vegetables.

Sushi Rolls (Nori Rolls & Boats)

Ok, so they are technically Nori Roll as sushi is raw fish on rice but they are better known as Sushi Rolls.
This is just a simple recipe and you can add whatever filling you like.

Tools: sushi rolling mat & rice boat makers.

Sushi Rolls


Ingredients

1 3/4 cup Sushi Rice
1 pk Nori sheets (you normally get around 10 sheets to a packet)
3 Tbls Sake or Rice Wine vinegar
7 1/2 tsp Sugar
2 tsp sea salt
Desired fillings (see bottom of page for suggestions)

For serving;
Soy sauce (I use Tamari)
Pickled Ginger
Wasabi paste


Method

Rinse rice 2-3 times before cooking.
I use a rice cooker because I'm lazy but if you're doing it on the stove just cook per instructions on the packet.
Mix sake, sugar annd salt together in a small saucepan and bring to boil melting the sugar. Allow to cool and and mix well into cooked rice.
Allow rice to cool before handling.
If you use a sushi mat to roll make sure you cover it in cling wrap first. I use my hands.
With slightly damp hands I take a sheet of nori (it usually has lines patterned across, make sure line is horizontal to you). I find it handy to have a bowl of water near by that I can keep dunking my fingers in.
Put some rice on the sheet at the end closest to you and pat down. Depending on how thick you want your roll, add more or less rice to each roll.

Add your first ingredient across the rice, don't over pack because it will fall apart.

Take the front peice of nori and roll, tucking it under as you go to make sure your roll is firm.

Once rolled all your sushi you can cut into pieces. Make sure you use a very sharp knife.

If you're making boats like these below, you fill up your rice boat container then pop them out and wrap a piece of nori paper around the outside, leaving space inside to fill with desired filling.

Fillings I like;

• Avocado
• Teriyaki Tofu (everyone will think this is chicken)
• Japanese Pickled Mushrooms
• Bean curd boats (you can get these bean curd wrappers from an Asian market)
• Julienne Carrot, Julienne Cucumber and Avocado
• Flower Nori Roll
• Fried Shiitake & Chilli Mayo Rolls
• Watermelon “Tuna” Sashimi

Fried Shiitake & Chilli Mayo

Flower Roll

Japanese Pickled Mushrooms

Teriyaki Tofu