It's hard to imagine that there have been one hundred entries on "The Good Egg Blog". I love looking back on past entries and seeing how the blog has changed and (hopefully) improved over the last year and a half. There are always new things to write about and recipes to visit and re-visit. It is my hope that you will continue to use The Good Egg Blog as a you would an old, favourite cookbook. As always, I love hearing from you and getting your suggestions on things you would like to see or ideas about how to make recipes better. I am looking forward to the next one hundred entries! Read on to learn about the sensational lunch that my sister prepared for me today.
This afternoon, Ellen & I went to Lori's house for a Japanese lunch. The menu was displayed on the chalkboard when we arrived (see above). Lori's inspiration for this special lunch was a book called "Harumi's Japanese Cooking". Apparently, Harumi Kurihara is the "Martha Stewart" of Japan. This is her first book to be published in North America. After just skimming the surface of this cookbook, there are lots of recipes that I would like to try - not too complicated, just delicious.
By the time Ellen & I arrived, Lori was well into the preparations for lunch. She had made dashi stock (a stock made from kombu and dried fish flakes) and had at least three dipping sauces for different dishes. The first thing we tried were the gyoza (Chinese-style dumplings). There is a big difference between fresh, flavourful gyoza, and the gyoza that you will sometimes come across at restaurants (frozen, not hand-made, tough). In the cookbook, she instructs not to seal the dumplings after they are filled. Lori & I questioned this method but she decided to do the first batch without sealing the edges of the dumpling wrappers (see picture above). The method for cooking the dumplings was to fry them in a little oil in a pan till crispy, then add hot water and cover for about 5 minutes to steam. When most of the water is gone from the pan, drizzle a little sesame oil over the gyoza and cook until they are crispy again. They were amazing, but the filling, which was a mixture of shrimp and pork, kept falling out of the dumpling wrappers. We did the next batch with sealed edges and they were excellent.
Most people who enjoy going to Canadian-Japanese restaurants will also know, and probably love, Agadashi Tofu. Lori hung the tofu to drain the water and then cut it into squares. The squares were then rolled in potato starch and deep-fried. Afterward, we decided that they squares should have been cooked a little longer to achieve a crispier skin on the tofu, but let me tell you, this was fantastic. My parents also happened to be at Lori's and even they enjoyed this dish (we weren't sure that they would enjoy the variety of food that was on the menu, but they did very well). The fried tofu was then put in the dashi stock, and garnished with finely shredded daikon radish, fresh ginger, green onions, and fish flakes. Oh my, oh my!
The edemame (soybeans) were just like you would imagine them at a restaurant. Lori steamed a bag of frozen edamame in a bamboo steamer. When they were done, she sprinkled fleur de sel over them. For those of you who haven't had edamame, you pick them up in your fingers, and by squeezing the pod with your teeth, the bean inside will pop out. You also get a touch of salt with each bean, making these a very addictive little appetizer or snack. For the meat, she marinated slices of fresh salmon in miso sauce for about 24 hours. At the same time, the chicken pieces were marinating in a terriyaki sauce. They were both baked in the oven. Harumi calls for marinating the salmon for up to three days.
A big challenge for Lori was getting the tempura to cook perfectly. You need to start with the right ingredients for the batter. The flour (she used Double XX flour which is used for pasta, I think) needs to be refrigerated. Everything needs to be very cold. The flour is then gently mixed with sparkling water, egg, and baking powder. The other key is having your oil at the correct temperature. The oil was not rolling, but it was lively. This is where a candy thermometer comes in handy, but Lori doesn't have one and I forgot to bring mine. She did thinly sliced sweet potato, eggplant, red onions (which I loved!), and prawns. All the tempura was crispy and the dipping sauce was perfect. Wow!
Last, but certainly not least, we had the salmon. Lori had ordered one pound of sushi-grade tuna for our meal. Apparently, we are at the tail-end of tuna season, and the fish shop wasn't able to get her any of the highly anticipated fish. Instead they gave her a free pound of sushi-grade salmon. We were disappointed (not about the free part!), but we really shouldn't have been. Thesalmon was divine. Lori cooked up the sticky rice and Jake (remember Jake who stopped taking my calls on canning day?) carved the salmon into long pieces for maki rolls, and appropriate sizes for sushi (fish on little logs of rice) and sashimi (just the raw fish). The texture was amazing. "Sushi-grade" really means something. I don't think I would try making sushi from regular old salmon, especially not the farmed variety.
Our Japanese lunch was unforgettable. The only unfortunate part of this meal was the fact that Lori and Jake were both working on putting the food together while the rest of us were enjoying it. It would be a great meal to do around an island in your kitchen where people could sit, watch, and chat while you are cooking. Thank you Lori & Jake!
