sweet potato sushi roll

It's Autumn, sweet potato season! Yummy sweet potato roll has a crunchy surprise inside.

Instead of making sweet potato tempura, I just steam the sweet potato and add some tempura flakes. You can purchase tempura flakes at any Japanese market.  They can be kept in your refrigerator for future use.

Makes 2 rolls


Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups prepared sushi rice 
1/2 lb. sweet potato, peeled and sliced (1/3 inch each)
4 Tbs. Mirin
2 Tbs. sugar
1 1/2 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. roasted sesame seeds
1 full sheet of nori, cut in half along the line
1 Tbs. tempura flake 


Prepare the sweet potato and sweet soy sauce:
In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup water, the Mirin and sugar and bring to boil.
Add the sweet potato and cook until it's softened. 
Remove the sweet potato from the saucepan and set aside. Add soy sauce to the saucepan with remaining liquid and simmer until it becomes syrupy.
How to roll:
Cover a bamboo mat with plastic wrap.
Place a sheet of nori rough-side up on the bamboo mat. Moisten your hands with water and scoop a 2/3 cup of sushi rice on nori. Spread the rice evenly and sprinkle the sesame seeds. Carefully flip over the nori so it's rice-side down on the bamboo mat.
Arrange a few slices of the sweet potato evenly equally in a middle of the nori.
Place the tempra flake right below of the sweet potato. Firmly roll up from the end nearest to you. Cut the roll into 6 pieces. 

fried eggplant with tuna fish / Nagaimo with pickled plum paste

Enjoy two easy summery side dishes. You will love this sweet and tender flavorful eggplant and fresh crisp Nagaimo with pickled plum paste. Pickled plum is one of Japan's ancient medicinal foods. I like to serve these dishes with cold Soba or Somen noodles in mid-Summer to Autumn. 

Serves 4


-Fried Eggplant with Tuna


Ingredients:
3 or 4 Asian eggplant, cut into 1-inch
1 can (4 to 5 oz.) tuna packed in water, drained and flaked
2 Tbs. Mentsuyu / Japanese seasoning soy sauce
1/2 cup water
vegetable oil for frying
3 Shiso leaves, chopped 


Directions:
In a small bowl, stir together the Mentsuyu and water. Set aside.


In a wok or deep fry pan, heat enough vegetable oil for frying over mediam high heat. When the oil is hot, add the eggplant and cook turning often until the eggplant has softened about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer it to the bowl of Mentsuyu. Add the tuna and gently mix the eggplant and tuna.


Transfer the eggplant and tuna to a serving bowl and garnish with the Shiso.


-Nagaimo with Pickled plum paste


Ingredients:
1/2 lb. Nagaimo, peeled and slice thinly lengthwise
2 pickled plum, seeded and chopped into paste
4 Shiso leaves, chopped


Directions:
Divide sliced Nagaimo into 4 serving plate, plum paste on top then garnish with Shiso.

UMEBOSHI / pickled plum

Fight fatigue fast

Food poisoning

Hangover

Fatigue

Appetite stimulant

SHISO / beefsteak plant

Sleep easy

Insomnia

Allergies

Immune system

Food poisoning

Diarrhoea

sushi appetizer for Christmas

This easy and quick appetizer is perfect for entertaining at your Chritmas party!
Serve with toothpicks and you don't need to dip in soy sauce since all the ingredients are seasoned.

Serves 2 - 4


Ingredients:
2 oz. smoked salmon, cut in 1.5"x 1.5"
2 oz. Tamagoyaki (Japanese style sweet egg, see below) cut in1.5"x 1.5"
2 oz. Nozawana (picked vegetable, available at Japanese store)1.5"x 1.5"
1 1/2 cup Sushi rice ( cooked short grain rice + Sushi vinegar)
brocoli, carrot and cilantro for garnish


Directions:
Tamagoyaki
2 eggs, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon Mirin(If you don't have, no need to add Mirin) and  1 pinch of salt, mix together. In a nonstick fry pan over medium low heat, warm 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the egg and cook until the surface gets soft about 1 minutes. Fold the egg in half, turn off the heat and let it sit on the pan until it cools down.


In the plastic wrap, place 1 piece of tamagoyaki and 1 tablespoon Sushi rice on top of the Tamagoyaki.  Twist the plastic wrap around the Tamagoyaki and rice, eliminating all excess space and air. Carefully create an oval shape unwrap and place on the side.

Repeat above for each of the Tamagoyaki, salmon and Nozawana ingredients. You should create approximately 16 - 20 pieces.

Alternately place individual Sushi pieces in a circular shape on a serving plate (approximately 8 pieces should from the base). Continue in the same manner by placing additional pieces on top in layers so that you create a conical shape.

Garnish with broccoli, carrot and cilantro.

spicy champagne mango salad

This salad is deliciously full of flavor but light. My husband’s all time favorite. Seasonal champagne mango adds a sweet surprise!

serves 4

Ingredients:

1 champagne mango, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

5 small/medium sweet tomatoes, each cut into 6 pieces

1/6 red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro 

1/2 lb. french beans, steamed, cut in half

Spicy dressing, whisk well

1 or 2 red or green small fresh chilies, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbs. soy sauce

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 Tbs. olive oil

Directions:

Combine all the vegetables in a bowl. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and turn gently to coat. Serve immediately. 

avocado & white grapefruit salad

This is my favorite side dish for warm spring and early summer days. It’s refreshing, light and tasty!

It goes well with BBQ or grilled main dishes.

Make sure you use a white grapefruit.

serves 4

Ingredients:

1 avocado, halved, pitted and sliced

1 large white grapefruit, peel and white pith cut away, segments cut from between membranes

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

1 Tbs. soy sauce

1/4 tsp. wasabi

Directions:

Mix the soy sauce and wasabi in a medium bowl. Add the avocado and cilantro in the bowl and gently coat with the sauce.
Transfer avocado with grapefruit to a plate.

spicy Karage ( Japanese style fried chicken )

Great as an appetizer or a picnic! You can make non-spicy for your family.

serves 3-4

Ingredients: 

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken thigh, cut in bite sizes

mixture

2 cloves garlic, crushed 

1 egg

1/2 tsp. sugar 

1/2 Tbs. soy sauce

1 Tbs. sesame oil

1/2 tsp. chicken powder bouillon

1/4 tsp. salt

3 Tbs. corn starch

1 Tbs. Sriracha or tabasco

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions: 

Whisk the mixture and transfer to a ziploc bag. Place the cut chicken into the bag and rub the mixture well. Seal it and let it sit for 30 minutes in refrigerator.

Heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pot about 350F. 
Fry the chicken in the hot oil until lightly golden about 4 minutes. Turn the chicken with chop sticks or tongs a couple of times and adjust the heat as needed to maintain the oil temperature.

Remove chicken from oil and place on paper towels to drip dry a few minutes.
Serve garnished with sliced lemon.

walnut Miso dip

Quick appetizer for  a party! Miso provides a lot of flavor and goes well with crunchy walnuts.

serves 4

Ingredients:

1/4 cup walnuts

2 Tbs. miso paste

1/4 cup mayonnaise 

2 celery stalks

2 large carrots

2 persian cucumbers

Directions:

Cut the vegetables into 3 inch-long sticks.

Toast the walnuts in a skillet over medium high. heat about 2 minutes. Let it cool slightly, then roughly chop.

Mix the dip ingredients, walnuts, miso and mayonnaise together.  

Miso

- fermented soya bean paste - 

*removes nicotine and alcohol from the body

*protects the liver

*prevents various cancers

*reduce high blood pressure

Critical ingredient in Japanese cooking. It's available at local supermarkets and it can be kept refrigerated for a long time.