Tag Archives: fish

Asian food, main dish, meat & fish

Listen to Your Heart

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Listen to your heart. It usually tells you what you truly need (and even on what you should give up).

Don’t let things which you can’t change anymore get you down. You can not change them anymore. But you can learn from them.

Be brave and reach for the stars. You are worth it!

And just say “no” from time to time. You are allowed to.

Treat yourself every now and then. No matter if it is reasonable or not – your soul will thank you for it.

Listen to your music. And do more of the stuff that you love.

Just breathe… first because you actually need air and second because calm serenity often brings you further than short temper.

Miso Salmon

And if the day still just does not turn out to be a good one… indulge in something delicious to eat! Because sometimes it is prepared easier than you might think. The salmon in miso paste almost cooks itself on its own in the oven, the rice cooker takes care of the rice, and you should always have gari at home anyway. To that some creamy eggs and a cup of heart-warming tea and everything looks a little brighter already. Wanna bet?

Miso Salmon

Ingredients for 2 portions

  • 2-3 tbsp white or yellow miso paste
  • 2 tbsp mirin
  • 2 tbsp make
  • 200 g salmon filets with skin, scaled

Mix the miso, mirin, and sake in a dish. Turn the salmon in the marinade, cover the dish and let it rest in the fridge for 60-120 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and brush a little oil on it. Put the salmon onto the tray, skin side down, and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Serve with freshly steamed rice and if you’d like some creamy eggs, some gari, and a cup of tea tea.

anime, Asian food, geek corner, main dish, meat & fish

Fried Mackerel with Egg on Rice

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Saba Tamagoyaki Don

Under water the world is silent. The sun casts its beams through the ever changing surface that cheerfully dance on the ground. They call out to us, wanting us to join them. The blue of the water, sometimes grey as steel and hazy, sometimes turquoise and bright, allures us to dive in. Sometimes I dream about the lively roaring sea with its waves. But tamed, I have to admit, I prefer it for swimming: In the pool, with solid ground under my feet and an envious eye on the well-trained swimmers around me. I swim my laps, duck under and feel connected to the water – a place where I’ve always felt at home. No wonder, that I fell in love with an anime series about swimming a while ago. And in honor of Free! I’ll be cooking mackerel today – the main character Haruka Nanase’s most favourite food.

The mackerel is a somewhat inconspicuous fish, but actually with a gorgeous patterning in all shades of blue and silvery grey. We should eat it much more often and stay away from creamy salmon and firm tuna from time to time. Mackerel has a much more “fish-like” taste and a very unique flavor that is easily tamed by spring onions and ginger. And it is so easily prepared, that it is almost too simple: Just cut in chunks, marinated and fried it is a delight and perfect for another one of my beloved “donburi” – bowls of rice with “stuff on top”.

Saba Tamagoyaki Don

“Saba Tamagoyaki Don” – Fried Mackerel with Egg on Rice

Inspired by Free! and Free! Eternal Summer

Ingredients for 2 portions

For the fried mackerel:

  • 2-3 mackerel filets
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sake or sherry
  • 1/2 tbsp mirin
  • 2 tbsp potato starch
  • 500-1000 ml oil for frying

For the tamagoyaki:

  • 3 medium sized eggs
  • 1-2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp mirin
  • some oil

Additionally:

  • freshly steamed sushi rice
  • chopped spring onion, gari, lime juice and/or sesame for garnish

Wash the mackerel filets and remove remaining bones. You might probably find them running alongside the middle of the filets and some might also stick in the top part. Cut the fish into bite-sized chunks and mix them with the soy sauce, sake, and mirin. Let them rest in the frigde for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette): Mix up the eggs with the soy sauce and the mirin. Put a tamagoyaki pan on high heat (any regular pan will work too, but it is best with a rectangular pan), add a thin layer of oil and pour in about one quarter of the egg mixture. As soon as the top surface of the egg starts to turn solid, roll up the omelette by flapping it over for 3 times or so. Push it to one side of the pan, add another thin layer of oil and pour in the second quarter of egg. Shortly lift up the egg roll from before so egg can spread under that too and as soon as the surface starts to turn solid again flip and roll up the roll again. Repeat until all the egg mixture is used up and you have a nice egg roll in the pan. Making tamagoyaki is a very quick process – you shouldn’t need more than 10 minutes for everything. Remove the pan from the stove and flip the tamagoyaki onto a bamboo mat. Roll it up to wrap the egg roll in it and set aside.

Get the fish out of the fridge and let it drain. Roll the fish chinks in the potato starch so that they are covered all around and let them reach room temperature. Pour the frying oil in a pot and heat up to 170°C. Carefully let the fish chunks slip into the hot oil and fry them for 2-3 minutes until they are golden-brown and crunchy. Don’t crowd the fish pieces in the oil. If necessary work in batches. Let them drain on a kitchen towel.

Fill two serving bowls with rice and top it with the mackerel. Unwrap the tamagoyaki, cut in into short pieces and divide them onto the bowls. Quickly serve it with some gari, chopped spring onions, sesame and lime juice.

Saba Tamagoyaki Don

main dish, meat & fish

The Regard of Simple Things

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Rice with Salmon and Eggs

Life is precious. And if we don’t keep an eye on it it will flash by. How often do we let annoyances stop us in our doings and end up not observing the small but good things in life. But aren’t those small things the best? A cup of tea in the morning, a bitter-sweet soundtrack at work, a vespertine stroll in the woods that are glowing in their autumnal dress right now. A kind word, an embrace, a meeting with dear friends… or a simple bowl of rice with salmon and egg. Actually a food out of leftovers from yesterday, but still so good today – so comforting and delicious – that it would be a shame not to respect them.

I made this dish out of leftover rice and leftover butter-fried salmon from the previous day. But you also can use freshly steamed rice and just fry the salmon freshly as well. You can use raw and finely chopped salmon too, if you like… or you can even use smoked fish just as well.

Rice with Salmon and Eggs

„Not Really a Recipe“ Bowl of Rice with Salmon and Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients for 2 portions

  • 150 g salmon, fried in butter (or finely diced raw salmon or a few slices of smoked salmon)
  • 2 portions steamed sticky rice, fresh or from the previous day
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2-3 eggs
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil

Use a fork or a pair of chopsticks to break the salmon filet into small pieces. Loosen up the rice with a spoon and mix it with the vinegar. Crack the eggs into a bowl and roughly mix them with the soy sauce. Heat up the sesame oil in a pan, add the egg mixture an stir while you let the eggs set. As soon as that happens add the rice, quickly stir and then add the salmon. Mix gently and divide into two bowls. Best served warm with a Japanese green tea.

Rice with Salmon and Eggs

Asian food, meat & fish, soul food

They are Among Us: Tuna Onigiri

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Tuna Onigiri

I wish there was a clone ship for onigiri! Just like this huge Cylon thing in Battlestar Galactica: Filled with huge bath tubs where all the onigiri that have come to die are magically reborn again… an inexhaustible source. They would wonderfully reappear, freshly come back to life and immediately jump into the next spacecraft to fly right back to me and directly onto my plate… A girl can dream, right?

Yes, onigiri make me happy. Really happy. So happy in fact, that I almost can’t describe it. And yes, personally I could talk about them all day long. About how easy they are to make. About how beautiful they are. About how they can be eaten cold or warm and freshly roasted under the grill. About how you can fill them or mix the rice with the ingredients or just leave the rice plain. About how perfectly you can eat them just with your hands and about how much I love to actually touch the food I eat. About how well they can be prepared in advance – and therefore are the perfect food to bring to parties, picnics or lunch break in your bento.

Yes, I am madly in love with onigiri. We both are actually. So why isn’t wasn’t there a recipe on this blog yet? My bad. After all you can nicely take them with you to the sofa to indulge in a long-awaited Battlestar Galactica relapse again. It’s been too long!

How much you get addicted to them depends strongly on the quality of the rice you use and the other ingredients. They can turn your “ordinary ball of rice” into some sheer poetry. In our most favourite recipe we use Cheddar… not really traditionally Japanese, but well – it’s delicious, so what!?

Tuna Onigiri

Tuna Onigiri with Cheddar, Chili & Ginger

after this lovely recipe by Mandy

Ingredients for 8-10 rice balls

For the rice balls:

  • 2 cups (à 180 ml) sushi rice
  • 1 sheet nori
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • some sesame or furikake

For the filling:

  • 1/2 can tuna in oil (about 90 grams)
  • 2 tbsp freshly grated Cheddar
  • 1 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tsp sesame
  • 1-2 tsp chopped ginger
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder or freshly chopped chili
  • 1/2 tsp red chili paste and/or a little Tabasco

Put the rice into a sieve and wash it under cold running water. Cook it in a rice cooker according to the producer’s instructions or in a pot on the stove: Add 2 cups of water to the rice in the pot. Close the lid and switch the stove to low (heat level about 2 of 10). After 10 minutes switch to medium heat (level 4-6 of 10 – depending on the kind of stove you have) and let the rice steam for 10-15 minutes. The water should not boil and you should keep the lid of the pot closed. After 15 minutes the rice should have absorbed all the cooking water and it should be tender und fluffy. Pull the pot away from the stove. Get a spoon and carefully fold the rice before closing the lid again and let the rice rest for 5 more minutes.

Let the cooked rice cool down. Drain the tuna and mix it with the other ingredients for the filling. Season to taste with additional chili, cheese or ginger if you like. Cut the Nori sheet in half and cut those halves again in 4-5 rectangles each.

Moisten one of your hand palms and put 2-3 well-heaped teaspoons of the rice on it. Gently press it down a bit. Add 1-2 teaspoons of the filling on top of it and cover with 2-3 more teaspoons of rice. You can also use an onigiri mould for this: Dip it into water too, before filling it, and fill it up loosely right up to the top.

Now use your other hand (or the lid of the onigiri mould if you use one) and press the onigiri to your preferred shape. Wrap the onigiri in nori, brush a little of the sesame oil over it and sprinkle it with sesame. Arrange on a plate and serve with soy sauce and green tea if you like. Or dip them in this sweet and sour chili sauce. Heaven!

The onigiri taste best when they are fresh but are also perfect companions for a bento on the next day.

main dish, meat & fish, soul food

A Day Well Spent

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Being a child (again): Running along the beach, starling sea gulls and cheering out of joy when the waves hit the shore. Playing again… all day long. And laughing – so loud and so long until you get a stich and watery eyes. Practicing to juggle. Just because yo don’t have anything to do today and the balls are so beautiful with their bright colours. Talking with friends about all the best things in life: even more games, comics, movies and books. And keep on laughing.

Sometimes you need days like this and how well do they recharge you again! And because we all have to eat and in company it is always nicer than being alone we all meet around the table in the evening to celebrate a day very well spent. Pasta always (mostly?) is a good idea and bathing the noodles in comforting tomato sauce with lovely shrimps can’t be wrong. We will eat with a big bottle of wine on the table and a lot of giggling. A cheer for friendship!

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Pasta with Shrimps and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients for 2 portions

  • 1 small onion or shallot
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1-2 handful of shrimps
  • 50 ml white wine
  • 100 g puréed tomatoes
  • 200-300 g pasta
  • some chili
  • salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • wild chives

Peel the onion and the garlic and chop them finely. Peel the shrimps and remove the gut. In a pan heat up the olive oil on medium temperature, add onion, garlic and shrimps and let them sizzle gently for five minutes, until the shrimps blush in a beautiful orange and it smells wonderful in the kitchen. Deglaze with white wine, add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Immediately switch the temperature to low and let the sauce cook for 15-30 minutes. Season to taste with chili, salt and pepper.

Cook the pasta in a large pot with boiling salt water until al dente, then strain them through a sieve and add them to the sauce. Swing the pasta in the pan and serve with chopped chives.

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main dish, meat & fish

Daydreams in the Grass…

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Do you remember? Back in the old days our world was so simple. Our real problems seemed so small to us and our little worries were so meaningful. We used to lie in the grass, giggling, arms and legs outstretched, and holding hands. And we stared into the sky, carefree. We counted the fluffy clouds that passed by and lovingly bickered about if that one looked more like a rabbit or like a unicorn. On that day our biggest concern was if there still was some ice cream in the freezer and that we had to leave for home eventually. We made plans for our future that should never happen this way, built castles in the air out of dreams and wishes whilst understanding each other without words. Continue reading Daydreams in the Grass… →