[prev] [thread] [next] [lurker] [Date index for 2004/1/3]
For New year's Eve I invited people round to my gaff for sushi and sake and this went down very well. I got the ingredients from the Japan center on Picadilly and all in all it was pretty reasonably priced. But the sushi and the teriyaki salmon I did are another story. I also picked up some shabu shabu beef. Shabu Shabu literally means 'swish swish' because its the nosie you make when you're cooking very thin beef in broth. Generally this beef is the legendary Kobe or Wagyu beef which is famous for coming from cows that have been fed on beer and massaged. The marbling is amazing and the taste is exquisite. It's also the only beef, apparently, that tastes better medium done. I had actually intended to sear this beef because, to be honest, i'm not a big fan of broths and so the stuff I got, which was, as mentioned, incredibly thin wasn't really suitable. My first attempts at doing a slice on a griddle pan ended in abject failure - the beef cooked well but any attempts to lift it out of the pan caused it to fall apart like a tissue. I switch to a large, flat non stick pan and tried again but with only marginally better results. Finally I lifted an entire interleaved layer of beef out (it comes in flat, paper seperated layers, rather like smoked slamon or meats froma deli) and put that in the pan over a low heat. This worked fine and cooked very quickly (literally a few seconds). Whilst this probably isn't the most effective or best way to cook it it came out tasting beautiful and very flavoursome. I served it with new potatoes that I'd apr-boiled and then sauteed with mustard seeds (and a tsp of English mustard just at the end), salad and a wasabi and garlic aioli which was delicious. Netx week I want to try the Salmon Teriyaki as a main dish rather than cut into cubes and served on the side. I'd also like to try doing Chicken Yakitori although I'll need to get some skewers for that.
Generated at 22:05 on 03 Jan 2004 by mariachi 0.41