Kibinago no nanban-zuke (fishbait in sour marinade)

Second visit of kibinago fish bait.

南蛮づけ nanban zuke. It’s fried fish, then marinated in a sour sauce. The result is very light on the stomach.

kibinago (silver stripe round herring) are these small mini-fish, often to small to cut them. Perfect for frying.
Wash the fish and drain well water. Sprinkle black pepper and chili pepper or other spices (optional).

Heat frying oil. Pass the fish in potato starch, fry them.

The fried fish, onion, carrot, ginger (grated) a chili pepper.

For the sauce : 1/2 cup water, 2 tbs mirin, 1 tbs soy sauce, 2 tbs sake brought to a boil. Then add 4 tbs of black rice vinegar. Pour on fish and veggies. Cover. Let 30 minutes minimum. I prefer overnight.

The next day.

Renkon (lotus root) in black vinegar with ginger. Green beans and edamame in yuzu citrus juice.

Genmai (brown rice) and miso soup with wakame seaweed.

Watarigani for Chinese New Year. Little crabs, spicy marinade

That’s food to eat with your fingers so you can lick them after…

Watarigani. Japanese small soft-shell crabs. They are often just boiled in a hot pot, but prepared this way they become even more delicious.

The sauce, the seafood and veggies. The sauce is a personal arrangement of the Taiwanese sachajang (sacha sauce).
Today my marinade contained : mini shrimps in salty brine (ami ebi), garlic, onion, ginger, leek whites, negi leek greens, red chili, Okinawan sake, soy sauce and rice vinegar. I minced and mixed 30 minutes before using.

The crabs are coated with starch, then deep fried.

And covered with the marinade. Turned 2 or 2 times, about 10 minutes. They absorb a good amount of the sauce. Then transfer on the cabbage.

Poulet mariné et taboulé de chou-fleur

A refreshing “barbecue” lunch.

First, a new version of cauliflower as a taboulé.

sanded cauliflower tabouleh

Then, a few hours in the fridge to let flavor mix and the cauliflower get cooked by the dressing.

Chicken marinated in olive oil with basil and Italian parsley…

…then grilled on the plancha.

Et c’est bon !

Petit jambon antillais (pineapple baked ham)

Jambon de Noël antillais
This is another style of Christmas ham, from the Antilles (French Caribbean islands). That’s addictive. I could eat some in all seasons. It’s fruity, spicy and fun. It’s hard to stop eating it. Probably impossible. That was 3 portions for an animal of the size of the gourmande. I’ve schlurped it all in one sitting, licked the plate, the fingers, the dish.
So you’re warned : Make it at the right size or invite the right number of persons.

It’s a boring white ham but of good quality of meat and not many additives. And they discount them from now. That’s perfect for that kind of recipe.

Shopping list :
-buy one more ham.

The net made indentation, I’ve cut a little further to allow flavor to get inside :

Dark rum, cinnamon sticks, clove, nutmeg, black pepper, black sugar and a little vinegar… and later I’ve added slices of raw ginger, bits of pineapple and juice.

Bagged and put to marinate 2 days in the fridge.

Baked one hour with regular showers of marinade (plus 1 tbs of honey). Then I added more pineapple, poured half of a lemon juice on the top, and I decorated with cloves. Baked again half an hour.

Serve with rice and…

… steamed rape blossoms with lemon.

A sweet potato baked at the same time made the dessert.

Edit of shopping list :
-buy 2 hams… no 3 or 4.

I folded my first Char Siu

Char Siu is the Hongkong version of the Chinese pork roast. Japan has a very different one that I’d write Cha-shuu as the only common point is it’s meat.
The HK one is spicy and red. That’s what we have today.

It’s this month’s Daring Cook Challenge (click here to see other’s meals and full recipes)

Our Daring Cooks’ December 2012 hostess is Sara from Belly Rumbles! Sara chose awesome Char Sui Bao as our challenge, where we made the buns, Char Sui, and filling from scratch – delicious!

I also made these panda buns (see next post)

Let’s start the Chinese party ! You really should try it as that requires planning, but you don’t have much to do.

I used beni-koji a Japanese natural red coloring, so it’s not so vivid. I had not all the sauces, “only” one soy sauce, oyster sauce, nam pla, hot chili. And I’ve used mizuame (glucose gel) not the maltose that I don’t wouldn’t be able to find. For the rest I followed the recipe of marinade below.

Voila ! I have marinated it overnight, slow-baked : 1 hour at 120 degree C, then under the broiler to make the lacker with more layers of marinade.

It’s a cut of ham, with some fat. It’s totally tender and juicy and the fragrance of spices float around…

Bring veggies.

Sand bao.

steaming bao
cheating bao (ready in 5 minutes)

Char siu bao ready to be enjoyed…

Recipe from Daring Cook Challenge

Char Sui (Cantonese BBQ Pork)

Ingredients

1 pork fillet/tenderloin (roughly 1-1.5 pounds)
4 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon (3 gm) ginger, grated
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 ½ tablespoons maltose (you can substitute honey)
1 ½ tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon shaoxing cooking wine
½ teaspoon (2 gm) ground white pepper
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon (2 gm) five spice powder
½ teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon pillar box red food colouring
(1 tablespoon=15 ml, 1 teaspoon=5 ml)

Directions:
Trim the pork loin to remove fat and tendon and slice lengthways so you have two long pieces, then cut in half. By cutting the pork in to smaller pieces to marinate you will end up with more flavoursome char sui. If you want to leave the pork in one piece you can do this as well. Place in container that you will be marinating them in.

Combine all the other ingredients in a bowl and mix well to combine. I placed my maltose in the microwave for a few seconds to make it easier to work with. Maltose is quite a solid hard sticky substance.

Cover pork well with ⅔ of the marinade mixture. Marinate for a minimum of 4 hours, I find it is best left to marinate overnight. Place the reserved ⅓ portion of the marinade covered in the fridge. You will use this as a baste when cooking the pork.

Cooking Method 1 – Oven

This is the first way that I experimented with cooking the char sui.
Pre-heat oven to moderate 180˚C/350°F/gas mark 4.
Cover a baking tray with foil or baking paper. Place on top of this a rack on which to cook the pork.

Place pork on the rack and place in oven.
Bake for approximately 10 minutes, basting and turning.
Turn the heat up to moderately hot 200˚C/400°F/gas mark 6 for the final 20 minutes as this will aid the charring. Cook until cooked through.

Cooking Method 2 – Seared in pan & then into the oven
On reading more I discovered this method, it was meant to give a better charred finish. Not sure that it did give a “better” result, but the pork was a lot more moist.
Pre-heat oven to moderate 180˚C/350°F/gas mark 4.
Cover a baking tray with foil or baking paper. Place on top of this a rack on which to cook the pork.
Place pork in a hot frying pan or wok. Sear it quickly so it is well browned

Remove from pan/wok and place pork on the rack and place in oven.
Bake for approximately 15 minutes, basting and turning until cooked through.

Cooking Method 3 – BBQ

This method I feel gave the best result. If you have access to a BBQ use it. The pork had a better BBQ flavour and was also very moist.
Place marinated pork loin on the grill of your BBQ

Cook on a medium heat, approximately 15 minutes, until cooked through.
Be careful to watch that you don’t burn the pork.