Japanese Feast: Flame Smoked Mackerel

When I first read the words ‘smoked eel wrapped in cucumber jelly sheets’, I knew I was out of my comfort zone. Na’ama had already bought the ingredients so there was no going back, and after the event, I am glad I didn’t read it properly until it was too late!

Na’ama had been inspired by the Ledbury and had found the recipe online. For some reason the post has now been deleted but luckily I had printed it off. The version below is adapted for 8 servings, and with our own recipe for Jerusalem artichoke purée and shiso vinegar since the original didn’t specify.

The shiso vinegar needs to be made 3 or more days ahead. The vinaigrette made from the shiso vinegar also looks like a lot but you need that much in order to submerge the mackerel fillets completely. The vinaigrette can also be made a day or two before hand.

For the Shiso Vinaigrette:

100ml soy sauce

100ml mirin

375ml rice vinegar

1 bunch of shiso leaves, coarsely chopped

500 ml rapeseed oil

1 bulb of garlic

First, mix the vinegar and shiso leaves together and leave to infuse for 3-5 days. Strain and set aside.

One the day, gently heat the soy sauce, mirin and shiso vinegar in a medium sized saucepan over a low heat.

Cut the bulb of garlic in half and add it to the warm infusion. Remove the infusion from the heat and set aside for 2 hours to infuse. Pass the infusion through a fine sieve, add the rapeseed oil and whisk vigorously to emulsify.

For the Cucumber Jelly Sheets

1 litre cucumber juice

12g agar agar powder

I made the cucumber juice with about 8 cucumbers and a juicer. You could otherwise blend the cucumber and strain it.

Mix the cucumber juice with the agar agar and heat the emulsion in a medium pan to bring to the boil. As soon as it begins to boil, remove from the heat and pour into a plastic or metal tray to about 1mm thickness.

Let the sheets set. Do not move or cover with clingfilm since any movement at this stage will prevent the sheets from setting. Set aside to use in the smoked Eel and cucumber rolls

For the Smoked Eel and Cucumber Rolls

240g smoked eel

4 tablespoons of crispy fried shallots (deep fried sliced shallots)

2 tablespoons of crème fraiche

4 tablespoons chopped chives

4 tablespoons freshly grated horseradish (otherwise 2 tablespoons of jarred horseradish should work)

2 tablespoons of milk

Salt and pepper

Cucumber jelly sheets (see above)

In a medium bowl, mix the crème fraiche and milk. Fold in the chives, horseradish, crispy fried shallots, and season to taste.

Remove the skin and any remaining bones from the eel and flake. Fold into the crème fraiche mixture.

Cut he transparent cucumber sheets into 8 even sized squares (you will see from the picture ours were too thick to be malleable!), spoon 50g of the smoked eel mix onto the edge of each square and gently roll them up into cigar shapes

For the Jerusalem Artichoke Purée:

400g Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and chopped

Water, to cover

75g butter

50ml double cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the Jerusalem artichokes into a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until tender, then drain. Cool.

Place the Jerusalem artichokes into a food processor with the butter and cream, and blend to make a smooth purée.

Just before you want to serve the fish, place the purée into a saucepan, season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and heat gently to warm through.

For the Flame-grilled Mackerel:

8 fresh mackerel fillets

4 tablespoons of plain flour

Salt and pepper

Shiso vinaigrette

Remove the pin bones and scales from the mackerel, and wash the mackerel under cold running water and drain the fillets on kitchen towel, ensuring they are as dry as possible

Mix the flour, salt and pepper and coat the mackerel fillets with the mix

Heat a non-stick frying pan with sunflower oil, place the mackerel fillets (4 at a time) skin side down into the hot oil, increase the heat and gently cook the mackerel until the skin becomes crispy.

Remove the mackerel from the pan and place the fillets (skin side down) onto a wire rack and gently cook it over the open flame until the skin starts to blister. Do not move the fisllet around as it will break but move the wire rack to ensure the skin blisters all over. The top of the mackerel can still be a little raw at this stage.

Place the mackerel in a small tray and baste with the shiso vinaigrette until the mackerel starts to become translucent. Set aside to infuse while dressing the plate

Additional Garnishes and Assembling Each Plate:

For each person, you will need:

1 smoked eel and cucumber roll

1 flame grilled mackerel fillet in shiso vinaigrette

1 tablespoon of Jerusalem artichoke purée

1 tablespoon of small diced cucumber (we went without these)

1 tablespoon of crispy fried shallots

¼ teaspoon of ground nori seaweed

1 tablespoon of cut cress

Start each plate by arranging the mixed cress in a ring with the crispy shallots, ground nori and diced cucumber. Spoon the Jerusalem artichoke purée on one side of the plate, add more diced cucumber and place the mackerel fillet on top of the purée. Place the smoked eel and cucumber roll on the opposite side of the mackerel. Finish the dish with a drizzle of the shiso vinaigrette

Our jelly was too thick but otherwise, a successful first attempt!

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Japanese Feast: Nasu Dengaku

Onto recipe number three – miso glazed aubergines… Like my sister, I am a big fan of this dish. I have tried a few recipes but have now settled on Diana Henry’s version in A Change of Appetite, which uses two types of Miso. Elle's recipe is also lovely and uses ginger

This recipe is adapted for eight servings and although half an aubergine each may seem like a lot, it isn’t! They shrink down and are so moreish that they quickly disappear.

Ingredients:

4 long slim aubergines

2 tablespoons of oil (vegetable or sunflower)

2 tablespoons white miso paste

2 tablespoons brown miso paste

2 teaspoons soft brown sugar

3 tablespoons mirin

1 tablespoon sake

3 white sesame seeds of black onion / nigella seeds

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Halve the aubergines lengthways and cut a lattice pattern on the flesh side without cutting through the skin. Brush with oil and put on top of a foil lined baking tray. Bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes, cover with foil, and return to the oven for another 10 to 30 minutes until they are completely tender (the time will vary depending on the aubergine!)

While the aubergine is cooking, mix together the miso pastes, sugar, mirin and sake in a small saucepan and heat gently. Remove from the heat and set aside. Toast your sesame seeds in a small pan on a low heat until lightly golden.

Once the aubergine in tender, spread the aubergines with the miso mix and return them to the oven to cook fro another five minutes. The aubergine halves should be moist and not dry at all (as pictured). Sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds and serve

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Japanese Feast: Yakitori Skewers and Pickled Vegetables

I first tried these in a little izakaya off a side street in Tokyo. The sweet teriyaki was punctuated by smoky charcoal, which I think is an important part of its appeal. To recreate this at home without a barbecue, a well seasoned griddle pan is needed.

Our yakitori recipe is adapted from Everyday Harumi to be slightly less sweet, and the salad is inspired by a Diana Henry accompaniment to teriyaki salmon.

Chicken Yakitori with Pickled Vegetables

(Serves 8 – 2 skewers each)

For the chicken skewers:

700g boneless chicken thighs with the skin on

10 small leeks

16 bamboo skewers

100ml soy sauce

100ml mirin

2 tablespoons of sugar

For the salad dressing:

150ml rice vinegar

1.5 tablespoons caster sugar

1.5 tablespoons of pickled ginger (optional)

For the salad:

185g cucumber, halved lengthways and deseeded

3 small carrots, peeled

4 radishes

A large handful of beansprouts

5g microleaves such as cress (optional)

Method:
For the teriyaki sauce: put the soy, mirin and sugar in a saucepan and cook, very gently, for around 20 minutes until it has a slightly syrupy texture

Cut the chicken into 1-inch square pieces. Wash the leeks, dry and then cut into 1-inch-thick rounds.

Thread the chicken and leeks onto the skewers, alternating between the chicken and the leek pieces. I do two pieces of chicken and 2 pieces of leek per skewer

Marinate the skewers in the teriyaki sauce for half an hour or so. While the chicken is marinating, you can make the salad. First gently heat the vinegar and dissolve the sugar in it. Set aside to cool and then add the pickled ginger

Carefully julienne the cucumber and carrots. Slice the radishes on the thinnest setting of a mandolin and mix all the vegetables together with the beansprouts. Sprinkle with salt, mix again and leave in a colander for ten minutes. When ready to serve, toss with the dressing, add the microleaves and sprinkle with black onion / nigella seeds

Once the chicken has marinated, put a little oil into a large griddle pan and, when just beginning to smoke, add the skewers. Douse with sauce after a minute and turn over to cook until nicely browned on each side, and cooked all the way through. Leave ot rest for 30 seconds or so, and serve with the pickled vegetables.

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Japanese Feast: Miso Soup

There is nothing like a good miso soup to start a meal, and if you can be bothered to stock up on Japanese larder essentials, you might well find yourself making it again and again. 

The key to a good miso soup is a top quality miso paste and a really good stock (dashi), which is ever so simple to make but requires a muslin cloth. I usually make a big batch and freeze a lot of it so I only have to wash up once!

Miso Soup

These are my favourite pastes, available from the Japan Centre or upstairs at New Loon Moon in Chinatown

Ingredients:

(Serves 8)

10 x 20cm piece of konbu seaweed

5g of Benito fish flakes

1.2 litres water

5+ tablespoons of white miso paste

200g silken tofu, cut into small cubes

3 Spring onions to garnish, finely diced to garnish

Method:

Pour the cold water into a sauce pan and place a piece of konbu seaweed and a shitake mushroom in it, weighing the mushroom down with a plate and leaving it to soak for 10 minutes. Then bring the mix to the boil, removing the seaweed just before it starts to bubble properly, add the fish flakes and, as soon as they have sunk to the bottom (a few minutes), strain the mixture through a muslin cloth.

Dashi

Just before you are ready to serve, heat up your stock to near boiling point. Gradually pour some of the hot stock into your miso in mixing bowl, incorporate, and return it to the saucepan. Heat for a few more minutes so it is just on the point of boiling and serve up into bowls with the tofu in them. Sprinkle on the spring onions and serve.

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Flo and Na’ama’s Japanese Feast

Last week, my lovely friend Na’ama and I challenged ourselves to a day of Japanese culinary excursion in honour of a semi-reunion with old friends. 

The Japanese theme arose from a French Kusmi book about how to cook with tea, which had some rather delicious looking Matcha green tea tarts. 

Na’ama then decided upon a terrifyingly technical mackerel dish she had enjoyed at the Ledbury, and, to hedge our bets and make sure no one went hungry, I added a three more courses. Eek!

The Menu

Miso Soup

Chicken Yakitori with Pickled Vegetables

Nasu Dengaku (Miso Glazed Aubergines)

Flame-grilled Mackerel with Smoked Eel and Shiso

Matcha and Raspberry Tartlets

You will be please to know that we pulled it off against the odds, and would definitely recommend the menu if you want to spend a day cooking(it really does take the best part of a day). If not, elements of the menu slot in very nicely with other, less high maintenance dishes. 

Over the next few days, I will be posting the recipes for each of the courses. Watch this space...