Eating Around the World (From Home....And Gluten Free...): May 2023

Welcome to Japan! The land of beautiful cherry blossoms! Japan has been somewhere I would love to visit since I was young, and the desire is still there! It wasn't until recently that I really enjoyed eating Japanese food, and even still, some of the things I am not a fan of. But, it's growing on me! I always thought of Japan as one island, but there are over 6,800 islands that make up Japan, but the four biggest islands cover 97% of the land mass! My Super Sister-in-Law was in Japan for quite some time, and when I texted her pictures of the meal, she knew exactly what it was! According to Google, their population is 125.71 million people and their capital is Tokyo. Their national dish is...

Sushi, Rice, and Miso Soup!

I must confess...we made sushi in March for a dear friend's birthday, so we didn't repeat that process. And I've made rice a million times, so I didn't make that either. But I did make miso soup! To go along with it, we also made Okonomiyaki and Sunomono, which were excellent. But, since the national dish is sushi, I'll add that recipe as well. Here's what I did:

SUSHI

Sushi Rice

2 C sushi rice

2 1/2 C water

1/4 C rice vinegar

2 tbsp sugar

Sushi

1/2 lb sushi-grade salmon

1/2 lb sushi-grade tuna

Nori sheets

Cucumber, julienne

Carrot, julienne

1 lb shrimp, cooked

For the rice:

Rinse the rice in water until the water runs clear.
Bring the water and rice to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and simmer for 20 mins.
In a separate saucepan, combine the vinegar and sugar over medium heat, and whisk until the sugar dissolved. Remove from heat.
When the rice is cooked, transfer to a large bowl, and pour vinegar mixture over the rice.
Using a spatula, mix/toss the rice until it is evenly covered with the vinegar mixture (I "sliced through" the rice to do this, so I didn't smash the rice).
Cover the rice with a damp towel until ready to use, and let it cool to room-temperature.

For the sushi:

Get a sushi roller mat, and cover the entire thing with plastic wrap.
Get a small handful of rice, and spread it over the entire mat by pressing gently with your fingers. Get your fingers/hands wet with water before handling the rice so it won't stick.
Place a sheet of nori on top of the rice.
Add whatever toppings you want on the nori about 2/3 of the way from the bottom of the roller mat.
Gently roll the roller mat around the toppings, and press gently to make it stick together. You will have to roll it a couple of times.
Slice using a VERY sharp knife.
Enjoy!

(Source: Sushi)

MISO SOUP
2 tsp granulated dashi

3 C water

3 tbsp gluten free miso paste

2 tbsp dried wakame seaweed

2 tbsp tamarind juice

1 oz garlic chives, diced

Re-hydrate the wakame seaweed and rinse well.
In a saucepan, combine water, dashi, and seaweed, and bring to a boil.
When the water boils, reduce to medium heat.
Add the miso paste and tamarind juice, and stir well.
Add the chives, simmer for 2 minutes, and serve.

(Source: Miso Soup)

OKONOMIYAKI

2 C cabbage, thinly chopped

4 slices cooked bacon, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

2 eggs, whisked

1 C gluten free flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

Pinch of pepper

1/2 C water

Oil, for frying

Toppings:

Japanese Kewpie mayo - I got this at the Asian market

Okonomiyaki sauce - recipe below

In a large bowl, mix the gluten free flour, baking powder, sugar and salt and mix well.
Add the cabbage, bacon, and green onions to the flour mixture and mix with a fork to combine.
Add the eggs and water to the cabbage/flour mixture, and combine to make a very thick batter.
Heat a skillet with 1 tbsp oil.
Scoop 1 C of the cabbage mixture into the center of the skillet, and gently flatten to make a disc.
Cook for about three minutes on one side, and then flip to cook the other side for three minutes.
Once it is cooked, remove from heat, and repeat with remaining batter.

(Source: Okonomiyaki)

OKONOMIYAKI SAUCE

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp gluten free oyster sauce

2 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp soy sauce

Mix all the ingredients together, and serve on top of Okonomiyaki!

(Source: Okonomiyaki Sauce)

SUNOMONO

2 Cucumbers

1/2 tbsp salt

1/2 tsp grated ginger

1/4 C rice wine vinegar

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 tbsp sugar

Sesame seeds, for garnish

Partially peel the cucumber, and slice into very thin slices.
Add the salt to the cucumbers, and mix by hand.
Let the cucumbers sit in the fridge for 45 minutes, until soft.
Transfer the cucumbers to a colander, and let as much liquid as possible drain out.
Mix the lemon juice, sugar and vinegar in a bowl until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the cucumbers to the lemon juice mixture, and stir to combine.
Garnish with sesame seeds and enjoy!

(Source: Sunomono)

The verdict? We loved the sushi. It's hard to write out the recipe, because there are so many different kinds of sushi. Play with it and have fun! It was quite the process...very time consuming, but the results were delicious. I did not care for the miso soup. The seaweed flavor was too strong for my taste, and the texture of the seaweed wasn't great. Handsome Husband liked it though! I loved the Sunomono, and had some for breakfast the next morning! Cucumbers don't usually agree with me, so I have to eat small portions of them, but the taste was very good. The Okonomiyaki were also delicious! I was quite surprised by that, but I really enjoyed it. The Japanese mayo and the Okonomiyaki sauce was delicious as well. The Okonomiyaki was tricky to flip, so it's really important to make sure it is cooked and slightly crispy before trying to flip them. They were also pretty filling!

Taste of Sushi (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 9