I probably should rebrand my site as the noodle blog!  Noodles are just a totally Asian favorite go-to fast food….almost in every Asian country east of India.  I love my noodles.  I guess you can take the girl out of Asia but you can’t take the noodles out of her…

The sukiyaki is really a dish, rather than a noodle dish.  Eaten with rice, but I like it just as it is — a big bowl of noodles.

Chef’s tip: To thinly slice the beef, pop the beef into freezer for about 20 minutes,

1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sake
2 cups water

1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 lb thinly sliced beef (rib-eye, sirloin)
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 cups napa cabbage, thinly sliced
4 oz cellophane / glass noodle, soaked in cold water till soft
1 sprig green onion, thinly sliced

1. Mix the mirin, soy, sake and water together and set aside.
2. In a pan, heat the sesame oil, then saute the beef and onion till slightly browned.
3. Pour in the sauce mixture, add cabbage and.
4. Simmer till tender.  Add the noodles, bring till boil again.
5. garnish with green onions.

Serves: 4

Tags: Beef, Japanese, noodles.

Sweet succulent diver scallops, pan seared and topped with crispy bacon in a bacon-miso vinaigrette.   I had better post this recipe before the new year’s resolutions kick in.  Or perhaps the new resolution is to eat more bacon?  Or this may qualify for a salad diet?

Chef’s tip: To make the nutty flavored clarified butter, heat 4 tablespoons of unsalted sweet butter under medium heat till solids separate.  Spoon off the foam, gently pour out the clarified butter leaving the golden brown solids and more liquid moisture behind, if you hadn’t boiled off the watery part of the butter already.  You can pass the clarified butter through a cheesecloth to remove all solids.  Make a large jar of it and store it in the fridge.  Or you can buy clarified butter in a jar, typically labeled as ghee.
To perfectly sear scallops. make sure the scallops are totally at room temperature, pat it dry and salt just before it hits the pan.   Do not move the scallops until the brown crust forms, which will naturally release the scallop.  The temperature of the pan should be medium to hot.  Lastly, look out for the 1/4 inch thick white opaque layer that forms on both side of the seared scallop face.  The middle should be a little translucent, it will cook in its own heat to perfect tender.

Vinaigrette:
4 strips apple smoked bacon
1 small shallot, finely diced, reserve 1 teaspoon
3 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons mirin
1 Tablespoon sherry
3 Tablespoon orange juice
2 Tablespoons white miso
1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
1 teaspoon sugar

16 large diver scallops
2 Tablespoons clarified butter
Kosher salt
White pepper

3 cups baby spinach

1. In a small saucepan, render the bacon till the bacon is somewhat crispy,  remove bacon.
2.  Add chopped shallots to the bacon fat, and sweat shallots under medium low heat until golden brown.  Add rice wine vinegar, mirin, sherry and orange juice and deglaze the pan.  Mix in miso, ginger and sugar.  Let simmer till reduced till half and liquids is thickened.  Add in reserved shallots, set aside.
3. In a cast iron pan, heat clarified butter on medium heat until smoky.  Thoroughly dry the scallops with paper towel, rub with salt and pepper.  Add to the pan and turn up the heat.  Let scallop cook without turning until a brown crust forms or a whitish opaque forms about 1/4 inch up.  Flip the scallops and cook till the opaque white goes up 1/4 inch again on the other side of the scallop.  Remove scallops and set aside.
4. Remove pan from heat, add spinach and toss to warm but not wilt the spinach.  Add half the vinaigrette when tossing.
5.  Place a serving of spinach on a plate, top with 4 scallops and sprinkle with reserved bacon.  Drizzle in a tablespoon of vinaigrette.

Serves: 4

Tags: Californian, Fusion, Japanese, salad.

This crudo is truly simple to assemble and just delish!

Chef’s tip: Frankly, there’s little skill needed to put this dish together.  Just get the best hamachi you can buy.  In SF Japantown, at the Nijiya market, they fly in fish from the Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market several times a week. I know, it’s not locally-correct, but you’ve gotta sink your teeth into the fish to feel the springy, crunchy texture to feel the fresh difference.

Ingredients

6 oz of sashimi-grade yellow-tail hamachi

Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
Juice of half a Meyer lemon
1/3 cup of Meyer lemon olive oil (O Brand)
A pinch of sugar
A pinch of salt

¼ of English cucumber

1 Tablespoon dried hijiki, soaked in hot water, 10 minutes
Thinly sliced Meyer lemon
Some fleur du sel

To make the Vinaigrette:
1.    Zest the Meyer lemon with a microplane zester
2.    Combine ½ the zest with olive oil, lemon juice, sugar and salt and mix well.
To Assemble:
3.    Slice the yellowtail thinly and arrange on serving plate
4.    Slice cucumber into half moon slices and arrange around the fish
5.    Drizzle with the vinaigrette
6.    Garnish with sliced lemons and drained hijiki.
7.    Finish with a sprinkle of fleur du sel.

Serves: 4

Tags: Japanese, sashimi.