California Rolls

Ingredients:

• 4 nori sheets
• 3 cups (15 oz / 470g) sushi rice
• 8 teaspoons ocean trout or flying fish roe
• 1-2 cucumbers, cut into thin, lengthwise slices
• 8 jumbo shrimp (king prawns), cooked, shelled, veins and tails removed
• 1-2 avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced
• 4-8 lettuce leaves, torn or sliced (optional)

Makes 4 rolls (32 pieces)

Thick rolls can be rolled in a variety of ways to make decorative patterns in the rice. Experiment in the way you lay out the ingredients and see the differing patterns that result. It is best to serve rolls immediately they are made as the rice inside expands and the nori tends to split. The rolls will keep for up to half an hour before serving if they are rolled in paper towel and then plastic wrap.
California rolls, as their name suggests, were invented in California, although thick sushi rolls originated in the Osaka area.

	1. Lay 1 nori sheet on a rolling mat and put 3/4 cup (4 oz/125g) sushi rice on it. Spread rice over nori sheet, leaving 3/4 inch (2cm) of bare nori at far side and making a small ledge of rice in front of this bare strip.
	2. Spoon 2 teaspoons roe along center of rice, using back of a spoon to spread. Add lettuce if desired.
	3. Lay 2 shrimp along center, with one-quarter of cucumber strips.
	4. Lay one-quarter of avocado slices along center. Add one-quarter of lettuce.
	5. Roll mat over once, away from you, pressing ingredients in to keep roll firm, leaving the 3/4-inch (2-cm) strip of nori rice-free.
	6. Covering roll (but not rice-free strip of nori), hold rolling mat in position and press all around to make roll firm.
	7. Lift up top of rolling mat and turn roll over a little more so that strip of nori on far side joins other edge of nori to seal roll. Use your fingers to make sure roll is properly closed.
	8. Roll entire roll once more, and use finger pressure to shape roll in a circle, an oval, or a square. Using a sharp knife, cut each roll in half, then cut each half in half again. Then cut each quarter in half crosswise to make a total of 8 equal-size pieces. Cut gently to maintain shape.

Honeyed Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 chicken breasts, boned
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 1 red pepper, cut into strips
• 50g / 2 oz baby corn cobs, halved lengthways
• 2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 250ml / 8 fl oz chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 3 pieces bottled stem ginger, sliced
• 2 tablespoons syrup from bottled ginger
• 2 tablespoons garlic wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons cornflour

Serves 4

This honey and ginger sauce has a wonderful taste and aroma, and complements the poultry perfectly. Try using turkey as a substitute for chicken for an equally delicious dish.

Directions

Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan or wok until the butter has melted. Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes, turning. Add the garlic and leeks and cook for a further 3 minutes. Stir in the red pepper, baby corn, sugar, honey, stock, soy sauce, stem ginger, ginger syrup and vinegar.
Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the chicken is cooked well through, about 20 minutes. Blend the cornflour with 4 tablespoons of cold water and stir into the pan. Bring to the boil and cook until the sauce is thickened and clear. Cook for a further 2 minutes and serve.

Grilled rice balls with vegetable miso

Ingredients:

• 2 cups short-grain rice
• 2 tsp warishita stock concentrate (see below)
• 3/4 oz. (20g) vegetable miso (see below)
• Japanese pickles (optional)

makes 2 balls

Directions

If the rice is cold, steam or microwave until hot. Mix with the warishita concentrate (see below) and cool enough to handle. Make sure your hands are washed clean and damp so the rice will not stick.
Put 1/2 of the rice on one palm. With both hands, make a triangle-shaped rice ball about 1 1/2 inch (3.5 cm) thick. Repeat to make a second rice ball.
Grill the rice balls over a medium flame until golden brown, then turn over. Spread the vegetable miso (see below) on the browned surface. When the other side is well grilled, remove from the flame and lightly scorch the miso with a kitchen torch.
If using broiler, you can brown the surface of miso without a torch, but be careful not to let it burn. Serve with Japanese pickles, if desired.

Warishita Stock Concentrate

makes about 1 quart

• A
• 1 cup (240ml) soy sauce
• 3 tbsp tamari soy sauce
• 1 3/4 oz (50g) crystal sugar

• B
• 1 3/4 quart (1750ml) dashi stock
• 1 dried shiitake mushroom
• 1 piece dried kombu kelp, 2 inch (5cm) square
• 1/2 oz (14g) bonito flakes (katsuo kezuri-bushi)

Combine A in a jar or bowl, seal and refrigerate for 10 days. After 10 days, mix with B in a pot and simmer over low heat until the liquid is reduced by half, about 1 hour. Strain through cheesecloth and let cool.

Vegetable Miso

• 1 tsp garlic, finely minced
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• A
• 1/2 lb (230g) white miso
• 2 tsp Chinese chili bean paste
• 1 tsp. sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 1/2 tbsp sake
• 2 tsp granulated sugar

• B (All ingredients finely minced:)
• 1 fresh shiitake mushroom, stemmed
• 1/8 small green bell pepper or 1/4 Japanese piman pepper
• 2 shiso leaves
• 1/8 small onion
• 1/8 medium carrot
• 1/4 tsp minced nira garlic chives
• 1 tsp minced white part of a scallion or naganegi white scallion

Heat the vegetable oil in a nonstick saute pan and saute ginger and garlic over medium heat until fragrant. Add A and stir well with a wooden spatula. Add B and lower the heat. Mix until vegetables are softened, removed from heat and let cool at room termperature. Store in a refrigerator in an air-tight container.

Eggplant Salad with Lemon-flavored Plum Dressing

Ingredients:

• 4 small eggplants, each about 3 1/2 ounces (100g)
• 3 or 4 shiso leaves, finely shredded, optional

Dressing

• 2 tablespoons pickled plum paste
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Serves 4

Directions

1. Slice the eggplant lengthwise, then cut into bite-sized pieces and soak in water for about 5 minutes. Drain, and squeeze to remove excess liquid.
2. To make the dressing, combine the pickled plum paste, lemon juice, maple syrup, olive oil, and salt, and mix well.
3. Bring a pan of water to a boil, add the eggplant, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Alternatively, fry the eggplant in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
4. Arrange the eggplant on a serving plate, and drizzle with the dressing. Granish with shredded shiso, if available.

Tsukune (minced chicken patties)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb (450g) ground chicken (a minced combination of chicken parts such as thigh, breast, neck, and gizzards will produce richer flavor)
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp minced yuzu citrus peel or lemon peel
• 1 tsp or more salt

I doubt that there is a single secret to the deliciousness of Morimoto's tsukune patties, but one key may be the force with which Watanabe kneads his mixture, making binding agents unnecessary. Then again, it may be that these patties use meat from the whole bird, including ground cartilage. And the addition of yuzu peel is a masterstroke.

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and knead thoroughly for several minutes. If the mixture is too sticky and soft, put in refrigerator to let firm. Shape into 8 balls.
Using 2 bamboo skewers, with 1/8 inch (3mm) space between them, spread the mixture lengthwise along the skewers. Sprinkle with salt. Grill, flipping once, until the surface is lightly golden and the chicken is cooked through, for 15 minutes.
Alternatively, cook in a toaster oven without skewers: flatten the ground chicken balls into ovals, lay on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until the chicken is cooked through.

Flat Fish with Salt (Karei Shio-yaki)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 lb (600g) flat fish, such as flounder, sole or pomfret
• 2 tablespoons salt
• Lemon wedge to garnish
• 10 oz (300g) daikon (giant white radish), very finely grated and squeezed to extract moisture

Lotus root garnish:

• 2 oz (60g) fresh lotus root, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons (50ml) Sweet Vinegar*
• 1 red chili, seeds discarded
• 1/3 cup (80ml) ponzu sauce**

Sprinkling fresh fish liberally with salt before grilling helps keep in the moisture.

Directions

Prepare lotus root garnish several hours before it is required. Boil the sliced lotus root in water for 30 seconds, drain and put it in the sweet vinegar. Heat the chili in a dry pan for a few seconds, then add to the vinegar and ponzu sauce. Refrigerate.
Clean and scale the fish. Dry with a paper towel and make two deep crosswise incisions on each side. Put a skewer through the tail end of the fish, making it come out in the center and continuing to the head so that the fish has a wave shape. Sprinkle both sides of the fish lightly with salt, then press a liberal amount of salt onto the tail and fins.
Cook the fish over a moderately hot charcoal fire or under a broiler (grill) turning it with the skewer to avoid damaging the skin, until the fish is golden on both sides and cooked through. Serve on a plate garnished with lemon wedge, grated daikon and the marinated lotus root.
* See recipe for Sweet Vinegar
** See recipe for ponzu sauce

Crabmeat with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon sake
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 8 fresh Alaskan (snow) crab sticks
• ice water, for chilling
• 4 strips of daikon 4 inches by 1/2 inch (10cm by 12mm)
• 16 long chives, stemmed
• 1/4 punnet mustard cress

For wasabi mayonnaise:

• 1 3/4 oz (50g) light mayonnaise
• 1/3 oz (10g) wasabi

Directions

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add sake and salt. Wrap the sticks of crabmeat with a cotton cloth, and tie so they don't come apart, then boil. When cloth floats to the surface, remove crab and place in iced water. Unwrap the crab legs once they have cooled.
Mix wasabi and mayonnaise to a smooth consistency. Cut each crab stick in half. Tie 2 crab sticks together with 4 pieces chives. Place a tied crab stick to stand on cut end on each bowl, and top with wasabi mayonnaise, daikon strip and mustard cress.
Hint: Lobster meat can be substituted for crabmeat.