An embarassment of fishes
As I said in my own journal last night, I love my neighbors. The one to the east, Mark, dropped by last evening with two big slabs of wild coho, caught the day before by his son, Christian. He barely had time to ask "Do you like salmon?" before I'd whisked it out of his hands and into the fridge.
I had about a third of it for dinner, pan-seared at a high temperature in a cast-iron skillet and dressed with nothing more elaborate than freshly ground pepper and a squeeze of lime. Oh, man. Oh man oh man oh man.
Tonight I needed to do something with the rest of it - and with a beautiful piece of ahi I'd acquired at the supermarket before Mark stopped by. No longer quite fresh enough for sashimi, but I've been craving Asian flavors.
So: Tonight, Ahi katsu with wasabi-ginger butter
Ingredients:
6-8 oz of ahi (yellowfin) tuna an inch thick
4-6 sheets of nori (dried seaweed)
fresh watercress (or spinach), washed and patted dry
1 egg
1/2 cup flour (plus some for dredging)
1/2 cup water
Panko (Japanese style bread crumbs)
Oil for frying
For sauce: 1-2 Tbsp butter, some pickled ginger, wasabi to taste, squeeze of fresh lime juice
Cut the ahi into strips 1"x1"x4" or thereabouts
Lay out a sheet of nori and cover with watercress leaves
Lay a piece of fish crosswise over the greens. Fold in the sides, roll up tightly and seal with a dab of water. Repeat until all the fish is wrapped.
Combine egg, flour and water to make a batter the consistency of heavy cream.
Heat oil in a large skillet.
Dredge rolls in flour, then batter, then roll in Panko
Fry until golden brown. Slice each roll into 5-6 pieces. Serve with sauce (Melt butter in a small pan and whisk in chopped pickled ginger, wasabi and lime juice until the mixture emulsifies.)
Next time I won't fry the rolls quite so long - the ahi was delicious, but I like it even better when it's rare in the middle.
And for later: Gravlax with an Asian twist. Inspired by The Scent of Green Bananas foodblog, but adjusted to the ingredients on hand; my "filling" for the curing fish is minced pickled ginger, minced garlic, thinly sliced fresh ginger and a fistful of parsley (the most prolific crop in my garden this season, alas.) I neglected to take pictures, and it's not terribly photogenic, wrapped in plastic and sitting in the fridge with a can of tomato juice weighing it down.
Both of these recipes are as easy as can be, and only require good, fresh fish.
I had about a third of it for dinner, pan-seared at a high temperature in a cast-iron skillet and dressed with nothing more elaborate than freshly ground pepper and a squeeze of lime. Oh, man. Oh man oh man oh man.
Tonight I needed to do something with the rest of it - and with a beautiful piece of ahi I'd acquired at the supermarket before Mark stopped by. No longer quite fresh enough for sashimi, but I've been craving Asian flavors.
So: Tonight, Ahi katsu with wasabi-ginger butter
Ingredients:
6-8 oz of ahi (yellowfin) tuna an inch thick
4-6 sheets of nori (dried seaweed)
fresh watercress (or spinach), washed and patted dry
1 egg
1/2 cup flour (plus some for dredging)
1/2 cup water
Panko (Japanese style bread crumbs)
Oil for frying
For sauce: 1-2 Tbsp butter, some pickled ginger, wasabi to taste, squeeze of fresh lime juice
Cut the ahi into strips 1"x1"x4" or thereabouts
Lay out a sheet of nori and cover with watercress leaves
Lay a piece of fish crosswise over the greens. Fold in the sides, roll up tightly and seal with a dab of water. Repeat until all the fish is wrapped.
Combine egg, flour and water to make a batter the consistency of heavy cream.
Heat oil in a large skillet.
Dredge rolls in flour, then batter, then roll in Panko
Fry until golden brown. Slice each roll into 5-6 pieces. Serve with sauce (Melt butter in a small pan and whisk in chopped pickled ginger, wasabi and lime juice until the mixture emulsifies.)
Next time I won't fry the rolls quite so long - the ahi was delicious, but I like it even better when it's rare in the middle.
And for later: Gravlax with an Asian twist. Inspired by The Scent of Green Bananas foodblog, but adjusted to the ingredients on hand; my "filling" for the curing fish is minced pickled ginger, minced garlic, thinly sliced fresh ginger and a fistful of parsley (the most prolific crop in my garden this season, alas.) I neglected to take pictures, and it's not terribly photogenic, wrapped in plastic and sitting in the fridge with a can of tomato juice weighing it down.
Both of these recipes are as easy as can be, and only require good, fresh fish.