Niloufer's Kitchen: japanese fusion

Wednesday 28 October 2015

Miso Fish with Soba Noodles.

Soba noodles are made of buckwheat and may need some getting used to. They are healthy and nutritious. Japanese cuisine often showcases them well.

This is a healthy meal served family style, enough to serve 4.

Step 1

4 pieces of salmon fish, 10 cm/ 4-inch squares; marinated for 30 minutes or overnight. Bring it to room temperature before cooking.
Remove the marinade and grill or pan fry the fish until cooked.

1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger or 1 tbsp ginger syrup
1 tsp Nanami Togarashi (Japanese chilli powder with sesame seeds)
3 tbsp white miso paste
1 tsp horseradish paste or wasabi
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp sake
3 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp honey
A pinch of salt

Step 2

350 g/12 oz packet soba noodles, cooked for 8 minutes in an open pot of boiling water, salt, and a tsp of oil, and drained well.

Step 3

Choose five of your favourite vegetables and cut them all evenly on the diagonal. Stir fry them in 1 tbsp of oil in a large wok for 5 minutes. Do not overcook.

I used 1 carrot, 1 celery stick, 5 mushrooms, 1 courgette/zucchini, 1 baby eggplant, 12 green beans, 3 green onions, 3 florets broccoli, 3 florets cauliflower, and 6 small bok choy slit in half

1 long red chilli pepper
1 long yellow chilli pepper
3 finely chopped garlic cloves

Assembly
Toss the vegetables in the stir fry, add the cooked noodles to the stir fry, toss the remainder of the marinade all over Stir well and then divide it into 4 bowls. Top each bowl with one piece of fish and serve immediately.

Tips
An alternate pasta/noodle that taste just as good and are healthy is one made up of rice and spinach and is available in supermarkets.

My published cookbooks are available for sale through myself and on Amazon.

The World of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders is an award-winning book. It was self-published in July 2019 and will be going into its second print in 2022.

The Art of Parsi Cooking: Reviving an Ancient Cuisine was published in 2016 by Austin Macauley and continues to be available through Amazon Book Depot, Book Depository, and from the publishers.

Wednesday 15 July 2015

Somen noodles topped with seared scallops

Somen Noodles with Seared Scallops

A Japanese Fusion delicacy from Niloufer's Kitchen.

Imagine a soft base of somen noodles, topped with a crunch of pickled cucumber and ginger, topped with pan-fried seafood like a scallop, calamari or fresh tuna, finished with crunchy green onion and crushed sweet and salty macadamia nuts. All of it seasoned with togarashi nanami seasoning and a touch of wasabi powder for the daring!

The tangy pickling in Mirin and Sake makes this artistic creation both a visual delight and a delectable morsel!

36 tbsp somen noodles - (200 g/ 6 oz)
36 pieces of scallops, tuna, and calamari
2 tbsp oil for frying
36 slices of ready-picked ginger
1/2 tsp wasabi powder, or more to taste.
2 tsp togarashi nanami powder

4 thinly sliced green onions, cut on the diagonal
8 tbsp mirin
6 tbsp sake
1 cucumber, paper thinly sliced with skin
A handful of macadamia nuts, roughly hand chopped
Optionally add a layer of red radish sliced thinly

In a bowl, mix the mirin and sake.
Soak the green onion, cucumber, and radish (if using).
Leave aside.

In a pot, boil 6 cups of water with 1 tsp salt and a drop of oil. Dunk the noodles into the boiling water and drain in a minute or two,

Sprinkle half the Togarashi nanami powder over the seafood and toss it.

In the meantime, heat a skillet and add some oil to it. Pan fry the seafood on high for up to 3 minutes. Do not overcook.
Add all the liquid from the marinade into the skillet over the seafood and coat it well in the flavours.
To plate, spoon the noodles. Top it with cucumber, ginger, and radish, and then top it with the piece of seafood and green onion. Togarashi nanami and wasabi powder are optional. Serve immediately. This cannot be reheated.

Tips
Use shrimp, lobster, or any other seafood of your choice.

Somen noodles are fine to serve warm or cold. However, you can choose to toss them into the seafood mix to keep it warm.

If you wish to make it for your family, toss it all together in a large bowl and serve it like pasta!

If you wish to use any kind of fresh herb with it, peppery watercress is best.

Togarashi nanami is a Japanese chilli powder made up of sesame seeds, ginger, seaweed and dry citrus peel. It also contains different kinds of Japanese chilli.

Mirin is a rice wine vinegar.

Sake is made of fermented rice.