Early winter is the ideal time to eat Halibut – a delicate white fish popular for sushi and prized for sashimi in Japan.
The tender flesh is very soft and chewy and a delicate pale pink. It is often served with a squeeze of lemon or lime or a light soy sauce to compliment the flavour which is more distinctive than other whitefish like cod. It is a great alternative to salmon for nigri and sashimi and is often served raw on Japanese menus, sliced thinly with a super sharp sashimi knife.
This recipe is simple but brings out the best of the halibut flavours and is served with another seasonal best, broccoli though the beauty of tempura is you can use a wide variety of vegetables to fry up in the light, delicious batter.
First steam your fish in a bamboo steamer. This will not only preserve the unique flavour of the fish but Halibut can go dry if overcooked so it will keep it moist and soft. Squeeze a generous squirt of fresh lemon over your cooked fish and leave it to cool.
Then it’s time to make your sushi rice. You can do this on the hob following the instructions on the rice packet or you can use a rice cooker. When the rice is cooked, transfer it to a hangiri or wide, flat bottomed dish and leave it to cool before mixing in a rice dressing (ready made or home made) using a wooden spoon or flat paddle.
You are now ready to roll. Put a sheet of nori on a bamboo or silicone rolling mat or rolling machine such as the Sushi Magic. Spread on layer of cooled rice leaving a 1cm margin along the top and bottom edge. Flake up the soft, lemony fish and spread it out in a line across the middle along with thin strips of avocado. Roll up, slice and you are ready to go.
For the tempura, it’s best to use a ready made batter mix like Yutaka tempura mix. The instructions are fairly simple but it is important to remember to use iced water and keep your standing bowl of batter as cold as possible as this is what gives the tempura it’s distinctive light, crispy texture. Tempura batter should only be mixed with water very lightly so don’t worry if there are a few lumps in your mixture.
In a heavy bottomed frying pan, heat about 6cm of vegetable oil. To test the temperature, drip a tiny bit of batter in and, if it sizzles and floats to the top then it’s ready.
Cut your broccoli into florets and dip them into the tempura batter before dropping them into the hot oil and cook in batches until golden. Fish them out with a slotted spoon and drain the briefly on kitchen towel before serving.
Serve your rolls and tempura with wasabi, pickles and soy sauce with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and enjoy a delicious fresh taste of February.
There is nothing more disappointing than realising that the rice on the stove is burnt or worse still has turned into a gooey mess. For so many people, the task of making rice is one fraught with difficulty and despairing hope. But with a “Cook Japan” rice cooker it doesn’t have to be this way…
in Japan, and elsewhere across Asia, a simple-to-use hi-tech computer controlled rice cooker is a sight in every kitchen, ensuring perfect rice at the push of a button every time.
Cook Japan rice cookers have the functionality and fuzzy logic technology you would expect to find in a Japanese rice cooker:
Does it do anything else?
Not only does the Cook Japan rice cooker make great rice, it also has a range of other cooking functions and programmes, a 24-hour timer, and automatically switching to “keep warm” when the cooking cycle is finished.
So, there’s nothing to stop you using it as a slow-cooker or steamer, to make porridge, congee, soup, and also to braise. This makes it a great multi-purpose rice cooker so there’s really no limit to what you can make.
Some of our most recent dishes have included:
With Christmas coming, you can even make mulled wine in your rice cooker!
So how does it work then?
By using computer controlled technology, commonly referred to as fuzzy logic, the rice cooker is able to make adjustments to both temperature and cooking time to cook perfect rice, for example if the rice is too hot and heating too quickly the heating element will be turned down slightly to balance this. With fuzzy logic the cooking process is improved in 3 key ways:
The temperature sensor control is more accurate and can therefore allow for fine adjustments to the cooking temperature
The heat distribution and conduction around the entire bowl produces more evenly cooked food
The computer can instantly strengthen or weaken the heat ensuring a controlled cooking process
I am always surprised at how many people say they find it a challenge to make perfect rice because there is a fine line between cooked grains that are too soft, just right or a bit crunchy.
Regular blog readers will know I am a fan of Yutaka microwavable rice which comes out sticky and delicious in just one minute but, for the cooking purists, I have found the perfect solution to excellent sushi rice – a rice cooker.
Before you bemoan another piece of cooking equipment that will be used once and then lie hidden in the kitchen cupboard, just hear me out. The technologically savvy Japanese have been using rice cookers for years. Rice is a main staple of their diet so you can’t argue with them for wanting to get it right. On my travels in Japan I was surprised to see that restaurants, hotels and private households all use a rice cooker to get the perfect grain.
The right type of rice is essential for sushi. It should never be made using long grain rice as it is too dry to shape. The perfect sushi rice should be sticky and fluffy, making it ideal for eating with chopsticks or making into sushi rolls or nigiri.
It is no surprise that rice is one of the main crops in Japan and, despite limited farmland because of the mountainous terrain, most of the country’s rice is home grown. There are also different regional varieties and top chefs have their own individual recipes for rice vinegar dressing.
A rice cooker not only makes perfect rice in 10-15 minutes, it also has a function to keep it warm and comes with its own measuring cup and spoon so you can be sure the amounts are bang on every time so no more piles of slushy rice or grains that taste like bits of gravel.
All you need to do then is mix your perfect rice dressing in and you are ready to roll. My preferred recipe is a traditional seasoning of 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon of mirin, 2 teaspoons of castor sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt.
