Oden, a Japanese Dish,Shrimp with Red Quinoa,Miso Glazed Fish
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Oden, a Japanese Dish This is a typical and traditional dish from the Japanese cuisine. It is like a stew with all kind of fish cake, daikon, kombu (dry seeweed) in a a kombu and dry fish broth. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with your loved ones…I made it back from Chicago and survived the freezing temperature just a few days in Chicago made me realize how good I have it here in California… This week I am sharing with you something very different…a traditional Japanese hot pot dish…Yes, you might be asking, how and why I made this very traditional Japanese dish…first of all it is delicious, especially when it is cold out there, and second, believe it or not, my parents, mainly my dad grew up when Taiwan was occupied by Japan, therefore both my parents read and speak Japanese…no need to mention that Japanese food was very common when I was growing up, even after we moved to Brazil. My mom is a great cook, and many of the dishes that I treasured I learned from her…she can make anything taste good…in spite of her age, she is always looking and sharing new recipes with us. Anyway, to make the very long story short…which I did not…I learned this dish from my mom. Oden is a traditional Japanese dish and it is based on the broth made with fish (mainly bonito) and kombu (seaweed). All the other ingredients are cooked in this light broth and you can add almost whatever you want. I just picked a few ingredients from the local Japanese store and made this very tasty dish. The trick is to cook ingredients by adding them according to their cooking time, so at the end you have all the ingredients with the right texture, not over cooked or underdone. Ingredients: Dashi soup for the oden 2 liters water Dried bonito fish Kombu (about 15 inches) 50 ml of sake ⅓ cup soy sauce 1½ tablespoons sugar Oden ingredients of your choice 2 daikon radish, peeled and cut into approximately 1 ½ inch Tied konnyaku Plate of various fish paste stick and patties Method: Clean the kombu, by rinsing quickly and cut into small strip and tie a knot Boil water in a large pot, add the dried bonito and kombu to extract the flavor. Strain the dashi soup with a clean cloth. Add the daikon radish in the dashi soup base and cook until slightly soft. In the meantime, prepare the konnyaku by slicing and making a slit in the middle. Insert on end through the slit. Set aside. In another big pot, boil water and quickly blanch all the ingredients before adding to the main pot. Once all the ingredients are place into the main pot, cover and let it simmer for one hour. Serve hot and if desired, dip them in hot mustard. If you enjoy this Japanese inspired recipe, you want to take a look at the Asian Inspired Recipes from Color Your Recipes. Did you know that similar dishes like Oden are made in Taiwan and South Korea? This dishes are very commonly sold in small carts as a street food. In Taiwan, oden version is offered in convenience store as well. Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week! Shrimp with Red Quinoa This is a very simple and easy recipe with red quinoa and vegetables topped with saute shrimp. The combination of nutty quinoa and shrimp is just amazing. This is a very simple recipe packed with protein…delicious nutty quinoa loaded with veggies, topped with a gingery, lemony shrimp. It is gluten free and very healthy! I used frozen ginger and frozen lemon…I just find it very easy to store and use. Just grate the frozen ginger or lemon (whole) using a microplane grater/zester on the shrimp…it is clean and totally trouble free. No need to use any chopping board… Oh! Apparently there is no difference between the red and the white quinoa in terms of nutritional values…but you might need to cook the red one a little longer than the white one and it seems a little more crunchy than the white one. So be my guest and use whatever color of quinoa you wish…white, red or black. Ingredients: ½ cup red quinoa 1 tablespoon butter ½ tablespoon chicken bouillon, skip is using chicken broth 1 cup water or substitute with chicken broth 1 cup frozen vegetables of your choice ½ lb shrimp, shell removed and deveined 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger 1 teaspoon grated lemon (frozen lemon) Salt and pepper to taste 1 tablespoon olive oil Cilantro to taste, chopped Method: Rinse the quinoa and set aside. In a small bowl place the shrimp, ginger, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Mix gently and place in the refrigerator while preparing the quinoa. Boil the frozen vegetable according to the instruction in the package, make sure to not overcook it. Drain well and set aside. Place the water with chicken bouillon in a medium pan with butter (skip the chicken bouillon if using chicken broth). Add the quinoa and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to simmer. Cover and cook until all the water is absorbed, it takes approximately 15 minutes. Add the vegetables to the cooked quinoa and mix. In a fry pan, medium to high heat add the olive oil wait until smoking Add the shrimps in a single layer and cook until all the edges turn pink. Flip each shrimp, making sure that they turn pink. Once cooked toss the chopped cilantro and remove the pan from the heat. Place the quinoa with vegetables in a bowl and top with the shrimp…serve hot…enjoy! If you enjoy this simple recipe using quinoa, you might want to check Steel Cut Oatmeal with Quinoa (for breakfast), Citrus Kale Salad with Quinoa (for lunch) andMeatloaf with Quinoa (for dinner). Did you know that quinoa has a higher content in fat as compared to the other cereal grasses? These fats are monounsaturated fat and small amounts of omega-3 fatty acid, which are heart friendly fats. Moreover, quinoa contains all nine essential amino acids needed in your diet and is high in fiber as well. Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week! Miso Glazed Fish If you like the umami flavor of miso you will definitely enjoy this simple and easy recipe for this Asian inspired miso salmon. I love miso, its saltiness with an added touch of sweet to it…it is just a nice symphony to your palate, creating umami flavor. Miso is very versatile and can be used in salad dressing, dips, base for soup and marinating chicken, beef, fish…you name it…even sweet dishes…which I will share with you in the future. This is a very simple and flavorful recipe for an everyday dinner or a lazy weekend meal. I especially like this simple miso glazed with salmon, but my husband refuses to eat salmon, therefore I used tilapia as well, but feel free to use any fish. Ingredients: 1 ½ tablespoon miso (red) 1 tablespoon cooking wine 1 ½ tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoon water 1 pinch red chili pepper ½ teaspoon grated ginger 2 pieces of fish (salmon and tilapia) 1 teaspoon white sesame Cilantro, chopped for garnish Method: Mix the miso, cooking wine and water until a smooth paste. Add sugar, ginger and chilli to the miso mix. Coat the fish with miso sauce. Let it marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Lightly brush the foil with vegetable oil and gently place the fish on it. Broil the fish for 10 to 12 minutes until it’s just cooked (opaque) depending on how thick is the fish and a golden brown crust has formed. In the meantime, place the sesame seeds on a fry pan on a low heat and pan roast them by stirring constantly. Remove when the seed are slightly brown. Remove the fish from the oven, transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle the sesame seeds and the freshly chopped cilantro. Serve hot with veggies and rice. If you enjoy this simple recipe using miso, you might want to check on Miso Caramel Sauce or Miso Glazed Delicata Squash recipes. Did you know that miso is a paste from fermented soybean? Miso has been essential in Chinese and Japanese diets for more than 2500 years. Because miso is a fermented product, it is rich in enzymes which might help digestion. The color of miso can vary from light yellow to a deep dark brown and the flavor from slightly sweet to hearty flavor. Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week! Poached Fish with Wheatberry This is a simple and easy way to cook any fish…poaching. The fish is moist, tender and very flavorful and super healthy. I served this poached salmon with wheatberry and green beans. I first learned about poaching fish when readingKitchen Riffs, Poached Salmon…the simple recipe of poaching salmon sure got me intrigued and I went on to try…and boy it is simple and so good…the fish comes out nice and moist. I don’t know how come I have never thought in poaching fish before as many of Chinese dishes that my mom makes use poaching…well, now I sure use this technique quite often. Since my husband does not like salmon and I do, when poaching fish, I place in the same pan one salmon and one white fish filet, so we all eat what we enjoy.