Shrimp Seaweed Salad

I haven't had much chance to cook recently. I've been going out to lots of concerts. In the past month, I must've gone to at least 5 shows. I got to see KT Tunstall, Yoshida Brothers, and at the Sasquatch Festival I was able to check out R.E.M., The Cure, Tegan & Sara, Death Cab For Cutie, just to name a few. In the next week, I am going to three more concerts! That's a lot of money I've been spending on concerts, so I need to stay home and cook some.

I was trying to cook something healthy for a side dish, and I realized that I didn't have any fresh vegetables. But I did have some dried seaweed that can expand when you soak in water for 10 minutes, and some shrimp and edamame in the freezer. So, here's what I came up with.

IN JAPANESE: Ebi to wakame salad
CATEGORY: Salad
COOKING METHOD: Boiled
DIFFICULTY: Easy
SERVES: 2 people
LENGTH OF TIME: 15 min

INGREDIENTS:
6 uncooked shrimp (see TIP: Shrimp)
12 edamame (green soybeans)
2 TBsp of dried seaweed cut wakame
Ponzu (citrus seasoned soysauce) for dressing

HOW TO:
First and foremost! Be sure to get the right kind of dried seaweed. Don't get the kind you see on the sushi. This is the kind that's in miso soup, and it's the kind when you soak it in the water, it expands into kelp like seaweed. With that said, soak the dried seaweed in water. Normally those things take about 10 minutes to rehydrate.

While the seaweed is being soaked in water, boil water in a pan with about a teaspoon of salt, and once the water is boiled, add edamame and shrimp (still in shells) together. Both of those only take 3 to 4 minutes to fully cook, so be sure to not overcook them.

After they finish cooking, rinse both edamame and shrimp under cold water. Place them under several ice cubes to make sure they get really chilled for a couple of minutes.

Once they are chilled, peel the shrimp, and slice it in half length wise (so that it will be thin).

Take the beans out of the pod.

When the seaweed is completed rehydrated, drain all the water, and add the thinly sliced shrimp and edamame beans and mix together.

Serve on a small bowl, and add the ponzu dressing to your liking!

Boiled Tofu Salad

Growing up when I was a hungry big appetite teenager, this was one of my least favorite dish as it was so brand, boring and most of all, not meaty! But yudofu, which I don't know the good translation, so I will call it Boiled Tofu Salad, is a popular traditional dish in Japan. Yu means hot water, and dofu, is tofu.

But now that I am an older man, who no longer can eat two Big Macs, I have more appreciation for this kind of food than McDonalds. If you want to get really into it, you can get a fancy kelp to get dashi and fancy tofu, but simple kelp powder and tofu from your local grocery store will do plenty good.

IN JAPANESE: Yudofu
CATEGORY: Vegetable
COOKING METHOD: Boiled
DIFFICULTY: Easy
SERVES: 2 people
LENGTH OF TIME: 10 min

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pack of tofu (firm or soft, it's up to you)
1 tsp Kelp powder
2 Green Onions
2 TBsp of fish flakes [katsuobushi]
1 half inch piece of ginger (see TIP: Ginger)
Soy sauce or preferably Ponzu for dressing

HOW TO:
Fill a sauce pan up with water (about 3/4 full) and add the kelp powder. Heat the water in medium high.

While the water heats up, chop the green onions into tiny pieces.

When the water is close to boiling, add the tofu, which should be cut into small enough size that it can be scooped up by a regular sized spoon.

While the tofu is cooking in the kelp-based soup, add the chopped green onion into a small serving bowl. Shred some ginger and add a table spoon of fish flakes (katsuobushi) per bowl. Pour some Ponzu (or soy sauce if you don't have Ponzu) into the bowl, and that's pretty much it.

Serve with the pan/pot with tofu in middle of the table, and have each person scoop up their own tofu into their bowl. Use the spoon with holes in them so you are only scooping up tofu and not excessive amount of soup. Be careful when taking a big bite. The tofu gets really hot inside! When done eating, I normally add the kelp soup into my bowl and drink that as soup.

*Ponzu is a citrus soy sauce based dressing that is really good!

Seared Tuna Salad

For this year's Thanksgiving, held at my brother's, we were asked to bring a salad, mashed potato and beer. My wife took on the mashed potato responsiblity and I got the salad. I didn't want to bring a plain tossed salad, so I decided to try the seared tuna salad that I enjoy at restaurants.

A friend of ours from Japan was visiting over the Thanksgiving as well, and this was going to be his first turkey ever. Needless to say, he loved the whole Thanksving meal, especially the gravy, which he's never had before. For the rest of his stay, he requested leftover mashed potato and gravy for breakfast every day. He even bought packets of powder gravy as souvenir.

IN JAPANESE: Maguro Tataki Salad
CATEGORY: Seafood
COOKING METHOD: Fresh
DIFFICULTY: Medium
SERVES: 4 people
LENGTH OF TIME: 10 min

INGREDIENTS:
Seared tuna (1/4 lb)
4-8 leaves of leafy lettuce
1/8 onion thinly sliced
2-3 shiso leaves
1 half inch piece of ginger (see TIP: Ginger)
2 TBsp Japanese pickles - purple kind (optional)
4 TBsp of Ponzu dressing

HOW TO:
First, rinse enough lettuce for four people. If the leaves are huge, one leaf per person should do it. Otherwise, maybe 1 and half leaf per person. Rinse, pat them dry with a paper towel, and tear them into bite size with your hands and evenly spread on a plate or serving dish.

Slice some onions really thin and soak them in ice cold water to make them slightly more crispy. Place them evenly on top of the lettuce.

Recently a lot of supermarkets (at least in Seattle area) are carrying seared tuna in the seafood section. The only problem is that a lot of times, those are heavily flavored (with salt and pepper stuck to the tuna). If you like those kind, use those, if not, look for unflavored seared tuna or make one yourself.

The most difficult thing about making this salad is cutting the tuna. It's cooked on the outside and raw in the inside, so if you cut with jagged edged knife (like a steak knife) you could crumble a nice piece of fish. The key is to cut the fish in one pulling motion instead of going back and forth with your knife. Each slice should be about 1/4 inch side (or if you prefer a thicker cut, by all means go for it). Neatly place them on top of the salad.

If you can get purple Japanese pickles, spread those around on the salad. Also, cut the shiso leaves into small pieces and spread those around. Shred a piece of ginger on top of the salad (make sure you do it evenly so you don't have one area covered in shredded ginger!)

Pour about 4 TBsp (about 1 TBsp per serving) over the salad, and you are ready to serve!

Daikon Salad

This past weekend we already started shopping for Halloween. Every year my wife and I try to get our friends to dress up in the similar theme we come up with. Last year we pulled off The Simpsons, and this year we are going to try for fast food chain characters such as Ronald McDonald, Burger King King, Jack from Jack In The Box, and Colonel Sanders, just to name a few.

Last year there were six people doing the Simpsons, but this year we may have up to twelve people doing the fast food thing with us (are there that many characters?) We went to some used clothing stores and dollar stores to pick out some stuff. Last year my wife sewed Marge and Lisa Simpson's dresses, but this year we may not need to sew anything.

IN JAPANESE: Daikon Salad
CATEGORY: Vegetable
COOKING METHOD: Fresh
DIFFICULTY: Medium
SERVES: 2 people
LENGTH OF TIME: 10 min

INGREDIENTS:
Daikon (1/2 lb should do it)
1 umeboshi (sour plum)
2 shiso leaves
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sake
2 tsp mirin

HOW TO:
The only tough thing about making daikon salad is shredding the daikon into super thin slices. The easiest way to do that is to use the vegetable peeler (but be sure to wash the daikon and peel off the outside skin off first!)

After the daikon is sliced into thin slices, place them into a bowl. Take the seed out of umeboshi (I normally get the honey flavored since they are not as sour) and finely chop that into tiny pieces. Also slice the shiso leaves into tiny pieces as well and mix all of those in a bowl.

Add salt, sake and mirin into the bowl as well and mix well. After that put it in the fridge for a few minutes to let the flavor soak in, and it's ready to serve!

Simple Cabbage Salad

Are Virgos considered to be anal organizational freaks? I've never heard of that until recently when I came back to the US. Several people have pointed that out to me. Even at one job interview when I talked about how organized I was (I gave examples of how anal I was), they seemed impressed, and then asked, "wait, what sign are you?" When I responded that I was a Virgo, the interviewer said, "I knew it!" Apparently, he was a Virgo, too, so he claimed that he could tell. Hmmm.

I was also reading a random blog the other day, and came across some woman's blog that said, "my four year old daughter loves to help me fold laundry, but she doesn't fold like how I want, even after I repeatedly showed her how to do it my way. I want my dishcloth to be folded in thirds, not by halves!!! But it's nice of her, so I let her fold them, but when she's done, I re-fold all of them over again. I know, I'm anal, but I'm a Virgo, so what can I do?" What? You've got to be kidding me! That's anal! When I told this story to my wife, she laughed and said, "you used to do that to me all the time! You tried to teach me how to fold clothes, YOUR way." Did I? Hmmm, I don't recall. If there are any other Virgos out there that think they are anal, or not anal, please tell me.

So today, I'm going to show you something really really simple. As the name suggests, this salad is quite simple (maybe too simple for Virgos?)

IN JAPANESE: kyabetsu no shiomomi
CATEGORY: Side-dish, vegetarian
COOKING METHOD: Fresh
DIFFICULTY: Easy
SERVES: 2 people
LENGTH OF TIME: 3 min

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 fresh cabbage
1 tsp lemon juice
some salt
shiso leaves (optional)

HOW TO:
The hardest thing about making this salad is shaving the cabbage. If you have a whole cabbage, slice about quarter off. Then using a big knife, shave off as thin as possible. If you have a shredder, by all means, use it. If you are lucky enough to have some shiso leaves, slice that into tiny pieces.

Place the shredded cabbage (and shiso leaves) into a bowl, and pour about a tea spoon of lemon juice, and two to three shakes of salt on top. Mix well, and it's done!

When my dad makes this, he sometimes adds some sour apple pieces in it.

Japanese Cold Tofu Salad

Summer is almost here! Well at least in Seattle, it felt really warm yesterday. Finally I was able to wear my Hawaiian shirt (I have about a dozen of them... yeah, I know) without freezing my ass off. Since it felt like summer, I thought I would make one of the most popular summer side dish (it goes very well with beer, especially in the hot humid Japanese summer). It's really simple to make, it's healthy, and best of all, it tastes really good!

IN JAPANESE: Hiyayakko
CATEGORY: Side dish, Salad, Vegetarian
COOKING METHOD: Fresh
DIFFICULTY: 1 (out of 3)
SERVES: 2 people
LENGTH OF TIME: 3-5 min


INGREDIENTS:
1/4 pack (3 oz / 90g) of tofu (silk, firm, soft, it's up to you, just don't get the sweet one. See TIP: Storing tofu for how you can store the leftover tofu in the fridge)
1 half inch piece of ginger (see TIP: Ginger)
1 green onion
1 tbsp fish flakes [katsuobushi] (omit for vegetarian)
Pinch or two of shredded dried seaweed [nori] (optional)
1 shiso leaf cut in thin slices (optional)
Soy sauce or ponzu (recommneded) for dressing

HOW TO:
Open a pack of tofu, smell it and make sure it doesn't have a strong weird smell (once in a while you get a stinker, so return those to the store, but very rarely does this happen nowadays).

Cut it in bite size on a cutting board.

Put them on individual salad plate/bowl.

Shred the piece of ginger (if you are using the frozen kind, shred while it's still frozen) on top of the tofu.

Cut a green onion into thin tiny pieces.

Sprinkle the tiny green onion pieces, some seaweed, fish flakes, shiso (if you have it) on top of the tofu as well.

Pour some ponzu dressing (if you don't have it, you can use soy sauce instead) and you are done!