My brother, Mauve, has caught the asian food bug (in hygienic way) and last nite decided to tickle his far-eastern fantasies by going all the way on an excuisite Japanese dinner.
After bringing in supplies from the fishmongers and the amazingly well-stocked www.japancentre.com, including a couple of magnums of premium Sake, he set about making his Sumeshi (vinegared rice).
Sumeshi (2pax)
- Wash 1 cup of sushi rice thoroughly until the water almost runs clear. Put in a pan and cover with cold water with 1cm of excess water on top of the rice.
- Full heat until it begins to boil.
- Quick stirr to get the grains off the bottom, then place the lid on the pan and put on the lowest heat of the smallest burner (It only needs a the residual temperature to stay high).
- Get half a cup of rice wine vinegar in a pan, with 1 tbsp of sugar and a pinch of salt. Heat and stirr so that the sugar is all dissolved.
- Place the vinegar syrup in a mixing bowl.
- When the rice is done (all the water has been absorbed) quickly get it into the bowl and gently mix in, using a chopstick for authenticity. Mmmm, glossy vinegared rice =)
- You need the rice to start cooling, so I always use a heavy bowl and get the Sumeshi in the freezer after I’ve mixed it ASAP. If you’re Japanese, you will want a hand fan at the mixing stage, but make sure no-one is there to see how silly you look.
When the Sumeshi cooled, Mauve formed it into glistening rice bales with wetted and/or vinegared hands, then added delicate slices of salmon, tuna and butterflied prawns. When I make this, I enjoy puttting tiny smears of wasabi underneath the fillets for a sneaky mouth-punch. Sometimes I apply more green than is needed, resulting in a Sushi-Russian roulette sneaky-sneaky that Mr Myagi 
wouldn’t approve of.
As for how he did the Maki Sushi (toasted seaweed-wrapped rolls), I’m not going to say right now, but there is plenty of info out there on the web.
There is also a garnish of Daikon raddish (mouli) which acts as a mild-flavoured pallet cleanser. Very nice attention to detail!
Also on the menu was Miso soup; now readily available in packet form in every supermarket in the western world, but here’s how to make it for real…
Start with the Dashi (fish stock)
- Satsuobushi (smoked, dried fish. Bonito acutally, a bit like tuna)
- Kombu (dried kelp)
- Shoshi-shiitake (dried shiitake mushrooms)
- Pan of boiling water (pan of boiling water)
I make it by cheating and using any kind of fish bones, a small amount of smoked fish skin and any dried porcini shrooms. Strain the stock and let it cool if you have time. If not, on with the Miso paste!
- Whisk in the Kome Miso (rice miso paste. Other ‘colours’ are available, but can be very salty, red miso especially)
- Stirr in the Wakame (seaweed)
- Plop in the Dofu (tofu – the silken kind cut into 1cm cubes)
- Season and serve.
Domo arigato!!!