Gyokai Udon, Mixed seafood with Japanese style noodles

If U-don know me by now

My Sunday food request to Keith was fat noodles, squid, scallops and king prawns, and he came up with a beautifully colourful and scrumptious Japanese dish.  It is inspired by the Ekachai, a local restaurant in the City.  There's quite a kick to this meal, so if you prefer your food a little less spicy then de-seed the chillies or exclude the flakes.  We have blogged about tough octopus before and its “cousin” the squid is no different.  In the past, I have tenderised squid by marinading it in olive oil and lemon for a couple of hours before barbecuing, but Keith's method below works better if you are time constrained.

Ingredients

• 125g fresh squid, cleaned and heads removed
• 60g prawns, peeled and de-veined
• 60g small scallops
• 4 tsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp groundnut oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 fresh red chilli, chopped
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 star anise, smashed
• 1 small carrot shredded into long strips (I used a potato peeler to do this)
• 40g broccoli tips
• 1 red onion, sliced in rings
• 50g pak choi (we used white cabbage), chopped
• 2 tbsp coriander, chopped
• Soy sauce to taste.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 110C. Put the squid into an oven proof dish. Smash the star anise with a pestle and mortar and add to the squid with the garlic. Drizzle over 2 tbsp of the groundnut oil and 1 tsp of sesame oil, a good dash of soy sauce and place in the oven for 40 minutes to slow cook until tender.
2. Reserve the squid and save the cooking juices.
3. Heat a wok or frying pan. Add saved juices and then the prawns and scallops. Fry for 3 minutes until the prawns are pink and the scallops begin to brown. Remove from the heat and set to one side.
4. Heat the wok with 1 tbsp of groundnut oil. Add the vegetables and stir fry for 5 minutes until tender but retaining some crispness. Add a little soy sauce to season.
5. Whilst the vegetables are cooking, prepare the udon noodles according to the packet instructions. Stir in the the rest of the sesame oil and some soy sauce at the end.
6. Add the seafood to the vegetables and heat through.
7. Serve the noodles in a bowl with the vegetable and seafood on top.
8. Sprinkle the coriander on top and serve with a lemon wedge

Japanese cooking can be extremely lean and our recipe is no exception.  Both sesame and groundnut oil are good oils, plus seafood is a particularly excellent source of protein.

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Recipe: 3 Way Pork Eastern Dim Sum Hors d’Oeuvres

Take it off (Dim Sum the Lights)

We had a root around the freezer this morning,  and discovered we had some lean pork mince.  Since it’s nearly canapé season we thought we would knock up 3 types of oriental hors d’oeuvres; the Pork and Prawn Thai Patties, Pork Steamed Chinese Dim Sum and Pork and Prawn Japanese Sesame Balls .  They are fun and easy to make.  The patties and balls can be prepared, cooked in advance and frozen.

For the Base Filling:

• 450g Lean pork, minced
• 3oz Mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 Carrot, small, finely chopped
• 4 Cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1.5 inches of ginger, finely chopped

For the patties / dim sum / balls:

• 2oz King prawns, coarsely chopped
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 5 Spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp of mint, chopped
• 3 tbsp coriander, chopped
• 1 tbsp basil, chopped
• 2cm of fresh lemon grass, finely chopped
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• Zest of ½ lime
• ½ tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp light sesame oil
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 1 tbsp dark soya sauce
• 1 egg, beaten
• White sesame seeds
• Oil spray

For the dough:

• 4 oz Flour, sifted
• 1 Egg
• 3 tsp of water

For the dip:

• 2tbsp dark soy sauce
• ½ tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp mirin
• 1 tsp chilli

Mix all of the base filling together in a large mixing bowl 

Method for the Pork and Prawn Thai Patties:

Take 1/3 of the base filling add half of the king prawns, 1/3 of the red and green chilli, mint, basil, lemon grass, half the coriander, sugar, lime zest and the fish sauce.

Divide into nine balls of equal size.  Slightly flatten each ball into a patty shape.

Lightly fry using sunflower oil spray until golden brown on both sides.

Method for the Chinese Dim Sum:

Take 1/3 of the base filling add the rest of the coriander, half of the spring onion, sesame oil and soya sauce.

Mix the dough ingredients together to form a ball.

Roll out the dough until very thin and then use a 3inch cutter to create dough circles.  You should be able to create about 12.

Spoon some of the mixture into the centre of the circle.

Brush the edges with water and then use your fingers to pinch the top together to form a dumpling shape.

Steam for 8 minutes. 

Method for the Pork and Prawn Sesame Balls:

Take 1/3 of the base filling and add the remainder of the spring onion, mirin and soya sauce.

Create between 6 and 8 balls

Coat in egg and then roll in sesame seeds

Lightly fry in a hot pan, ensuring they are cooked through 

Soya Chilli Dip

Combine all ingredients 

Serve with the Soya Chilli Dip and Thai sweet chilli dipping sauce.

We would recommend a Moscow Mule or Mojito as an aperitif.  Alternatively, refer to our blog post from yesterday to discover original wine pairing ideas for spicy foods

Related posts

• Review: Nuocmam, a Japanese / Vietnamese Restaurant in Central London with an unpronouncable name

Review: Nuocmam, a Japanese / Vietnamese Restaurant in Central London with an unpronounceable name

Baby we were bento run

Saturday was a stunning morning in London Town. After visiting the Gauguin Exhibition, Keith and I wandered on foot across the South Bank.  We ambled over the bridge, through deserted Whitehall, up to the tourist filled streets of Haymarket and lastly down the narrow mews behind Regent Street, eventually popping up in Fitzrovia. Tucked away to the north of Oxford Street is Nuocmam a lovely little hideout offering Japanese and Vietnamese fusion cooking.  It is a relatively small outfit, but boasts a number of karaoke rooms for hire on its lower floor.

We were greeted by two enthusiastic waiters who were ultra-friendly and took the time to explain the menu.  We both settled on miso soup for starter. Then for mains which were bento boxes, Keith chose the lamb curry and I opted for the salmon teriyaki. The offer also included a glass of house wine, which we accepted without resistance.

The miso soup was amongst the best that we have ever had, but admittedly neither of us our experts. What I appreciated was that it was neither bland nor like drinking stock, as so many miso soups can be. Instead, it was semi-creamy, whilst being satisfying and thirst quenching.

The bento boxes were cute. Each came with our chosen main, a portion of sticky rice, an aubergine side topped with a tahini sauce, and a sweet pickled salad sprinkled with furrikake*.  My salmon was a beautiful peachy colour, seared on the outside as you would expect from Japanese cooking, but flaky as I tucked in. My sweet teriyaki sauce had a rich, smooth thickness to it.  The salad mellowed out the strong flavours.  Keith appeared to thoroughly enjoy his Vietnamese lamb curry. The lean lamb was tender and the coconut curry was spicy with a hint of zestiness. I noticed he would do the "food nod of approval" after each bite.  You know the one.  You normally see it as people are devouring a steak.  The house wine was not great and a part of me is always slightly disappointed when restaurants have not made a decent choice.  It was drinkable though.

As I was being nosey and explored the karaoke booths below the main restaurant, I thought this would be a great venue for a group of friends who were comfortable with each other and loved to sing.

We enjoyed Nuocmam as a lunch hideout away from the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street and the chain restaurants. I would not say it was the epitome of originality food wise, but we had a pleasant experience. I'm not sure how it would fare as a dinner retreat, although the dishes ordered a la carte by other diners (being nosey again) looked well-presented and plentiful. The karaoke would probably be enormous fun, so this venue will be filed under “unique birthday shin dig” ideas as well as unpronounceable restaurant names.

*A dried Japanese condiment consisting of, for example, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, dried and ground fish or sugar.

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