Trip to Portugal (Day 6 and 7)...Final Day Seafood

(September 26)

Good morning, Estoril.


So, we started our morning at the neighborhood bakery cafe again. Their pastries were so wonderful. The chicken pie came just out of the oven and it was piping hot.


After breakfast, we called a taxi to take us to Cabo da Roca (Cape Roca), the most western point of Europe. The drive was about 30 minutes from Estoril to the north-west.


We made it there! It was so windy and chilly, but we were so happy. The view was magnificent.


We took a walk around and admired the view and nature.

Then, we went back to Estoril to hang out in the beach. We relaxed all the rest of the day on the beach.


For lunch, we went to another beach restaurant.


We had grilled mackerel and swordfish. Portuguese seafood are so good.


It was already our final evening. For dinner, we took a taxi to Furnas do Grincho in Cascais. It's a beautiful ocean-front seafood restaurant.


Octopus carpaccio, and ameijoas a bulhao path (Portuguese steamed clams in white wine, garlic and coriander). Excellent start!


Bacalhau gratinado (gratin of salted cod) was made with potato, béchamel and cheese. It was so smooth and the flavor was really fine. I loved it so much.


Paelha de marisco (shellfish paella) was really delicious, too. We enjoyed all the wonderful flavors of Portuguese seafood.


The next day, we flew back to LA. The connection was at Heathrow Airport (London), then flew straight to LAX. In the plane, we had more seafood. The cioppino was actually pretty good.

What a great trip it was! We had a blast in Portugal. We enjoyed the beautiful places, people, and food there. We fell in love with Portugal so much that we want to go back there again next year. Then, we would love to visit other cities in Portugal, too.


I miss Portugal! So, a day after we returned, I made Portuguese-style shrimp and beans in my tagline-style donabe, "Fukkura-san". It was inspired by the dish we had in Lisbon. I made it with beer for the sauce and finished with Portuguese piripiri (chili pepper), and the dish came out so good.

Happy donabe life.

Steam-fry Asparagus with Preserved Lemon

This is a quick donabe dish, looks pretty, and taste delicious. I sometimes make this dish for lunch to eat the whole thing myself, too. The asparagus stems are steam-roasted in tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san" for a short time. They become nicely crisp tender. The flavor of the preserved lemon and Parmesan cheese add the nice nuance. If you don't have preserved lemon, you can substitute with some shredded lemon rind and a sprinkle of salt.

Here's the recipe.

Roasted Asparagus with Preserved Lemon
(Tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san")

Ingredients: (2-3 as part of a multi-course meal)
10 oz asparagus, hard bottom trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 piece preserved lemon, minced (*each piece is 1/8 of medium-size lemon)
Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
Freshly ground black pepper

Procedure:

1. Peel about 1/3 end of each asparagus by using a peeler.
2. Place the asparagus in the skillet of "Fukkura-san" and add the olive oil. Toss the asparagus by hand so they are evenly coated with the oil, and arrange them in a single layer.
3. Cover with lid and set over medium heat. Cook for about 7 minutes or until the asparagus is crisp tender. Meanwhile, turn the asparagus 1-2 times.
4. Remove from the heat and uncover at the table. Garnish the asparagus with the preserved lemon and some Parmigiano Reggiano plus some pepper.

You can also find the recipe on toiro kitchen's website.

Happy donabe life.

Giant Octopus Rice ("Tako Meshi") in Donabe

Happy octopus...just boiled

I've been ordering wild caught whole octopus (from Spain) from Kai Gourmet, along with other fresh seafood frequently this summer. Each weighs about 3.5 - 4 pounds and is very high quality. It's already cleaned and pre-tenderized, so I just need to rinse it throughly before start cooking it.

To prepare an octopus, I do a classic Japanese way.  I think in Europe, it's typical to start with a fresh octopus in cold water, then bring to a simmer and simmer for almost one hour or longer. In a typical Japanese way, we normally boil water first, then add the octopus and simmer for a short time, about 20 minutes or so. We enjoy the bouncy texture of octopus. Only when we want to make very soft and tender braised octopus, we cook it for more than 1 hours (sometimes up to 3 hours).

So, here's how I prepare an octopus.


First, rinse the octopus, then boil water in a large pot. Once the water is boiling, you can add a large bag of hojicha tea leaves to the water. It's totally optional, but I learned from my friend and great sushi chef, Mori-san (Morihiro Onodera), that by infusing the cooking water with hojicha, this will help the octopus resulting in nicer color and also makes the flavor better. No salt is added, but just some splashes of sake. According to Mori-san, adding salt would make the octopus meat tougher, so it's not necessary. Slowly, submerge the octopus from the legs. Once half of the legs are in the water, wait for about 10 seconds and lift again, so the legs are nicely curled. Then, submerge the octopus from the legs again and this time all the way to the head.


Wait until the water is brought to a boil again, then reduced the heat to gentle simmer. Continue to simmer for 20 - 30 minutes (depending on the size of the octopus). Make sure the octopus is completely submerged in the water. Turn the octopus over once for more even cooking. After 20 minutes, by using a wooden skewer, check the doneness. If a skewer can pierce the thick part of a leg smoothly, it's ready. Turn off the heat and let it rest in the cooking water for 15 - 30 minutes, then transfer to a colander. Slice the octopus anyway you like for your cooking purposes. I like slicing a few legs for serving cold as sashimi, then the rest for other dishes. The boiled octopus can keep for a few days in a tightly-sealed container in the refrigerator.


Here are some dishes I made from the same octopus. I made classic octopus and potato salad as an appetizer. With my soup & stew donabe, "Miso-shiru Nabe", I braised the octopus legs (cut in chunks) further in simple dashi-soy-sake-miring combination with gobo (burdock root) and ginger. Then, with my tagline-style donabe, "Fukkura-san", I sliced the rest of the octopus rather thinly and made steam-fry octopus, cabbage, and enoki mushrooms in soy-butter. All came out so delicious!


Last month, on 4th of July, we hosted a BBQ dinner at home by inviting some friends. Jason and I were so busy prepping and cooking, so we didn't get to take any photos of all the dishes we prepared...


Except, for the Tako Meshi (octopus rice)! This time, to feed our large group, I cooked it in my special giant size double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san"! This Kamado-san cooks up to 10 rice cups, and it's really huge and gorgeous! It's, of course, handmade by Iga-yaki craftsmen at Nagatani-en in Iga, Japan. So, for this dish, I used an entire octopus to cook with the rice. It came out so delicious, and I was so happy that everybody enjoyed the dish so much! I will write the recipe (to cook in 3 rice-cup size Kamado-san) at the end of this post.


Dessert was made by Yuko, who is a specially talented pastry chef. She made mille-feuille. We all had such a blast!

So, here's my octopus rice recipe.

Tako Meshi (octopus rice)
(3 rice-cup size donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san)

Ingredients: (4 - 5 servings)
2 rice-cups (360 ml) short grain rice, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 cups (320 ml) dashi
2 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons usukuchi shoyu (light-color soy sauce; can substitute with regular soy sauce)
1 rectangular abura-age (friend tofu pouch), blanched and cut into thin slices
1 knob ginger, finely julienned (about 2 tablespoons)
6 - 7 oz (180 - 200 g) boiled octopus, cut into bite-size pieces

Procedure:

1. In Kamado-san, combine the rice with the dashi, sake, and usukuchi shoyu. Let the rice soak for 20 minutes.
2. Spread the abura-age over the rice in an even layer, followed by the ginger and octopus. Cover with both lids and set over medium-high heat. Cook for 13-15 minutes. (Or wait for a couple of minutes after the steam starts puffing from the outer lid's hole.)
3. Turn off the heat an let it rest, undisturbed, for 20 minutes.
4. Uncover and fluff the contents gently. Serve into individual bowls.

So easy and so delicious.
Happy donabe life.

Donabe recipe...Dashi-flavored Fish and Napa Cabbage

I've been making so many new donabe dishes, but it's been too busy and I haven't been able to update my blog with recipes past months. So, starting today, hopefully I can post donabe recipes more often!

I have been enjoying seafood from Kai Gourmet past months, and they provide such high quality seafood. They deliver to anywhere in the US, so I highly recommend! Many of the seafood come from New Zealand (both wild-caught and sustainably farmed kinds) and is delivered within 36 hours from the waters. I order different kinds of seafood every week, and my donabe life has been even happier.


They offer the best quality barramundi (of course, never been frozen) you can get in the US. It's a white flesh fish like sea bass or snapper. But, I think barramundi has more buttery texture, which I really like. I made a simple steam-fry dish with barramundi and napa cabbage in my tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san". You can substitute barramundi with sea bass, snapper, grouper, or even salmon, if you like.

The dish takes no time to prepare, and the flavor is so wonderful.


Dashi-flavored Barramundi and Napa Cabbage
(Tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san")

Ingredients: (3 - 4 servings)
(broth)
1/2 cup (120 ml) dashi stock
2 tablespoon sake
2 tablespoon usukuchi shoyu (light color soy sauce)
1 tablespoon mirin

1 pound (450 g) barramundi filet (skin on or off), cut into 6 to 8 pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 small knob ginger, sliced into very fine threads
6 to 8 medium napa cabbage leaves, cut the bottom half into strips, then cut the leafy half into large bite-size pieces
5 oz (150 g) shimeji mushrooms, bottom trimmed
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 scallion, thinly-sliced

Procedure:

1. Combine the ingredients for the broth. Set aside.
2. Sprinkle the salt all over the fish and set aside for 15 - 30 minutes. Pat dry.
3. In the skillet of "Fukkura-san", heat the sesame oil over medium heat. Sauté the ginger for 1 minute. Add the bottom half of the napa cabbage and sauté for another 1 - 2 minutes.
4. Pour in the broth. Break apart the shimeji and add, then spread the fish pieces on the surface.
5. Cover with lid and cook for 7 - 8 minutes or until everything is cooked through.
6. Garnish with scallion slices, and serve into individual bowls at the table.

You can also find the recipe in toiro kitchen's website.

Happy donabe life.

Donabe steam-roasted vegetable with Saikyo miso aioli

In our neighborhood in Echo Park in LA, there is a cute grocery store called, Cookbook, which sells quality ingredients and deli items. I love walk by there to pick up organic vegetables from California farms and just cook simple way to enjoy their natural flavors.

I made simple lunch with vegetables from Cookbook.


With purple kale, I made crispy kale. I simply tossed kale leaves in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted in the 450F (230C) oven for 10 minutes. It's a quite addictive snack!


Beautiful red turnips, cauliflowers and kabocha were steam-roasted in my tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san". To make it, in the skillet of "Fukkura-san", I tossed the vegetables in olive oil, salt and pepper, and spread in a single layer. Added 1/4 cup (60 ml) water, cover with lid and cooked over medium heat until all the vegetables are cooked to tender (about 10-12 minutes. Right before turning off the heat, I added a few leaves of the turnips.


The donabe was served at the table. It came out so nice. This donabe does the real wonderful steam-roasting job and makes the vegetables cook very nicely.


These vegetables were served with my homemade Saikyo miso aioli. Here's my quick recipe:

Saikyo miso aioli

Put the following ingredients in Vitamix.
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup Saikyo miso (or sweet white miso)
1/2 shallot
1 small clove garlic
1 small knob ginger
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3/4 cup olive oil
a pinch of each salt and pepper

Blend until the mixture becomes thick paste.

Happy donabe life.