Independence Day 2016

My asparagus & hijiki donabe rice (Photo by Jeni Afuso)

Last year, we hosted a pretty big July 4 BBQ party at home. I cooked all the dishes and we had a great time.

This year, Jason and I were playing with the idea of hosting again, then we realized there was no way, considering the crazy schedules we had been in and we had been quite burned out.

Then, our friends, Dylan and Jeni (they came to our BBQ last year) invited us to a BBQ at their home. Asami and Steve, who just returned to LA from 2-year residency in Nagoya, Japan, also joined. We all cooked and it became a fantastic gourmet July 4th BBQ dinner with friends.


Appetizers...I made watermelon salad (with Kyoto shichimi peppers and vinegar) and Thai-style grilled eggplant salad. Asami's kiriboshi daikon (dried daikon strips) and spinach salad was so tasty.


Skillet corn and crab meat by Dylan. The dish was seasoned with beer, nan pla and a dash of dukkah.


Grilled sausages and turmeric chicken by Asami & Steve. I loved the chicken so much.


Shichimi Chimichurri marinated skirt steak by Dylan. Wonderful texture and flavor.


I made asparagus and hijiki mochimugi rice with double-lid donabe rice cooker, Kamado-san. (Photo by Jeni) I was glad everybody loved it! I added a packet of mochi mugi barley (considered to be a superfood: even more health benefit than conventional barley) to the rice, because I love its texture and flavor. But, you can make it only with the rice, too. Please find the recipe below.


Such a fun evening of celebrating America's birthday with wonderful friends! (Photo by Asami)


Asparagus & Hijiki Rice
(Serves 4 - 6)

Equipment: Kamado-san (3 rice-cup size)

Ingredients:
5 ounces asparagus, tough bottom trimmed
Generous 1 tablespoon short dry hijiki seaweed
2 rice-cups (1 1/2 US cup or 360 ml) short grain rice, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 cups (320 ml) vegetable stock
2 tablespoons sake
1 tablespoon usukuchi shoyu
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Procedure:

1. Shave off 1/3 end of the asparagus skin. Cut the asparagus into 1/4" (6 mm) thick pieces, except for the tips.
2. Soak dry hijiki in a bowl with generous amount of water for 30 minutes. Rinse, drain and gently press out excess moisture. Set aside.
3. In Kamado-san, combine the rice with the stock, sake, and soy sauce and sea salt. Let the rice soak for 20 minutes.
4. Spread the hijiki over the rice. Cover Kamado-san with both lids and cook over medium-high heat for 13 - 15 minutes, or until 2 - 3 minutes after the steam starts puffing from the top lid.
5. Turn off the heat and let it stand, undisturbed, for 15 minutes.
6. Quickly open both lids and spread the asparagus over the rice. Cover with both lids again and let it rest for additional 5 minutes.
7. Uncover and fluff with a spatula. Serve into individual bowls.

***For mochi mugi barley version, add a packet (2 oz/ 60 g) of mochi mugi and 1/2 cup (120 ml) stock in step 3. Increase the amount of salt by a pinch.

Happy donabe life.

Grilled Bone-in Pork Chop with Hiroshima Oyster Sauce Marinade and a Lot of Sansho Pepper

Grilled pork chop with donabe rice and salad

We wanted to make something simple and quick the other night, so I did a quick marinade of pork chops in oyster sauce for the grill. I use a special Hiroshima oyster sauce I brought back from Japan. Summer was gone, but it was a nice warm evening, so we set up a table in our patio.

After just 1 hour in the marinade, the pork chops were cooked over mesquite charcoal in our Santa Maria BBQ Grill.


The meat came out so juicy and flavorful! To finish, I sprinkled a generous amount of sansho pepper powder from Kyoto. The aroma was enhanced even more beautifully. I loved the combination of smokey meat and umami-rich oyster sauce with the aromatic sansho kick. It was especially great with the freshly-made plain rice in my double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san".


Grilled Pork Chop, Marinated in Oyster Sauce

Ingredients: (2 servings)

2 bone-in pork chops (about 3/4" or 2 cm thick)

(marinade)

2 tablespoons sake

1 2/3 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce or Asian fish sauce

1 tablespoon raw brown sugar

1/2 tablespoon grated ginger

powdered sansho pepper

cilantro

Procedure:

1. Trim off any excess fat from the pork.
2. Whisk together the ingredients for the marinade. Combine the pork and the marinade in a resealable plastic bag. Seal the bag tightly (keep the air out). Marinade for 45 - 60 minutes.
3. Remove the meat from the marinade and cook over the grill until your desired doneness. Meanwhile, baste the marinade a few times.
4. Serve in plates and garnish with some sansho pepper and chopped cilantro.

Our Summer with Santa Maria BBQ Grill

Our Santa Maria BBQ Grill works so hard in the summer time. We enjoy grilling and eating in our patio so often during the summer.

These are from our past couple of dinners...


Fourth of July dinner party. We did 4 racks of baby back ribs in 2 different flavors (homemade miso sauce, and apricot paprika) for a main course. I made many other dishes but I was too busy to take photos. Only one more picture, which is taken by a friend...my crab, white beans & avocado salad.

 
Grilled fish night. Appetizers included poke made with fresh ahi from Hawaii, herloom tomato marinade, baby potato & grilled asparagus salad, and roasted eggplant dip. Hew.


The main course was Stripe Bass, which weighed 4 pounds! It was so fresh and so heavy. I stuffed its belly with mixed herbs and grilled both sides. It came out perfect!


Side dishes were sautéed shishito peppers & shimeji mushrooms over charcoal grill, and corn rice which was cooked with my double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san". Dessert was homemade matcha honey ice cream.


Leopard-look grilled branzino, the next day.
Non-stop grilling and donabe cooking this summer.

Herb-stuffed Grilled Whole Branzino with Donabe Purple Rice

I picked up really fresh whole branzinos from a fish market in the morning.


For something super fresh like them, I wanted to do a very simple grilling. First, I scored both sides of the fish skin, pretty deep for even cooking. Then, I seasoned them simply with salt and pepper, and stuffed each with dill and mint leaves. For the tastier result, I let the seasoned fish rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes. This will let them sweat excess moisture and the fish's flavor will be more concentrated (i.e. less watery) and the texture will be nicer, too.


We got our Santa Maria BBQ Grill ready for medium-high heat. Before the fish was put on the grill, I pat-dry the fish with paper towel, and rubbed some olive oil all over the fish. It's good to use grill pans for easier control on the grill. I also grilled some eryingi mushrooms and peppers.


After 3-4 minutes on one side, I flipped the fish just once and cooked for additional 3-4 minutes. And, when the fish was ready, I flipped them just one more time and transferred to serving plates.


Grilled fish loves rice! I made "purple rice" with my double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san". It's actually 9:1 brown rice and black rice. When they are cooked together in donabe, the color turns beautiful purple. I used American black rice (labeled as "Forbidden Rice") from Whole Foods, and it tasted very good.


Fish was cooked so perfectly and the flavor was so amazing. To enjoy, just a squeeze of lemon gave a nice refreshing touch. The skin was perfectly toasted and so delicious. Our grilled branziono fish was so amazing that the fish didn't need any other seasoning or sauce. And, of course, it tasted so great with the purple donabe rice.

Happy donabe life.

Grilled Baby Back Ribs in Miso-Lime Glaze

A couple of friends came  over last weekend, and we did BBQ with our Santa Maria BBQ Grill.

The main course was baby back ribs. I got two racks (about 4 pound total) and removed the silver skin and trimmed excess fat first. Then, marinated one with shio-koji and the other with yuzu shichimi salt for overnight.


For the shio-koji marinated pork, gently wipe off the marinade with paper towel once it's taken out of refrigerator. They were wrapped in double-layer aluminum foil and roasted at 325F (about 160C) degrees for 2 hours, and rested (covered) for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, I got the basting sauce ready. It's so simple and so tasty. I whisked together 1/4C (60 ml) red miso (I used my 2-yr-old homemade miso), 1/2 tablespoon each grated ginger and garlic, 3 tablespoons homemade plum syrup (can be substituted with honey), 1 tablespoon sesame oil, and juice from half lime. I also added a couple of table spoons of cooking juice from the pork.


Baby Back Ribs were put on the medium-heat grill and cooked with the lid on for 8-10 minutes. Both sides were brushed with the basting sauce a few times meanwhile.


The meat was so tender!


They were cut and served with grilled kabocha pumpkin, donabe corn rice (cooked in double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san") and brussels sprouts salad. Wonderful BBQ night under the full moon in our patio.

Happy donabe life.