Prawn and Vegetable Tempura with Salmon Nigiri

Prawn and Vegetable Tempura with Salmon Nigiri.
This was harder than expected, for a few reasons. The first being that I had already started to enjoy a Friday-night bottle of Crémant de Luxembourg , so I was cooking, taking photos, sipping Crémant and getting the kids to bed all at the same time. Secondly, Luxembourg is a landlocked country so getting sushi-fresh seafood is not that easy. I found a gorgeous piece of salmon, but I had hoped to be a little more adventurous with my toppings. Then of course there is the extreme precision-of-execution required to make really good Sushi…. I mentioned the Crémant already didn’t I? So, I’m no Shinji Kanesaka, but actually my nigiri were better than most of the dire ‘riceballs with fish’ I’ve sampled here in Luxembourg. So if you want to create your own Japanese takeout platter at home, try my recipe, and let me know how it goes.

sushi slamon should melt like butter in your mouth
For the Salmon Nigiri
250g short grain sushi rice
300ml water
5cm piece kombu (dried kelp), this is optional if you can’t source it don’t worry, leave it out.
2 tbs rice vinegar
1.5 tbs sugar
1 tbs mirin
2 tsp salt
some nori sheets cut into strips
Fillet of sushi grade salmon, about 10 cm long and 6 cm wide (but if you get more you can always have a sashimi starter)

Wash the rice in 3 changes of cold water then leave to drain for 1 hour.
Put the rice, kombu and water into a saucepan, bring to the boil and cover with a tight fitting lid (if you’re in doubt about the seal, cover the saucepan with foil before putting the lid on, you are steaming the rice so it is imperative that the seal on the pan is good). Turn the heat down as low as it can go and leave for 15 minutes, then turn it off and leave for another 15 minutes. When done, discard the kombu and tip the rice out into a flat dish.
Mix the vinegar and remaining seasoning ingredients together and stir until the sugar is dissolved; pour this over the rice and mix it in so all the rice is coated.
While you wait for the rice to cool to room temp, you can slice your salmon into 20 thin slices; try for 3-4mm in thickness, cut across the grain of the gorgeous buttery white fat with a very sharp knife.
set up your station, before assembling the nigiri
Now set up your ‘rolling station’ (see picture) you will need your dish of rice, sliced salmon, some wasabi paste, a bowl of water with a dash of rice vinegar, and some strips of nori seaweed about 10cm long and 1/5 cm wide.  Wet your hands in the water and take a tablespoon of rice, gently squeeze the rice in your hand to form a nice oval shape. Take a piece of salmon and spread a small amount of wasabi on one side (if you are not familiar with wasabi, taste a small amount to know how much you would like to taste, your guests can add more before eating so it’s best to err on the side of caution!). Place the salmon on the rice wasabi side down, then take a strip of nori and dampen it using your fingers and a little water and wrap it around the salmon and rice bundle sealing it at the bottom. Repeat, until you have done all your nigiris, arrange them on a platter and serve as soon as possible.

Tempura

Dipping sauce
1/4 cup dashi (I used ready made)
1/2 cup light soy sauce
2 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1/2 cup daikon radish, finely grated
1/4 cup mirin

Tempura
12 prawns peeled and de-veined but with tails left on.
Salt and pepper
2 tbs mirin
Canola or peanut oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tbs baking powder
1 tbs sesame oil
300ml sparkling mineral water
A selection of fresh vegetables, I used the following:
1 small sweet potato
6 chestnut mushrooms
4 young courgettes and their flowers
6 large sage leaves
4 sugar snap peas

To make the sauce, place all ingredients into a saucepan and heat to a simmer. This can be done in advance; the sauce will keep for a few days in the fridge. Just bring it back to warm before serving.

Vegetables for tempura.
For the tempura, I used sweet potato, courgettes, mushrooms, sugar snaps and sage leaves, but you can really use whatever is fresh and good and you have to hand in your kitchen or garden. Just be sensible with the prep. Things like the sweet potato need to be par-cooked before the frying process. I peeled and sliced the sweet potato into 1cm thick discs then boiled for about 6 minutes and let them steam dry before coating them in batter. I used the mushrooms whole, except for a couple of larger ones which I cut in half. I sliced the courgettes thickly on a diagonal and left the gorgeous flowers whole. The sage leaves were large ones, from a rampant plant I have in my garden and I left them whole (a friend recommended tempura sage leaves, I was a little dubious but they were delicious). The sugar snaps were freshly picked and left whole…of course.

Make several shallow cuts across the inside curve of each prawn and press down on a cutting board this will prevent too much curling during cooking. Sprinkle prawns with a little mirin, salt and pepper.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl, and whisk together with the sesame oil, then whisk in the mineral water and keep whisking until the batter resemble frothy cream.

In large saucepan over a moderate heat, heat 4 inches of oil (I’m told until thermometer registers 325°F, but I don’t have a thermometer, so I just threw a crumb of sweet potato into the wok, and when it sizzled immediately the oil was ready).

Work in batches, using tongs to dip the items into the batter and then fry, turning occasionally until golden, about 1- 1.5 minutes each. Watch for the batter to look crispy and golden, remember all these things are ready to eat so you just need the batter to crisp up, you don’t need to cook the food. The sage leaves and courgette flowers need even less time about 30 seconds.

Transfer to paper towels to drain. Watch the temperature of the oil and use a slotted spoon, or egg lift to clean the oil of residual bits of batter before adding next batch.

Serve immediately with dipping sauce.

1 comment:

  1. Mme fabuleuse,

    I believe you are taking requests. I have one that you and monsieur fabuleuse would enjoy: A classic seafood marinara. Perfect for summer. Or, perhaps the under appreciated combo of white fish and eggs...I make a damn fine coral trout omelette. It comprises: the egg of a scrub fowl (massive yolk/ small white) if you can't source scrub fowl, chicken will...ahem...do. Flaked coral trout (left over from previous nights meal is fine) Again, if trout unavailable, opt for cod or similar. sweet, spicy cherry tomatoes. feta cheese. onion. fresh green herbs. pepper.

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