Maguro Tuna Avocado rice bowl (Maguro Avocado don)

Tags

avocado, clean, cleaneats, cleanfoods, easy, easy meals, easy recipes, healthy, homecooked, ikura, leeks, maguro, maguro avocado don, maguro avocado rice bowl, mayonnaise, one person meal, onebowlmeal, quick meals, rice, rice bowl, solitary eating, soy sauce, tuna, tuna avocado

This is one super easy and delicious don! (don = rice bowl dish in Japanese). All you need to actually cook is the rice. The rest is all about slicing up the sashimi and avocado and assembling the rice bowl. Since the current trend now is all about clean eats, clean foods and healthy eating, I suppose this makes the cut (if you ignore the ubiquitous mayonnaise blobs popping up among the luscious chunks of creamy avocado and fresh maguro).
Ingredients (for 1 person)  

• 100 grams sashimi grade maguro tuna
• 1/2 ripe avocado, pitted and skinned
• Mayonnaise – amount at your discretion, I used Japanese mayonnaise
• Cooked short-grain white rice
• 2-3 tsp soy sauce depending how seasoned you like your tuna
• Optional (for garnish) – chopped chives, seaweed flakes and thinly sliced leeks (only the white parts). I would highly recommend you add these as they add texture, lots of flavour and freshness to the dish
• Optional – 2 tbsp ikura (sashimi grade salmon roe)
• Optional – furikake (a type of Japanese rice topping/seasoning)

Method

• Slice up the maguro sashimi into thick chunks, I cut mine into 3/4 inch cubes but do it however you like.
• Season the maguro with soy sauce and set aside.
• Cut up the avocado into cubes/chunks roughly the same size as the maguro.
• Place the rice in a bowl (if you’ve opted for the furikake, mix it into the rice before arranging the rice in the bowl) and pile the maguro and avocado on top.
• Squeeze mayonnaise over the dish in zig-zag lashings or you can add them in blobs like I did.
• Add the ikura and garnish with chives, seaweed flakes and sliced leeks.
• Serve

I enjoyed it so much I had it again for the next meal… only in the sloppiest, most disgusting way one eats when alone:-  Still tasted amazing nonetheless!

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Oribe Sushi, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tags

abalone, aburi, aji, anago, authentic japanese cuisine, authentic japanese cuisine in kuala lumpur, barracuda, blow-torched, botan ebi, cod sperm, engawa, flounder, flounder's fin, hinata, hirame, horse mackerel, hotate, ikura, japanese restaurant kuala lumpur, japanese restaurant malaysia, japanese restaurant review, kamazu, mackerel, nodoguro, omakase, oribe, otoro, prawn, restaurant review, rockfish, scallop, sea urchin, seiki aji, shirako, sushi, sushi oribe, top japanese restaurants in kuala lumpur, tuna belly, uni

I was treated to Oribe Sushi about a week ago, and a treat it was! Chef Hideaki Oritsuki was previously head chef at Sushi Hinata. I gave Sushi Hinata a 6.5 back then… while they do have fresh raw ingredients, the quality of the rice as well as a couple of other factors dragged the score down. I was slightly perturbed that the fish was pre-sliced and placed in a box for convenience and quick service. That’s not how it’s done in Japan!

I digress, so I gave Sushi Hinata a 6.5 then. Oribe Sushi would be a 7.5. Chef Ori has addressed the rice issue and uses Japanese rice in his sushi. It makes a world of difference! His ingredients are fresh and flown in from Japan as well and it helps that he was more than happy to talk about Japan and where he sources his ingredients from. Very friendly chap he is! Ambience I excluded from the score, so I must add that while the sushi counter is sufficiently pleasing, the rest of the restaurant didn’t look like that of a high end restaurant.

We both had the omakase, which is priced at RM450 for dinner. So here goes!Sashimi platter as a first course; Otoro (Fatty tuna belly), Clams (Tsubugai), Flounder (Hirame), Botan ebi (Prawns) and Bafun Uni (Sea Urchin).It was delicious, and as fresh as you’d expect sashimi to be. We ended up sucking at the prawn head to get all the lovely,cholesterol-rich prawn brains out! Not a look you’d want to go for on a date but it’s worth it I think! The only thing that was slightly disappointing on this plate is the Hirame, which could have been better and “livelier” so to speak.Shirako (Cod Sperm) served with ponzu and ginger. My first encounter with the infamous Shirako wasn’t very pleasant so I half dreaded this dish when it came. I’m quite happy to say that it was absolutely delicious! Creamy in texture and fresh, well complemented by the tang of the ponzu sauce, it made for a perfectly well balanced palate and leaves no lingering unpleasant aftertaste. Lovely!Herring roe marinated with dashi, pressed and then topped with bonito flakes. It’s a fun dish, I could very clearly hear whenever my partner bit into it! Let’s just say it’s pretty crunchy 😉

Abalone that has been steamed for 7-8 hours. Tender to the bite and loses none of its natural flavour. A dish well done.Cawanmushi – standard as far as steamed egg custards go unfortunately. Nothing special here.Grilled Nodoguro (rockfish) was well cooked, had the perfect amount of sear to it and meltingly soft flesh. Would have been stellar if the skin had been a little more crisp!Seiki Aji (Horse Mackerel). The chef emphasized that this is one of the best kinds of horse mackerel in Japan as it was caught in Kyushu where the currents are strong. It is always served with ginger and spring onion. Now this was outstanding! I usually don’t pay the horse mackerel much attention but this had beautifully fatty and rounded flavours. Usually this fish tends to taste and smell a little strong but there was none of that here and I think this would be a prime example of how it should taste like! Full marks here.Engawa (Flounder’s Fin) – I always give brownie points whenever I get Engawa in any respectable sushi joint. It’s uncommon, or at least in Malaysia and Singapore it is. It’s got a chewy texture and is mild and sweet in taste. I wish I could have had more! There’s a “BUT” in here though… it was better in Japan ;(This I very blithely requested XD. Aburi Otoro! (Blow-torched tuna belly). OH SO GOOD!!!! With a couple of drops of sudachi juice and salt. Melts in the mouth with the fatty bits all softened to gorgeous tenderness and fabulous with that slight char. Wish it were a thicker slice though >.< Aburi Hotate (Blow-torched scallop) with yuzu zest. I asked very nicely for it to be topped with uni 😀 After all, that’s what all the food blogs out there are for right? To advise you to exercise some control over the chef’s discretion. He was really sweet and acquiesced to the request though. Another delicious morsel is thus born! Hotate is creamy by itself already, so topped with the uni it makes for gold!Kamazu (Baby baraccuda); some fish requires a little charring to break down the fat and toughness before its full potential comes out. This one had its skin on. Raw skin never tastes good, so blow-torching it is a nice way to render the skin delicious and yet be able to enjoy the flesh without it being cooked to death. Oh this… stuff that dreams are made of! It’s a little different in that he added some shiro ebi (white prawns) into the mix. Usually it’s just Uni, Ikura and Negitoro (Tuna belly and scallions). Nevertheless! Always a perfect combination. Can never go wrong with this if you’ve got the fresh ingredients!

I forgot to take pictures of two of the sushi that we had… the Saba (Mackerel) with seaweed and the Anago (Eel) that was had yuzu zest and half of it basted in a sweet sauce and the other half served with a touch of salt. Satisfying end to the meal. Green tea ice cream 🙂Couldn’t resist another picture of the cholesterol bomb!

So overall, a 7.5 out of 10. Fresh ingredients and affable chef were plus points, as well as the availability of Engawa and Shirako. Minus points would be that it’s always better in Japan, and they would be more generous with the portions and number of servings in Japan. Also, no surprises with the menu, perhaps there could have been a little more in that area. Ambience would have been a real killer if we weren’t seated at the counter!

Sushi Oribe

Ground Floor. Block C-1, Vipod Residences, No6, Jalan Kia Peng, 50450 Kuala Lumpur., 43000

+60-3-2181-4099

Lunch 12:00-15:00(Last Order: 14:30)    Dinner 18:00-23:00(Last Order: 22:00)

White truffle series part 3: Uni pasta with truffles

Tags

fusion, ikura, italian, japanese, Pasta, sea urchin cream pasta, sea urchin cream sauce, sea urchin pasta, sea urchin pasta topped with white truffle, seafood, sinful meals, uni cream sauce pasta, uni cream sauce pasta with truffles, uni pasta, white truffle

Just another picture post as I’ve already done up a recipe on Uni pasta. 

The only difference is that this time I shaved tonnes of delicate, fragrant white truffle on top. Mmmm~

Don’t forget to be generous with the amount of sea urchin.

If you like, you could try dropping a couple of drops of truffle oil into the cream before tossing the pasta in.

White truffle series part 2: Uni rice and uni sushi with white truffles

Tags

easy recipes, fusion food, ikura, japanese, japanese food, sea urchin, sea urchin and white truffle, sea urchin rice, sea urchin sushi, seafood, sushi, uni, uni and white truffle, uni sushi, white truffle, white truffles

Above: Uni RiceAbove: Uni sushi

Technically this isn’t a recipe but rather just an entry to record the combination of ingredients used for these two dishes. White truffle just goes so amazingly well with uni *drool*.

I just had to show the sheer size of the uni tray that I bought… crazy big!

The only difference between these two dishes is that one has ikura and the other has mayonnaise. Otherwise the ingredients are exactly the same. Let’s start with the uni rice:-

This I copied from the chefs at restaurants like Shinji and Sushi ichi. It’s a small mound of lightly vinegared rice (the mound was way smaller at the restaurants because… well the more rice you put it, the more sea urchin you’ll need) where you plonk a generous helping of uni and use a pair of chopsticks to mix the rice and uni until each grain is covered with that silken orange. It shouldn’t be dry, it should be almost like a risotto (and to achieve this you need quite a bit of uni to rice ratio). Then you top it with a spoonful of ikura, more globules of uni and if you have it, some chopped negitoro (spring onion and otoro) before finishing it off with shaved white truffles and chives. Use a spoon to drip some soy sauce onto the rice. Really good combination there. Too bad I was missing the negitoro bit ;(

Next, the uni sushi. I molded some vinegared rice first. The rice should be warm and you should have a bowl of salted water next to you when you do this. The water will keep the rice from sticking to your fingers and allow for easy molding whereas the salt is just to flavour the rice.

I think I might have used too much rice for each sushi T____T. Use less rice!

Yes, perhaps just dab a little wasabi onto the rice before spooning a generous amount of uni on top. Then squeeze some of the japanese mayonnaise over the uni like so:-

My massive white truffle! (and my hungry puppy)

Add the chive sections to the sushi before shaving the white truffle all over the sushi. 

Indeed a delightful mixture, I wish I could have some now ;D

Tatsuya, Goodwood Hotel Singapore

Tags

akami, anago, bonito, caviar, ebi, flounder, goodwood hotel, goodwood park hotel, halfbeak, ikura, japanese omakase, japanese pear, japanese singapore, kajiki, maguro, musk melon, omakase, omakase singapore, otoro, prawn, restaurant review, salmon, sayori, sea urchin, seaweed, singapore, singapore restaurant, sushi rice, tatsuya, tuna, uni, yuzu

*Edit: Updated Review on Tatsuya here

I’ve heard quite a bit about Tatsuya from friends, and as Japanese omakase is my not-so-secret crush I was pretty thrilled when my makan kaki suggested Tatsuya for dinner. We went after the recent renovation so I have no idea what it looked like before.

It is a good sized traditional Japanese restaurant located at Goodwood Park Hotel and offers counter seats where you can watch the chefs do their thing as well as table seats.

As far as omakase goes, the rates are similar to other omakase restaurants in Singapore. We went for the SGD 280++ omakase option and topped up a little for desserts.

Sat at the counter, always very educational and you’re left with a better idea of the skill level of the chef as well as the dedication they put into their food.

Now, so far I’ve only been to the really traditional types of Japanese omakase restaurants and I expected Tatsuya to be the same. However, I quickly realized how wrong I was. Yes indeed they do go about the traditional methods of preparation but they also favor the technique of “aburi” (flame-torching) alongside using modern twists in preparing the fresh seafood.

Here’s a beautiful carpaccio dish that serves as a good example to the delightful little surprises that they come up with at Tatsuya.

Beautiful is it not?

First up we each had a dish of ikura with some yuzu grated over the top. What makes this ikura stand out is that each roe is separate from the other. I’ve gotten so used to roes sticking and clumping together that this came as a bit of a surprise. A good one of course. Each individual sac was fresh and not at all slimy, bursting with briny goodness. 

Some dish that the chef was preparing for the other guests.

Next, we had some simmered mackerel (on the left) and monkfish liver (on the right). I love monkfish liver, but I’d gauge these two dishes as average. Perhaps I just prefer raw fish haha!

Above, some flounder topped with seaweed, uni and bonito. Great texture on the fish, a little bite, alongside the game changers, the toppings. While the uni topping was my favourite, the bonito came a close second.

Here we had a plate of half beak (sayori) sashimi with ginger and spring onions. Shiny skinned fish tend to smell a little stronger so ginger and spring onions are often used to balance out the smell. As the fish was fresh there was hardly any smell, while the ginger and spring onion only served to heighten the flavour of the fish. 

Once we were done with the sashimi, they whisked away the bones of the fish and deep fried it so that you can enjoy those too and nothing is wasted. 

The next offering: a plate of delectable, thick-cut sashimi

Akami remains my favorite. The fried ebi topped with caviar and yuzu was heavenly as well. Fantastic combination.

This is something we did not try as we both do not take beef. It looks good doesn’t it? The fat on the beef was just melting before our eyes as they torched it.

❤

Torched abalone with yuzu, I think they must have added some butter at some point. Tender and flavorful, but not as mind blowingly good as the one I had at the curb market in Sapporo .

*drools*

Above, an aburi toro. Meltingly soft and juicy, the fish went so well with the rice, daikon and spring onions with just a hint of smoke from the torched surface.

This is definitely a place that has got its rice right. Nice short grains of lightly vinegared rice.

Next up, aburi Kajiki (swordfish belly) which had a little more bite to it in comparison to the toro. While it doesn’t hold a flame to the toro, it holds its own ground pretty well too.

Aburi Kampachi belly topped with bonito flakes, nori and roast sesame seeds. Oh and yuzu of course. I love how Tatsuya manages to blend all these strong flavours together and never overpower the fish. The flavours all come together very harmoniously.

This? Party in my mouth! Aburi Ebi with mentaiko mayo topped with yuzu and lumpfish caviar. BEST COMBINATION EVER! Or rather perhaps I’m biased towards anything with mentaiko mayonnaise. Prawn is amazing with that mixture. When they torched this baby I could hear the mentaiko popping furiously as they cook. The sweet mayo, marinated mentaiko, half crunchy, half creamy ebi and caviar just took this dish to level heaven (yes I’m dramatizing food, I loved it that much)

This is yet another favorite! Hotate (scallop) and Foie gras lightly touched and topped with yuzu and er… tiny anchovies haha. I thought that the anchovies got in the way of the scallop and foie gras a little. It was divine nonetheless.

Rich heavy foie gras with the smooth clean and creamy taste of the scallops… mmm…

This is something I’m more familiar with, the conventional sushi as it is. Uni and ikura ❤ 

I remember asking for no eel at the start of the meal. I’m not sure why this came but I’m glad it did. It was nicely broiled and delicious.

Lastly, a really crunchy, simple roll that you just eat with your hands. Simple, no fuss, minimalistic yet really satisfying. Did I mention that the nori is fabulously crunchy?

Chef preparing hunks of beef

Beef on fire! It was sizzling and I found myself drooling over a meat I’ve only tried once or twice in my life and never crave for!

Ended the course with some fruits; a musk melon and japanese pear. As Japanese fruits go, these were extraordinary in flavour and texture as well.

We couldn’t resist…. ordered a yuzu sorbet and caramel ice cream. Refreshing end to a fantastic meal.

Tatsuya

ADDRESS

22 Scotts Road Goodwood Park Hotel Singapore 228221

(65) 6737-1160

Kita no Ryoba; Curb market, Sapporo, Japan

Tags

abalone, akami, crab, curb market, donburi, fish market, hokkaido crab, hokkaido melon, ikura, japan, japanese, kita no kyouba, maguro, restaurant, restaurant review, salmon, salmon roe, sapporo, sashimi, scallops, sea urchin, uni, yubari melon

Hokkaido is supposedly famous for fresh seafood, so I headed over to Nijo market in Sapporo first to get a feel of the place. It was a really small market, and not as cheap as I expected. There is still quite a selection of the Hokkaido specialties of crab, scallops, sea urchin and ikura as well as a smattering of restaurants serving up some donburis. I didn’t try any of the restaurants there though, and decided to go to the Curb market instead.

At least the shopkeepers there aren’t as pushy as the ones at Nijo market! Came across this restaurant almost immediately and decided to just go ahead and give it a try. 

Here’s some pictures of the menu:

mmm yes, give me ALL the seafood!!!! *drool*

I ended up coming to this restaurant 2 times during my very short stay in Sapporo. So the pictures here are spread across two meals.

Ordered a giant scallop which came on a mini grill. They don’t grill it for you, you have to watch out for it yourself. At the smaller establishments at Nijo or maybe even at the curb market, you can request it grilled with butter or some other sauce (I had a giant scallop at the Nijo cooked in butter and it was so so good!). The scallop here came out just slightly overcooked. Not bad but not great.

And of course I had to have the sea urchin and ikura donburi. It was so good. However, it could have been better. Indeed it seemed fresh, the restaurant being situated right smack in the middle of a fresh fish market, but the sea urchin lacked the soft creamy texture that I love. This variety is more of the solid type of sea urchin. It would have been perfect if the sea urchin had slightly less form and more smooth texture (we all know that the less-than-firm types of sea urchin just equates to more of that delicious buttery flavor!). I believe that the uni sushi that I get at Daiwa Sushi at the Tsukiji market in Tokyo is way better, and that is comparing apple to apple since the prices are similarly in mid-range.

My cousin had the salmon, scallop, tamago and crab donburi. He doesn’t eat much raw fish (blasphemy!!!) but he enjoyed his dish. The scallops and crab were so naturally sweet. Now we’re talking 😉 Really delicious.

Cousin also ordered some grilled crab and salmon.

The crab was obviously quite plump and delicious but I never was that big a fan of crab. I like it best when its already peeled for me haha ;p

The salmon on the other hand had a lot of bones, my cousin had his job cut out for him picking the meat from the bones. I’d suggest to skip this dish.

I decided to be adventurous and ordered this crab dish:

It is juicy sweet crab meat simmered in some sake in crab shell grilled over a small fire. So basically at the end of the process you get crab meat in a broth made of some sake and the oh-so-sinfully-rich crab brains/guts. It was beautiful *eyes tearing*

but that was before the abalone came along…..

This tasted like heaven on a plate. I expected the abalone to be tough, but it was tender and perfectly cooked. Then it was bathed in this sauce… this gorgeous rich sauce that tasted as if it would be perfect on a steak but still goes well with everything else… somewhat like a mixture of butter and sake and something else. So utterly decadent, divine and just simply lip-smacking good. I was tempted to eat the whole thing by myself instead of sharing. This is the highlight of the entire meal. And to actually overshadow the uni, that’s no small feat.

Here’s a donburi from the second visit. It was mouth-watering and again brings tears of joy to my eyes. How can anything be so utterly beautiful *cries*. There’s sweet crab meat, briny ikura and uni and the clean akami all in one bowl. I love Hokkaido!

Yes, and another helping of that simmered crab meat in kani miso….

Absolutely beautiful isn’t it?

And then….

Yes I went overboard with the abalone. This time it came just a tad too cooked but still darn good nonetheless. That sauce!!!

Ended perfectly with a slice of Yubari melon (please don’t confuse this with Hokkaido melon, Yubari is in a different class). Filled with the sweetest melon juices and none of that tasteless crunch you normally have upon eating the ordinary cantaloupe you find everywhere else.

Check out the picture below, a slice of Yubari melon costs 580 yen whereas on the right, a slice of Hokkaido melon costs 380 yen. And yes there is a difference 😉

THe damage from the first day. Second day was way worse as I got a little too greedy with the abalone.

One of the places you have to visit when you’re in Sapporo. I wish I were there right now ;(

Naruto kyaraben (character bento) with ikura

Tags

bento, character bento, foodart, ikura, japanese, Kyaraben, lunch, lunchbox, naruto, naruto bento, naruto character bento, naruto kyaraben, naruto seaweed art, sashimi

So for my next bento, I did a Naruto Kyaraben seaweed art. Again, I used the same tools as before but its easier this time around as the ingredients required for the seaweed art is only cheese and seaweed. I thought ikura would be perfect for giving him that volcanic bubbly nine-fox demon effect so I added that in as well. It helps that I love ikura 😉

Tools used are the same as before or maybe less… :  cutting mat, cutter for intricate designs, paper, pen/pencil, binding clips

So first, you draw an outline of your bento so you can draw your design within these boundaries. And then you draw your character, emphasizing on the black areas. You will cut out only the white bits. I think I shot myself in the foot by finding a drawing so intricate that it was difficult to cut the white bits properly T___T

Next, place the sketch over the seaweed on the cutting board, and clip paper and seaweed securely onto the board.

Start cutting the white bits. That is the cutter I used. I initially used a ceramic cutter but this is way easier. 

And continue the cutting while removing the seaweed bits at the same time. It will be easier to keep the board free of excess paper/seaweed moving around. 

You can see here that the patterns are starting to develop on the sheet of seaweed.

I suggest cutting the smaller bits first before you cut the large areas. This is because its easier this way and will result in less tearing of the seaweed. 

Almost done.

I put some rice into the bento, topped with seaweed and placed the slice of cheese where I wanted it. I’m not sure if it was a lucky mistake that I placed the cheese on the rice while it was still hot! So basically my cheese was warm and sticky such that anything that stuck to it cannot be removed! Therefore if you mess up the placement of the character here, its all ruined! On the bright side, the seaweed is more adhesive and very unlikely to fly away. 

Once you’ve stuck the seaweed character onto the cheese, build your bento! Ikura against a dark seaweed background lends a little mystery to the overall effect 😉 and the tiny yellow tomatoes were just there to contrast with the smaller ikura.

We’re done!

This bento is made for immediate consumption because there is no way you can put sashimi in a lunchbox and expect it to keep well in room temperature. Bacteria and all.

So yes, devour once you’re done with your pictures!

Time taken to complete: 1.5 hours

Coming up next: Naruto bento with ikura

Tags

anime, bento, character bento, ikura, Kyaraben, maguro, naruto, naruto bento, naruto kyaraben, sashimi, seaweed, seaweed art

Mentaiko pasta

Tags

ikura, marinated cod roe, mentaiko, mentaiko cream pasta, mentaiko pasta, Pasta, seaweed

Yes, pasta again and this time, with mentaiko (marinated cod roe or pollock roe). By itself, the mentaiko is salty and sometimes spicy, which is why its normally eaten raw with rice (only if it’s sashimi quality) or used in cooking for flavor. It goes really well with fatty foods like cream and mayonnaise.

This dish is pretty simple and easy to prepare. Almost foolproof!

Ingredients (for 2 pax)

• 2 pieces of mentaiko (or 100gram mentaiko)
• Pasta of your choice (I used angel hair/quick cook spaghetti)
• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• Seaweed strips for topping
• Ikura for garnishing (optional)
• 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese for use in the sauce
• 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese for sprinkling over pasta
• 2 birds eye chilli/chilli padi, sliced
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 20g butter
• Handful of chopped chives for garnishing (optional)

Instructions 

• Cut the mentaiko sac

Use a spoon to scrape out all the contents into a small bowl. Remove the sac

• Remove sac from bowl

• Add 2-3 tbsp cream and mix into the mentaiko.

• The mentaiko cream mixture will make it much easier to combine into the pasta sauce later.

• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add the minced garlic and sliced chilli padi
• Add in the rest of the cream once the garlic is golden and before the butter starts to brown. Simmer for a couple of minutes.

• Add in the mentaiko cream mixture and cheese

• Stir in thoroughly

• Add in the mayonnaise (this below picture is from a previous mentaiko pasta attempt) and stir to incorporate. Turn off the heat

• Cook the pasta 
• Meanwhile, prepare a pot of almost boiling water to poach your eggs and add the vinegar to the pot.
• And as I’m no expert in poaching eggs, here’s a website that shows you how to poach eggs 😉
• http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_poached_eggs/

• Drain the cooked pasta and immediately add it to the sauce. Toss over medium heat to combine before removing the pan from the fire.

• Dish out the pasta. As you can see, this amount could probably feed 3 but I was greedy ;(
• Make a little well in the centre, you’ll drop your poached egg into here later.

• Add the egg into the centre of the pasta and garnish with seaweed, chopped chives, cheese and ikura

And its done! Its a very rich dish so the tanginess from the japanese mayo and the spice from the chilli helps to dispel that sense of “jelakness”.

Uni cream pasta (Sea Urchin)

Tags

angel hair, butter, chives, cream, cream pasta, dinner, fusion, ikura, lunch, mains, Noodles, parmesan cheese, Pasta, prawns, salmon roe, sea urchin, shrimp, sinful, uni, uni cream pasta, uni pasta

Sea urchin roe is one of my favourite sashimi! So rich and creamy and briny <3. I tried  sea urchin pasta for the first time in Japan a few years back and it was amazing as well. And of course I had to try to make it myself, but I always feel heartsick at the thought of throwing all the expensive uni into pasta when I can just have it as sashimi and savour every single bit of it. That’s why on my first attempt at uni pasta, I just used a few bits (see the following 3 pictures).

I probably used a quarter of the package of uni. The box of uni in itself is already really small, so the uni flavour in the pasta wasn’t as prominent as I would have liked it. But the pictures were way better as I took them during the daytime, whereas my 2nd attempt photos were dependent on dim lighting =(.

Pleased to say that on the 2nd attempt, the pasta came out creamier and more luscious! I sacrificed the whole box this time… just for myself *guilt*. I also omitted the seaweed as it got in the way of the flavour of the pasta. It goes better with mentaiko pasta I think.

The recipe was adapted from http://www.eataduckimust.com/uni-pasta

Ingredients (For 1 greedy person)

• 1/2 cup thickened cream (the original recipe calls for 1 cup cream per person, you could just adjust accordingly. I’m just trying to make myself feel less guilty)
• 3 prawns shelled and deveined with tails on (Reserve the prawn shells and heads)
• 20g butter
• 1 package uni (sea urchin)
• 1 chilli padi, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 egg yolk
• chives for garnishing
• handful of parmesan cheese
• Angel hair/instant cook spaghetti or other pasta noodle of your choice
• Ikura (as much as you like)

• Melt the butter over low heat and add the prawn heads/shells in. Crush the prawn heads so that all the flavour comes out into the butter. Take the pan off the heat so that the butter doesn’t brown and continue crushing the shells.

• Pour the butter and shells into a sieve and squeeze out all the juices/butter into another pan (you’ll use this pan to make the cream sauce)

• Meanwhile, sear the prawns and set aside

• Throw in the chilli padi and the minced garlic into the pan with the prawn head butter and fry until the garlic turns golden. If you like, you can also add a little more butter.
• Add in the cream and bring to a simmer before switching it off. Don’t boil the cream.
• When the cream has cooled a little, pour into a blender. Your cream shouldn’t be hot as this would cook the uni and scramble the egg later. The uni needs to be soft, raw and creamy while the egg yolk needs to be silky.
• Save a few pieces of the uni for garnishing, and add the rest to the cream.

• Blend the uni and cream (just need to give it a few pulses) and pour the mixture back into the pan.
• Add the beaten egg yolk and stir it in.

• Add a tablespoon or so of parmesan cheese into the cream and heat the mixture up again (I’m guestimating here, adapt to your own tastes ;p) . Taste it and season with some salt. (I didn’t put pepper as I thought it might overpower the uni)
• Add in the freshly cooked pasta and mix it into the sauce. If you have strong wrists, toss the lot to combine.

• Dish out the pasta onto a serving plate, top with the prawns, raw uni, some chives, a bit more cheese and as much ikura as you like~

So silky and creamy and decadent 😉

Now that I’ve seen the amount of sea urchin, prawn head brains and cream that went into the dish, my heart is starting to palpitate at the sheer amount of cholesterol that went into this meal ;(

To the gym!