Tag Archives: miso

Recipe=Oven Grilled Miso Teriyaki S$3 Salmon Fish Head on 3Jun2018

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miso teriyaki salmon head

did a superb roasted miso teriyaki salmon fish head on 3.6.2018. ^^

bought a few S$3 salmon fish head from song fish when i bought salmon belly recently.

there was one left in the freezer so i took it out, defrosted, cleaned/washed with salt and cooked it for lunch la. 🙂

miso teriyaki salmon head

miso teriyaki salmon head

a really simple recipe-

  1. 400g – 500g salmon fish head
  2. 1tbsp flat miso
  3. 1.5tbsp light soy sauce (if not adding miso, can add 2.5tbsp light soy sauce)
  4. 2 – 3 tbsp olive oil
  5. add sliced ginger, a few stalks of scallions (i didn’t have today)
  6. & grilled 10mins in 250degC oven

miso teriyaki salmon head

head was super fresh!

meat was very sweet & tasty, and not fishy, with the flavours of miso & the fragrant light soy sauce.

grilling gives a slight charred skin & wonderful grilled flavours, the sauce dries up a bit so more intense, and the more fatty parts of the flesh near the belly combines well with miso & light soy sauce, are not chunky in texture like the steak or fillet parts, so perfect la!

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients-

  1. 400g – 500g salmon fish head
  2. 1tbsp flat miso
  3. 1.5tbsp light soy sauce (if not adding miso, can add 2.5tbsp light soy sauce)
  4. 2 – 3 tbsp olive oil
  5. add sliced ginger, a few stalks of scallions (i didn’t have today)

Directions-

  1. clean, wash with salt & drain
  2. rub 1 tbsp flat miso on the 2 half-heads on both sides.
  3. add 2tbsp olive oil, and 1.5tbsp top quality light soy sauce
  4. add sliced ginger & put on a few stalks of scallions
  5. grilled in a 250degC oven
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6hr “Sous Vide” Miso Lamb Shoulder

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miso lamb shoulder

miso lamb shoulder

this (above photo) was my very first attempt on miso lamb, which I did for a 11-course dinner for 11pax on 5.5.2014.

i do a good pistachio crusted rack of lamb but no other variations. decided to do a 3-day miso marinade on a cheap frozen lamb cut & coincide the 6hr sous vide bath in 90degC oven with the char siew (to save electricity).

90degC (oven temperature) is also the optimum temperature (fastest) for conversion of collagen the tough connective tissues to gelatine with excellent texture & flavours.

160°F/70°C — Connective tissue collagen begins to dissolve to gelatin. Melting of collagen starts to accelerate at 160F and continues rapidly up to 180F.

miso lamb shoulder

miso lamb shoulder

i did again for a 12-course 9-pax homecooked chinese dinner for friends on 15.7.2014.

that was the best i did then, better than the last 2 times & w/o the gamey taste. the 3-day miso marinade & 6hrs “sous vide” in 90degC oven did the trick. many liked this.

#5 miso lamb

miso lamb shoulder

most recent was a homecooked dinner for 14pax friends + spouses on 18.12.2014.

the miso lamb shoulder chop was ok, very tender, with strong lamb flavours nicely masked by miso.

lamb though is in general not much a favourite dish among my family & friends, and a tenderised lamb shoulder, even miso-falvoured, cannot really match a good rack of lamb.

after having the most wonderful rack of lamb i had so far at american club amarone wine dinner on 29.11.2014, i was thinking of trying out a herb crusted rack of lamb as a variation of my pistachio rack of lamb.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

  • packet of lamb shoulders from Giant S$4.95 (300g)
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp miso paste
  • 3tbsp cup mirin
  • 3tbsp cup cooking sake

Directions:

  1. mixed saké, mirin, sugar & miso paste in a large bowl and whisk.
  2. scald lamb shoulders with boiling water to remove scum. place lamb shoulders in a ziplock bag & pour in the cooled marinate and leave in fridge for 3 full days. turning over once in the morning & once in the evening to ensure all sides are fully coated.
  3. take out lamb shoulders & place it in an oven dish with lid with the miso marinade just covering the lamb for 1/2 hr to get it to room temperature. place it in the preheated oven at 90degC for 6hrs. 90degC is the optimum temperature (fastest) for conversion of collagen the tough connective tissues to gelatine with excellent texture & flavours.
  4. cut the lamb shoulders to bite size & serve.

Best Value Chirashi-don Lunch @ Ginza Kuroson on 6Jun2014

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mesclun salad

this truly the best value chirashi-don in singapore.

P.S. subsequently i had dinner at momoya on 6.7.2014. the sashimi selection were slightly not as good as kuroson (with amaebi & mirugai etc) but it was like double the quantity.

i had taken this ginza kuroson chirashi-don quite a few times previously, but had not been there lately. having lunch with my sis today & decided to go kuroson on 6.6.2014. 🙂

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iced green tea (free flow)

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miso soup & pickles

at S$20++, the chirashi-don alone was good value. the set came with free flow iced green tea,  mesclun salad (& this had a lot of arugula & not a cheap salad), miso soup & a pickle.

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chirashi-don

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chirashi-don

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chocolate pudding

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chirashi-don

the chirashi-don itself was quite perfect as always. there were like 9 pieces of sashimi over the don. i counted 2 tai (or perhaps 1 tai, 1 hirame – the 2 white fish), 1 maguro, 1 shake (salmon), 1 katsuo (seared bonito), chopped aji (horse mackerel), 1 tako, 1 mirugai (geoduck) & 1 amaebi (sweet prawns), & piles of ikura, & some pickled ginger, sliced zucchini & chopped eggs. the rice itself was well vinegared & very tasty. this 1 of the worthwhile carbo I actually finished.

this would be much better quality & better value c/w the chirashi-don at tonkichi orchard central & the bara chirachi-don set at sun with moon.

lunch was very satisfying after quite long while. will come back soon.

c.h.e.f andy

“Sous Vide” Char Siew

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sous vide char siew

as i mentioned in my recent post on a homecooked 11pax 11-course dinner for RI buddies on 5.5.2014, i always find chinese cooking to be much more challenging than western (re my “worthwhile to do?” philosophy). peking duck for example requires such fine & painstaking preparation as air-blowing the skin to produce a very crispy skin peking duck, and xiaolongbao (小笼包) & 石榴包 are such intricate dumplings c/w ravioli served in modern european fine dining. & while perhaps not quite fine dining, teochew braised duck, chicken rice chicken, 蒜泥白肉, char siew & roast pork are such simple, tasty & very cheap food one can buy anywhere in singapore that it is really challenging to make home-cooking such dishes “worthwhile to do?”. anyhow, i did have quite successful recipes for very cheap & easy to do teochew braised duck & chicken rice chicken, but am unable to make a good crackling belly pork thus far. char siew also was not easy, and i had made quite a few attempts. anyhow finally, i think i have developed a really good “sous vide” char siew recipe, that made for a truly fabulous dish. 🙂

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sous vide char siew

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sous vide char siew

i scalded the belly pork as usual to remove scum. then i cut into several 3in pieces & placed in a ziploc bag when cooled. i prepared a very good marinade after much scouring through internet recipes plus some adjustments of my own. this method is similar to my very good miso belly pork except that the marinade is an adapted char siew marinade & not miso. like miso belly pork, i let it marinate for 3 full days to infuse the wonderful flavours. then i placed the belly pork fully covered/drenched in a marinade bath in a pre-heated oven at 90degC for 5hrs. 90degC is the optimum temperature (fastest) for conversion of collagen the tough connective tissues to gelatine with excellent texture & flavours. 🙂 this made the char siew especially the fatty parts, totally tender & delicious, & melt-in-the-mouth, such wonderful texture & flavours combined. 🙂 the final step was just to char over a non-stick pan on high heat. i used butter (if you want higher temperatures, use vegetable oil). i then charred the char siew on all sides which took just minutes. that imparted even more intense flavours to the char siew. 🙂 c.h.e.f andy Ingredients:

  • 500g belly pork

char siew sauce

  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp dark sauce
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp mirin
  • 1 tbsp cooking sake
  • 2 tbsp brandy (or 2 tbsp shaoxing wine)
  • 3 tbsp ketchup
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp chopped garlic – 3 to 4 cloves
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • pinch of black pepper

Directions:

  1. scald belly pork as usual to remove scum. then cut into several 3in pieces & place in a ziploc bag when cooled. make marinade by combining all the ingredients
  2. marinade for 3 full days to infuse the wonderful flavours. place belly pork fully covered/drenched in a marinade bath in a pre-heated oven at 90degC for 5hrs. 90degC is the optimum temperature (fastest) for conversion of collagen the tough connective tissues to gelatine with excellent texture & flavours. this made the char siew especially the fatty parts, totally tender & delicious, & melt-in-the-mouth, such wonderful texture & flavours combined. 
  3. char on a non-stick pan on high heat. use butter or if you want higher temperatures, use vegetable oil. char the char siew on all sides, just few minutes. that will impart even more intense flavours to the char siew.

Curry Miso Mulligatawny Soup

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curry miso mulligatawny soup

curry miso mulligatawny soup

as part of a japan themed dinner for my friends, was contemplating adding a soup.  miso soup didn’t quite make it there. i made ok cream of mushrooms & cream of potato soup. the best soup i made was the basque seafood soup. it was very good if tedious boiling prawn shells for 2-3hrs. anyway they didn’t quite fit the theme.

so i was working on the miso theme with the seafood, and came up with a curry miso. i googled & found a few curry miso recipe & also looked at mulligatawny (an indian soup i love) recipe, and finally put together my own seafood curry miso mulligatawny soup. & very pleasing to say, it came out wonderful! 🙂

curry miso mulligatawny soup

curry miso mulligatawny soup

for the soup, i chopped 2 shallots and had ready 3 cloves minced garlic, sliced 1 yellow onion & diced 1 large carrot. as i did not have ready stock, i needed the onion & carrot to flavour the soup base. was deciding whether to add potatoes which would add both sweetness & bulk, but decided to add rice later for bulk & mulligatawny texture so drop the potato.

with 2 tablespoon olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat, i fried the shallots & minced garlic, added curry leaves & 2 teaspoon curry powder, and added the sliced onion & carrots & coated them with the curry powder & quickly added water. i also added 1/2 teaspoon tumeric for the added colour. i mixed in 2 tablespoon of miso paste & 1 teaspoon of sugar & let the saucepan content boiled over low heat for 1 hr, adding water as required, to get the vegetable sweetness into the soup.  decided to sieve the soup rather then blend the content (may try blending next time). i then added 1/4 cup rice & boiled for 20 more minutes. i added a little salt & found the right taste i liked.

for the seafood, i had 10 large frozen shelled mussels from QB Food, 1 large squid (removed red skin & cross-sliced the squid), and 5 large prawns. i heat 20g butter on a flat non-stick skillet on high heat, and added the prawns, and seared them on all sides. then i added the squid & stir-fried until the squid curled up. i turned heat to low & remove the nicely flavoured prawns & squid so they were not overcooked. i then added the mussels & stir-fried for very short time & then added some soup, simmered & quickly removed the mussels. these were then put aside till serving.  i de-glazed the skillet & returned the content to the saucepan.

(for this time, i did not add flour or heavy cream or coconut milk but may experiment with those next time).

when ready to serve, put the prawn, squid & mussels in each bowl & added the boiling soup over them. voila! 🙂 & bon appetit!

c.h.e.f. andy

Ingredients:

soup base

  • 2 shallots chopped
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 yellow onion slice
  • 1 large carrot diced
  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • 1 stalk curry leaves (20)
  • 2 tbsp miso paste
  • 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4cup rice

seafood

  • 1 large squid (remove skin & cross-cut)
  • 10 mussels
  • 8 large prawns (de-veined)

Directions:

  1. for the soup – chop 2 shallots, 3 cloves minced garlic, slice 1 yellow onion & dice 1 large carrot. fry shallots & minced garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan & add curry leaves & 2 teaspoon curry powder. add the sliced onions & carrots & coat them with curry powder & quickly add water. add 1/2 teaspoon tumeric for colour.  mix in 2 tablespoon of miso paste & 1 teaspoon of sugar & let the saucepan content boiled over low heat for 1 hr, adding water as required, to get the vegetable sweetness into the soup.  sieve the soup. add 1/4 cup rice & boiled for 20 more minutes. add a little salt to taste.
  2. for the seafood – lightly season the prawn & squid (separately) with salt & pepper.  heat 20g butter on a flat non-stick skillet on high heat. add the prawns, and sear them on all sides. then add the squid & stir-fry until the squid curled up. turn heat to low & remove the nicely flavoured prawns & squid so they are not overcooked. add the mussels & stir-fry for very short time & then add some soup, simmered & quickly removed the mussels. put aside.  deglaze skillet (with the soup) & return content to the saucepan.
  3. when ready to serve, put the prawn, squid & mussels in each bowl & added the boiling soup over them.

Wife’s Awesome Healthy Packed Lunch on 13Sep2013

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pumpkin, cherry tomatoes, deepfried tofu, red onion salad

pumpkin, cherry tomatoes, deep-fried tofu, red onion salad

my wife makes awesome packed lunches. she brings to office most days and they are much healthier of course than eating at the cafeteria. sometimes she packed for 1 or 2 colleagues as well. 🙂

oven grilled big prawns

oven grilled big prawns

items for packed lunch

items for packed lunch

pan-grilled portobello mushrooms

pan-grilled portobello mushrooms

mesclun = rockets, alfafa, spinach, purple lettuce

mesclun = rockets, alfafa, spinach, purple lettuce

the centre-piece of the healthy packed lunches are the salads & vegetables.  these could be standalone simple salad lunches, or often enough also, some meat items were added as a counter-point. sometimes i would cook miso cod, miso salmon, miso char siew (belly pork), miso ebi yaki (grilled miso prawns) or my pan roasted brined chicken breast for her. today she made oven grilled big prawns for herself 🙂

the pumpkin salad (top photo) was excellent tasting – sweet australian pumpkin with cherry tomatoes, deep-fried tofu, red onion. the pan grilled portobello (low heat slow dry grilling) was super, packed full of flavours, and together with the mesclun salad made for a very healthy delicious lunch.

c.h.e.f andy

Recipe = Miso Char Siew (or Miso Belly Pork)

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miso char siew

miso char siew

N.B. subsequently i did a wonderful melt-in-the-mouth miso belly pork dish for a homecooked japanese-themed dinner on 12.12.2013, but finished by pan-charred over butter instead of oven broiled.

i can call this a self-invented recipe. 🙂 basically, after i started making a rather good Nobu miso cod, i was trying to re-use the miso (didn’t want to make miso soup all the time and didn’t want to discard the miso after 1 use). also i was having a hard time making char siew both getting the texture right & also charring the outside. & not to forget the very lovely miso belly pork we had for the wonderful set lunch at pollen @ gardens by the bay! 🙂 just a note – though i started my experiment by reusing the miso, for best effect the proper way of course is 1 use & discard (or make miso soup..haha..) & for sure i would not use the miso cod miso for belly pork or vice versa, so if reuse then use second time only for the same meat!

miso belly pork

miso belly pork

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anyway i put the belly pork to marinade in miso for 3 days as i would when preparing miso cod. before that i rinsed the belly pork with boiling water, then cleaned up in cold water & then cut off the skin. unlike miso cod which you don’t want it to be too sweet, i added one more heap tablespoon sugar to the marinade. when cooking, i took out the belly pork & placed it in an oven dish with lid with the marinade just covering the pork for 1 hr to get it to room temperature. i then placed it in the preheated oven at 90degC for 1 hr. after removing it from the oven, i placed the pork on a rack over an aluminium foil lined baking tray, and preheat the oven to the highest temperature at 250degC. i then turned it to broil & cooked the pork for 11 minutes, turned over & broiled for another 5 minutes=total broiling time 16 minutes.

i did this for 600g of belly pork + pork collar combined about 3/4 portion was served as in the top photo. i did a second time for about 250g (the belly pork portion in the 2 photos below which included kurobuta steaks), and i had to adjust the timing to 8minutes + 5minutes=total 13minutes. if you have a meat thermometer, you can also check for 170degF or 77degC .

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the result = a very tender consistent inside texture & a charred & flavourful layer outside (with miso helping the charring) & overall a very tasty dish! 🙂

note the broiling time is key – though it is important to char the outside the inside will overcook if the timing is wrong!

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

  • 2 long strips of belly pork (about 600g)
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp miso paste
  • 1/2 cup mirin
  • 1/2 cup cooking sake

Directions:

  1. boil saké and the mirin  in a medium saucepan over high heat for 20 seconds to evaporate the alcohol, turn to low and add the miso paste, stirring to dissolve the miso completely, then turn to high again and add the sugar, stirring constantly so that the bottom of the pan doesn’t burn. cool down marinate mix to room temperature.
  2. rinse belly pork with boiling water, then clean in cold water & then cut off the skin. place belly pork strips in a ziplock bag & pour in the cooled marinate and leave in fridge for 3 full days. turning over once in the morning & once in the evening to ensure all sides are fully coated.
  3. take out belly pork & place it in an oven dish with lid with the miso marinade just covering the pork for 1 hr to get it to room temperature. place it in the preheated oven at 90degC for 1 hr. after removing it from the oven, place the pork on a rack over an aluminium foil lined baking tray, and preheat the oven to the highest temperature at 250degC. turn to broil & cook the pork for 11 minutes, turn over & broil for another 5 minutes=total broiling time 16 minutes.

Recipe = Nobu Miso Cod

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Nobu miso cod - the usual lovely firm, bouncy, slightly oily cod texture & full of flavours

Nobu miso cod – the usual lovely firm, bouncy, slightly oily cod texture & full of flavours

6feb2015 update (recipe at bottom updated accordingly –

subsequently i was lazy & just roast the cod in a roasting rack in 250degC oven for 12minutes and achieved the same results.

i also reduced the sugar to 1 tsp flat & the miso to 1 tbsp heap & marinated for 2 days instead 3days…

so proud of my Nobu miso cod! 🙂 successful at the very first attempt! wow! 🙂

my prize= the usual lovely firm, bouncy, slightly oily cod texture & full of flavours! 🙂

was planning a menu to cook for my wife for Mother’s Day…I now do a good pistachio crusted rack of lamb, slow-cooked Spanish beef ribs and pan-fried wagyu. but my wife is off lamb basically; slow-cooked, braised stuff never really up her alley; and while she is ok with pan-fried wagyu, it’s not something she’s into too much..so I was thinking what main course I could do..kurobuta was one which I started to do recently, pan-fried in a similar way as wagyu. I thought miso cod could be the other!

I found the Nobu miso cod recipe in a blog TastingMenu which I followed, and though I had some confidence the dish should turn out ok, one could never be too sure, and I was really quite elated that it did turn out so nicely! 🙂

I bought some frozen cod (<600g) from mmmm during their periodic promotion at S$41/kg. I later found that you could get cod fillet at Chinatown basement wet market for about same price S$40/kg (which I presumed was also cut from frozen whole cod).

I followed the miso marinate recipe (80gml mirin, 80ml sake, 3/4 cup miso paste, 3 heap tablespoon sugar). I boiled the saké and the mirin  in a medium saucepan over high heat for 20 seconds to evaporate the alcohol, turned to low and added the miso paste, stirring to dissolve the miso completely, then turned to high again and added the sugar, stirring constantly so that the bottom of the pan didn’t burn. I then cooled down the marinate mix to room temperature.

600g cod fillets in miso marinate in ziplock bag

600g cod fillets in miso marinate in ziplock bag

I placed the cod fillets in a ziplock bag & poured in the cooled marinate and left it in the fridge for 3 full days. turning over once in the morning & once in the evening to ensure all sides were fully coated.

miso cod - pretty light translucent yellow colour

miso cod – pretty light translucent yellow colour

After 3 days I removed the cod fillets from the miso marinate, patted dry with kitchen towels & placed the cod fillets on a rack over an aluminium foil lined baking tray. The miso cod is totally coated with a pretty light translucent yellow colour. 🙂

Nobu miso cod - the usual lovely firm, bouncy, slightly oily cod texture & full of flavours

Nobu miso cod – the usual lovely firm, bouncy, slightly oily cod texture & full of flavours

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I preheated the oven to 250degC on the circulation function, and put in the miso cod for 4 minutes. I then switched to the grill function at 210degC (the maximum for my oven for grill function) and roasted the cod for 3 minutes then turned over for another 4 minutes – a total cooking time of 11 minutes.

miso soup with shimeji mushrooms & garnished with scallions

miso soup with shimeji mushrooms & garnished with scallions

and the used miso marinate? why discard it? it was full of flavours from the cod & miso. I cut & threw in 1 packet of 200g shimeji mushrooms from China (these were selling S$0.65 at Sheng Shiong!), added some chicken stock & water to taste and cut some stalks of scallions for garnishing. nice miso soup! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

  • 500g cod fillet 

for miso marinade-

  • 80ml mirin
  • 80ml sake
  • 1 tbsp heap miso paste
  • 1 tbsp flat sugar

Directions:

  1. heat saké and the mirin to dissolve the miso and sugar, stirring constantly so that the bottom of the pan doesn’t burn. cool down marinade mix to room temperature.
  2. place cod fillets in a ziplock bag & pour in the cooled marinate and leave in chiller for 2days. turning over once in the morning & once in the evening to ensure all sides are fully coated.

  3. remove cod fillets from miso marinade & place cod fillets on a roasting rack lined with aluminium foil at the bottom.

  4. roast cod for in 250degC oven for 12mins..