Tag: appetizer
Sushi Hand Roll, 4 ways
Sushi Hand Roll, 4 ways
Japanese hand rolls are a great introduction to making sushi at home. All you need is sushi rice and sheets of nori, plus whatever you want in your hand roll. I included 4 different hand rolls that just about anyone can make: tuna salad(believe it or not, a popular flavor in Japan), smoked salmon and cream cheese, crab and mango, and tobiko(flying fish roe). I highly recommend doing research on sanitation and using raw fish before venturing any further into the sushi world.
Ingredients
- nori sheets
Sushi Rice
- 1 cup sushi rice washed 6-8 times
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3/4 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Tuna Salad Hand Roll
- 1 can yellowfin tuna drained
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 avocado sliced
Smoked Salmon Hand Roll
- 1/4 lb cold smoked salmon
- 2 oz cream cheese
- cucumber julienned
Crab and Mango Hand Roll
- imitation crab sticks
- mango sliced
- cucumber julienned
Tobiko Hand Roll
- tobiko roe
- mango sliced
- cucumber sliced
Instructions
Sushi Rice
- Place the washed sushi rice and water into a pot. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes until cooked through. Add more water if needed.
- Mix together the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Pour that into the sushi rice and mix. Set aside.
Prepping the Ingredients
- To make your life easier, have all of the ingredients prepped and ready to go. You can either quarter the sheets of nori to make small hand rolls or trim off 2” of a full nori sheet for larger hand rolls.
Tuna Salad Hand Roll
- Mix the mayo and lemon juice together. Stir into the tuna. Season with salt. Place a couple tbsp of the sushi rice down the center of a sheet of nori. Place a couple of spoonfuls of the tuna salad on top of the rice down the center. Placd a couple of slices of avocado next to the tuna salad.
- Roll it up into a cone shape.
Smoked Salmon Hand Roll
- Place a couple of tbsp of sushi rice down the center of a nori sheet. Place the cream cheese down the center. Place a few pieces of smoked salmon on one side of the cream cheese and a couple of pieces of cucumber on the other side.
- Roll it up into a cone shape.
Crab and Mango Hand Roll
- Place a couple of tbsp of sushi rice down the center of a nori sheet. Place a crab stick down the center of the rice. Place a couple of slices of mango on one side of the crab stick with a few pieces of cucumber on the other side.
- Roll it up into a cone shape.
Tobiko Hand Roll
- Placd a couple of tbsp of sushi rice down the center of a nori sheet. Arrange a couple pieces each of the cucumber, mango, and avocado on top of the rice. Spread a tbsp of tobiko on top of veggies.
- Roll it up into a cone shape. Place a tsp more of tobiko in the cones opening.
Shrimp Gyoza
Shrimp Gyoza
Gyoza are from Chinese origin, spelled jiaozi. You may also know gyoza by their westernized name, pot stickers. They have been adapted into Japanese cuisine and have become one of their most popular appetizers. Popular filling ingredients include pork, shrimp, lamb, green onion, chives, carrots, black fungus, cabbage, etc.Japanese-style gyoza are prepared 2 ways; either boiled or pan fried. When pan frying, the gyoza are cooked on 1 side in a small amount of oil for a few minutes. A little big of water is added to the pan. The gyoza are then covered and finished cooking once all of the water has evaporated. They are usually served with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame or chili oil.
Servings: 30 gyoza
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- gyoza wrappers
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup water
Shrimp Filling
- 3/4 lb shrimp peeled and deveined; tails removed
- 1 cup Chinese chives
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp sake
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Finely chop 1/3 of the shrimp.
- Placd the other 2/3 of shrimp in a food processor and turn into a paste.
- Mix together all of the filling ingredients.
- Scoop a heaping tsp of the shrimp filling into the center of a gyoza wrapper. Wet the edges with water.
- Fold the wrapper in half and crimp the edges.
- Starting from the bottom right edge, fold over 1/8” of the edge and crimp. Do this 6 times in total across the gyoza’s edge.
- Do this until all of the filling is used up. You should yield about 30 gyoza. Freeze what you aren’t going to immediately use on a baking sheet. Then store in a freezer bag.
- Heat up the cooking oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Place the gyoza into the pan. Cook for 4 minutes.
- Pour a 1/3 cup of water into the pan. Place a cover on the pan and cook until the water has evaporated.
Takoyaki
Takoyaki
Takoyaki is one of my favorite Japanese appetizers. You can find them on just about every ramen and sushi menu that you read. They are kinda like little pancake balls, still slightly gooey inside, filled with octopus, green onions, and pickled ginger. They are then topped with takoyaki sauce, Japanese mayo, crushed seaweed, and bonito flakes. While you need to have a special takoyaki pan to make them, they are extremely easy to make. You can find the pans on Amazon for around $20. If you aren’t a fan of octopus, substitute shrimp, ham, or sausage.
Equipment
- Takoyaki pan
- Chopsticks
Ingredients
- 1 cup dashi stock
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup flour plus 2 tbsp
- 2 green onions finely chopped
- 1 tbsp pickled ginger chopped
- 1/2 lb octopus
- vegetable oil
Toppings
- takoyaki sauce
- kewpie mayo
- dried crushed seaweed
- bonito flakes
Instructions
- Wash your octopus. Rub it with salt.
- Drop the octopus in salted boiling water. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Shock in ice water.
- Chop the octopus into small pieces. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together the dashi, soy sauce, salt, egg, and flour.
- Over medium high heat, lightly brush oil in each of the takoyaki pan holes. Fill up each hole with 2/3 of the takoyaki batter.
- Drop a few pieces of the octopus in the center of the batter in each hole.
- Cover the top of the pan with green onions and pickled ginger. Let the takoyaki cook for 3 minutes.
- Using a chopstick, push the edge of the takoyaki and turn each one half way. Start to tuck the green onions and pickled ginger inside of the takoyaki. Pour the remaining batter into the holes. Let cook for a minute.
- Completely turn the takoyaki upside down. Let cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from the pan.
