Dinner, Dressing, Japanese, Lactose Free, Recipes, Rice Dishes, Salad, Vegan, Vegetarian, Veggies

Sushi Salad

July 23, 2024

Rice is without a doubt my favorite food (followed by eggs). It’s easy to prepare, versatile, and such a beautiful grain to show off in a salad such as this one. Short grain brown rice works well for this salad. Its hearty texture stands up nicely to the other components and dressing. If brown rice is not your thing, substitute short or medium grain white rice.

The assortment of green ingredients above contributes to this stunning rice bowl. Feel free to switch up with whatever you may have available in your refrigerator. Chopped red cabbage, sautéed carrots, peas, corn, steamed broccoli or roasted veggies would all be tasty additions.

Light miso paste has a slightly sweet and delicate flavor which makes it ideal for dressings.

With slightly earthy notes and a subtle nutty flavor, short grain brown rice is the perfect foil for velvety avocados, crispy cucumbers, edamame, spinach and the umami rich miso dressing.

Serving soy sauce eggs with the salad is a must for me. It brings the entire dish together and makes for a hearty lunch. The various textures and shades of green turn these humble ingredients into a striking and delicious meal. Oishii!

Sushi Salad

Recipe by Kiyo

Servings

servings

Recipe adapted from Hetty McKinnon

Ingredients

Miso Dressing
2 1/2 tablespoons light miso paste
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (Kadoya recommended)
1 1/2 tablespoons mirin
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons roasted sesame seeds (white, black, or both)
Rice Salad
4 cups cooked short grain brown rice, room temperature (or substitute with short or medium grain white rice)
1 cup boiled edamame beans, cooled
2 small Japanese cucumbers sliced into thin half moons
2 small avocados, diced into large pieces
2 handfuls baby spinach leaves
Kizami (shredded) nori for topping (or a toasted nori sheet cut into thin strips)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 soy sauce eggs for serving (optional but recommended)

Directions

Whisk together the miso paste, sesame oil, mirin, sugar, and 2-3 tablespoons of water until well combined. Stir in sesame seeds. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to serve if making in advance.
In a large bowl, combine the cooled rice, edamame, cucumber, avocado, and baby spinach and toss together gently. Transfer salad to 4 bowls, drizzle over some of the miso dressing. Place halved soy sauce eggs in each bowl and season eggs with salt and black pepper. Sprinkle nori strips over the top just before serving. Serve with extra dressing on the side.

Notes

Miso dressing can be made up to 5 days in advance of serving

Beef, Dinner, Grill, Korean, Lactose Free, Recipes

Kalbi Ribeye

December 23, 2021

Korean kalbi ribs are a local island favorite in Hawaii. It is most common to use flanken-style short ribs for this recipe. It is sometimes difficult to find this cut of meat, however, your butcher should be able to accommodate your request. Though this is the most common cut of meat used for kalbi, I found that using a boneless ribeye is superb. The ribeye is tender and so flavorful.

I bought a thick cut ribeye from Whole Foods and asked the butcher to slice it into two thinner pieces. It worked out perfectly for kalbi.

The marinade is easy to prepare with ingredients you most likely have on hand.

The main ingredients for the marinade are garlic, ginger, green onion, sesame seeds and onion. Though it may seem very ordinary, these common ingredients come together to make the best marinade.

I mix up the marinade early in the morning and let the steaks soak up the tasty sauce for about 10 hours.

The end result is a delicious kalbi-style ribeye steak that is perfectly seasoned and grilled to perfection. Sometimes we serve the kalbi with mac salad and homemade kimchi, other times with charred green beans. Rice is always a part of the meal.

Kalbi Ribeye

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Author: Kiyo Miller

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 thick cut ribeye steak (about 1 pound, cut into two ¾-inch thick each pieces)
Marinade:
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup mirin
¼ cup sesame oil
¼ cup packed dark or light brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon finely grated onion
1 tablespoon finely grated garlic (A Microplane works great for the garlic and ginger)
2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
5 green onions finely sliced
¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons roasted sesame seeds
freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Whisk together the marinade ingredients in 2-cup glass measuring cup or medium sized bowl. Reserve ¼ cup of marinade.
Place the steaks in a single layer in a ziplock bag. Pour marinade over top and bottom of steaks making sure each steak is coated well. Place bag in the refrigerator for 8 - 10 hours, turning the bag occasionally.
For gas grill: Turn all burners to high, cover and heat grill until very hot, about 15 minutes. Clean and oil grates liberally once grill is hot. Grill steaks for about 5 minutes total, brushing reserved marinade over the steaks and turning several times for an even char. Check temperature with Thermapen or other digital thermometer. Remove when internal temperature reaches 140 degrees.
***The steaks can also be cooked over a hot charcoal grill.

Appetizers, Dinner, Japanese, Lactose Free, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Spinach Ohitashi

February 22, 2021

This is one of my favorite Japanese side dishes served with rice and cold tofu. It makes for a very quick and delicious lunch. It can be prepared well in advance and doesn’t need any attention until you drizzle the sauce over it. It is so refreshing and healthy.

Spinach shrinks drastically when blanched so you’ll need a pound of fresh spinach for two servings. Once blanched, the spinach goes into an ice bath to stop the cooking quickly.

Blanched spinach has a gorgeous bright green color to it. And with the sauce drizzled over and around the spinach it makes for a beautiful presentation.

I divided the spinach (squeezed dry) into four equal pieces and shaped them into short rolls, then sliced them into rounds before adding the sauce.

Ground roasted sesame seeds are one of my favorite additions to this dish. Not only does it give the spinach a delicious nutty flavor, it also adds contrast to the bright green rounds and golden sauce.

I opted to use instant dashi because of the small amount needed for the recipe. It is convenient and tastes great in this sauce.

A side of tofu with green onions, ginger and soy sauce (and rice) complete a healthy meal for any day of the year.

Spinach Ohitashi

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Author: Kiyo Miller

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 pound fresh baby spinach leaves
½ cup dashi (I used instant dashi picture above. ½ cup warm water mixed with 1½ teaspoons dashi powder)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
roasted ground sesame seeds

Preparation

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Blanch the spinach just until wilted, about 30-40 seconds. Immediately drain and transfer spinach to an ice bath. Once thoroughly chilled, remove spinach to a colander to drain.
Meanwhile, combine dashi with soy sauce and mirin in a glass measuring cup (can be made in advance and kept refrigerated until ready to use). Set aside.
Divide spinach into four equal portions. Squeeze out as much water as possible from each portion and form into short rolls. Slice each roll into equal sized rounds (serrated knife works best). Place rounds of spinach on serving plate. Drizzle sauce over and around the spinach. Sprinkle tops with ground sesame seeds. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

Japanese, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian, Veggies

Kobocha No Toroni

October 7, 2012

Kabocha No Toroni (Japanese squash simmered in rice wine and soy sauce) is a simple side dish that is healthy and delicious. Some cooks prefer to create a marbled effect (above) by paring off patches of the skin. Although this is not necessary, it makes for a beautiful design. This is easily done with a vegetable peeler. The skin of the squash seems very hard, however, as the squash simmers the skin softens and becomes tender and edible.

Kabocha No Toroni

Serves four as a side dish

Adapted from Japanese Vegetarian Cooking by Patricia Richfield

Ingredients

About 1 pound Kabocha (Japanese squash)

2 cups water

1 tablespoon super fine sugar

1/4 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)

1/4 cup soy sauce

Cut the squash in half and remove seeds. You can double the recipe if you want to use the entire squash. The squash I purchased weighed about 2 1/2 pounds so I saved the other half for later use. Peel off patches of skin to create a marbled effect if desired. Cut into 2 inch cubes.

In a 3 – 4 quart sauce pan add water, sugar, mirin and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Add squash and return to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer until just tender (al dente) for approximately 10 minutes (cooking time depends upon the size of the cubed squash). Check doneness with a thin knife, don’t over cook!

Remove the squash to a serving bowl, reduce the sauce a bit then drizzle it on the kabocha just before serving and sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds.

Mirin

Sushi Salad