HaHa. Yer so funny.
Sushi rice (I just make short grain rice with some salt) cooled
Carrot and cucumber strips marinated in seasoned rice vinegar
Avocado slices
Tuna in mayo (could use Kewpie mayo)
Toasted Nori sheets cut in half
Water to seal
Layer ingredients in a pile on a diagonal and roll, seal with water
Serve with wasabi, soy sauce, pickled ginger, rice, yuzu drink
I make 3 per person. Here I’m making 12. Sometimes the ingredients get a little tilted by the end. I usually run out of avocado first.
For this three person version, you’ll need:
1/4 of a 14oz package of rice stick noodles
36 shrimp peeled and deveined or frozen
1 carrot julienned
1 cucumber julienned
Rice vinegar
2 cups cabbage (Napa, Savoy, Green…) sliced thin
1 Avocado halved and finely sliced
24 sprigs of cilantro
24 basil leaves
12 25cm extra-thin spring roll wrappers (or 22cm look for Dynasty brand)
Sweet chili sauce for dipping
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Cooking equipment I used:
9×9 Pyrex baking dish
4 quart saucepan
2 cups boiling water in a 9×9 casserole dish or something close to that. Break up a quarter of a 14oz package of rice stick noodles and soak for about ten minutes then drain in colander. Cut up a bit with scissors.
36 shrimp. 3 for each roll. I buy frozen medium size wild-caught white shrimp and flash them in lightly salted boiled water for 3 minutes (turn burner off as soon as shrimp are in. Then drain in colander and remove tails).
On a big cutting board with prep bowls if needed:
1 carrot julienned (I have a hand-held Japanese Kinpira julienne tool thing)
1 cucumber cut lengthwise and seeded. Julienne half. Thinly slice other half and put in bowl with some rice vinegar.
About 2 cups of cabbage finely sliced (Napa, Savoy, green, or whatever)
1 avocado cut in halves and sliced thin
Cilantro leaves and tender stalk
24 or so basil leaves
12 25cm extra-thin spring roll wrappers.
With enough space on cutting board to roll and a 9×9 casserole dish with hot water next to it, rotate wrapper through hot water, place on cutting board and begin to load about a third of the way down the wrapper: basil leaves and shrimp next to each other and then everything else on top. Tuck in sides and roll.
Serve cucumber slices in small dishes topped with toasted sesame seeds and sweet chili sauce for dipping. I usually make sushi rice as a side.
Copyright © 2018 MRuesen • All rights reserved
The same dish they have for takeaway at Whole Foods with better salmon and a less sweet teriyaki and also you can control the teriyaki here. Plus it hasn’t been sitting there all day.
For this four person version, you’ll need:
2 cups short grain sushi rice
3 cups water
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 carrots
1 large red pepper or 2 small
4 cups broccoli florets
1 pound salmon
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 rice wine or sake
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon grated ginger
Toasted sesame seeds
Rinse rice. Sushi rice in the rice cooker or heat 2 cups rice with 1 tablespoon of canola oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. To make more or less rice: 1 teaspoon canola oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt for every 1 cup of rice add 1 1/2 cup water. About 17 minutes. Or use rice cooker.
Mix teriyaki sauce: in a measuring cup add a heaping spoon of cornstarch, then stir in 1/2 cup soy sauce until you have a smooth slurry. Then 1/4 cup each mirin rice wine or sake, brown sugar. Add a teaspoon of grated ginger and fresh ground pepper to taste. Microwave a minute at a time until thickened or bring to a boil on stove.
Bake salmon however done you like (remove pin bones if needed). I use around a pound for four people. 350º for around 25 minutes usually works.
Steam Carrots, red pepper, and broccoli: start carrots first for a few minutes, then red pepper, then broccoli.
Garnish with teriyaki sauce and toasted sesame seeds. Maybe some thinly sliced scallions too.
Done.
Would work for chicken. Short ribs? All vegetables?
Copyright © 2017 MRuesen • All rights reserved
Broccolini options: You could use any greens here. I have made this with something called ‘Chinese broccoli’ and also with baby bok choy. All steamed. But stir frying the vegetables would work too.
Salmon options: I have been seeking out wild Sockeye, King, or Coho salmon because they have the deepest color. I’m not sure what goes on with farmed salmon, but they look like I do after a long winter—pale. I might try arctic char the next time. Also you can either pan fry the salmon or bake it at 275ºF until it reaches 140º (about 30 minutes for a one pound piece.)
Rice options: Instead of brown rice, you could use white rice, quinoa, couscous…
Sauce options: I have been using bottled teriyake sauce. The Whole Foods brand has a pretty good one.
Time note: If you do the baked rice, it will take about 10 minutes to prep and boil the water and 50 minutes in the oven. Everything else will come together within that time. I usually manage to clean up the kitchen and check messages, email, etc. while things are cooking.
For this four person version, you’ll need:
Around a 1/4 to a 1/3 of a pound per person for the salmon
3 cups of medium grain brown rice
2 bunches of broccolini
Around a 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
Around 4 or 5 spring onions finely sliced to garnish
Salt, ground pepper, olive or canola oil
Optional: sea salt flakes, fresh cracked pepper
Cooking Equipment I used:
Frying pan for salmon (I used a 12″ pan for four pieces of salmon)
4 quart pot with steamer insert
Anchor Hocking 11 cup covered baking dish or 9×13 baking dish with foil to cover for the rice
Four cup Pyrex measuring cup for boiling water
Get the oven going at 375º.
Next, get the rice going. This is my big, hoping for leftovers portion, but you can cut it in half or thirds:
• Mix 2 cups medium grain brown rice and 3/4 tsp table salt in the baking dish
• Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a pot or microwave in a four cup Pyrex measuring cup or other microwave safe bowl.
• Add the boiling water to the rice
• Stir in 1 tablespoon of canola olive oil
• Cover and bake for about 50 minutes.
Once the rice is in, put the bowls on the stove to warm up and cut up the broccolini in roughly 3 inch pieces. Discard (or compost) any really woody ends. Set aside until you get the salmon in the pan. Prepare the pot and steamer. Add about 1 cup of water and set on low.
When the rice has about fifteen minutes left, set a pan or a griddle on the stove and let it get good and hot. Prepare your salmon: rinse, dry, remove any bones, season with a little table salt and ground or fresh cracked pepper. You can cut into serving sizes or leave whole.
Turn the steamer up to high. Put the broccolini when the salmon has about four minutes to go.
Sear the salmon flesh side down, turning after it releases from the pan and has a little crust to it; I don’t find that I need any oil here, I just have to wait for the pan to let it go after a few minutes. Sear the other side a few minutes and let the skin crisp up, someone at the table will probably love a side dish of crispy salmon skins. Turn the heat down and let it finish cooking, anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes depending on how thick it is and how done you want it to be. Sneak a peek with a sharp knife at the thickest part if you’re not sure. I always do this because I’m never sure. When the salmon is almost done, take out the rice and uncover the broccolini
It’s ready. Remove the skins from the salmon if you want. Or leave them on. Coat the salmon with the teriyaki. Assemble your little bowl with as much or as little as you want. Top with spring onions.
Notes: For olive oil, I use Columela, for sea salt flakes, I use Maldon, and for pepper, I use the Tellicherry variety. I use table salt for anything mixed in or cooked and save the sea salt flakes for finishing or roasting. Using these ingredients adds a little extra flavor to the dish and they’re getting much easier to find now.
Copyright © 2016 MRuesen • All rights reserved
For this four person version, you’ll need:
2 medium or 1 large filet of sole for each person (cut large ones in half lengthwise)
2 cups of orzo
2 crowns of broccoli
3 carrots
1 or 2 yellow squash (depending on size)
Garlic cloves (I used 4 cloves vegetables and 4 in the sauce)
1 lemon
2 cups of parsley leaves (I don’t like the stems, so I pluck the leaves)
Salt, ground pepper, olive oil (or other mild oil)
Optional: sea salt flakes, lemon wedges, fresh cracked pepper
Cooking equipment I used:
Saute or frying pan for the vegetables (I used a 12″ frying pan)
Sheet pan lined with parchment if needed for the fish (I used a 13×18 because that’s what I have, but it could be smaller, even a toaster oven pan)
3 qt saucepan for the orzo
Get the oven going at 400°F.
Start with the the sauce so it can have a little time for the flavors to come together. Combine about two cups of finely chopped parsley with the zest and juice of one lemon, around a third of a cup of olive oil, a teaspoon of salt, and one to four or more garlic cloves —finely chopped or run through a garlic press. I use the zest and juice of one lemon to be economical and as many a four cloves of garlic and enough olive oil to give it the consistency of a sauce. You could also blitz it in a small food processor or one of those bullet things.
Next, get a pot of water going on high for the orzo and set your bowls on the stove to warm.
While the water’s heating up, rinse and dry the sole. On a baking sheet, with parchment paper if needed, brush the fish with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper and sea salt flakes; then roll the fish up bow to stern and repeat with olive oil, salt, and pepper on the outside. Put fish on baking pan.
Then set to work on your vegetables. Get the pan warming up on medium with a teaspoon or so of olive oil and a little salt. I cut the carrots and squash into thin half-moons and the broccoli into small half-florets (you can save the stems for slaw).
The water for the orzo should be ready now, so that can go in. It usually takes around nine minutes, but go with whatever the box says.
Then saute the vegetables. I turn the pan up to medium-high and put the carrots in first for a minute or so, then the broccoli, and then the squash. If you want to avoid using a pan, you could also boil the vegetables in with the orzo by adding the carrots the last four minutes and the broccoli and squash for the last three to two depending on the thickness. When the vegetables are almost ready, add one to four of more garlic cloves—finely chopped or run through a garlic press.
Once the orzo is in and the vegetables are sauteing, the fish can have its turn in the oven. The fish is ready when an instant read thermometer says 145ºF or when a fork or knife can easily go through the thickest part. This is somewhere around seven minutes.
Finish with lemon and sea salt.
Copyright © 2014 MRuesen • All rights reserved
The only part of this recipe where measure matters is for the rice and even there I haven’t found the need to be too precise.
Asparagus options: If I am using medium to thick asparagus, I roast them. If I have the thin asparagus, I trim their woody ends, leave them whole and drop them into boiling, salted water for two minutes at most and then run them under a bit of cold water and onto a kitchen towel. If you can’t find asparagus, you could try broccoli or broccolini or any other greens.
Salmon options: I have been seeking out wild Sockeye, King, or Coho salmon because they have the deepest color.
Rice options: Instead of brown rice, you could use white rice, quinoa, couscous, or some sort of small pasta.
Sauce options: Greek yogurt or plain yogurt. Could use mayonnaise.The herbs could be anything: dill, tarragon, basil….
Time note: If you do the baked rice, it will take about 10 minutes to prep and boil the water and 50 minutes in the oven. Everything else will come together within that time. I usually manage to clean up the kitchen and check messages, email, etc. while things are cooking.
For this four person version, you’ll need:
1/4 to 1/3 of a pound per person for the salmon
3 cups of medium grain brown rice
2 bunches of asparagus (should be around a pound)
1 plain Greek yogurt (small 5.3 oz.)
1/4 to a 1/3 cup each of finely chopped chives and parsley— save some chives or parsley to garnish.
2 tablespoons or so of lemon juice
Salt, ground pepper, olive or canola oil
Optional: sea salt flakes, fresh cracked pepper
Cooking Equipment I used:
Frying pan for salmon (I used a 12″ pan for four pieces of salmon)
13×18 sheet pan for the asparagus
Anchor Hocking 11 cup covered baking dish or 9×13 baking dish with foil to cover for the rice
4 cup Pyrex measuring cup for boiling water
Make sure there is room in the oven for the baking dish with the rice on the middle shelf and the baking sheet with the asparagus on the top rack and get the oven going at 375º.
Next, get the rice going.
• Mix 2 cups medium grain brown rice and 3/4 tsp table salt in the baking dish
• Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a pot or microwave in a four cup Pyrex measuring cup or other microwave safe bowl.
• Add the boiling water to the rice
• Stir in 1 tablespoon of canola olive oil
• Cover and bake for about 50 minutes.
Once the rice is in, put the bowls on the stove to warm up and cut up the asparagus. I usually cut them on the bias (just because I like the way they look and it doesn’t take any more time here) in roughly 3 inch pieces. Discard (or compost) any really woody ends. Toss with a little olive oil. Spread on a baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt flakes, and put them in the oven with the rice for the last half hour. When you take the rice out, you can broil them for a few minutes to get some nice brown spots.
Mix the Greek yogurt, or any plain yogurt or mayonnaise, with a handful of fresh minced chives and parsley. You can also try adding mint. Or maybe some tarragon could work. Squeeze in enough lemon juice to get the taste and consistency you like (I’ve been using around two tablespoons) and add a dash of salt and a little fresh ground pepper. Set it aside to let the flavor come together.
When the rice has about fifteen minutes left, set a pan or a griddle on the stove and let it get good and hot. Prepare your salmon: rinse, dry, remove any bones, season with a little table salt and ground or fresh cracked pepper. Sear the flesh side, turning after it releases from the pan and has a little crust to it; I don’t find that I need any oil here, I just have to wait for the pan to let it go after a few minutes. Sear the other side a few minutes and let the skin crisp up, someone at the table will probably love a side dish of crispy salmon skins. Turn the heat down and let it finish cooking, anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes depending on how thick it is and how done you want it to be. Sneak a peek with a sharp knife if you’re not sure. I always do this because I’m never sure. When the salmon is almost done, take out the rice and move the asparagus to the top rack and broil for a few minutes.
It’s ready. Remove the skins from the salmon if you want. Or leave them on. Assemble your little bowl with as much or as little as you want. Top with a few chive batons if you’re in the mood.
Copyright © 2014 MRuesen • All rights reserved
