Speaking of Umami

[mvscal]

Here is a classic Jap meal with the featured kitchen gadget of the week:

The Mandolin



IMO, dicing onions is one of the most tedious cooking chores. This makes short work of that. It has an adjustable blade so you can slice the onion to the desired thickness in less than 30 seconds, then it's just a matter of using your chef knife to complete the dice. Very easy great for scalloped potatoes etc. It also has attachments for making julienne cuts and is perfect for making uniform slices very quickly. For this recipe I use it to make paper thin slices that are otherwise nearly impossible with a knife. It's a must especially if you do a lot of Asian cooking.

Fish Teriyaki with Sweet and Sour Cucumbers

1 1/2 pounds fish filets. I used Mahi. I'm sure it would work with many others.
4 oz. Daikon radish sliced paper thin
1/2 seedless cucumber sliced paper thin.
1/2 cup plus 1 tbs Rice vinegar
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs low sodium soy suace
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbs white sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 clove garlic, crushed

Preheat broiler

For the Cucumber salad:

Put sliced cucs, crushed garlic and sliced daikon in a bowl. In a small sauce pan, combine 1/4 cup + 2 tbs rice vinegar with white sugar and 1 tsp salt. Heat gently till the sugar and salt are dissolved and pour over veggies. Add a little white pepper if you like. Toss well and refrigerate.

Teriyaki glaze:

In the same saucepan you made the cucumber brine, add brown sugar, soy sauce and 3 tbs rice vinegar. Dissolve cornstarch in 1 tbs cold water and add to pan. Bring to a boil and whisk constantly until thickened (about 2 minutes). Optional white pepper again.

Brush both sides of the fish generously and broil on foil lined baking sheet for ~10-11 minutes without turning. Baste once or twice during that time to get a good glaze on the fish.

Serve with the cucumbers and white rice. I washed it down with a peach lambic.

[Arch Angel]

Sounds good, but why white rice? Isn't brown healthier for you?

[Mikey]

IMO, dicing onions is one of the most tedious cooking chores. This makes short work of that. It has an adjustable blade so you can slice the onion to the desired thickness in less than 30 seconds, then it's just a matter of using your chef knife to complete the dice.

30 seconds? I laughed.

sin,

[Mikey]

BTW, for dicing onions I do this:

Peel.
Cut off the top 1/2" or so, but leave the stem end intact.
With the stem end down make a parallel series of downward slices, 1/4" or so apart as close as possible to going all the way through without actually slicing completely through.
Turn the onion 90 degrees and repeat, making a similar series of sliced perpendicular to the first slices.
Put the onion on its side and slice as if you were going to make rings.

The result is a perfectly diced onion in probably less than a minute. The part that's left with the stem still attached can be quicely cut up into diced pieces in a few seconds.

Some people cut the onion in half so they can lay the flat side down, and just make one series of vertical slices. This is probably faster.

[mvscal]

BTW, for dicing onions I do this:

Peel.
Cut off the top 1/2" or so, but leave the stem end intact.
With the stem end down make a parallel series of downward slices, 1/4" or so apart as close as possible to going all the way through without actually slicing completely through.
Turn the onion 90 degrees and repeat, making a similar series of sliced perpendicular to the first slices.
Put the onion on its side and slice as if you were going to make rings.

Yeah, that's what I used to do. You get a much finer dice more quickly with a mandolin.

[mvscal]

Sounds good, but why white rice? Isn't brown healthier for you?

I don't think you could describe plain white rice as "unhealthy", but I really could give a fuck about that. Sticky white rice is traditional in Japanese cooking, so that's what I use. "My hobby is cooking and eating various classic ethnic cuisines. If it just so happens to be "healthy", so be it.

If you want to use brown rice, go ahead.

[Arch Angel]

I understand and agree with you on healthy or unhealthy. I love trying any culture's cuisine, no matter what part of the Earth it is from.

The reason why I brought it up is that the wife would scold me if ate white rice in the house. It is okay at restaurants. She is the health buff and tells me she wants me to stick around until I am 80 not croaking in my 40's.

I am 42 and at 6'1 and 248 pounds the doc said I need to lose 25 more pounds or I will develop heart disease or diabetes. Thankfully, my blood pressure is borderline and cholesterol is low so I have to maintain that.

That famous pic with Vic at the troll stop, I was like 215 lbs then.

[Goober McTuber]

I don’t have any experience with brown rice, Arch, but I think I see you working.

Brown > white

Racist.

I’ll use wild rice, but generally not with Asian dishes as white rice has a much more neutral flavor. I’ll use wild rice with pheasant and other wild game.

[Arch Angel]

I don’t have any experience with brown rice, Arch, but I think I see you working.

Brown > white

Racist.

I’ll use wild rice, but generally not with Asian dishes as white rice has a much more neutral flavor. I’ll use wild rice with pheasant and other wild game.

LOL

Ask the wife about that, she is white as white can be. A Sheboygan born Wisconsinite to boot.

[Mikey]

Brown rice takes a lot longer to cook.

Sin
Marcus Mikey

[Mikey]

Bought some of this stuff at the farmers market last year.

Pretty good stuff.



Black Rice

[Screw_Michigan]

^^^ Probably doesn't work.

[indyfrisco]

^^^ Probably doesn't work.

Mix in some chicken and you can get something out of it I'm sure.

[Screw_Michigan]

Nah, IF. Just a lame attempt by me at playing a black joke in the cooking forum.

[indyfrisco]

And mine wasn't?

[Screw_Michigan]

Never mind. I get it now.

Shitty day at the XXX Shack, I guess.