Buri Daikon (Japanese amberjack or yellowtail simmered with daikon)

Hello!
It is raining and cold today.
The weather forecast says temperatures dropped :(

Crazy!

... is my supervisor, as well.
I think I shouldn't be positive about him.


Last night, I couldn't beat the sleepiness again, so I will translate a recipe today :)
Buri Daikon is typical Japanese home-cooked meal!
The recipe vary from home to home, so here I will write mine.
I once introduced it here.
It is one of my popular recipes.



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Buri Daikon (Japanese amberjack or yellowtail simmered with daikon)

Difficulty: Medium
Time: 2hr
Number of servings: 2-3

Ingredients:
3 buri (Japanese yellowtail or amberjack) fillets
7 daikon radish cut into 2cm (0.7inch) thick round slices
1 small shoga (ginger root) sliced
salt
kome no togijiru (is a cloudy rice water that you get when you wash rice)
A
* 300cc dashi broth (using packaged dashi powder saves time)
* 100cc sake
* 50cc mirin (sweet sake)
* 50cc soy sauce
* 2 tbsp. sugar
B
* 100cc sake
* 2 tbsp. mirin (sweet sake)
* 2 tbsp. soy sauce
* 1 tbsp. sugar
C
* 1 tbsp. mirin (sweet sake)
thin strips of shoga (ginger root)
mitsuba (trefoil) leaves cut into 3-cm (1-inch-) -long pieces

Directions:
1. Cut buri into large bite-sized pieces, sprinkle salt on both sides and leave them for about 30 minutes.
2. Pour boiling water over the buri. Then wash off any remaining blood or dirt with running water. This process cleans away odors! When you use "buri no ara" (head and leftover pieces), I recommend you to wash them more neatly.
3. Use a peeler. Peel thick round slices of daikon radish and do mentori (plane off the corners) to prevent it from crumbling during long cooking.
4. Boil daikon radish with kome no togijiru (or water with a tablespoon of rice) for 15 minutes (it makes daikon clear colored and less bitter). Remove excess water with paper towel. This is called shitayude, to boil ingredients to certain firmness before cooking together with other ingredients.
5. Place A and slices of shoga (ginger root) in a pot. Bring to the boil, then add buri and cook for about 15 minutes. When you use "buri no ara", you cook 15 minutes before fillets, total of 30 minutes.
6. Add B and simmer for about 5 minutes until they blend.
7. Add daikon radish, cook on low heat for about 30 minutes till light brown.
8. Add C and boil over high heat for a few seconds to finish. Taste daikon radish and check if it's cooked all the way and absorbed the flavour of the buri and seasonings.
9. Serve with thin strips of shoga and mitsuba pieces on top.

My original recipe in Japanese is here.
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Enjoy :)
Have a good weekend!

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Vinegar for Salad

Hello! Nice weather here today :)
Yesterday, I went to see the dentist.
Last Friday, I found a cavity by myself!
I regularly visit the dentist but it was not found because it was hidden in between teeth :(
Strangely, I had no pain in that tooth, but it was too late and the dentist had to kill the nerve.
I do brush and floss my teeth after every meal but the dentist says I am prone to tooth decay.
I guess I'm totally out of luck these days.

Anyway!

One of my vinegar recipes is now introduced at Mizkan's website!
As I wrote many times, Mizkan is famous for it's vinegar products.
In January, I won their new product sample, "refreshing apple vinegar for salad".
It has a spicy flavor of clove and cardamom, and a rich flavor of chicken and scallop.



I made Garlic Chicken Saute Salad using this product.

They also have "mild tomato vinegar for salad".
I didn't win this.
It has a spicy flavor of thyme and oregano, and a rich flavor of chicken.

They launched those vinegar products for people who want to cut calories and salt content.

This year, I see a lot of healthy food products on the market in Japan.
For example, many beer companies have started to release sugar-free beer!
I believe this is because, this year, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare proposed measures for addressing metabolic syndrome in its efforts to prevent lifestyle-related diseases. People aged 40 to 74 are required to take medical examinations to check for signs of excessive internal fat, high blood pressure and a high blood-sugar level, and to receive health guidance if necessary.
From here on, people will make healthy choices about the foods they eat, so the demand for healthy food products will increase!

Okay, this is all for today.
See you again!
Hope I can translate a recipe tomorrow :)

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Vegete

Hi! It is very sunny today!
Hope spring has come.

Yesterday, my supervisor was again very annoying.
He always comes to work late.
Also, he goes to lunch after the lunch break.
I hate him do that because no one knows where he went suddenly...
He says we can assume, but I think that makes no sense!

Anyway!

Last week, I didn't have a chance to write about my prize-winning piece so I will write about it today.

In March, Asahi (the 2nd largest beer brewery & soft drink company in Japan) gave out free samples of alcoholic beverage called "Vegete" and asked for recipes that goes good with it.
Vegete is low alcoholic beverage that contains 20％ each of vegetable juice and fruit juice.
It uses 21 different sorts of vegetables (such as carrot, spinach, asparagus, red bell pepper...) and 4 different sorts of fruit (such as orange, lemon...).
Asahi jointly-developed this product with Kagome (manufacturer of food and beverage products based on tomatoes and other various vegetables) combining their strengths.
Last Year, in September, they first launched tomato based alcoholic beverage, "Tomate" and was relatively successful.
Judging from it's reaction, they say that the new product "Vegete" will definitely appeal to and be a hit with health-conscious consumers!

I tried "Vegete" and was great!
It is uncarbonated and easy to drink :)
I think it will be hit with people of all ages!

So, my prize-winning recipe is "Ginger Marinated Bacon and Vegetables"!
Can you find mine at the linked page? :)
I used soy sauce and maple syrup to give a salty-sweet taste.
Also, I used a lot of grated fresh ginger to make it refreshing!
The recipe is here.
I will translate it in English if anyone wants :)

By the way, this week, I'm doing bad. Losing prizes...
I don't have time to bum out, so I'm gonna do my best!

Please click below and vote for me.