Easy Salmon Tofu Salad

I have been trying to keep busy this summer but not with work.  Actually, I haven't gotten called much for work.  I will probably regret not taking a multi-day job at a certain elementary school, but really, I won't.  It wasn't worth the $ I would have earned.

My time has been spent walking and doing research to expand my fiber arts equipment arsenal.  I could not pass up a deal I came across for a Schacht swift, and one thing led to another, and I ended up with a set of Signature needles (belated Mother's Day gift from the Ds, underwritten by The Help) and a Strauch ball winder.  I've also been working on some projects, as projects are the reason why I upgraded my equipment.  My cousin from Indiana was here last month, and I gave her some goodies for her and her daughter to use this fall/winter.  It was a good reminder that Christmas is 5 1/2 months away, and I will need to have a bunch of gifts ready by then.

It's been a little over a year since KikukatDad has been joining us for dinner several times a week.  When he started coming over, I would often try to think of things which I thought he'd like to eat.  Sometimes, though, I must admit with guilt, I just make what I want to eat.  That's what I did last week.  I made salmon tofu salad.  To my surprise, and his, KikukatDad liked it.  I can tell when he likes something because he will agree to take some home with him.  On the rare occasion when I make something outta-this-world good, he tells me he is going to share it with ABetty in Mt. View.  That hasn't happened too often this past year, but I vow to get better this year.

Happy early Independence Day!  I hope to test out a few more recipes and get farther on some crafting projects.  The Aquifer scarf is slow going, but I love seeing the color changes.  I'm not sure why I do this to myself, but whenever I get a project off my needles (booties for MamaKeeper), I start another.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Easy Salmon Tofu Salad

     1/8-1/4 lb watercress, optional

     10-16 oz bean sprouts (steam in microwave over water for 3 minutes, rinse and cool

     1 block regular tofu (about 16 oz), drained on paper towels, cubed

     1 tomato, dice

     1/4 onion, chopped

     1 can (7-8 oz) red salmon, drained and crumbled

     2 tbsp oil

     1 clove garlic, minced

     3 tbsp shoyu

     1 stalk green onion, chopped

Layer first 6 ingredients in order given.  Cover and chill until ready to serve.  In a small saucepan, heat oil and garlic until garlic begins to brown.  Remove from heat and carefully add shoyu and green onions.  Set aside to cool until serving time.  When ready to serve, pour dressing over salad.

And in case you are wondering, that little fleck on the tofu cube is NOT a tomato seed; it is a small flake of salmon.

Gravlax

I am glad today is a holiday.  I really hate Mondays this year.   My students (the ones I grade) are great, but there is another component to Mondays which just makes me want to gag.  Best I stop there.

Before I go on, I'd like to congratulate the Ohio State Buckeyes for winning the National Championship.  I was glued to the tube the entire game.  I waited all season long for that. . .or at least since October 2nd.  A big mahalo goes to The Help for cooking dinner so I could watch the game.

I was hoping to make it to Costco this weekend, but it just didn't happen.  I had too much to do.  I'm preparing for a presentation this week, and I didn't want to just "wing it".  These people deserve better.

I am also working on a post for blog reader BrendaC.  I should have a post for her real soon. 

This week, although a short work week, will be very busy.  In addition to the presentation I'm giving, Kikukat Dad is having a birthday later this week.  His "new" favorite restaurant is Sansei, although he keeps hinting about Ruth's Chris Steak House.  If his birthday fell on a weekend, I would take him to Waikoloa for dinner, but since it's falls on a weekday, I will just invite him over for dinner. 

Of course, the invitation begs the perennial question, "What to make?"  Given that it will be a workday (for me, not him), the menu needs to be uncomplicated.  I think I'll ask The Help to cook some rib eye steaks.  I can do a Caesar salad, and we can get him a birthday cake for dessert.  But every time I have Kikukat Dad over, he seems to enjoy having something to pick on while waiting for chow time.  I've had boiled peanuts, roasted almonds, and spicy edamame before.  I think I will make some gravlax for him to munch on this time.  Gravlax is fancy, and since dinner is so simple, I think the gravlax would be appreciated.

I love gravlax, and Kikukat Dad loves it too.  I made gravlax last year and shared some with him.  It isn't difficult, and it is much better than any lox sold at the market.

For clarification purposes, especially for the relatives who are reading this, gravlax is NOT the same as the smoked salmon in the box from UGeo.  Gravlax is cured, not smoked.  No heat is used to make gravlax.  Gravlax might be more familiar as "lox", as in "lox and bagels". 

My family enjoys lox.  One of my relatives even brought it to a family party, much too the dismay of my late  uncleR, who had given specific instructions as to what everyone was to bring.  Ignoring uncleR's request, HE brought a platter of lox, bagels and fixins to the party.  While delicious, the platter stuck out like a sore thumb.  Kikukat Mom likes to eat gravlax plain.  I like it atop a bagel slathered with cream cheese and a sprinkling of capers.  It's good in sushi too.  Sushi Bar Hime makes a roll with lox, cream cheese, and asparagus.  The Help suggests using a sharp knife to slice it thinly across the grain for picture-worthy pieces.  He prepped the gravlax for the pictures (a good thing since I'd butcher the delicate flesh with my beast Henckels knife).

If I begin the process tomorrow, the gravlax will be ready in time for the birthday dinner.  I guess The Help will need to pull up his big boy pants, pinch his nose, and go to Suisan for a slab of salmon tomorrow.  While The Help likes eating salmon, he finds the smell of Suisan utterly unappetizing.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Gravlax

     2 lb piece of salmon with skin

     1/4 c rock salt

     1/4 c sugar

     fresh dill, coarsely chopped

Wash and dry salmon.  Place skin-side down on a large piece of plastic wrap.  In a small bowl, combine rock salt and sugar.  Spread evenly over salmon flesh.  Top with dill.  Wrap tightly in plastic, place in a shallow pan, and refrigerate for 24-36 hours.  Slice thinly to serve.

Back in the Emerald City: Bones, Bones, Bones

Its been over 20 years.  My, how you've changed!



There were no college buddies on my long flight across the Pacific.



There was no UGeo to greet me at the airport, to help me with my baggage, to take me to get something to eat.






And yet, in many ways, you've stayed the same.



The autumn air is still cool and brisk.



The air still has that odd smell. . .somewhere between the smell of industry and paper pulp.  Its hard to describe, but anyone who has lived in the Pacific Northwest knows what I'm talking about.



Starbuck's Coffee still rules.



And Pike Place Market is still THE place for fresh seafood.




Going down to the market to watch the salmon being thrown to the back at Pike Place Fish was, and still is, a sight to see. Anytime someone visited me in Seattle, it was de rigueur to go down there and watch the salmon "fly". 

As I've spoken of previously, to me, Seattle IS salmon.  There are very few things more delicious than hot, fresh, alder-smoked salmon.  Whether its made by UGeo or Ivar's, the aroma itself will transport you to a different world.  I don't think I could even attempt to recreate it at home.

Ahhhh. . .home. . .Hilo.  We buy fresh salmon from the supermarket (or receive Alaskan salmon from Kento), and we buy it by the piece, never whole.  Living in Seattle, UGeo would often buy the whole salmon.  He would do the filleting himself.  If I knew then what I know now, I would've asked him to give me the center bone.

The center bone, after the salmon has been filleted, is one of my most favorite parts (after the collars/kama, of course).  Some people cook the center bone in a shoyu/sugar sauce, but I love it fried.  It goes great with a cold brewski. . .rice optional!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Fried Salmon Bones

     1 lb salmon bones
     3/4 c flour
     1 1/2 tsp salt
     1 1/2 tbsp garlic salt
     1 1/2 tbsp lemon pepper

In a small ziploc bag, combine all ingredients except bones.  Rinse bone pieces and pat dry.  Using a cleaver and kitchen shears, cut bone pieces apart into 1 1/2" segments.  Shake each piece in flour mixture and pan fry in shallow oil til crispy.

And while I miss UGeo and think about him everyday, not all Seattle change is bad. . Seattle now has superb outlet shopping! I'm sure UGeo is proud of that.

Tribute to Uncle George: Furikake Salmon

Today's post is dedicated to Uncle George, who passed away this past Friday after putting up a brave fight against that fucking demon, cancer.

UGeo and AChar, 1-1-13

Relationship-wise, Uncle George is the younger brother of Kikukat Mom.  He graduated from Hilo High School and, like many others in his time, did a stint in the military before enrolling in the University of Hawaii.  His former roommate told me UGeo walked the fine line between "being a genius and a total idiot".  Instead of studying for an exam, UGeo spent the night partying, not worrying, as he had written all the answers and notes on his arms.  When he took the test, he blanked out (forgot about his notes) and received 3 points for getting his name right.  He once caused traffic on University Avenue to come to a halt when he wandered into the street while in a refrigerator box (earlier, he had been scaring Varsity Theater go-ers by speaking to them from inside the box).  He emerged from the box when he heard cars around him honking.  Somehow, he managed to graduate with a degree in civil engineering and went on to work for the City and County of Los Angeles.  Upon the urging of a friend, who did not want to go to law school alone, UGeo quit his job in Los Angeles and moved to Spokane.  He earned a law degree from Gonzaga University, and worked as an attorney for the city.  At one point, he was the canine control officer, in spite of he himself having more than the allowable number of dogs!  Eventually, he moved to Seattle and worked as a litigator for the National Labor Relations Board.  Sometime between Los Angeles and Seattle, he got married to Aunty Char.

UGeo would make occasional trips back to Hawaii, and his first stop was always to a bakery to buy a box of long johns.  He would also make a stop to eat a plate lunch.  His trips were spent visiting friends and gathering local stuff to take back to Seattle.  On one of his trips, he paid a fortune for excess baggage. . .he had 10 pieces of baggage, each packed full with local food.  In typical UGeo fashion, he just shrugged it off and paid the ransom. . .there was no way he was going home without his goodies.

I got to know UGeo well when I attended UW.  He and AChar took good care of me for the 4 years I lived in Seattle.  It was nice to have someplace to escape to on the weekends.  My college friends expressed gratitude at being able to enjoy a home-cooked meal for our first Thanksgiving away from home.  When I began college, UGeo lived in a cute house on Garlough Avenue.  In my 3rd or 4th year at the U, he moved into a beautiful home on Marine View Drive (complete with a fruit-producing Rainier cherry tree).  I remember sitting in his living room and marveling at the panoramic views of the water towards Vashon Island. . .the Lincoln Park ferry terminal was on the way to his home.

UGeo was indeed as crazy as his former roommate had described.  He had a penchant for bargain shopping.  It was UGeo who introduced me to Costco, Nordstrom Rack, Ross, Marshalls, and the basement at either the Bon Marche or Frederick and Nelson (I cannot remember which one, as I always get these stores confused).  He could shop all day and didn't mind going from store to store.  He loved to take visitors to the OBerto factory to buy the flat ends of cocktail pep or smok-a-roni and the bits of beef jerky.  UGeo took me to Eddie Bauer to get my first Gore-Tex jacket, which, much to his dismay, was NOT on sale.

During my time in Seattle with UGeo, we enjoyed multiple visits by family from Hawaii.  Grampa Isaac, UJohn and Aunty Suki came for a visit, and along with UGeo and my friend LM, we piled in UGeo's stick shift Monte Carlo and made a run for the border (okay, okay, I just wanted to make it sound more exciting. . .we went to Vancouver for Expo 86).  We stayed at a bed & breakfast (my first time, thank you again, UGeo) and headed back to Seattle after a few days.  On the way home, we had some car trouble.  UGeo pulled off the I-5, and UJohn hopped out to take a look (UJohn can fix anything. . .UGeo. . .let's say he was a good attorney).  UJohn diagnosed the problem as a burnt out clutch, and UGeo said,"I didn't know a clutch could burn out."  UJohn told UGeo "if you had brains you'd be dangerous!".  UGeo made a face behind UJohn's back but said nothing.  Even with his job of taking on large corporations in court when labor violations occur, he was no match for his older brother and was smart enough to know better.  We managed to call a tow truck and had to be towed to the nearest gas station.  Luckily, we were back in the US when all that happened.

UGeo loved animals.  When UGeo moved to the Marine View Drive home, he set up a gigantic aquarium in the basement.  He had red-tailed sharks and some odd-looking bubble head fish.  When I went to visit him, I noticed one of the bubble head fish was gone.  UGeo told me the fish had a tumor so he attempted to surgically remove the tumor himself.  I'm sure you can figure out what happened next.  In addition to the residents of the large aquarium, UGeo had 2 Cairn terriers, Maggie and Charlie.  When Grampa Benny passed away, UGeo inherited Martino, his black cat.  I'm hanging my head in shame because thanks to me, UGeo also inherited my 2 teddy bear hamsters, Rum and, of course, Coke.  Coke was aggressive and chewed Rum's ears.  Eventually Coke escaped her Habitrail cage and came to her end in the sofa.  I won't go into further details about that.  Aaaahhhhh. . .those were good times (except for the bubble head fish and Coke).

Oddly enough, in spite of Seattle having a myriad of sports teams, I never heard UGeo talk much about the Seattle teams, but he did occasionally go to games.  I remember Otee saying UGeo took him to some game (Sonics?) and he was appalled by how rowdy UGeo and his friends were.  He shouldn't have been appalled, especially with UGeo's history.  This is the man who threw his TV out of his apartment window after being upset at the outcome of a game involving his favorite team. . .are you ready for this. . .the Cleveland Browns.  He loved the Cleveland Browns, and his favorite player (when I was in Seattle) was Eric Metcalf.  He would tell anyone who would listen that he went to a Seahawks game and sat in the Cleveland Browns section and cheered alongside Eric Metcalf's family.  He said the Metcalf family was thrilled that he was a huge fan of their boy.

UGeo also loved to eat.  It was in Seattle at the hands of UGeo and AChar that I got exposed to all kinds of food.  They were with me when I ate at a Thai restaurant for the first time.  They were frequent patrons of Red Robin, where I ate my first "hamburger for dinner".  They showed me REAL fish & chips and always took me out to dinner for my birthday.  UGeo introduced me to my most favorite pastry in the whole world, the Potato from Nielson's Pastries.  He would actually need to get it for me because at that time, Nielson's was located in a not-so-nice part of downtown, and being a wide-eyed kid from a small town, it freaked me out to see all the bums hanging out on the street.  Thanks to them (and Grampa Benny), I know what  REAL Italian food is (sorry, but its not Olive Garden. . .although I love Olive Garden) and where to find the best birthday cakes in Seattle.  Are you listening, Mr. Borracchini?

I also got invited to his barbecues, which always featured his specialty. . .grilled salmon.  He would buy a whole salmon, fillet it perfectly, then throw it on the grill, which was fueled with coals and alder pieces.  I swear if I close my eyes and breathe in, I can still smell it.

Salmon has got to be the official fish of Seattle.  When you are in Seattle, you cannot help but eat salmon.  Its everywhere.  Every restaurant (maybe with the exception of Spud) boasts some kind of salmon specialty.  Except for the 6-month period following the fisheries class, I took advantage of every opportunity to eat salmon so I feel I have the right to declare myself a salmon afficionado.  And after consuming all that salmon, I must say UGeo did it the best.

Its been over 2 decades since I ate UGeo's salmon, and with his passing, I will never have it again.  I will never be able to ask him to show me how to expertly fillet a whole salmon, how to prepare the fire, and how to cook it so fricking perfectly.  But, thanks to him, I know how to find the best deals on salmon (or anything else).  In memory of the great times I had with UGeo (and AChar) in Seattle, I'm posting my own salmon recipe this week.  I'm hoping UGeo is looking upon me and smiling with approval.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Baked Furikake Salmon

     salmon fillet
     mayonnaise
     furikake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line pan with foil.  Place salmon fillet on foil.  Generously spread a layer of mayonnaise over entire top surface of salmon.  Generously sprinkle furikake over mayonnaise.  Bake for 25 minutes (if salmon piece is over 2 lbs, bake 35 minutes).

Teriyaki Glaze

     1 tbsp sugar
     2 tbsp shoyu
     1/2 tbsp butter

Combine glaze ingredients in a heat-proof cup.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds.  Let cool 5 minutes.  Pour over cooked salmon.

I would like to thank my cousins LA, Dus, and Otee (along with their parents UMiles and AKathy) for being there for our family when it counted most.  If you hadn't taken the lead and gone to Seattle, UGeo would not have been surrounded by love when his time came.  Thanks to you, many of the family were able to make it there in time to bid farewell.  Hugs and kisses to all of you.  You guys rock!

Batayaki Fever

I'm finally back at work for a seemingly endless stretch of days.  Its gonna be a brutal stretch.  43 more days of work until the end of the school year, and the only holiday in sight is Memorial Day.  For you non-Zone people, its 40 days and no holiday. . .Memorial Day will be the day just before the official beginning of your summer (I'm so jealous).

I think it was overkill with the anticipation of Easter (to me, Easter=all kinds of candy & sweets), but I feel like the only stuff I've been making has been sweets.  Right now, we have Easter sugar cookies (bunnies, eggs, chicks), orange slice cookies, brownies, hopping bunny buns, and mandarin orange cake.  I HAD TO buy a few boxes of Cadbury creme eggs too.  I wonder how many bags of Brach's pastel malted milk eggs Brucie boy bought this year.  Neither of us have  blood sugar problems. . .yet.  There is also a big box of See's Easter candy and some jellies from Grandma Help. 

I was unable to get motivated to cook dinner on Easter.  My excuse is I had a Dorito Locos taco from Taco Bell in the mid-afternoon, and that put me under.  The Help shelled out big $s for a gorgeous rib eye roast, but I could not bring myself to cook it.  I need to stop tweaking sugar and snap out of this high!  I need to get inspired to cook regular food again. If a rib eye roast won't do it, then maybe batayaki will, after all, the best batayaki is made with thinly sliced rib eye.

The kikukat house loves batayaki nights because there is something for everyone.  Batayaki nights provide an opportunity to exercise will power. . .you need to pace yourself with the cooking-eating cycle.

For those of you not familiar with batayaki, please allow me to explain.  Batayaki goes by several other names:  teppanyaki, yakiniku.  Thinly sliced meats and vegetables are cooked on a griddle which has been primed with butter.  Once cooked, the meats and vegetables are dipped in a shoyu-based sauce and eaten with hot rice.  Batayaki is a cannibalized word:  bata meaning butter and yaki meaning to cook.  Now I'm wondering if batayaki is a Hawaii word.

In the 70s, 80s & 90s, Restaurant Fuji in the Hilo Hotel was THE place to go out and enjoy a teppanyaki dinner.  Yukata-clad servers would bring a giant plate of raw food and a small dish with a block of butter to the table.  There were two options for teppanyaki:  teppanyaki which had an assortment of meat and some seafood and umi-no-ko which had only seafood.  The servers  would fire up the propane and begin the cooking process.  This is not the same as what you get at Benihana.  There were no fire knife theatrics.

To be honest, I never enjoyed teppanyaki at Restaurant Fuji.  I would always be disappointed when we got seated at a teppanyaki table because that meant I wouldn't be able to order anything from the regular menu.  They had two items on their regular menu that were awesome:  shrimp tempura and grilled butterfish.  I would have much preferred those things instead of batayaki.

When I lived in Honolulu in the 90s, there were (and still are) tons of yakiniku places.  Many of my family members would rave about Edokko or Yakiniku Camellia.  I went to one of those places with some friends, and I was not impressed.  It was a little different from Restaurant Fuji in that you went to a long buffet to load up your plate with raw items and then return to your table (with grill) to cook what was on your plate.  Same thing...cook food, dip in sauce, eat with rice.  Boring.

It didn't occur to me until I was older (close to 30) why I didn't enjoy batayaki/teppanyaki/yakiniku.  I never liked the dipping sauce.  The sauces were either too sour or just blecchhh.  The turning point happened when Mr. Dependable's friends suggested a batayaki dinner (I wasn't enthusiastic about this) and they insisted on bringing the sauce.  The sauce they brought was almost perfect and changed my whole take on batayaki.  For the first time in over 2 decades, I realized batayaki was something I could like. 

If you were lucky enough to have disposable income when Restaurant Fuji went out of business (mid/late 90s), you might have been able to score a table with a built-in propane griddle.  I don't think most people were so lucky (there were less than a dozen).  For most people, the most popular way to have batayaki at home is to use a table top griddle (I think mine is made by Presto) upon which a generous pat of butter is placed.  Some people use a frying pan on a butane burner for table top cooking.  If the cooking part isn't so important, everything can also be cooked in a skillet on a range and brought to the table already cooked.  I do the latter when I'm trying to finish the leftovers on the 2nd night. . .after the cooking drama from the 1st night is over.

What gets cooked varies from family to family.  We normally have  beef and pork (batayaki meat is sliced paper-thin).  Sometimes we have chicken.  Salmon is a non-negotiable.  Scallops and shrimp are good too.  I like eggplant (takes long to cook), won bok (napa cabbage), bean sprouts (mung), and mushrooms.  The best mushrooms are alii oyster (eryngii) mushrooms.  I've been told that some families will even cook sliced hot dogs and kamaboko (pink & white fishcake).  Mr. Dependable liked to have zucchini (yuck).  D1 will eat anything except mushrooms and eggplant.  D2 will eat only the leafy part of the won bok.

There is also great variation with the dipping sauce (each diner gets their own bowl. . .a community bowl would be disgusting).  Most sauces have some element of pucker, and in many cases, its too sour for my taste.  Ironically, pucker was the missing factor when Mr. Dependable's friends came over.  The sauce they brought was tasty but lacked any hint of tartness.  I fixed it with some minor adjustment of the ingredient amounts and the addition of lemon juice.  The grated daikon gives the sauce a slight heat, which is also important.

Speaking of heat. . .everytime I think we are going to start seeing warmer weather, a new storm system comes around and gives us days of rain.  I'm still having to turn on the electric blanket every night.  It doesn't matter what the weather is like because batayaki is something that can be enjoyed year-round. 

click on recipe title for printable recipe

KCs Batayaki Sauce

     1 c shoyu
     1/4 c sugar
     1/4 c mirin
     1 c chicken broth
     juice of 1/4 lemon

     5" piece of daikon, peeled & grated

Combine all ingredients, except grated daikon, in a medium saucepan.  Heat gently, stirring until sugar is dissolved.  To serve, place desired amount of grated daikon in a bowl.  Ladle sauce over.  Replenish sauce and daikon as needed.

Regarding the food in the pics:  Costco sells thinly sliced rib eye (yes, they have prime beef).  KTA and Marukai sell thinly sliced beef and pork.  Doesn't the salmon look gorgeous?  Its wild Alaskan king salmon courtesy of cousin Kento and his fabulous, non-fish-eater wife Julie.  They go on a yearly fishing expedition to the Waterfall Resort in Alaska and are generous in sharing their spoils.  Thank you!

Birthday Confetti on Salmon

In honor of someone's birthday, why not honor them with confetti . . . confetti on salmon! 

In the 90's, while I was living in Honolulu, the Honolulu Advertiser, sponsored a recipe contest.  Winning recipes were featured in the food section of the newspaper with a story about the person who submitted the entry.  Unlike other recipes which appear in newspapers, these recipes were submitted by "regular people" who were not employed in the food service industry.  In other words, "regular people" were capable of recreating these recipes.

Confetti Salmon/Salmon Confetti was one of those winning recipes.  It was around that same time that I remember Mom making an oven-baked salmon frosted with mayonnaise and onions.  Of course, Mom's version was the best, especially since I didn't eat tomatoes back then.  In a familiar vein, once I began eating tomatoes, gateways to many different dishes opened up for me.  This is what led me to give Confetti Salmon a try.

As its name implies, the topping is what gives this dish the appearance that multi-colored confetti was thrown over a slab of salmon.  Credit for this recipe goes to Steven Tsai, who was a writer (not food) with the paper.  Like me, he had also spent some time in the Pacific Northwest, making him an amateur salmon expert!  Thank you, Steve, for sharing this recipe!

Happy Birthday!

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Birthday Confetti Salmon

     1 1/2 - 2 lbs salmon fillet, bones removed

     mayonnaise

     1/4 c onion, diced fine

     1 tomato, diced

     1/4 lb mushrooms, diced

     4 tbsp bacon bits or 4 slices bacon, cooked and cut fine

     2 tbsp capers

     juice of 1/4 lemon

     salt and pepper to taste

Place salmon, skin-side down, in a shallow pan.  Spread a layer of mayonnaise over entire salmon.  Sprinkle mayonnaise with onion, tomato, mushrooms, bacon and capers.  Squeeze lemon juice over.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cover with foil and bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes.

I sure could've used a Goma Tei restaurant in Hilo this past week.  I stayed home from work on Thursday and Friday, spending most of my time in bed.  I spent Saturday in bed.  I tried to join the living yesterday, but never ventured outside of my property. . .after the small chaffeuring mishap on Friday when I bravely (and stupidly) attempted to take D1 to the Mooheau Park Bandstand for Black & White Night. . .the episode left me a bit fearful about driving while on meds.  If only Goma Tei were here. . .I know the tan tan noodle broth would've cured my ills in no time.

Izakaya Food: Kama

When I go to Japanese restaurants, I make it a point to see if kama is on the menu.  Kama is the japanese word for "collar".  It is the part of the fish between the head and the body.  It is also home to very oily morsels of tender fish.  Normal kama choices are salmon and hamachi.  Either choice is a win-win situation.  Of course, kama is not for everyone.  You must at least like fish, and you must not be afraid of picking through bones.  Some people don't like doing this, so if you're one of them, best you stick to fillets, steaks, or sushi.
 
An almost-guarantee place to find kama is your local izakaya.  While izakaya is quickly becoming a commonly used word amongst the 20-something to 30-something drinking crowd, I learned that many of the older, local Japanese people don't know what an izakaya is.  I mentioned the word to Dad and he was clueless, although he mention that my cousin Lori Ann took him to Yama-Chan, a "bar that served really ono pupus".  I suggested that she took him to an izakaya, and he emphatically replied, "no, was one bar."  Duuuuuuuhhhhh.  I knew better than to ask Mom if Yama-Chan was an izakaya.  But she did say the chicken wings were the best thing she ate on her entire trip to Japan.  Really?  Chicken wings?  Really?

While Dad is just resigned to use the word "bar", I think most people would say Yama-Chan was likely an izakaya, a Japanese-style tavern which serves alcohol and a la carte pupus.  Unfortunately, there is no izakaya in Hilo.  I'm not sure if the Japanese restaurants here serve kama as a regular menu item.   Luckily, Ohana Seafoods (808-843-1844), a honolulu based business, makes two trips to Hilo during the year, one just before Mother's Day, and the other around Thanksgiving.  When they come, I pre-order and use the opportunity to stock up on kama (they have both salmon and hamachi).

Salmon kama is sold in 2 lb. bags.  While there are directions on the bag for preparation, my way is foolproof and works for both salmon and hamachi (you can get this through Ohana Seafoods or at Marukai).  You won't need to guess how much salt to use, and the dipping sauce is the perfect complement.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Grilled Kama

     2 lbs. salmon or hamachi kama

     4 tsp rock salt

     5 tbsp + 1 tsp lemon juice

     2 tbsp + 2 tsp sake

Sprinkle salt on both sides of kama.  Sprinkle lemon juice and sake.  Let sit 30 minutes.  Broil in oven or grill on hibachi.  Serve with Ponzu Sauce.

Ponzu Sauce

     1 1/2 c dashi

     3 oz. shoyu

     6 oz. rice vinegar

Heat all ingredients together in a small saucepan until reduced by half.  Chill.  Serve with salmon or hamachi kama.