Japanese Pickled Ginger and Sushi at Home. Sort of...

Like many, one of my favorite meals out is sushi.  I have made (vegetarian) sushi at home, too, which is a lot of fun, but also an event.

When I'm wanting the flavor of sushi without the cost of going out or all the work, I make "Sushi Salad."  It satisfies my craving and is fairly easy to make.  It does call for a few specialty ingredients, like the pickled ginger that is a standard at sushi bars, which I tried making at home recently with very good results.

If you have a mandoline (I'm absolutely loving my new one!), Japanese Pickled Ginger is quite simple. Slicing the ginger paper thin is definitely the most difficult and time-consuming part, but it's certainly worth the effort.

I bought about a pound of ginger a few weeks ago at the Asian market with the intention of making the condiment, and I was lucky enough to find very fresh, young ginger at a good price.  I made a double recipe, which is a couple pints, and the ginger will keep for months in the refrigerator.

So, basically, I have a lot of home sushi projects to complete in the coming year.  For now, I will settle for my simple sushi salad.  The flavor and texture of the pickled ginger is so nice, though, and I may dream up other ways to use it.  At the very least, it make for a great pick-me-up and cook's snack while other ingredients are being prepped.

JAPANESE PICKLED GINGER
(adapted from The Joy of Pickling, by Linda Zeidrich)

• 8 oz. fresh, peeled ginger, very thinly sliced
• 1 t. sea salt (or pickling salt), plus more for sprinkling
• 1 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned)
• 3 T. sugar
• 1 t. soy sauce

Bring a saucepan with about a quart of water to a boil.   Add ginger and return to boil.  Boil ginger for a few seconds and drain well in a colander.  Place ginger in a bowl and sprinkle very lightly with salt.  Toss to coat and pack into one pint or two half-pint jars.  These are quick fridge pickles and a loose pack will be fine.

In a medium saucepan, bring vinegar, one teaspoon salt, sugar, and soy sauce to a simmer.  Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar.  Pour hot mixture over ginger and cap the jars.  Store them in the refrigerator for at least two days before using. Ginger will keep for several months.

Of course, you can also find pickled ginger at an Asian grocery, but it will likely have MSG and pink food dye.  I won't judge you.

SUSHI SALAD

• 1 1/2 cup rice - I like brown rice in this application
• 1/4 cup plus 3 T. rice vinegar (again, unseasoned)
• 3 T. sugar
• 1 1/2 t. salt
• 2 T. sesame seeds (I like the black ones for this, but I'm out of them at the moment)
• 3 T. vegetable oil
• 2 T. Japanese Pickled Ginger, minced
• 1/2 cup carrots, julienned (or fine dice)
• 1 cucumber, seeded and julienned (or fine dice)
• 1 avocado, sliced thin
• 2 t. wasabi powder
• 3 T. water
• 2 T. soy sauce
• 1 T. ginger pickling brine
• 1-2 sheets nori

Cook rice according to type and transfer to a large bowl and set aside to cool.  Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and stir until sugar and salt is dissolved.  Stir into cooked rice along with sesame seeds.  Stir in three tablespoons vinegar, oil, ginger, carrots, and cucumber.  Set aside.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine wasabi powder, water, soy sauce, and pickling brine. Set aside.

In serving bowl, place rice mixture and top with avocado.  Drizzle with wasabi mixture and strips of nori.  With the nori, I like to cut a sheet in thirds with kitchen shears, roll lengthwise, and cut crosswise with the shears over the salad.  Enjoy!

Garden Series, Part VIII: Carrots and Cucumbers

Recently, I was in the middle of a baking project and realized I had missed lunch.  Also recently, I went on an excursion to H-Mart in the suburbs with a dear friend of mine and loaded up on ingredients not found in the local grocery.  Such a good match, these two occurrences.  Throw in some garden produce, and you've got a late lunch. Or dinner, I'm not picky.

But not to worry, I'm not giving you a recipe with a bunch of hard-to-find ingredients.  In fact, it relies on the American standard of the sweetest, most-hydrogenated peanut butter, which I love despite all its failures.  Of course, you are welcome to use the natural stuff, if you have that sort of thing lying around.

Besides the Jiffy, the most exotic ingredients are soba noodles, Sriracha, and shiitake mushrooms - all of which one can find in the regular grocery store, but probably for twice the cost.  I'm not sure about the Sriracha, though, since I bought a huge bottle of it the last time I went to H-Mart and have never looked back.  It's basically an essential pantry ingredient.

In the pictures, you'll see a pile of fried seaweed with sesame seeds.  This stuff is seriously delicious, but probably far less likely to be found anywhere but the giant Asian grocery in the suburbs.  It turns out that it's best eaten as a snack on the side anyway.  I have no idea what's in it it either, but I'm pretty sure that it's manufactured to have an addictive balance of salt, sugar, and fat that makes it so you can't stop eating it.  You'll never know whether I'm snacking on it right now while I'm writing this.

As for the carrots and cucumbers, I highly recommend getting your hands on homegrown.  I know this isn't necessarily that easy, but homegrown carrots are the best.  They taste really, really good and if you eat conventional baby carrots from the supermarket, you will be really surprised at the carrot-y taste of back yard carrots.  I grow a variety of them because I am still fascinated by purple (Cosmic) and red (Atomic) carrots after my fifth garden.  I grow a few different cucumbers, but my long-standing favorite is Suyo Long.  It's a strange-looking variety that stays crisp, has few seeds, and refreshing cucumber flavor.

SOBA NOODLES WITH VEGETABLES

• 1 bundle (serving) soba noodles
• 2-4 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cucumber, seeded and cut into matchsticks
• 1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
• large handful mung bean sprouts, picked over and rinsed
• radishes, or any other vegetable that sounds good (optional), cut into matchsticks/julienned
• 1/4 avocado, sliced
• olive oil
• pinch salt
• 2 t. peanut butter
• 2 t. soy sauce
• Sriracha, to taste

Cook soba noodles according to package directions.  Rinse well under cold, running water and allow to drain.

Heat a scant tablespoon olive oil in skillet over medium heat.  Add shiitakes and stir to coat with oil. Stir in salt and sauté until thoroughly cooked.  Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, combine peanut butter, soy sauce, and Sriracha.  In individual serving bowl, toss together noodles, shiitakes, cucumbers, carrots, sprouts, and sauce.  Top with avocado.  Feel free to add more soy sauce and/or Sriracha to season to taste.

Serves one. 

*Later in the week I made a crazy delicious Bacon Pad Thai.  I took no pictures of it, but perhaps round two will surface in a week or two.