Writing a post about fish tacos is a stark contrast to the weather outside here in Minnesota. Not even 30 seconds ago, the rain changed to snow. And it is the end of April. Just sayin’.

Still, I will power on and write about a recipe that is perfect for enjoying out on the deck in the bright, warm spring sunshine. Some of you may have that right now. Others may be stuck in a bad weather rut. If that is the case, this is the perfect time to make use of a little something called your imagination! Put a summery table cloth down and pretend it is warm enough outside to warrant this delicious treat. A margarita couldn’t hurt…

A couple weeks ago, Kurt from Ursula’s Wine Bar in White Bear Lake, MN, hosted a food and wine pairing class. I was lucky enough to be asked back into their kitchen to provide the food portion of the class! I’ll be posting each of the small plates I prepared for that day over the next week or so here on Tokyo Terrace, so don’t go too far away! There are some great pairings to be shared!

These mini fish tacos are perfect for a party, or can be made as normal sized tacos for a light, healthy family dinner. Rather than deep frying the fish fillets, which is quite delicious but not realistic when you have to serve 30 people, I broiled them. This was incredibly easy to do for a crowd and had the added bonus of being healthy. I used tilapia fillets, which are fast and easy to broil with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. After they were done in the broiler, I simply squeezed lime juice over them and broke up the fillets with a fork. 10 minutes and they were ready to fill the taco shells!

The fish is then topped with a dollop of chipotle sour cream, pickled red onions, and cilantro. Bright flavors and vibrant colors perfect for spring or summer!

There are four posts in this series and I will post the complete menu along with the wine pairings in the last of the series. Stay tuned!

Mini Fish Tacos

Makes about 24 mini tacos

12 corn tortillas, cut in half (like half moons)

1 1/2-2 lbs. tilapia fillets

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt & pepper

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 (about 1 teaspoon) chipotle pepper in adobo, diced

juice from 1/2 a lime

lime wedges

pickled red onions (recipe coming soon in a new post!)

2 avocados, sliced

cilantro leaves

Heat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a muffin tin, arrange each of the tortilla halves so they form the shape of a cup. The points should be up in the air and you may need to play with them to make sure they keep their shape. When the muffin tin is filled, bake the tortilla cups for about 8 minutes. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn. If they brown too quickly, turn the heat down slightly.

Remove the tortilla cups from the oven to cool completely. Turn the oven heat up to 425 degrees F.

Meanwhile, arrange the tilapia fillets on a baking sheet, drizzle them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Let the fillets cook for 10 minutes or until opaque all the way through. Remove the fillets from the oven and season with the lime juice. Break the fish apart into chunks with a fork. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate. Set aside.

Stir the chipotle pepper into the sour cream in a small bowl. Set aside.

Arrange the tortilla cups on a platter. Fill each cup with some fish, a dollop of the sour cream, some pickled onions, a slice of avocado and a cilantro leaf or two. Serve with lime wedges on the side.

The other day, we went to a Butoh performance with a few of our friends in Tokyo. Butoh is a style of dance that feels like watching a Picasso painting that has come to life. Very minimalist style with much room for interpretation, Butoh is a beautifully and refreshingly different type of performance. One that I never thought I would truly appreciate. I’m sure I would not like all Butoh performances, as some are grotesque and, as my husband described it, “Marilyn Manson-esque”. This does not exactly describe some of my favorite styles. However, the particular show we saw was calming in a sense. There was no speaking, little as far as a set on stage, and the movements were slow, steady, and graceful. Here are some clips from the same performance we saw: Sankai Juku. The majority of the music was lovely, with the occasional low buzzing noise. Didn’t care for that.

Attending this performance made me remember how important it is to experience something new every once in a while. We get so caught up in the everyday grind that the idea of seeing a show or exploring a new area of the city seems to float away. I guess that just goes to show that no matter where you live, you are susceptible to becoming “beige”. Everything is the same. A little splash of color on occasion is all we need to spruce things up!

This Uni Pasta is a great way to change the typical creamy pasta recipe. Uni (sea urchin) is a creamy, nutty flavored delicacy, especially in Japan. Really good sea urchin tastes of salt water from the ocean with a sweet hint of hazelnut. Seems strange, I know, but trust me. It’s like nothing else I’ve ever tasted. A sure way to impress your Japanese friends is to eat fresh uni. We often get asked two questions: Do you eat natto? NO! Do you eat uni? YES!

Don’t fret if you can’t access good, fresh uni. You can add something else for a little splash of color! Be creative. Find something that will enhance and liven up the flavor of the pasta that you perhaps would not have used on any regular day. Even adding a little squash or pumpkin puree is a great way to lighten up and add flavor to rich, creamy pasta dishes. Sprinkle a few toasted hazelnuts and few parsley leaves on top and you’re all set!

If you do decide to use uni, make sure to add it just at the end before serving. This will preserve the flavor as much as possible. If you can’t taste it, what’s the point, right?

Creamy Uni Pasta with Fennel Fronds

Makes 4 servings

1 pound spaghetti or angel hair pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 cup cream

1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

zest of 1/2 a lemon

salt and black pepper

About 3 oz. fresh sea urchin

1/3 cup loosely packed fennel fronds or flat leaf parsley

Begin by cooking the pasta in boiling, salted water according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is fragrant and beginning to soften (about 2-3 minutes) being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the red pepper flakes and cook another 30 seconds. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the cream, parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook gently until heated through. Add the cooked pasta to the cream, reserving some of the pasta water. Toss the pasta to coat with the cream. Remove the pasta from the heat and stir in the sea urchin and fennel fronds, reserving some of the fennel for garnish.

Serve immediately topped with a piece of uni, fennel fronds and extra parmesan if desired.

When I was young, my family went on a lot of road trips. We would drive from Minnesota to Tennessee every year to visit my mother’s family and I remember, more often than not, driving through Western Wisconsin talking about the grilled cheese and tomato soup we would have for dinner as soon as we arrived home. This was the meal of choice partly because there were no groceries to speak of after 2 weeks of being away, but also because its a meal we all enjoyed.

After spending the weekend in Thailand I’ve been craving something simple and comforting. Since grilled cheese and tomato soup is not exactly common around here, I tend to want onigiri or Japanese noodles instead. This meal of simple somen noodles with warm dashi was the perfect meal after my “road trip” to Southeast Asia. Often times somen noodles are eaten with cold dipping sauces, perfect for hot summer days in Japan. I’ve decided to give them an autumnal spin instead by using the hot dashi broth. Sometimes, if I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll add a dollop of miso butter to the broth to give it a bit more body and flavor.

With a couple umeboshi, this is the perfect light meal after traveling. Or just when you’re short on time and want a healthy, satisfying supper. Most of the time I’m too impatient to dip my somen noodles. Instead, I’ll just put the noodles right in the broth and skip the dipping.OK, I’m just a messy noodle-dipper-slurper. There, I admitted it.

Somen Noodles & Hot Dashi

Serves 2

For the dashi:

2 cups water

1 3-inch piece kombu

2 dried shiitake mushrooms

1/3 cup bonito flakes

1 T soy sauce OR 2-3 T miso butter

Put the water in a saucepan with the kombu and shiitakes. Allow the kombu and shiitake’s to soak in the water for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight (the longer you let the sit the more flavor you will get in the stock- I usually let everything soak for about an hour when I’m short on time).

Place the saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. After about 5 minutes remove the kombu and shiitakes. Remove the stock from the heat and gently add the bonito flakes. After about 3 minutes, strain the stock through a coffee strainer. Stir in 1 tablespoon miso paste (or miso butter) if desired or just the soy sauce. Reheat if needed before serving.

For the noodles:

2 bundles somen noodles (typically sold in small bundles at Asian grocery stores)

Cook according to package directions. Usually these delicate noodles take only 2-3 minutes. Strain and run under cold water. Serve alongside the dashi and garnish with chopped green onions or Chinese chives.

Inspiration comes in many forms. I find myself inspired by the lunches Japanese students bring to school that are so carefully prepared and planned by their mothers. Inspiration creeps in while riding my bike down the street and passing a noodle shop that smells like rich miso broth and sounds like grateful soup slurpers. Other times, inspiration finds its way into my mind by opening up a book. A cookbook, that is. It’s no secret that we all have different moments that give us that creative jolt to come up with the next great idea, whether it is in the kitchen, at the office, or elsewhere. That’s the beauty of creating. It happens differently for each of us and the result, though not always what we imagined, becomes just what we need to continue developing ideas.

For this recipe, my inspiration came from David Chang. Chang’s recipe for miso butter in his cookbook, Momofuku, is a simple combination of salty miso paste and creamy butter. But oh, the possibilities that come from these two simple ingredients are endless. I modified the miso butter recipe slightly for the wine dinner. Using equal parts miso paste and butter resulted in a perfectly creamy, flavorful base for crisp, green sugar snap peas, rich, perfectly cooked salmon, and a gorgeous fried egg with a bright orange yolk.

For the wine dinner I used a fried quail egg. Let me just say that was the worst idea ever. Oh, it turned out beautifully in the end, but it was madness trying to break open all those little eggs for 40 people! And then frying them?!? Long story short: What was I thinking? So, since quail eggs are difficult to find for some, I’ve substituted a regular, sunny-side-up egg in this post. Feel free to use whatever you like- they both make a gorgeous presentation! I have a pretty serious love affair going on with eggs, so anytime I can top a meal with one I jump at the chance.

When you shop for salmon, make sure to look for thick lines of white running through the flesh and try to smell it if you can. It should be odorless. Having adequate fat in the salmon ensures it won’t dry out when you cook it. For the wine dinner, we used Scottish salmon from Coastal Seafoods (if you live in the Twin Cities and aren’t already buying your seafood there, get on it!) that was just perfect. Here in Japan we are fortunate to find plenty of salmon year round (yay!). It looks like this:

As the main entree, this dish was perfectly paired with a 2007 Deux Amis Zinfandel. When Kurt told me he was going to pair the salmon with a Zinfandel, I was skeptical. But as I’ve said before, Kurt is a master when it comes to wine (he has several awards for Best Wine List from Wine Enthusiast to prove it!) so I went with it. It turns out that the Zinfandel stood up nicely to the miso butter, salmon, and egg without overpowering the dish. Perfection.

Here are the recipes and pairings we have covered so far:

Lotus Root Chips with Hou Hou Shu Sparkling Sake

Edamame Crostini with Meyer Lemon & Shiso, paired with Yuki No Bosha Junmai Ginjo

Scallop and Corn Gyoza with Sriracha Dipping Sauce, paired with HB Picpoul de Pinet 2009

Pork Belly & Leek Yakitori with Asian Slaw, paired with Ramon Bilbao Crianza Rioja 2005

Salmon with Miso Butter, Sugar Snap Peas, and Fried Quail Egg, paired with Deux Amis Zinfandel 2007

Only one more post to go! Are you ready for dessert?

Salmon with Miso Butter, Snap Peas, & a Fried Egg

Serves 4

4 center cut salmon steaks, skin on

2 cups sugar snap peas

1 cup shiro (white) miso paste, room temperature

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

4 eggs

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Lightly pat the salmon dry with a paper towel. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the miso paste and butter. Stir until smooth and fully incorporated. Use  a pastry brush to smear about 1/4 cup of miso paste in the center of each serving plate. Arrange the sugar snap peas on top of the miso butter in one layer. Set the plates aside while you cook the salmon and eggs.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. After about 1 or 2 minutes, add about 4 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet. Wait for the oil to heat, about 1 minute, and add the salmon, skin side down. (The pan should be hot enough that it immediately sizzles when the fish is placed in the oil.) Allow the fish to cook on one side for about 3 minutes. Flip the fish and cook or another 2 minutes for medium-rare. Cook for 3-4 minutes if you’d like your fish more done.

Carefully remove the salmon from the pan and put on a plate. Set aside.

In the same pan you used for the salmon, fry the eggs in the olive oil until the whites are firm (but do not flip for sunny side up). If the whites are not done and it seems the bottom is getting too done, you can transfer the eggs to a lined baking sheet and put them under the broiler, watching VERY carefully, until the whites have set.

While the eggs fry in the pan, place the salmon steaks on top of the sugar snap peas. When the eggs are done, put them on top of the salmon. Sprinkle with black pepper and red pepper flakes and serve immediately.

Going home to the Midwest from Japan for the summer is a funny sensation. On one hand, I feel completely relaxed. Like I can finally take a deep breath instead of a shallow one. Like I can finally stretch my limbs and soak up some open space. On the other hand, when summer is over and it is time to return to our Tokyo life, I get to come back to my own kitchen and to familiar routines. I am reminded that I am living in an exciting city where I get to have experiences (and eat food) that I will remember for the rest of my life. While I am thankful and happy with life in Tokyo, there is little that can take the place of going home.

The recipe for my scallop and corn gyoza is a little bit like home for me. It’s a recipe that turns out beautifully every time I make it. I always end up wondering why I don’t whip these up more often. And there is never enough for the people I serve them to.The golden brown crisp on the side that has been fried, the chewy noodle-like consistency of the opposite side, and the filling of sweet, salty, crunchy and soft corn, scallops, cabbage, soy sauce, ginger and garlic is mouth-wateringly perfect in every way. I love the sizzle of the pan when I first toss these babies in the oil. Ah, beautiful music that can only be made better when followed by a bit out of one of these dumplings…

You may remember seeing this recipe a few months ago. No, you aren’t crazy- this did appear on the site already. However, I dressed up the presentation for the wine dinner at Ursula’s Wine Bar & Cafe, where it was served with a 2009 HB Picpoul de Pinet. It was like taking a little black dress (already a classic) and adding a pair of red stilettos. It just needed to be gussied up. The red dots on the plate are Sriracha, a spicy Asian sauce made with garlic and chili, and the sauce under the gyoza is Sriracha mixed with Greek yogurt.

Click here for the recipe if you’d like to give these a try! You will not be disappointed. Enjoy!

Warning: For those of you who grew attached to Doug, the red snapper, after my last post, you may want to brace yourselves. This may be disturbing.

No, you are not imagining things. Doug is, in fact, on a plate ready to be eaten.

After my jolting experience attempting to clean my own fish the other day, Brad came to my rescue and did the dirty work for me. Finally, I could make the whole red snapper I’d been dreaming about for months!

I contemplated how to prepare Doug. Doug was a special fish. We’d been through so much and he deserved a dignified preparation/farewell.

My conclusion was to infuse him with ginger and steam him. Ah yes. But first, I needed to marinade him in something tasty. Ginger, garlic, peanut oil, vegetable oil, lemon juice, black pepper and a dash of tabasco sauce. Oh yes.

After the marinating and steaming, I threw together a little spicy garlic aioli to top him off. I sort of cheated with the aioli and used mayonnaise. It was so much faster this way and tasted pretty darn good, too!

Somehow, the trying experience Doug and I suffered through the first time around seemed worth it. I had watched Brad do “the deed” (you know, the whole guts thing) this morning, so I knew exactly what happened to bring this delicious fish to my plate. Well, at least from the time I bought it at the grocery store. I can only assume how he made it from the ocean to the fish counter…

The point is, Doug fulfilled his life’s journey of ending up in my stomach. Sad but true. And delicious.

RIP Doug.

Ginger Steamed Whole Red Snapper Spicy Garlic Aioli

1 whole red snapper, cleaned and scaled (any size will do as long as it fits into your steamer- I used one that was around 1lb)

3 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into 1/4″ rounds

1 inch piece of ginger, cut in half

1 garlic clove, chopped

sea salt

lemon juice

Marinade

2 T peanut oil

1/3 cup vegetable oil

juice from 1 lemon

2 T ginger, peeled and chopped

dash of Tabasco sauce

2 teaspoons black pepper

Spicy Garlic Aioli

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Slice three slits in each side of the fish. Sprinkle the cavity with sea salt. Insert the ginger rounds into the slits and cavity of the fish. Stuff the cavity with the chopped garlic. Place in a shallow bowl and squeeze lemon juice over the top.

Mix the ingredients for the marinade in a small bowl. Whisk until well combined and pour over the fish. Place the fish in the refrigerator and allow to marinade for 10 minutes. Turn the fish and marinade for 10 more minutes.

While the fish is marinading, boil the water for the steamer. When the water begins to simmer, add the ginger halves and continue until the water reaches a boil. Insert the steamer.

Lift the fish out of the marinade and carefully place it in the steamer. Steam, covered, for 10 minutes (or more depending on the size of the fish). Gently place the fish on a plate. Top with the aioli and some flat leaf parsley or cilantro leaves. Enjoy!

There are few things that I love to cook with more than basil. The smell alone is enough to brighten my mood and bring a little sunshine into even the rainiest of days.

Today was just the kind of day that needed brightening. We woke up to low hanging, dark clouds spitting rain. It wasn’t the kind of rain that falls heavily and steadily. Nor was it a sparse sprinkle or light rain shower. Rather, the rain drops seemed to be of all sizes. Small and gentle. Big and heavy. The clouds just could not make up their minds about how to send the nourishing rain our way.

Somewhere in the middle of the rain, for a brief moment, the sun came out. At the time, I was riding my bicycle to the grocery store and suddenly stopped on the sidewalk, letting the sun’s warmth soak into my back. It was glorious. At that moment I knew. Today needed some basil.

As I write this, there are flashes of lightening and crashes of thunder. Not in a threatening way. More like a “summer is on its way and so are the thundering nights” way. This meal was just what we needed. Brightly colored and flavored, we were able to end our weekend with some sun in the midst of the rain.

Swordfish and Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato Basil Sauce

2 swordfish steaks

1/2 package angel hair pasta

4 sun dried tomatoes (not in oil), chopped

2 cups basil leaves, chopped

1 clove garlic, choped

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper

red pepper flakes

lemon wedges

Make the pasta according to the package directions. Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine the sun dried tomatoes, basil, garlic, oil, salt and pepper (to taste) and pulse until well combined. Set aside.

In a medium pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat. Season the swordfish with salt and pepper and place in the pan. Cook for 2 minutes on each side.

In another, large pan, melt the butter. Add the sun dried tomato basil mixture to the melted butter and stir to combine. Add the angel hair pasta to the sauce and turn off the heat. Toss the pasta to coat with the sauce.

Serve with the swordfish on top of the pasta along with a lemon wedge. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes for garnish.

There is a cold wind blowing through Tokyo tonight. When chilly weather finds its way to this bustling city, Japanese people turn to two classic meals: Oden and Shabu Shabu. Both of these delicious, warming meals are made in a hot pot called a Nabe. Brad and I just bought our first Nabe two weeks ago and have used it twice for Shabu Shabu.
Tonight, Justyna, a good friend in Tokyo, made Oden and Shabu Shabu for a small group of us for dinner.

Oden is made in a dashi broth, which is also the base ingredient for Miso Soup (click here for a recipe).

Ingredients like tofu, boiled eggs, fish cakes, daikon radish, carrots, mushrooms, etc., are boiled in the dashi broth. Oden is also seen in most Japanese convenience stores throughout the winter season. I have never tried it from a convenience store, as it does not look or smell appetizing to me…sorry.