1 2/3 cup flour
2 1/2 cup dashi soup
2 eggs
1/2 lb. boiled octopus, cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup dried sakura ebi (red shrimp)
1/4 cup chopped pickled red ginger
*For toppings:
fried bonito flakes
aonori (green dried seaweed)
Worcestershire sauce or takoyaki sauce
mayonnaise
Preparation:Mix flour, dashi soup, and eggs in a bowl to make batter. Thickness of the batter should be like potage soup. Put oil inside cups of a takoyaki grill pan. Pour batter into the cups to the full. Put octopus, red ginger, and green onion in each hole. Grill takoyaki balls, turning with a pick. When takoyaki become rounds and brown, remove them from the pan and place in a plate. Put sauce and mayonnaise on takoyaki and sprinkle bonito flakes and aonori on the top. *makes 4 servings
Friday, September 12, 2008
Takoyaki Recipe - Octopus Balls
Kombu and Katsuo Dashi
Ingredients:
8 inch kombu (dried kelp)
2/3 oz. katsuobushi (dried bonito) flakes
4 and 1/4 cups water
Preparation:Wipe the kombu with clean cloth. Put water in a deep pot and soak kombu in the water for 10 minutes. Put the pot on low heat and remove the kombu just before the water boils. When it boils, add katsuobushi flakes. Remove any foam that rise to the surface, and turn off the heat. Let it set until bonito flakes sink. Strain the stock through a paper towel. This stock is called ichiban-dashi (first stock). Ichiban-dashi is often used for cooking clear soups or noodle soups. *Makes 4 cups
*To make niban-dashi (second dashi), put back the katsuobushi flakes and kombu used to make the first dashi in the deep pot. Add 2 and 1/2 cups of water and heat on low heat. When it starts to boil, add 1/3 oz. of extra katsuobushi flakes. Let it simmer for a few minutes, removing any foam that rise to the surface. Stop the heat. Strain the broth through a paper towel. Nibandashi is often used to make nimono (simmered dishes). *Makes about 2 cups
Katsuo Dashi - Japanese Soup Stock
Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups water
2/3 oz. katsuobushi (dried bonito) flakes
Preparation:Put water in a deep pot and heat on medium heat. Just before the water boils, add katsuobushi flakes. When the water boils, skim off any foam that rise to the surface. Stop the heat. Strain the stock through a paper towel. *Makes about 3 cups
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Katsuobushi
Katsuobushi (鰹節 or かつおぶし, Katsuobushi?) is the Japanese name for a preparation of dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis, sometimes referred to as bonito). Katsuobushi and kombu (a type of kelp) are the main ingredients of dashi, a broth that forms the basis of many soups (such as miso soup) and sauces (e.g., soba no tsukejiru) in Japanese cuisine. It is today typically found in bags of small pink-brown shavings. Larger, thicker shavings, called kezurikatsuo (削り鰹; けずりかつお), are used to make the ubiquitous dashi stock. Smaller, thinner shavings, called hanakatsuo (花鰹; はなかつお), are used as a flavoring and topping for many Japanese dishes, such as okonomiyaki. Traditionally, large chunks of katsuobushi were kept at hand and shaved when needed with an instrument called a katsuobushi kezuriki, similar to a wood plane, but in the desire for convenience this form of preparation has nearly disappeared. Katsuobushi, however, retains its status as one of the primary ingredients in Japanese cooking today.
Katsuobushi's umami flavor comes from its high inosinic acid content. Traditionally made katsuobushi, known as karebushi, is deliberately planted with fungus (Aspergillus glaucus) in order to reduce moisture.
When hanakatsuo is added as a topping to a hot dish, the heat has the effect of making the flakes move as if dancing; because of this, katsuobushi topping is also known as dancing fish flakes.
Japan Seafood Giant Maruha Boosts Production of Dried Bonito, Mackerel
Kyodo News International, Tokyo Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 17--TOKYO -- Maruha Corp., Japan's largest seafood company, has begun full production of dried bonito and mackerel in China to meet surging demand for the seasonings by Japanese-affiliated food makers there, becoming the first to start such mass manufacturing of dried bonito in China.
Maruha began production of the two products on a trial basis last July by converting part of a food-processing plant run by its joint venture Zhousan Industrial Co. in the city of Zhousan, Zhejiang Province.
