Scallops Halfway

I was driving along Banawe one time and I saw a cold storage store. So, being curious about what's inside, I parked my car and went in. I found these gigantic sea scallops and I wasn't really sure if I want it since it has been already frozen *anything frozen that came from the sea is not that good anymore after being thawed* but still, I bought it.

When I came home, I didn't know what to do with these sea scallops. Then, an idea poped-up, I'll make it two ways, one is a simple asian scallop dish and one will have a hollandaise sauce *finally, got an excuse to make a hollandaise*.

The Japanese scallops were easy. I just seared the scallops, then steamed it with the asian sauce.



Scallops

Season the scallops with salt and pepper then sear them on the pan, make sure they aren't wet so it sears nicely. After searing, steam it with the sauce and ginger *sauce is a combination of japanese soy sauce and some mirin, maybe with a ratio of 1:1* then garnish it with some scallions.

While it was steaming, I was making my hollandaise sauce. After making the sauce, I went to my room to get the camera, and when I came back, the emulsion broke! Arghh! No more scallops with hollandaise. Huhuhu! Luckily, the Japanese scallops were quite successful so there was at least something to eat!

Opinion

Texture was really good. The scallops gave me a good mouth feel when I took a bite. The sauce went well with the scallop *it was like the typical soy based sauce for seafood in most chinese restaurants here in Manila*. My problem here was that, since the scallops were frozen, it lost some of its juices and moisture. The scallop alone didn't have the strong ocean taste that I was looking for. It was actually a little bland. Eating the scallop without the sauce was like eating a 'fishball' on the street because most of its flavor got separated already. The only flavor of the scallop that I tasted was in the sauce since I placed some of its defrosted juice there.

Salmon Inarisushi

There is this thing they call inarizushi in Japanese restaurants. So often but not, you only get to see them on the menu when you to the authentic ones here in Manila, particularly in Makati like Kikufuji, Seryna, etc.. These tiny golden pouches of tofu are deep fried and sweet. They are normally stuffed with sushi rice inside and some shitake mushroom.

Inarizushi are quite expensive when you them buy from the authentic Japanese restaurants. A single order would normally cost you 120 pesos for two pieces of these. Luckily, I found some of these in a Japanese Mini-mart called New Hatchin, somewhere in Makati. Ofcourse, knowing myself, I won't hesitate to buy them so I bought them.

When I got home, I looked in the fridge and found some salmon, so what I did was, I made some inarisushi with some salmon topping. It was good.



Salmon Topping

Get a Salmon - poach it *make sure don't overcook it unless you want to ruin the fish*

After poaching the salmon mix it with these - Japanese mayo *don't use the normal mayo cause they don't have the creaminess of the Japanese mayo which is suitable for this dish*, Chili Sesame Oil and season it with some salt.

Sushi Rice

Am pretty sure you can get a lot of this recipe on the internet but main components are Japanese rice vinegar *brand is mizkan*, sugar and salt.

Rice must be Japanese rice *expensive yes?* or something that is sticky. If you want something cheap that can be a substitute for an authentic Japanese rice, use Jasponica of Dona Maria.

Inarisushi

You usually get these frozen, so here's what you have to do: thaw it *duh* then rinse it through running water and squeeze like a sponge *the sweet juices of the wrapper will go out, you don't need them* and tada! that's it

Assembling is easy - Get wrapper, put rice in, put salmon topping on top, normally, you garnish it with a chiffonade of parsley *chopped parsley, using the term chiffonade seems cooler* or just place the parsley aside. That's it!

Opinion

The flavor profile was there. The salmon and sesame oil went really well together especially with the creaminess of the Japanese mayo. The sweetness of the tofu wasn't as sharp as I was expecting which is good. Color looks nice, it looked very appetizing and it is a good starter for any meal.

Points of improvement will be for adding more texture. I think adding some tempura flakes or some cucumber might give a better texture or using a higher quality of Japanese rice so that one will be able to feel every grain of the sushi rice. I suppose the Kushihikari breed of Japanese rice will be able to achieve the texture that I am talking about. Adding some green might also help for the color. Sprinkling some chiffonade of parsley will help in the presentation and am sure that it won't ruin the flavor of the dish.

First Post

Welcome to my food blog.

This food blog serves to archive my journey to my own culinary arts training at least here in the Philippines. The journey consists of eating, cooking, and learning all about food. Recipes of food are mostly original or at least inspired from somewhere or someone.

So far, am pretty familiar with Japanese ingredients, American ingredients and French techniques. This is probably due to the books I read since most of them are foreign books. Sadly, am not that particularly adept in Filipino cooking or Pinoy food; however, I'll also create recipes on pinoy food as well since I live in the Philippines, and local ingredients are based on Filipino food.

The food blog started because I cook a lot and food is pretty expensive. I thought that blogging is a good way to increase not only the value of the food I cooked but also the food that I have eaten. Moreso, it serves as a medium for me to look back and remember that things that I have created.

So I hope you enjoy my journey in the culinary arts, and if fortunate, we both learn a thing or two from my food blog.