Yesterday's dinner was ikuradon (salmon roe bowl). The salmon roe is soaked in shoyu (soy sauce) and mirin (sweet rice wine) for at least a day (I took the easy route and bought the roe pre-soaked). Put some rice into a bowl, chiffonade some o-ba/shiso (perilla), then place the roe on top. Serve with wasabi (Japanese horseradish).
Today was my first time to use puff pastry! It is quite expensive here. 4 sheets for about $5. The market I go to has different items on sale throughout the week. I found out that Saturdays is 50% off all frozen items...which means...puff pastry!!Awhile back, I picked up a supermarket recipe flyer which gave a recipe to make pumpkin turnovers. (In Japan, puff pastry is called pie sheet. And turnovers are called pie.) Instead of the pumpkin filling, I decided to put my favorite filling: apple and blueberries. (Earlier in the week, I had bought some Australian blueberries.) I made the filling, then took out the puff pastry. I was surprised because every sheet is separated with a non-stick paper (is that normal?)
Anyway, I took one out and thawed it for 10 minutes. I was doing fine until it came time to put the filling into the pastry dough. I guess I didn't roll it out thin enough, or maybe I had too much filling. It was kinda messy when I baked it, because I couldn't really seal it up (probably because I didn't roll it out enough?) and the bottom came out soggy because of all the liquid that came out. Still the aroma was heavenly and it tasted delicious!
Another surprising thing was how big Stargazer lilies bloom. I got these with some other flowers for helping at Satoshi's university baseball event. Bloomed, they are about 8 inches in diameter and are very fragrant.It's been rainy and cold the past couple of days, hopefully it will clear up tomorrow.
Puff pastry is a godsend for quick appetizers, I like stuffing rounds of it with chorizo sausage and aged cheddar.
ReplyDeleteOh YUMMY! I love ikuradon! I just wish salmon roe was a common food in New Mexico...
ReplyDeleteI've never had to roll out frozen puff pastry. It's usually pre-rolled and all you have to do is cut it. (I never did think of buying puff pastry in Japan, though, as my only oven was of the toaster variety.) Have you thought about making one big tart using the pastry and your filling?
Ooh, chorizo and cheese, great combination, Brilynn, will have to remember that. It sounds great!
ReplyDeleteI've thought of making a big tart, Tokyo Rosa, only problem is that it is only my and my husband, so we'd probably be eating it for a couple of days! :)
I have 3 more sheets to use, so we'll see what I can come up with.
Take care you two!
Kat