Burns Night surprise!

"What's for dinner tonight?", I queried as I hung up my jacket after coming home.

"It's a surprise", she said, closing the kitchen door quickly.

I'm intrigued.  Hmm, let's piece together the clues. Burns Night, check. Surprise, check.  Could we be having a haggis dinner Japanese style?

No.  Smoked oysters, smoked mussels, wasabi (big dollop), sushi rice with umeboshi on top and a large bowl of wakame and spring greens in a miso broth (not pictured).  Now I did not think of that!

It's been a while since we had either oysters or mussels so having both at the same time was a rare treat.  They are very similar in taste though but their densities differ quite a bit, with the oysters not being quite as firm as the mussels. The wasabi and lemon slice were meant to be decorative but I ate some of it with the seafood and mixed some of the rest in with my rice and the remainder in the miso broth.  I'm sure there are a few Japanese whose toes are curling at the thought.

Tuna soup

Ah, one of my favourites, especially on a cold night after a long day at work.  Left the house at 05:30 this morning and only got back at 19:35.  Surprisingly not overly tired (yet) and the soup and rice perked me up even more.

This is an easy one to make.  There's about 2/3 of a white cabbage, a couple of red onions and two cans of tuna added to enough water to cook the cabbage in, some pepper to season and that's it.  We don't add any salt as the tuna provides more than enough but if you find you need more then do so.

Served with a bowl of short grain sushi rice so there is no chance of you feeling hungry afterwards.

No miso or wakame added.  We've been eating this for 8 years or more but the rice is a recent addition and it fits in nicely with our hashi diet.

Fish ball soup

No, not what you were thinking, naughty naughty.  Very tasty soup in a large bowl with udon noodles, wakame, miso and sliced fish balls.  The fish balls have a meaty texture and come in a sausage which we thickly slice and then halve.  The udon is cut into pieces that are manageable on a spoon.

The wakame is added dried and takes about 5 minutes of cooking time to swell up so is one of the last ingredients to be added.  The noodles are fresh so don't take long at all and we added some tamari to the mixture for an extra flavour.

Quite a filling lunch.

Karaage chicken

Our version of karaage chicken tonight, we don't deep fry but instead pan fry in coconut oil as it has many health benefits and leaves a nice aroma in the kitchen.  Very similar to yesterday's meal but probably more palatable for fussy eaters (of which I do not number myself).

The chicken is coated in dry ingredients which are mixed together first: potato starch, ginger, pepper, salt (not a lot), sesame and turmeric (hence the lovely yellow colour).

We like it "just" cooked so the chicken is still nice and juicy, so it's a very quick dish to prepare.  The potato salad, salad leaves and sunblush were all shop bought so just needed served (yes we did wash the salad leaves first) straight from the container.

Sadly no sushi rice.  I love the taste but it just wouldn't go with this.  The potato salad made up for it though, creamy and with chives.  Thought that would be difficult to eat with hashi but both of us managed without any difficulties.

What delights will tomorrow's dinner bring?

Been a while

Something we used to eat quite a lot of and for some reason stopped is liver.  Tonight saw a return of my old favourite, although with a difference.

The liver was cut into bite sized chunks and coated with the same mixture that we use for karaage chicken (potato starch, ginger, pepper and salt) and then pan fried.  Not quite the way to make karaage chicken I know but it's a wee bit healthier and tastes almost the same.  Served with potato salad, sunblush tomatoes, watercress and baby spinach.  Delicious.

The liver was still lovely and pink and melted in the mouth, just the way I like it.

Love the plate too.  Forces you to eat well with your hashi.

Rock Pool soup

Tonight was salmon night, poached of course, accompanied by a bowl of sushi rice with umeboshi on the top.  The big surprise was the bowl of Rock Pool soup!  Well that's what I'm calling it anyway as it looked like a small rock pool.  It's actually a miso soup with wakame (a type of seaweed) and mushroom.  Maybe I should say wakame with mushroom and miso as it was mostly wakame!  No picture this time but next time we have it I'll post one up.

Very tasty indeed and with added health benefits.

Japanese style dinner

Tonight's dinner was really tasty and filling too!

The salmon was steamed and served cold with preserved whole lemons which we sliced and de-seeded.  They are quite sweet and the skin is quite delicate.


The sprouting beans are about four different types but as the packet has been thrown out I'm not sure what they all are.  Bought them in Sainsburys so if you are interested take a look in the fresh fruit and veg section. 


Juliennes of carrot and celery were served with some halved pomodorinos.  They are very sweet too for a tomato.


Was expecting some sushi rice in the covered bowl when I took this photo but got a pleasant surprise when I lifted the lid and found mashed sweet potato with tamari dressing.


Loving this new eating regime!  Mmm mmm (for Chris I, I know he must have missed that over the Christmas period).