the Nom Lab.: Comfort in a Bowl of Green Tea: Miso Salmon (Sake) Ochazuke

Comfort in a Bowl of Green Tea: Miso Salmon (Sake) Ochazuke

By Passionthy 5:19 PM Savoury, Snacks, Student-Friendly

Miso Sake (Salmon) Ochazuke: Green tea broth-based dish

With fall officially at our doors, the last remains of sweltering heat are now fading into a crisp tingle of chill in the air. The skies are clear and sweet and mellowed with blue, while there is a descending rush of golden, crimson and burnt orange on the streets and pavements. I love taking in that fleeting quarterly transition of seasons. Fleecy fall, in particular, is such a cozy weather to curl up in snuggly sweaters, giant knit scarfs and mugs of spiced apple cider. Soon, there will probably be some hoary grass in the early mornings. As October is ushered into town, however, the city seems blanketed by a lull of end-of-summer blues (that is, until it melts into the children's cheers of Halloween). Carefree summer nights are being reframed into structured routines and, as the days are getting shorter, it's difficult not to feel a bit gloomy. We box ourselves a bit more indoors, we start hibernating mentally (okay okay, *I* start hibernating)... we mourn the BBQs and bonfires and bar hoppings in Old Montréal.

...Aannd this is when comfort food comes into play.

Did you know? A 2011 study from the journal of Psychological Science (Troisi & Gabriel, 2011) found that comfort food can actually be good for our little emotional hearts: it can provide solace to alleviate loneliness. Around the world, chicken dumplings-&-apple pie-smelling grandmothers are nodding in sophic time-tested approval.

Ochazuke is a bear hug distilled into rice soup form. It isn't as heavy as the idyllic Mom n' Pop Mac n' cheese or Thanksgiving's butter-pecan mashed sweet potatoes, but it is infused with just the perfect amount of warm goodness for the hoarfrost of fall. I see it as a Japanese chicken soup for the soul. Essentially, it is a dish made of a giant rice ball (comforting carbohydrates, yes), hot green tea broth (often genmaicha for a toasty flavor) and your choice of a variety of toppings - it is typically some sort of grilled seafood or fish, roe, salt-pickled seafood, pickled vegetables, pickled plums, etc. P.S.: your rice ball doesn't really have to be giant. But why not? The rice is traditionally Japanese rice (ie.: sushi rice), but I used a combination of red grain rice and glutinous rice to make it more wholesome.

In Japan, ochazuke is often eaten at the end of a heavy meal, where the waiter will use the table's leftover rice to create this concoction. As it manages to be both light and hearty, it can perfectly round up a meal and is sometimes referred to as a savoury dessert. It can also serve as a light meal, but is especially loved as a late midnight snack.

The green tea-based broth is my personal highlight of this dish. While a lot of recipes use pure freshly brewed green tea, I ate an ochazuke in an izakaya (Japanese pub) which seemed to have seasoned it with miso or something umami... I wasn't able to figure out what the secret ingredient was, but I loved it. Thus this green tea broth recipe combines freshly brewed genmaicha (a type of green tea with roasted brown rice) with a dashi recipe, using bonito flakes (dried, smoked fish flakes) and kombu (kelp). My obtained result wasn't as good as the restaurant's version (it was lighter and a certain layer of flavor was still missing), but the dish as a whole was very satisfying as the miso salmon topping provided the added saltiness and umami that this broth was still lacking. Next time, I might try to add a tidbit of miso to the broth too.

Ochazuke is a balanced, delicious dish and, best-of-all, really easy to do. I'd suggest making a big batch of green tea-dashi broth if you intend to make it often.

Miso Salmon Ochazuke (from left to right): 1) Miso-Seared Rice Ball;
2) Seared & Broiled Salmon Fillet; 3) Genmaicha (Roasted Brown Rice & Green Tea) dashi broth; 4) Completed dish ;)

Miso Salmon (Sake) Ochazuke

Green Tea dashi adapted from Jane Lawson's Zenbu Zen Ichiban Dashi Recipe

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

Rice balls:

1/4 cup glutinous white rice (Or Japanese sushi rice)

1/4 cup red grain rice

1 cup water

Dash of salt

Miso salmon:

300g salmon fillet, with skin

1 1/2 tablespoon white miso

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon mirin

1 tablespoon ginger, minced

2 teaspoons ponzu (Substitute: regular soy sauce)

(Optional) Toasted sesame seeds

(Optional) Shredded nori

Green tea dashi:

Will make 4 cups (1 L) - you will make more than what is needed for this dish, but the recipe can be halved/doubled and freezes very well.

10g kombu (dried kelp)

20g bonito flakes

40g genmaicha tea

1 litre water

*Additional resource: See La Fuji Mama's Guide on How to Make Dashi for more information on the ingredients used and the different types of dashi stock you can make.

Preparation:

1. First, prepare the rice: rinse your rice in a strainer to clean off any starch dust coating. Repeat a couple of times until the water is clear. Soak the two types of rice in cold water for 20-30 minutes at room temperature, in just enough water to cover them.

2. Prepare the miso marinade: in a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients listed under "miso salmon", except for the salmon fillet. Set aside.

3. Rinse your salmon fillet and pat it dry. Then, set it in a cooking pan, skin down, and slather half the marinade on the exposed flesh. Cover loosely, being careful not to wipe off the sauce, refrigerate and let marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Genmaicha :) Green Tea w/ Roasted Brown Rice.
The scent is heavenly when it's steeping.

4. Genmaicha dashi: Bring 1 litre of water to boiling point - ideally, try to let it cool just enough to hit a temperature of 82C (180F) for brewing. Place the tea leaves in a large bowl and pour in the hot water. Let steep for 5 minutes (normally the first infusion of genmaicha for drinking is only steeped for approx. 1 minute & 30 seconds, but I let it steep longer as I wanted a deeper flavor for the broth).

5. Using moistened hands, dab off any grit from the kombu, but try not remove too much of the white powdery stuff. Strain the green tea. Place the kombu in a large pot and pour in the liter of steeped green tea. Allow the kombu to sit for 30 minutes, then place the pot over medium-low heat. Try to keep the temperature around 60-65C (140-150F) - that's the point where a little steam could be seen rising from the liquid's surface, and many an occasional lone tiny bubble, but not more than that. Cover your pot and retain that temperature for an additional 30-45 minutes to release the umami from the kombu.

6. Increase the temperature to medium-high (about 80C/175C) to bring the tea broth to a nice simmer (do not bring to a full boil). Add the bonito flakes. Cover once again, and let simmer for 15 minutes.

7. Remove from heat and strain the tea broth through a sieve. Line it with cheesecloth for easier removal of the softened bonito flakes. Discard the solids.

Beautifully steeped Genmaicha.

8. Cooking the rice: strain the soaked rice. In a rice cooker, stir together the two types of rice, water and a dash of salt. Cook for a full cycle or until the water is completely absorbed.

9. Miso salmon: Preheat your oven to broiling temperature. In a non-stick skillet, heat up one teaspoon of sesame oil. On medium-high heat, sear the salmon fillet, skin down, for 3 to 5 minutes or until the skin gets crispy. Occasionally, press the fish flat a couple of times - the extra pressure will help.

10. Once the skin is nice and crispy, increase the heat to high and turn the salmon on its sides to quickly brown the flesh without entirely cooking it through.

11. Transfer the salmon from the skillet to a cooking pan. Do not get rid of the caramelized juices in the skillet yet. Slather the remainder of miso marinade on its flesh, reserving about 1 tablespoon, and broil for 5-8 minutes, covering the fish loosely with an aluminum foil.

12. Cut the fillet in halves (i used scissors) and set aside until needed.

13. Rice balls: Spoon the rice into a 125ml measuring cup, packing it lightly. You should have enough rice to form two rice balls.

14. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on a flat surface. Reverse the measuring cup on the wrap and tap it to release the rice. It should be able to hold the cup's shape.

15. Fold the top and bottom edges of the plastic wrap over the rice, going towards the center. The plastic wrap should be able to completely cover the rice. Using your palms, start pressing the rice against your work surface in a rolling motion to create a sort of bullet-shape. Pick up the remaining horizontal edges of the plastic wrap and swing the rice ball, in a motion alike to skipping rope. The plastic edges will twist up against the rice, rounding up its sides - it should become a nice oval and decent egg-shape.

16. Open the plastic wrap and lightly press around the rice ball to ensure it keeps its shape. Repeat process with the second rice ball.

17. Heat up the skillet in which you seared the salmon to medium. On the top and bottom of each rice ball, brush a bit of the remaining miso marinade. Sear each of those sides in the skillet until it becomes crunchy. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Making rice balls step-by-step: 1) Lightly pack 125ml rice into measuring cup
2) Swing it around in cling film/plastic wrap
3) Egg-shaped rice ball :)

18. Ochazuke: In a high-edged dish, place a rice ball in the center. Position the salmon fillet ontop and gently pour the green tea dashi over it. Don't release the flows of the Niagara falls or it will chip away some of the rice grains. The green tea broth should cover up to half the height of the rice ball. If you'd like, sprinkle some nori and toasted sesame seeds before eating.

References

Fine Cooking. (n.d.). How to Cook Rice Chart: Getting the most of your grains. Retrieved from

Hutchings, R. (January 18, 2010). How to make dashi (Basic Japanese Sea Stock). [Blog]. Retrieved from <http://www.lafujimama.com/2010/01/how-to-make-dashi/>

Ochazuke: Japan's Comforting Bowl of Green Tea with Rice. (April 20, 2016). Retrieved from <https://gurunavi.com/en/japanfoodie/2016/04/ochazuke.html?__ngt__=TT0bf1bd618001ac1e4a0d277reOax7utIYp34nY2UnWVg>

Genmaicha: How to Brew "Popcorn Tea". (n.d.). Retrieved from <http://theartofjapanesegreentea.com/genmaicha-brew-popcorn-tea/>

Troisi, J. D., & Gabriel, S. (January 01, 2011). Chicken soup really is good for the soul: "comfort food" fulfills the need to belong. Psychological Science, 22, 6, 747-53.