Saffron rice with crab flesh topping

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For unexplainable reasons, I crave for 'X', 'Y'/'Z' occassionally. Dontcha? Sometimes, it gets so severe that I even dream about it.

For instance, I dreamt about catching 7 massive crabs with bare hands the other day! Haha! =D

And it's only instinctual, that I succumb to my craving whenever possible. Like a week ago when Japan was having a long weekend, Bear took me to a fancy Italian/Western restaurant in a neighbouring prefecture.

I was totally elated to find a crab dish on the menu! The description read : A platter of rice with topping of extravagant crab flesh and mushroom.





Duh... but my anticipation nosedived. I obviously forgot that most restaurants here provide moderate or miserable ingredients. I squinted hard... The platter was nothing like a crab galore (~~), it was more like a plate of crap, and a rather pricey one. As Bear footed the bill ungrudgingly, he explained the tyranny of economy depression, and that we ought to give thanks for food at bad times like such.

He's beary right, but my disappointment wasn't soothed right there. Suddenly, it dawned on me that Japan has fresh crab flesh for sashimi almost around the year! So I was all ready to roll my sleeves to gratify my gluttony nature. ;P





And believe me, the preparation is dead easy! Pleasantly satisfying and almost instant to prepare. =P



No concrete measurements here. I prepared saffron rice for two. A handful of Bunashimeji mushroom, and Enoki mushroom cut in short strips, saute with olive oil, finish with soy sauce and little white wine to make a truly wet mass. Chop spring onions, cut Perilla leaves in strips and put aside.



Scoop saffron rice on plate, sprinkle chopped spring onions. Spread the crab flesh, then mushroom mixture over. Generous portion of seaweed strips, with stripped Perilla leaves topped above. To finish, half a slice of 10gram butter and place on both sides. Serve while rice is hot!





And TALA, the effort paid off, almost effortlessly. Almost like the real deal if not for the absence of a sizzling hot plate. But who needs a hot plate, when I can have all the crab flesh I want? =P Bear has already demanded repetition, while I contemplated on buttered prawn or scallop to go along the next time. =)

Flavor of Spring : Bamboo Shoot Rice, Baked Scallop with Fragrant Crumb

There is a Japanese expression to describe an element of their eating culture; ' 旬 ' ( shun ) which means, ' the best time '. For those product you'd see labelled with a sticker and mention the word, it simply means that it is the best time to enjoy whatever packed within. =)


To produce the taste of ' best time ' ( 旬の味 ), simply use ingredients that are at their top form. In Spring, we are fortunate to enjoy good harvest for vegetables and certain seafood. Read on to find out how I tackle the Bamboo Shoot, fresh plump scallop and green beans. =D



This is the bamboo shoot ( 竹の子 ). I wonder if Bamboo Shoot is available in western areas, though these shoots are used in certain oriental dishes. The picture on the right shows how a bamboo shoot looks like when dug up from the ground. It looks like a rugged-skin hat to me... heheheh...

Anyway, this crunchy soft and lightly sweet root is quite a pain to prepare from start! A hard time washing to get rid of dirt, long time of boiling to make it soft, stripping and etc. ( ** ) I always buy those packed and prepared ones that are not too huge for 2 persons to finish.

You know I really appreciate this thoughtful merchandise, else I wouldn't be able to enjoy this lovely root at home.

Bamboo shoot is a versatile ingredient that provides lots of cooking possibilities! They go with vegetables, seafood, meat, probably anything! To savor its flavor, I had it prepared for this Bamboo Shoot Rice, together with asparagus, fragrant mushroom, topped with the seaweed that we 've bought from the Wasabi farm.

We love the gently flavored rice, infused with the best taste of Spring. It can't be any mistake for those who love a delicate flavor.

Recipe for Bamboo Shoot Rice

Now this is actually a very free and easy thing, just use ingredients that you think work best with Bamboo Shoot. You'd need a rice cooker though.

Ingredients ( Makes 3 bowls but serves 2 hungry people at home )

Rice : 1 standard cup or 155g

Bamboo shoot : 120 g, cut to mouth-sized length and sliced at 2mm at least

Asaparagus : 3 stalks, sliced cross wise. Cooking asparagus with the rice retains the nuitrients within the serving, so no wastage here. To understand what I'm trying to stress, read here.

Carrot : 1/2 stalk, sliced into thin strips

Mushroom : I'm using 2 quality dried ' Shiitake ', sliced at 4mm thickness

Seaweed : Strips of seaweed for topping, cut from bite-size ones if you need to.

Stock : 300ml. I'm using stock of konnbu ( 昆布 ), one may find such stock powder in supermarket. You may like to replace with chicken stock or other stock you prefer. Read instruction below for explanation.

Japanese Rice Wine : 1 tablespoon

Mirin : 1 tablespoon

Soy sauce : 2 tablespoon

1. Prepare stock by boiling slightly more than 300ml or water with 1 teaspoon of stock powder of Konnbu. Put aside when ready.

2. Wash rice, and drain off water. In a fry pan, fry the washed rice to rid of moisture. This helps the rice absorb the flavor readily. Pan fry for about a minute and transfer to rice cooker. Spread out the rice.

3. Pour in stock, rice wine, mirin and soy sauce, stir. Place in bamboo shoot, mushroom, carrot and asparagus, and just let the cooker do its job! Easy isn't it??

4. Slightly before serving, prepare the seaweed strips. For those who have no access to stripped seaweeds, use a sisscors to cut those standard seaweed pieces to strips. =)

Isn't this done so easily? That's why I label dishes like this under ' One Pot HAPPY '. =)

Recipe for Baked Scallop with Fragrant Crumb

While waiting for the rice to be cooked, I prepared some side dishes to go along. Scallops are so fleshy and fresh now! The market selling this was proposing customers to eat it raw! Oh but I decided to bake it the way I prefer.

I apply this to almost anything goes cos it's so easy, no mess and absolutely delicious! The crispy fragrant crumb outside seals the juicy scallop within, perfectly combined! This is definitely a favourite of our home. Try it!

Ingredients ( Prepares 2 large scallops with shell intact )

2 large scallops

Bread crumb : 3 heaping tablespoon. Not too flaky please, crush a little with spoon if you must.

Garlic : Grated, 1 teaspoon

Grated Parmesan Cheeze : 1 tablespoon

Olive oil : 2 tablespoon

Minced herb : Use herb that you prefer, I've run out of herbs so I used dried Parsley.

1. Preheat oven at 180deg.

2.Wash your scallops! The seller claimed that these can be consumed straight away, but I've found hmm... unfriendly particles within. =(

3. In a bowl, place in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, grated garlic, and cheeze, do a quick mix. Add in bread crumb, mix to let the bread crumb absorb the olive oil. Then, add in another tablespoon of olive oil across and perform thorough mixing. The idea is to wet the bread crumb with olive oil.

4. If the bread crumb isn't uniformly moistened, add another 1 teaspoon of olive oil to help.

5. Spread the moistened crumb across the scallops, covering them like a blanket. Sprinkle your favourite herbs on top. Bake at 180 deg for 15 mins, or watch your stuff to see the bread crumbs have turned into delicious looking gold.

To an average Singaporean, things in Japan are considered expensive. While green beans like these are dirt cheap in Singapore, it is unbelievably expensive here. With the price of getting barely a handful of it in Japan, one can get 9 times the volume in Singapore.

To prepare it simple, just fry some onion slices with sesame oil till fragrant. Add the green beans to fry, season with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, or 1 good pinch of salt. Complete with topping of sesame seeds.

Seafood Paella

Love Spring! It's not just the greenery outside that wakes up my senses, star vegetables appearing in the market, but also something's happening under the sea! =D


Asari ( あさり ) is making a loud comeback! See picture on the left ( lifted from the internet ) for its looks for I have no idea what's this shell's name is called in English. Apologies. It is said that the best time to have Asari is Spring and Autumn, when they are the most fleshy and sweet!

There are pretty lots of ways to use these tasty shells but I decided to use them for this Paella one evening. I shall share other recipes one of these days.



The Asari shells play a vital part in providing a good base, just add other favourite seafood to make it complete! We love the tasty rice that blends so well with the seafood. There are various versions of Seafood Paella around the world, but I'm sharing this simple homemade recipe that never fails to please my husband so much!


Recipe for Seafood Paella


Utensil required : 1 large pan, mine is 30 cm diameter. Lid for covering pan.

Ingredients ( Serves 2 )
Rice : 1 standard cup or 155g
Seafood stock : 350ml ( Preparation explained below )
Asari : 300g ( shell intact )
Other seafood : Prawn, squid, scallop, crab, or any seafood you fancy, keeping in mind the volume to serve and cholesterol level to keep at safe
Paprika : 1 big piece ( I used half or a red and yellow one )
Mushroom : 2 large mushroom, thickly sliced
Carrot : 1/2, and cut into wedges
Tomato : Medium size, cut into 6 large wedges
Onion : 1/2, sliced
Garlic : 1 large clove, minced
Curry , Saffron or Turmeric powder : 1 tablespoon
Ketchup : 2 tablespoon
Soy sauce or fish sauce : 1 tablespoon ( without which, replace with a firm pinch of salt )
White wine : 150ml
Olive oil : 2 tablespoon
Salt
Pepper
Preferred herbs like thyme, rosemary and etc is optional.
Garnish : Broccoli stalks and a quarter of lemon


1. Prepare Asari by soaking them in water and 1 large teaspoon of salt for at least 20 mins, placing them in a dim place. This makes the Asari spit out sand or particles, thus making them cleaner to consume. After which, wash Asari by rubbing palm harshly upon them. Drain and wash again until the waste water has appeared much cleaner.

2. Wash and devein prawn without removing the shell. Use knife to cut the prawn's back to do so. Leaving shell intact produces a better flavour. Wash up other seafood and land them in a bowl. Dash salt and pepper 2 times, quick stir, pour 150ml white wine over and put aside.

3. Wash rice, put aside.

4. Prepare seafood stock by boiling seafood cubes or powder concentrate in water. I am using scallop concentrate for mine. Boil 1/3 teaspoon of concentrate in slightly more than 350ml of water. Taste to make sure that it is bland, not too salty.

5. In the large diameter pan, fry the washed rice at medium fire to rid excess moisture. This makes the rice absorb the stock readily. Perform frying for about a minute and remove from pan.

6. In the same pan, heat olive oil at medium fire, fry minced garlic, onion slices till fragrant.

7. Add rice in, stir fry to get a well mix. Add in curry powder, ketchup and fry mixture evenly to get a uniform color.

8. Switch off fire. Add in stock, soy sauce or replacement, extract the white wine soaked within seafood into the pan. Stir well, and spread rice evenly across pan. Spread ingredients across the pan, spaced apart, following the order : Asari, seafood, carrot, paprika, tomato and lastly mushroom.

9. Cover pan with lid, cook at high heat till the mixture is brought to boil, with the Asari shells opened apart. Reduce heat to medium and cook. Check the Paella once every 10 mins, it could be ready by 20 mins later. You'd know that it's ready when the mixture looks moist but the soup is gone. Do not overcook Paella or it will cause an awful burn at the bottom of the mixture. While waiting, prepare garnish by boiling broccoli stalks in another pan with water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, put aside when done.

10. When Paella's done, switch off the fire, chuck broccoli stalks in and leave lid on for 5 mins, let the thing infuse. Serve with lemon squishes.


I have lovely memories of delicious Seafood Paella tried in Australia, Italy and especially Belgium. They were really heavenly with the fresh, plump and extravagant seafood, that often make me reminisce much. We've tried many others around Japan, but sadly; none has managed to satisfy us.

My husband loves this homemade-possible Seafood Paella absolutely, thus I'm pleased that this has become a surprisingly good substitute, and also, one recipe that settles dinner rather easily. ;)