Kanpachi Nabe

My daughter Helen, her boyfriend Will, his son Atticus, and my granddaughter, Grace were in town a few days ago and we had a dinner together to celebrate my birthday.  One of my gifts was the Uchi cookbook.  Uchi is a very famous restaurant owned by Tyson Cole, an award winning chef, in Austin.  A second location opened recently in Houston.  Helen and Will went to the Austin location for Helen's birthday in May and told me all about it.  I had heard of it but never eaten there.  I am very anxious to try it now, especially after reading the cookbook from cover to cover.  What interesting dishes he has created.  One of the dishes that caught my eye cas called, "Kona Kanpachi" or on his restaurant menu, "Hamachi Nabe".  I had a feeling this would be a really great dish so I just had to make it.  I didn't have a small nabe (clay donabe pot) so I ordered an authentic one on line.  It is a beautiful brown clay pot from Japan, about 7 inches in diameter.

The dish consists of sushi rice cooked in a hot donabe, marinated fresh kanpachi (yellowtail) added to the hot donabe topped with an egg yolk, furikake, scallion, and a special sauce.

I don't usually get that excited about food (well I really do, but not THAT excited), but this was out of this world good.  Steve went crazy over it too.  I modified the recipe a bit so mine is not exactly the same as the one in the cookbook.  It is worth anything you have to do to make it, including purchasing a $54.00 authentic donabe pot from Japan.  Take my word for it.

Kanpachi Nabe

Adapted from Uchi Cookbook, Tyson Cole

1 serving

1 T vegetable oil

2 ounces kanpachi, diced

salt and pepper

1 cup cooked sushi rice

Sauce

5 ounces sake

7 ounces mirin

5 ounces reduced sodium soy sauce

1 tsp dashi

2 garlic cloves, smashed

Sesame Relish

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 large shallot, minced

1 small Thai chile

1 tsp sesame oil

2 T vegetable oil

Garnish

1 egg yolk

Furikake

Bonito flakes

3/4 stalk scallion, diced

For the sauce:  Heat sake in a medium saucepan and burn off alcohol, about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Combine remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and let steep for 15 minutes. (You will have extra sauce so you can make 3 or 4 servings or use the sauce for other dishes.)

For the sesame relish:  Finely dice (brunoise) the garlic and shallot, and thinly slice the Thai chile in rounds.  Mix the vegetables with the oils.  Set aside

Heat a nabe, or Japanese hot pot, on the stove with a little bit of oil.  Toss diced kanpachi with the sesame relish and season with salt and pepper.  Just before the oil reaches its smoking point, add the rice.  Next add the kanpachi.  Top with the egg yolk and sprinkle of furikake, bonito flakes, and finely sliced scallion. The hot ingredients will partially cook the fish and it will be ready immediately.  Pour 2 tablespoons kanpachi sauce on top (or more to taste).  Serve in hot pot at the table on an insulated place mat.

(I used Hon-dashi, a dried dashi powder similar to bouillon.  Furikake is a Japanese seaweed seasoning.  Both Hon-dashi and Furikake are sold in Asian stores and Central Market in Texas.)

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Spicy Braised Tofu and Garden Vegetables

I found the best recipe for tofu!!  It is from the Vermont Zen Center of all places.  I was trying to search for a "braised tofu" dish like the one I had in San Diego at the Mission Cafe that was served with egg whites, grilled zucchini, and brown rice.

I have adapted it more to my tastes and find it to be very versatile.  It goes really well with brown rice (or any rice) and vegetables, either cooked with the tofu or separately.
A typical weeknight, after working out at the gym, I looked for something to cook in the refrigerator, grabbed a package of medium firm tofu (but the recipe works with any type of tofu), drained it, cut it into slices about 1/2 inch thick and set it on paper towels to dry out a bit.
I went out to the vegetable garden to see if anything was ripe and found a summer squash, a couple pieces of okra, a bell pepper, and some cilantro.  I had some carrots already cut up in the refrigerator from lunch and a piece of onion.
After braising the tofu I heated 1/2 tablespoon of canola oil and stir fried the cut up vegetables with a tsp each of garlic and ginger and a little low sodium soy sauce. I sprinkled the minced cilantro on top after they were done.  Brown rice was cooking in the rice cooker. The finished dish was full of flavor from the garden fresh produce and the gingery sauce on the tofu.  I had some cooked Thai beef in the freezer from another meal so I defrosted it and served it along side Steve's dinner.  He would not consider tofu, rice, and vegetables alone to be "dinner".

Spicy Braised Tofu

2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar or evaporated cane sugar
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Set aside.
1 pound tofu, medium to firm
1/2 tablespoon canola oil and a few drops sesame oil
1 scallion, chopped for garnish
1 tsp grated ginger for garnish

Cut dried tofu into bite size cubes.  In a large skillet, heat the oil and saute tofu until lightly browned.  Stir sauce again to combine, then add to tofu.  Cook stirring occasionally unti sauce comes to a boil.
Simmer until thick and sauce is no longer milky.  Sprinkle with scallion and ginger.

The braised tofu also tastes great for breakfast with an egg white omelet and toast or rice, or cut up a put on a salad. 

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Barney Butter, my new favorite spread

I subscribe to a monthly food box called "Love With Food" and received a couple packages of Barney Butter last month.  I didn't think too much of it since I am not that fond of almond butter, but when I tried this product I was surprised at how good it tasted.  It is also packaged in 1 tablespoon size servings which is the right amount for me, about 90 calories and 7 grams of fat.  For breakfast a piece of Artisan Baking Company multigrain bread spread with the Barney Butter is delicious! Try it.  I looked on their website and discovered their other products and recipes. I am interested in trying some Asian sauces with the Barney Butter or using it to make some desserts as well.

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Progress on my weight loss journey

On January 1st, 2012, I wrote about using my culinary talents and skills to lose weight once and for all and pledged to post healthy recipes in this blog.  My original intent was to post daily but I didn't make that happen.
I posted a lot of recipes in the beginning but then after a long business trip in March living in a hotel room for two weeks I stopped posting for a while.  During that time period I tried eating a plant based, fat free diet and managed to last for about a month.  I struggled to find recipes for beans, vegetables, and tofu that were interesting enough to post, but without any fat and no fish or meat I didn't get inspired.  I'll admit it was pretty depressing to me, so eventually I started eating fish and poultry again. I am following a very low fat, mostly plant based diet now.  I use very little fat in my cooking and keep fat grams down to under 30 a day, but would like that number to be 20.  If you look at the photos starting from the top you will see the difference between weighing what I did when I started and 25 pounds less by May 2012.  I plan to continue to lose a few more pounds, and I continue to work out with Sandra Kidd 3 days a week.  I won't stop until I lose another 10 pounds, then reduce to once or twice a week and work out on my own.  I have a treadmill at home and do cardio the days I don't lift weights.  From a health standpoint my blood pressure is 120/70, cholesterol level is normal, and I can run a mile and a half in a little over 14 minutes.  I hate that I waited so long to get into shape.   But then again, I recently saw photos of a 75 year old woman, Ernestine Shepherd, who is a serious weight lifter/runner and she looks fantastic.
 

On Italy trip March 2011--one of the photos that inspired me to sign up for personal training with Sandra Kidd in April 2011

July 2008

September 2006

May 2012

May 2012

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Private Sushi Classes in Fort Worth









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