in the japanese kitchen, there are many dishes which are influenced by cuisines from other countries. curry & rice, one of the earlier japanese dishes i posted for example, is influenced by (obviously) the indian.
last night, i made 鮭チャーハン “sake cha-han“, fried rice with salmon. in japan, we eat many kinds of fried rice dishes, which are variations from the chinese kitchen. with our impeccable talent to recreate and enhance, a series of modern japanese dishes with foreign origins were born, just like this salmon cha-han:
fried rice with salmon
– 1 fillet of salmon (lightly salted, grilled and broken into rough pieces before frying)
– 2 eggs, beaten
– 2+ cups of cooked rice
– 12cm of japanese leek, chopped
– 4 table spoons of salad oil
– 1+ table spoon of japanese sake
– salt & pepper to taste
– if available, a pinch of konbu (kelp) dashi powder, but can do without
– sprinkle of chopped spring onion or chives
1. in a frying pan or a wak, pour in the oil and heat it up well (really well), and add the eggs
2. quickly scramble the eggs with a spatula and when they are still half cooked, add the rice and quickly mix it with the eggs
3. once mixed, add the leek and the salmon and further stir-fry quickly
4. from the rim of the pan, add the sake (the alcohol will remove the fishy smell of the salmon) and the konbu powder (if available) and further stir-fry quickly
5. at the end, add salt & pepper to taste and quickly stir-fry
6. when serving, sprinkle the spring onion/chives over the fried rice.
the entire steps from 1 – 5 only takes about 5 minutes or so (or even less). do every step very quickly, in order to avoid the rice from getting soggy and sticky.
this time, i served the fried rice with vegetable soup (in chicken broth) and cucumber salad.
召し上がれ meshiagare (bon appetite)!
SMALL TOKYO KITCHEN 