Tsumire Nabe (Fish Balls Hot Pot)

Wednesday Dinner

-Saury Tsumire Nabe (Fish Balls Hot Pot)

It's been raining and cold all this week in Sydney and I knew Nabe season is finally here.  (Nabe is a hot pot, Tsumire is fish balls in Japanese).  Although Nabe requires minimum amount of effort to prepare, it is not an ordinary dish.  I believe Nabe has social and cultural importance among Japanese people.  The dish signals the arrival of winter and in some ways, Nabe is a celebration of life.  Family, friends, even strangers gather around one pot and share a meal in a cold winter night, it brings people closer.

Wednesday was the first Nabe of the season, I wanted it to be special so I made fish balls using Pacific Saury (Sanma).  I filleted two pacific saury and minced the flesh with ginger in Vitamix.  To the fish paste, I added finely chopped 2 spring onions and 3 Shiso leaves infused in soy sauce.  Tsumire is traditionally made with fresh sardines but Sanma fish balls were as good.

Nabe can be made with pretty much any flavours you could think of, such as soy sauce, Miso, salt, soy milk, Kimchi, tomato, curry, chilli etc.  This time I made a simple clear soup with a Dashi Pack.  Bring water to boil with a Dashi pack, and the vegetables that takes longer to cook such as Daikon, carrot, celery, onion, leek, white part of Chinese cabbege.  Once the water is boiling, drop fish cake mixture into the soup using two spoons.  Add other ingredients that cooks quickly such as leaves of Chinese cabbage, kale, glass noodles, tofu.  Put a lid on.  Cook on low heat for about 5mins.

Serve with Ponzu and Kanzuri chilli paste.

Saury Fish Balls Recipe (Serves 2~3)

Ingredients

• 2 pacific saury, filleted
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 3 Shiso leaves infused in soy sauce, finely sliced

Method

1. Process filleted sauries in a blender to a smooth paste, transfer to a bowl
2. Add spring onions and shiso leaves
3. Drop the mixture in boiling water/soup using two spoons
4. Cook till firm

Grilled Saury with Lemon

Wednesday Dinner

- Grilled Saury with Lemon

- Germinated Brown Rice (GBR)

- Osuimono Soup with Tofu and Wakame

- Pickled Cucumber

My husband and I went camping over the Easter long weekend.  We love to go camping on long weekends as much as possible to get away from the City.  There are just too many people and too many cars in Sydney.  I grew up in Tokyo but I am not a city-girl.

After 15 years on no-meat diet, I have started eating meat last year.  For past 12 months, I have eaten so much of it that I am bit sick of it now and thinking about ditching low-carb diet and just eat whatever my heart desires.  I think low-carb, paleo or keto diet are really great for losing weight but I am underweight and do not wish to lose or gain weight at the moment so I am not sure if there is any reasons for me to be on low-carb diet. 

Well, I know the importance of protein in diet from my vegan phase, and fish was the obvious substitute to meat.  I keep frozen saury in freezer so I gutted, cleaned 3 whole fish and seasoned with salt and pepper.  Filled the belly with onion, lemon slices, dill, mushrooms then grilled in 180˚C oven for 20mins.  Served with GBR and a clear soup.  The fish had crispy skin and moist fatty flesh.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

I made pickled cucumber by simmering sliced cucumber with 4Tbsp soy sauce, 2Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp Korean chilli powder and 10g ginger until almost all the liquid is reduced.  It is a good condiment to go with plain rice.