Grilled Saba

Oh how I love Saaaaaa-baaaah.

My friend Yuka comes over almost every week now and we try to do a little Japanese cooking when we are not studying together. So we decided to do fish!

I did a simple, grilled and salted saba... And she did a Kabayaki Saba which is sweet and equally as delicious! Here is our little cook-off:

We started by cleaning and cutting our fishes. I cut mine in half (right) and she cut hers in quarters (left). Here's how I made my Grilled Saba: 

First, I salted it with sea salt and set it aside for 10 minutes.

 Next, I grated some daikon (turnip). 

 It grates very easily and fast so watch your fingers!

 There's a lot of water in daikon so you'll have to gently queeze it out.

Now I'm ready to grill (which I forgot to take a picture of...) 

 I grilled it 10 minutes on each side, skin-side down first. Oh it is hard to resist, as the smell fills the room!

Here is my grilled saba with a side a daikon and some hot green tea brewing. 

I also added sauteed spinach with minced garlic that I fried in canola oil. I used spinach because I forgot to buy shiso leaves. If I had shiso, I would have rolled it up and chopped it.

I'm done! I had soy sauce on the side but it was so good by itself that I didnt even touch it.

Here is Yuka's Kabayaki Saba: 

  First, she cooked sake, soy sauce, and mirin together. Once the sauce was ready, she lightly dipped each fish in flour and fried it in the sauce. 

I was out of mirin, so I had Yuka use agave instead which made it a little thick and caramelized. 

 Here's the Grilled Sanma next to the Kabayaki Sanma. The Kabayaki was so good that I even forgot the mirin-substitute was there. Ku-dos! 

Here is a little Sam's Club salad that I added at the last minute. 

 "Itadakimasu!" 

 Shy? Do you want some?

 No thanks. 

My printable recipe

Strawberry Grand Marnier with Toasted Slivered Almonds

This is a great dessert when enteraining guests… Its light, its sweet, and it has Grand Marnier in it!

I got all of these items (pictured) at Costco.  

 Ah yes fresh strawberries

 I wash my strawberries in Kangen water or clean water.

First, lop off the tops of the strawberries. Slice in half then into quarters (or thin slices, if you prefer). 

 Place the strawberries in a serving bowl.

 Next, Add a shot of Grand Marnier (or any orange liqueur) into a shot glass.

Get some sugar.

 And pour it into the shot glass. Mmmm.

 It'll sink, so you'll need to mix it.

 I like to give it a good swirl but not until it dissolves. I like it a little cloudy because the crystals are still visable. 

 Pour the liqueur right into the bowl of strawberries.

 Add the almonds.

 Like that... or la-DAT, as we say in Hawaii.

 Beautiful, beautiful Grand Marnier.

 Now, grab an orange. Always make sure everything's clean of course.

 Give it a nice zest. 

 I just gave it a few strokes.

Garnish with a mint leaf and its ready to serve! 

My Printable Recipe

Easy Microwavable Candied Nuts

Candied nuts are so easy and so delicious. It's great on salads, as a snack, breakfast bowls, on ice cream, or use it as a favor for a party.

Grab a bag of baking nuts. These are raw nuts made for cooking. Do not use salted nuts, cocktail nuts or anything with more than nuts as ingredients. These are from Costco.

Pour 1 cup of walnuts (or pecans, macadamia nuts etc.)  into a microwavable glass bowl with a handle.

And 3/4 cup of sugar

Top the sugar on the nuts.

Add 1/4 cup water.

Pour right on top.

You don't need to stir it...

Just place it in the microwave just like that.

Set it for 6 minutes and press start.

In the meantime, lightly grease a flat baking sheet. This will help separate the nuts when they are done.

Check the nuts every 2 minutes or so. At this point, you can give it a nice stir to coat. Making sure the sugar-water made contact all the nuts. 

Stop again in a minute or two to give it a quick stir to combine.

This is about 4 minutes remaining.

You'll notice the sugar-water starting to thicken.

At the 2 minutes remaining mark, the sugar-water has clearly become carmellized. 

Work quickly to stir and return it back to the microwave for the remaining minute or so. 

Once fragrant, it is ready. If fragrant before the 6 minutes, stop the microwave to avoid burning the nuts. (If the nuts burn, they'll turn into a dark golden color and it will be sticky and shiny. You can keep it or toss it, its up to you.)

Cool completely, uncovered. It will be soft and stale if eaten warm. Once it's cooled, it will hardened back up and taste like candy! 

 Here is the finished walnuts at almost 6 minutes. 

You can also used pecans! Pecans are wonderful to taste and fun to share with friends. The only tricky part is that pecans can burn easy. So keep and eye one them and stir more frequently. 

Pecans on the left, Walnuts on the right.

These are the finished pecans. I think they could have cooked a little longer for a more whiter candied color.

Simple, fast, easy, YUMMY!

Just do yourself a FAVOR! ; - >

My Printable Recipe

Go ahead, print it!