Fish Trip Cafe

This is a Japanese home-style dish. Sweet and savoury miso sauce gives the vegetables a very rich and appetising flavour. Serve with steamed plain rice.

Miso is fermented soya bean paste, made from soya beans and normally rice or barley are mixed with salt and koji (a formentation starter) and allow to ferment for six months to five years.
It comes in many colours, creamy white, yellow, red brown and dark brown, etc.
Usually the light coloured miso has light flavour and dark coloured miso has strong flavour.

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— Sweet Miso Stir-Fried Aubergine & Green Pepper (serves 2) —

1 aubergine

1/2 green pepper

1 tablespoon miso paste  (mideum-coloured)

1 tablespoon sake (rice wine)

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

3 tablespoons sesame oil

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Cut the aubergine into bite-sized pieces, immerse in water for 10 minutes and drain.

Cut the green pepper into bite-sized pieces.

Mix the miso paste, sake, sugar and soy sauce in a small bowl.

Heat the sesame oil in a frying-pan. Fry the aubergine over a low-medium heat until softened. Add the green peppers and fir-fry for 4-5 minutes.

Add the miso sauce and stir-fry until the liquid is evaporated.

Ochazuke is a simple and easy Japanese dish. Pouring hot tea over cooked rice, roughly in the same proportion as milk over cereal, and topped with savoury toppings. It’s popular as a light meal or after-drinking snack in Japan.

In the olden days in Kyoto, when a host asks if you want to eat ochazuke, it means you have overstayed their welcome and it being politely asked to leave.
But don’t worry, it’s the custom of the past. If you are offered ochazuke in Kyoto now, then just enjoy :)

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— Salmon Ochazuke (serves 2) —

1 piece salmon fillet

Sea salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup cooked short grain white rice

2 cups Japanese green tea

1/2 sheet nori, finely shredded with kitchen scissors

1/2 spring onion, finely sliced

Wasabi paste

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Rub the salmon fillet with a generous amount of sea salt.

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying-pan, cook the salmon on both sides over a medium heat until cooked through. Break the salmon into chunks.

Place the cooked rice in a bow, top with the salmon, nori, spring onion and a little wasabi paste.

Pour hot green tea over the rice.

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— Espresso Granita (for 6 small glasses) —

500ml freshly-brewed espresso

100g sugar, or adjust your taste

Some sweetened whipped cream for serving

Some dark chocolate shavings for garnish (optional)

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Combine the espresso and the sugar in a bowl until the sugar is dissolved and leave to cool.

Pour the espresso into a shallow container and freeze about 1 hour. Using a fork, stir to break up the crystals. Freeze and stir every 30 minutes until the mixture became small crystals (about 4-5 times total)

To serve, spoon the granita into chilled glasses and dollop with a whipped cream and garnish with the chocolate shavings.

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— Calamari in Tomato Anchovy Sauce (serves 4) —

8 tbsp olive oil

6 anchovy fillets, chopped

3 tablespoons capers

2 garlic clove, very finely chopped

1 small red chilli, very finely chopped

1kg squid, cleaned a and chopped

A pinch of salt

3 tablespoons white wine

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes

20 karamata olives, pettied

A handful chopped flat-leaf parsley

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Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan, add the anchovies and capers, stir-fry over a medium heat, until the anchovies dissolve.

Add the garlic and red chilli stir-fry for about 1 minutes.

Add the squid, stir-fry for a further couple of minutes. Add the white wine and boil until the liquid has almost completely evaporated.

Add the canned tomatoes, olives and a pinch of salt, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Garnish with chopped flat-leaf parsley.

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— Garlic Bread Salad (serves 2) —

4 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 loaf day-old crusty bread, cut into chunks

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 and 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Salt and black pepper

10 cherry tomatoes, cut into halves

1/2 cucumber, cut into chunks

150g lettuce leaves

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

10 karamata olives, pitted

Small bunch of fresh basil, chopped

Some parmesan cheese, shaved

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In a large frying-pan, heat the olive oil and garlic over a medium heat. Add  bread pieces and lightly sprinkle with salt. Sauté until golden brown for 4-5 minutes. 

In a small bowl, mix the extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and black pepper.

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, red onion, karamata olives and basil. drizzle with dressing. Add the sautéed bread, toss well to coat.

Garnish with parmesan cheese.