Monday, October 26, 2009

Serendipity and Raw Fish


The other day a lovely surprise was delivered to me through the front door:


From Kristine, whom I have actually known since university and noticed from my cookbook rants on this blog that I love to cook and so generously gave me this signed copy of Tetsuya Wakuda's cookbook. Thank you so much.

Tetsuya runs the eponymous restaurant in Sydney which is on one list of things to do before death takes me. It is one of the best restaurants in Australia and the world.

My husband read it and was inspired, and wrote me a list full of provisions to pick up at the market.

As an aside, my husband, who is an excellent cook, in fact cooks very very rarely. The reasons for this range from: he works hard to I like to cook myself to all kinds of plausible excuses in between. Hence I really value those evenings when I am cooked for.

His shopping list was a bit strange, it contained no quantities and consisted of five 'groups' of ingredients. Buy any 2 or 3 groups, the list said.

(Read no further if you don't like raw fish).

I ignored the unreasonable injunction to just buy some ingredients, and bought all 5 groupings.

That evening we realised we had the makings of a five course meal, one duck and the other four seafood. And it was just the two of us.



He decided to cook the four seafood. It was then we realised that each seafood dish was raw. Okay, challenging, but good for you, right?

So, this is what we ate. Apologies for the deteriorating quality of the photos. It was rather a long night!


Raw snapper with cucumber and sherry vinegar dressing



Tuna and Hamachi with orange oil and ginger juice


Sea scallops with lemonade fruit and yuzu. I have never seen lemonade fruit here - he used lemon. The scallops are 'cooked' by immersing in hot water then refreshed in ice and sliced.



Cuttlefish noodles with mirin, soy and capers with broccoli florets and (raw) quail egg.

What an interesting evening of food......

As an aside we had lots of quail eggs left over so the next night I deep fried them for one minute then rolled them in a mixture of rice flour, chilli powder and sea salt. Really divine (and filling) with drinks!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I observe you are one hungry person.

Jane said...

Yes you are very observant. Lovely to have you visit.

Kristine said...

I'm so pleased I gave this book to you. I knew it would be in good hands. I would never have been so game to cook anything like that.

brismod said...

How fortunate you are - you have a very good and observant friend, a husband who can cook (Michelin rather than bbq) and a fabulous entry to your home! Poisson cru au lait coco done with fresh tuna is a favourite in this house.

Splendid Willow said...

I am so JEALOUS! I LOVE raw seafood and thought I had come to heaven when I visited Nobu sushi in Malibu. But this seems to be in a class of its own!

And your front entry is lovely!

Happy week! Monika.

Julie@beingRUBY said...

Hi Jane
WEll I don't think I can do the raw fish... but love your tiled table with little spanish galleons!

Have a great week x Julie

Jacqueline @ HOME said...

I cold eat all of it, Jane. I love seafood...cooked or raw. and, although there were a few courses, it is very light. I love quails eggs too. They are great, hard boiled with celery salt too. XXXX

Amanda (Small Acorns) said...

Wow - your husband could be in training for masterchef! Sounds like a great night, albeit long!

Fifi Flowers said...

LOVE sashimi!!! I've never had raw scallops... hmmmm
Ooooh and I do LOVE art in the kitchen... I believe I have 4 paintings in my kitchen! 3 by moi and 1 via an estate sale.

Crystal @ Plush Palate said...

What a sweet gesture of your friend! I am quite hungry after reading this post. So my kind of food!

Millie said...

We are sashimi freaks here Jane! Although MOTH always stops at the Kebab House on the way home from our favourite Japanese restaurant, which in my books kinda spoils the whole thing. Your meal looked fantastic.
Millie ^_^

Samy said...

Am not a huge fan of raw seafood myself, but the pictures look amazing!
I love the front entry of your home!

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