For the Melbourne-based Japanese chef Kantaro Okada, the bottom of a dish is of utmost significance: “In ochazuke, the broth, the dashi, might be a very powerful – not the topping, not the grilled fish.
“I really feel like in loads of dishes the primary ingredient is sort of essential, however for us I believe what surrounds it and the bottom [is more important] … By perfecting that, or striving to, we’re very assured it doesn’t matter what goes on prime.”
At his cafe, 279, on Victoria Road in West Melbourne, this implies paying specific care to the components mostly utilized in his musubi, additionally know as onigiri: rice balls with varied fillings or toppings, formed into triangles and infrequently wrapped in a bit of nori. Okada has taken nice care to curate the forms of nori and rice used, in addition to the rice cooker.
“We went by, like, 10 rice cookers to seek out the suitable one,” he says.
279 additionally gives numerous osozai (chilly aspect dishes) and desserts, however musubi stays the main focus.
“A whole lot of Japanese retailers are very specialised,” Okada says. “I believe all of the hospitality and meals shops in Japan specialize in one thing and attempt to excellent it.”
Okada’s exacting method comes by in his recipe for ochazuke, a dish of rice with sizzling dashi poured over it. It asks for only one millilitre of usukuchi soy sauce (saltier however lighter in color than common soy sauce) a serve. When measuring such small portions, Okada makes use of a high-precision scale for accuracy.
He additionally marinates his salmon in shio koji in a single day. The fish undergoes a near-invisible transformation; its umami qualities are supercharged and it tastes in some way extra like itself. That is due to enzymes from koji, a form of fermented rice: proteins within the fish are damaged down into their part amino acids, which we understand as umami.
Whereas a exact technique yields exactly balanced flavours, the dish is in any other case uncomplicated; smoky bonito flakes and grassy sencha make for a lightweight but deeply savoury broth. It’s additionally excellent for utilizing leftover rice, and the topping could be customised relying on what’s in your fridge: snapper or any form of white fish works nicely, whereas different common toppings embody seaweeds and pickles resembling umeboshi.
The idea for 279 grew out of Okada’s eager for the musubi he ate in Japan, which have been tough to seek out in Australia. “We have been making it at dwelling, and I used to be like, I might eat this on daily basis. So it was just like the store was constructed for myself!”
Okada and his spouse, Hitoe, workshopped 279’s menu collectively, with Hitoe testing musubi fillings and toppings whereas Okada labored on choosing and testing rice and nori varieties.
“Each weekend we’d experiment and check out new musubi, new onigiri, completely different components, till at some extent we have been like, ‘I believe we might truly provide this to clients.’”
Kantaro Okada’s ochazuke
Prep 10 min
Marinate In a single day
Prepare dinner 20-25 min
Serves 2
For the salmon
1 salmon fillet (about 120g), pores and skin on
15g (about 2 tsp) shio koji (optionally available)
For the dashi broth
720ml water
28g katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
4g (about 2 tsp) loose-leaf sencha
2ml (scant ½ tsp) usukuchi soy sauce
¼ tsp salt
To serve
240g (scant 1⅓ cup) cooked short-grain rice
2 tbsp tenkasu (tempura bits)
shio kombu (seasoned salted kelp, bought reduce into skinny strips)
6cm piece (50g) takuan (pickled daikon radish), thinly sliced
wasabi
Pat the salmon fillet dry with a paper towel. Coat the salmon evenly with the shio koji and place in a coated container, then refrigerate in a single day.
The subsequent morning, take the salmon fillet out of the fridge and preheat the oven grill on a excessive setting. Utilizing your arms or a paper towel, wipe off as a lot of the shio koji as potential; you may even give it a fast mild rinse in chilly water. (Shio koji burns simply, so take away as a lot of it as you may.)
Place the salmon fillet skin-side down in a small baking dish or tray. On a rack set about 15cm from the grill’s heating ingredient, grill for 15 to twenty minutes, or till the highest of the salmon is barely charred.
Whereas the salmon is cooking, carry 720ml of water to a boil. Add the katsuobushi and tea leaves then instantly flip off the warmth. Enable the combination to steep for 2 minutes earlier than straining to take away the solids. Add soy sauce and salt; style and modify with a bit further salt if needed.
As soon as your salmon is finished, take away from the grill and separate the fish from the pores and skin, then discard the pores and skin. Use a fork or chopsticks to softly flake the fish into small chunks.
Divide the rice in half. Moist your arms, then form every 120g portion of rice, cupping your arms collectively to kind rounded triangular “balls” about 3cm thick. Alternatively, use a smaller bowl to form the rice. Place every rice ball in a bowl.
Divide the flaked salmon between the 2 bowls, putting it on the rice ball. Prime every bowl with a beneficiant pinch of shio kombu threads. Divide the broth between the bowls and add a tablespoon of tempura bits to every. Serve with wasabi and takuan on the aspect; the wasabi could be added to the ochazuke to style, whereas the takuan is eaten as an accompaniment.
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Shio koji, katsuobushi, usukuchi soy sauce, tenkasu, takuan and shio kombu can all be discovered at specialty Japanese grocers
