Dishing Japanese

Wakame, ohitashi, and oyako donburi sound exotic, but they're part of Japan's simple home-style cuisine.

October 14, 2007|Adam Ried

My friend, Japanese-native-now-Californian Shinei Tsukamoto, is a deft cook. On a recent visit to the West Coast, we drank beers and sake while he glided around the kitchen, discussing Japanese ingredients and casually preparing "just a simple, home-style meal" for his family and a small group of friends and neighbors.

Sea vegetables, which many Americans (myself included) call "seaweed," come in myriad forms and are a staple in Japanese cooking. The type we used, wakame (pronounced wa-KA-me), comes dried (which is most commonly available here), salted, and even fresh during its brief summer harvest season. Seasoned rice vinegar, also called sushi vinegar, is mild and spiked with salt and sweetener. These days, it and everything else on our ingredients list, except the wakame (available at Asian markets such as Super 88) and the sake (sold in liquor stores), can be found in the international aisle of any well-stocked supermarket.

SHRIMP SALAD WITH CELERY, CUCUMBER, AND WAKAME
SERVES 6 AS AN APPETIZER

You can substitute frozen spinach - cooked, squeezed dry, and chopped - for the wakame.

1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 pounds large (21 to 25 count) shrimp, shelled, deveined, and butterflied
2/3 cup (about 1/2 ounce) dried wakame
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced on the bias (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 English cucumber, scrubbed and thinly sliced on the bias

In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil; set the dressing aside. In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside. When the water on the stove boils, add the salt and shrimp and cook until the shrimp are just opaque, about 1 minute. In a colander, drain the shrimp and immediately plunge into the ice water to stop the cooking, then drain the shrimp again. Transfer the shrimp to the bowl with the dressing and toss. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, place the wakame in a bowl, cover with cold water, and rehydrate until tender and doubled in volume, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

To assemble the salad, arrange the sliced celery along the edge of a large serving platter. Arrange the cucumber slices in a ring inside the celery ring, and then the wakame in a ring inside of that. With a slotted spoon, remove the shrimp from the dressing and arrange them in the center of the platter. Whisk the dressing to recombine, pour 1/2 cup of it over the entire salad, and serve at once.

OHITASHI (SESAME SPINACH)
SERVES 6 AS A SIDE DISH