Calamari salad with sesame seeds, fennel, cucumber & chili #182

Hello, it´s time for some calamari, this time I am serving it in a salad with Asian flavors. It is fairly simple to make, the base is chopped cucumber, fennel and seared calamari and then I added toasted sesame seeds, cilantro, sesame oil, chili and some seaweed. 

The salad keeps for a few hours in the fridge so it is a good dish to have prepared beforehand, also if you´re serving guests who are not big fans of calamari it is a great way to learn to like it since it´s not the dominant flavor of the dish. Some people don´t like the texture of calamari either and since it´s chopped and seared it is not so noticeable.

Calamari salad with sesame seeds, fennel, cucumber & chili

calamari, fresh or frozen

sesame seeds

fresh red chili

cucumber

fennel

sesame oil

dried wakame seaweed (can be found in most Asian food stores)

olive oil

salt, pepper

fresh cilantro

fresh lime

Chop the calamari into cubes and sear in a frying pan with some vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper. Once cooked add the calamari to a bowl and dice the cucumber and slice the fennel and add to the bowl. Dice the chili and cilantro and add together with some olive oil, sesame oil and lime juice.

Bring water to the boil in a pot and add some dried wakame seaweed, let it simmer for one minute, discard the water and rinse the wakame in cold water, then chop the seaweed and add to the salad.

In a dry pan roast the sesame seeds until they are golden, once done add to the bowl and combine all ingredients, adjust flavors using oil, salt, pepper and lime if necessary. Be a bit careful with the chili since it takes a while for the flavors to come forward.

New Years recipe ideas with Asian flavors

New Years Eve is coming up and if you haven´t decided on what to serve I have picked some of my own favorite recipes from Delicious Tapas and have some great suggestions for you!

This is the sixth and final post in this series and it will be focused on Asian flavors and inspiration

All recipes can be found in their original post that I have linked for each dish. I haven´t suggested any dessert but since I´m not that much into desserts. But if I have to recommend something I would go for any great ice cream, because who doesn´t love ice-cream?

New Years menu with Asian flavors

Appetizers - these appetizers is quite light in flavor and is a great start to any meal.

Vietnamese spring rolls with sesame seeds and soy dipping sauce
Calamari with cilantro, lime and spring onion
Mussels with Thai flavors

Starter

Scallop in dashi with wakame and chili oil

I love this dish, the sweet scallop in combination with the wakame and dashi makes it one of my own favorites and I think it´s perfect as an Asian inspired starter.

Main course

For the main course it´s time for some meat, soy braised ribs with some Momofuku quick pickles and rice balls on the side.

Soy braised ribs with chili and cilantro
Momofuku quick salt pickles
Rice balls with cilantro and chili soy dip

Gazpacho salad #126

Usually when I make Gazpacho I make the classic way, mixed on a hot day served with grilled bread. But using the same stuff as you would when you´re mixing that very same Gazpacho can make a great tasting, looking and refreshing salad. All you need is good vegetables and a bit of time.It´s the marinading that will make the difference when you make this salad, you need to let the vegetables rest for an hour or two to get that Gazpacho taste, if not it will still taste good but not as Gazpacho.

And if you´re not serving tapas then it´s of course great to serve as a side for a main dish or as a appetizer, if it´s the only thing you´re serving as an appetizer then add some bread or maybe some cheese.

If you´re looking for other types of Gazpacho you can head right over to my green Gazpacho recipe, if not then keep reading.

Gazpacho salad

tomatoes, different sizes and colors
cucumber
bell peppers
red onion
garlic
dried chili flakes
parsley
white wine vinegar
olive oil
black pepper
sea salt

Dice and slice the cucumber, peppers and tomatoes, make sure to cut them in different sizes and shapes, this will make the salad look much better. Peel and thinly slice the red onion and garlic. Combine all vegetables and add olive oil, chili, red onion, garlic, parsley, vinegar, salt and pepper and then let marinate for at least one hour.

It´s fine to let it marinade for longer but serve it the same day as you made it, in my opinion it looses it´s freshness otherwise. When time for serving taste the salad and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve.

Braised pork belly with soy & cucumber & fennel salad #121

Braised pork belly is one of the tastiest and cheapest part of the pig you can serve and if you do it right it will be simply amazing. It´s quite easy to get the belly tasting good, all it needs is loads of time. The ways of seasoning the belly is numerous but I chose to make it a bit asian with japanese soy this time because I like how it matches the crisp raw salad of the cucumber both in flavor and texture.

Since braising pork belly isn´t to much work once you got it in the oven or pot you can make a big batch and save some for dinner, tacos or some nice sandwiches. The extra effort in time is almost nothing but the reward to have some pre-braised belly waiting in the frigde.

Braised pork belly with soy & cucumber & fennel salad

pork belly

japanese soy

beef stock

fish sauce

dried chili

water

salt, pepper

honey

cucumber

fennel

lime juice

sesame seeds

sesame oil

olive oil

Cut of the skin of the belly if it´s still left on, the season to belly with salt and pepper and then sear it on all sides until golden. Remove from the pan and transer into a pot and add the japanese soy, beef stock, fish sauce, dried chili and honey and then cover with water. Leave to simmer under a lid until tender, this takes about 4-6 hours, however it´s almost impossible to let i cook for too long so up to ten hours is not a problem. Once done remove the meat and reduce the liquid until it´s a thick sauce.

Cut the cucumber and fennel in thin stripes and combine with sesame seeds, olive oil, lime juice and a few drops of sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice the pork belly and plate it, drizzle with some of the cooking sauce, serve the salad on the side.

Grilled mackerel with lemon & tomato salsa #113

Mackerel is not something I cook a lot, usually I buy smoked ones but fresh ones are great too but the taste and texture is quite different in comparison to white meat fishes. Make sure you don´t grill it for to long because once it´s dry it won´t be good. And if you´ve just bought some smoked mackerel then don´t worry, I´ve got a recipe for that too, just click here!

Grilled mackerel with lemon & tomato salsa 

fresh mackerel fillets

lemon

tomato

paprika

cucumber

parsley

olive oil

salt, pepper

De bone the mackerel and brush it with some olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Dice all vegetables very finely and combine, season with salt, pepper and a little bit of olive oil. Cut of the skin of the lemon and cut out the fillets and add to the salsa. Squeeze out the juice of the lemon into to salsa. 

Get your grill as hot as you can and grill the mackerel fillets, start with the skin side and flip it over when it starts to get cooked half way through. The skin have a tendency to stick (at least on my grill) but this can be solved using a thin spatula and loads of cursing, fortunately this won´t keep it from tasting great. Good luck!

Crab with cilantro & avocado #94

For this recipe I used fresh crab claws which I boiled in salted water and then removed the meat, make sure you use white crab meat. If you can´t get hold of any crab you can replace the crab with shrimps. The spring onion and cucumber is almost completely hidden in the pictures under the cilantro but don´t forget them because they add much needed crunch to this dish.

Crab with cilantro & avocado

crab meat
cilantro
avocado
cucumber
spring onion
olive oil
lime
salt, pepper

Peel and crush the avocado into a rough paste, chop some cilantro and add to the avocado and combine. Add fresh lime juice, salt and pepper. Season to taste. Dice the cucumber and slice some spring onion. Plate the avocado cream and put the crab meat on top together with some cucumber and spring onion. Garnish with fresh cilantro leafs.

Green gazpacho with cream cheese crostini #88

The classic Spanish Gazpacho soup is a must for me at least once a week throughout the summer, this version is made using only green vegetables except for the tomatoes which are yellow. The flavor gets a bit different but equally good and fresh. 

Green gazpacho with cream cheese crostini

cucumber

green pepper

green chili

yellow or green tomatoes

white wine vinegar

olive oil

white bread

salt, black pepper

garlic

cream cheese

Cut all vegetables into pieces, add a few pieces of white bread and splash over some vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Let sit out for half an hour to let the vegetables marinate. 

Blend the vegetables into an soup, season with vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Cut bread into thin slices and toast, spread on some cream cheese. Serve the soup ice cold.

Tomato, cucumber & honeydew melon tartar with mint & black pepper #84

Tomato, cucumber & honeydew melon tartar with mint & black pepper

tomatoes

cucumber

honeydew melon

olive oil

salt

black pepper

fresh mint

lemon juice

Peel and deseed tomatoes, cucumber and the melon, when cutting away the skin of the tomatoes I usually cut them into wedges first. After seeds and skin is removed dice them into small cubes and combine with olive oil, some lemon juice, salt and black pepper. 

Finely slice a few leafs of mint and add to the tartar. Serve with a few extra drops of olive oil and some more freshly ground black pepper.

Vietnamese spring rolls with sesame seeds & soy dipping sauce # 73

Vietnamese spring rolls works great as a tapas or appetizer, fill it with whatever you like. These ones are filled with cucumber, paprika, spring onion and roasted sesame seeds but feel free to add or replace any of it. Most fillings work fine but crunchy vegetables and shellfish are my favorites.

Vietnamese spring rolls with sesame seeds & soy dipping sauce

Vietnamese spring roll paper

spring onion

paprika

cucumber

sesame seeds

sweet chili sauce

Japanese soy

sesame oil

Cut the vegetables lengthwise, roast the sesame seeds in a dry pan until golden. Combine the vegetables with a little bit of sesame oil and the seeds. 

Dip the spring roll paper one at the time in almost boiling water, remove and place on a cutting board. Place the vegetables in the center of the paper and carefully roll the paper around the vegetables. Using a sharp knife trim the edges of the roll and cut the roll into bite size pieces. Combine sweet chili sauce with a dash of soy and some sesame seeds. 

Salmon with cucumber, dill & wasabi pearls # 53

Salmon with cucumber, dill & wasabi pearls

Cold smoked salmon
cucumber
fresh dill
wasabi pearls
olive oil
salt, pepper

Slice the salmon thinly and in bite size pieces, peel and dice the cucumber and combine with finely chopped dill. Season the cucumber with salt  and blackpepper and a few drops of oil.

I found the wasabi pearls at a local grocery store and haven´t seen it anywhere else (yet). So if you can´t find any you can either season the cucumber with a little bit or spread a thin layer on each piece of salmon.

Or if you´re feeling very ambitious you can make some of your own with a little bit of molecular help, if so google for the recipe. For the flavor it won´t make much of a difference but they sure look great.

Finally put some cucumber on top of each salmon and some pearls on top.

Rye bread with liver paté and pickles # 43

Rye bread with liver paté and pickles

Dark rye bread or pumpernickel
Liver paté, any kind you´ll like
Cucumber pickles
Red onion
Parsley

Cut the bread in squares and put the paté on top, slice the pickles and put one thick slice on each piece. Cut the onion in rings and put onion rings and parsley on top.

Momofuku quick salt pickles # 26

Momofuku quick salt pickles

First of all, thanks David Chang for allowing me to steal this recipe. It´s the easiest pickle recipe I ever tried and they are very versatile and can be served on their own, to ramen noodles, tacos, pulled pork, burgers, you name it.

In the original recipe there is only cucumber but I usually add a fennel as well since I think it goes great with the cucumber and is excellent for pickling, so let´s go!

Fennel
Cucumber
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Cut the vegetables in slices and combine with the salt and sugar, let sit for ten minutes, adjust salt and sugar to taste, you can rinse if they are to salty or sweet. Serve within a few hours.

Cucumber with radish, dill & lemon # 17

Cucumber with radish, dill & lemon

Cucumber
Radish
Dill
Lemon
Salt
Black pepper

Cut the cucumber i dices and season with salt and lemon juice, leave cold for one hour. Chop the dill and add to the cucumber. Slice the radish and put one cube of cucumber on each slice, season with black pepper.