Okay, I lied a little… this nabemono (Japanese hot pot) was made on Girl’s Day (Hina-matsuri), but that’s really the only thing about it that makes it a “Girl’s Day nabemono”. It was still very delicious!

I used chicken thighs, maitake (hen-of-the-woods mushroom), egg dumplings, pollack dumplings, taro, konnyaku (devil’s tongue jelly), gobo (burdock root), negi (Welsh onion) and hakusai (Napa cabbage). For the broth, I used 3/4c mirin, 3/4c of shoyu and an unmeasured amount of sake

This made a ton of food and only took about 45 minutes from start to finish. いただきます！

I made this with elements of red (carrots and my homemade aka miso) and white (taro and shiro miso) in observence of the traditional colors of the Japanese New Year 正月 (shogatsu) . I didn’t actually make any traditional Japanese Near Year foods (お節料理), but I may still – I have some burdock for gobo kinpira :3 .  Anyways, click on the image to make it a little bigger (and check out my dirty stove – oh yes! ).

This is typically my breakfast, but I was hungry for breakfast when I got home from work today. 

Salt-broiled salmon with pickled ginger, steamed broccoli stalks tossed with goma dare and toasted sesame seeds, shiro miso with tofu and scallion and brown rice – simple and delicious!

• Fresh fish (whole, steak, filet)
• Salt (I use sea salt)
• Sheet of aluminum foil
• Baking sheet
• Oil (preferably one with a high smoke point, like canola or grapeseed)

1. Pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees, or the “broil” setting, which is all the way to eleven for my oven.
2. Lay some aluminum foil on a baking sheet with a very thin layer of oil (I use grapeseed oil because of its high smoke point).  I have a pump-spray bottle of it and I just lightly spritz the foil to keep the fish from sticking.
3. Lay the fillet, skin side up, on the foil.
4. Generously salt the skin of the fish. The salted skin will flavor the rest of the fish while cooking. I’ve seen recipes where they salt the whole fish, but it really isn’t necessary. The oils in the skin will permeate the flesh, carrying just enough salt with it to delicately flavor the fish.
5. When the oven is hot, put the fish in there! I usually bake it in the oven and finish it off in the broiler, but it’s really your call. Check back in 5-8 minutes.
6. Check every few minutes. You are looking for the salt to brown and harden into a shell, and for the skin to bubble up. When this magical moment occurs, pull out the baking pan and set it aside to cool. Don’t forget to turn off the oven like I always do!

Here’s the finished product; salmon shio-yaki. When it is cool, you can pull the skin off and discard (or shake all the salt off and broil or fry it until crispy, chop it up and mix it with hot rice-yum!). I typically use the meat as a filling for onigiri (rice balls), or in my miso, or just with some steamed rice and grated daikon. I make this sometimes twice a week. It is quick and easy and it keeps for a few days. If you make this recipe, please comment and let me know how it turns out!

You know what this means. Also, here’s how to make your own homemade sauerkraut. Let’s just bask for a moment on its humble beginnings. A first glance at a local farmer’s market. The embarrassing heft of this sweet, oversized vegetable. The delicate kneading of salt into once firm cabbage flesh. Okay, that’s enough. If you asked me for some, let me know in the comments or send me an email. I already bought jars for it!

PROTIP: It’s AWESOME mixed up in hot brown rice. OMNOMNOM!