Home-made pancetta

Doesn’t look so bad after two weeks or so hung up to dry, but we shall see how well it eats this weekend, when I intend on making spaghetti alla carbonara.  At this time of year conditions in my flat are just about perfect for drying cured meats and I next on the list to attempt is chorizo and Tuscan-style salami, before Spring sets in.

Whilst looking like little mummified small-mammals, these are in fact duck prosciutto cured and ready to be hung up to dry.  After some experimentation – on both myself, and other people, I’ve settled on a recipe and these will be ready in one week’s time.  My last batch got the thumbs-up from my favourite yakitori restaurant that has great experience with all things duck and game, so hopefully this lot will come out as well too.

Personal Memories of March 11th 2011

Now for something completely different.  This narrative is a very long post (6,000 words) so you will have click through to read it.

Hirame Fishing – Nakaminato January 15th

Well after last week’s fishing ended without hirame (but with a tasty fish anyway in the bag) I decided to call on Captain Yutaka of Nakaminato.  I always have a good time fishing on his boat, the 5-ton Yutaka-maru, and since now is the season for hirame I rang him to book myself in for Sunday. 

Back from Nakaminato

I caught a great variety of fish today, although we were targetting hirame.  Both varieties of mackerel, mebaru, soi and the skipper even let me take home some of the leftover sardines we used for live bait!  My flat has something of a charnel-house feel to it now.

So many thanks to Captain Yutaka, as always!

Last of the kanpachi

Grilled with salt and pepper, smeared in tororo yam-paste and wrapped in little spring rolls and fried.  Served with chilli peppered grated daikon (momiji oroshi) and in my opinion, one of the greatest Japanese seasonings ever, ponzu-soy sauce.

By the by, this was my favourite photo from the day’s fishing; although it was overcast in the morning, and snowing at around 9am, by midday the Japanese version of the tramontana had cleared the skies of cloud enough to reveal a magnificent Mt. Fuji looking over Sagami Bay.

Tanago rod completed

Finished off the plugs and bought a bag for my tanago rod.  It is a seven-piece rod but all the smaller parts fit into the larger ones, so it packs up into three pieces when not in use.  I can’t wait to have a go fishing with this rod.

On a different note, my first attempt at making pancetta is well in train.  I found a supplier of good pork on Rakuten whose meat I used for this; for regular bacon, I normally just use imported Canadian pork from Hanamasa.  The curing is over and after some huffing and puffing, a heave-ho and a rum-below, finally managed to wrap the meat up and it is now drying.  It should be ready in about a week; spaghetti alla carbonara is most certainly on the cards.

Still eating kanpachi

New species added to the list, and to the pot!

The second dish is uo-suki, or sukiyaki made with fish.  I still have one back fillet and one belly ditto, as well as the kama (operculum) in my fridge.  These will be despatched over the long weekend.

First fishing trip of the New Year

No luck with the hirame today, but I had the good fortune to snag a 3kg kanpachi.

初釣りはヒラメ狙い、本命型みませんでしたが外道にカンパチが釣れました。長井港昇丸さんありがとうございました。

More charcuterie

Homemade smoked salmon.  Served with sliced onions, capers, black pepper and a generous squeeze of lemon, it wants nothing more; it disappeared like the dew on a morning rose.  It went down very well with a Clare Valley white wine: Pike’s riesling.

Next appetiser was home-cured duck prosciutto; this was made with Barbary duck and came out even better than my previous attempt.  The cheese is pecorino, which I cannot pretend to have made also.

To complete the full calorific broadside the main meal was home-made duck confit served with garlicky-rosemary roast potatoes.  At the risk of boasting to the point of enthusiasm, this was simply the best confit de canard I have ever eaten: restaurant ones are always smaller, usually over-salty and never as juicy.  This time I made two, one for each diner, but next time I will make a batch to lay down.  There is also the possibility of making one of my favourite winter-foods of all time, cassoulet – so we shall see.

The main dish was helped down with a green salad, dressed with what I would consider the Holy Mother of all salad dressings: the duck jelly that settles at the bottom of the confit pot, which solidifies in the cold and can be scraped away with a spoon.  It is pure concentrated duck essence, heavy in collagen and umami and not unlike the Japanese fish dish called nikogori, although that is made with bones and skin of skate or ray. 

Happy New Year 謹賀新年

Wishing you big catches & safe journeys at sea for 2012!

Well this New Year’s Day I travelled to the Tomioka Hachiman Shrine.  It is a while since I came here, and time to renew my magical fishing amulet.  My current one attached to trusty tackle-bag, has rusted over with the salt of four seas and is rather worn.

The first thing to do is take the old one back to the shrine, hand it over and, if it has ‘worked,’ give a prayer of thanks.  Since I have been fortunate enough to not have been lost at sea or had some terrible accident in the mountains, and have had some great days out fishing on both sea and stream, I consider it to have done its job.  The next step is to buy a new one from the shrine maidens, offer a prayer over it and all is done.  Today I bought two, one for my sea-tackle bag and one for my ayu/fly fishing vest (one must cover all eventualities of course) both of which, according to the label, protect the bearer from misfortune whilst fishing and also provide him/her with good catches.

After all the holiness and sanctity of the shrine, I found myself with something of a thirst, and in all the roads and lanes in the neighbourhood is a great variety of food stalls and eateries selling almost all kinds of street food like yakitori, takoyaki, oden, yakisoba and suchlike.  I settled for a jar of cheap, hot sake and a bowl of hot motsu-nikomi (trippa/chitlins stewed with vegetables). 

Nikomi is often scorned as poor-john suitable only for working men and the lower variety of izakaya, but it is perfect for keeping out the biting cold of Japanese New Year, and as the food stall also has a hot stove between each table, having a quick drink and a bite there has become something of a ritual for me every time I am in the area.  I also stopped by to make my seasonal greetings to my rod making teacher who lives nearby, then went home.  After shipping the amulets on the relevant fishing tackle, I spent the rest of today at home with my feet up.