Japanese theme menu

 So back from a Scandinavian theme dinner party in London at 4am the day started again at 7:30 with last minute shopping at the Ranee supermarket in Cheltenham and then a lunch party, then finishing setting up another 5 evening parties as well as this one. As the rain set in it was a quick race down to Berkeley with one dinner party for the guests to serve themselves before going back up to Blockley to serve this one. Epic day!

Menu

We served these on large dishes at the table for guests to share between themselves - great for an informal hen party celebration!

 Sweet potato and prawn tempura with dashi dipping sauce [I was partially dressed in tempura batter after this. As was the kitchen work surface. And floor. Messy, but rather moreish!] - from this recipe

Chicken yakitori with tare sauce

Selection of sushi: salmon, tuna, avocado

Sushi doesn't come much fresher - made, cut and straight to the table. Forget the nori wrapping - you've had that everywhere else surely - the tuna was wrapped in cavalo nero leaves (trim out the middle stem), avocado wrapped in sesame seeds and salmon sushi coated in chives & coriander - interesting tastes!

 Tuna tartare and avocado salad with sesame soy dressing

 Beef tataki and raw vegetable rolls with chilli, soy and lime dressing - inspiration from this recipe. Sadly no shiso leaves at the Ranee supermarket.

The hens had decorated the table before we got there. I was obviously so busy getting everything ready I didn't notice till the end of the night the shape of the table confetti they had sprinkled all over. Oh you have to love hen parties!

 Just in case this wasn't enough there was a main course as well......

Chicken katsu curry - from this recipe - so delicious!

Japanese beef and shiitake mushrooms with soba noodles and crispy nori

Sesame crusted tuna with caramel soy dressing

 Crispy duck with edamame beans, crispy shallots and ponzu

Crossed 2 recipes and came up with something different - this one and this. The second is certainly an  interesting way  of cooking duck  - steaming (after marinading for 2 days) then deep frying in a wok to get the crispy skin.

 Pak choi with garlic, ginger and oyster sauce and Japanese kabocha pumpkin

 Vegetable doburi rice - there is rice under there honest! If you've only ever had sushi rice in sushi - you should try it in this as well. Another one where I mashed a few recipes and came up with something else - the flavours of this with a whole load of other vegetables added in with the rice including okra then topped it with raw veg - shiitake and enoki mushrooms, carrots, spring onion, coriander which you can stir into the rice at the table to take the raw edge off slightly. Either way the cooked rice and vegetables and the raw or just off raw topping is a nice mix!

Dessert? Skip dessert and move straight on to cocktails - it's a hen party darling!
They had a cocktail barman for the latter part of the evening who served from the front room, allowing us time to clear up. Job done.


Related posts
Other theme menus we have served
Marmite farfalle poached in miso with shiitake and kale

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Smoked Donnington Trout Trio

Ballottine, smoked trout fillet with lime and smoked trout tartare

Salmon and smoked trout roulade (ballottine)

Fresh salmon..... ....is rolled, as described for my canapé roulades.....

Then poached in water at 80⁰C, off the heat. As the roulades are so small the residual heat in the water cooks them in about 8 - 10 minutes. This way the salmon stays soft - if you kept the water on the heat they boil and become hard and overcooked.

When cooled the roulades can be unwrapped and rolled in smoked trout.
These ballotines are then left to rest in the fridge, so they stay together when you cut them. I garnish them on top (as shown above) with a little crème fraîche and caviar.

Fillets
For this I ask the trout farm at Donnington for whole (unsliced) sides of smoked trout. I then cut thick d-cut fillets and cut these into 2 or 3 depending on size (i.e. how far up from the tail you are). These are sprinkled with grated lime zest (which I also do for barbecued fresh trout) and milled black pepper.

As guests are tucking into their homemade bread rolls which we always serve as they sit down, I pop the trout fillets into the oven for just 2 - 3 minutes, so they are warm, the last thing to go on the plate before the waitress takes them away. If you warm the fillets through, the texture changes - it softens like the ballottine. You can leave them in to cook fully if you prefer, but they are best served like this at the last minute, just warmed through.

The fillets sit on thinly sliced cucumber, and the richness of the smoked trout is off-set with the crème fraîche, lemon and chive dressing

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