Flaked Salmon and Beech Mushrooms with Dashi Broth

There’s rice under it all… I promise.

Every time I come back from Japan, I swear I post some shit about “eat this thing over rice.” Whatever. The classics are classics for a reason.

My friends made me make dinner for them the other night… well, let’s be fair, I offered and they wanted Japanese food. Fine. I’m good at that and I obviously love it. So I made them something like what you see here. Apparently, one of my friends neglected to inform me that he usually doesn’t eat fish. You wouldn’t have known it by how quickly he housed this dish.

And that’s why I love a dish like this. Those people that “don’t eat fish” end up fucking loving it.

To be fair, what I made was Ochazuke from Aya Nishimura’s Japanese Food Made Easy. That there is a link to buy in on the big website, but see if you can find it in a local book store. Those things are still important. I do, however, follow her recipe for dashi, which is needed for this recipe. In fact, there is a forest of page markers in that book. If you like Japanese food, get that book.

You can find how I make dashi here.

Regardless, I found that this was a pretty simple way of making that dish. Except I added mushrooms because they fucking rule. Anyway, for this you’re going to need to have dashi on hand. You can buy the shit in the package, or you can plan this out a day or two in advance and make a bunch of it.

Here’s some pro tips to get you started:

• First of all… the salmon can be cooked and flaked a day or two in advance. This is great for those of you who meal prep and have your lives together.
• Wash your fucking rice! This might be the most important step. Buy Nishiki short grain rice; that long grain Rice-a-Roni shit won’t work. This is my go-to rice for most things and every Japanese dish I make. Rinse that shit off until the water is fairly clear. Find ways to do it that don’t waste water.
• If you have the means… invest in a rice cooker. I use this one and it has changed how I cook. I used to hate making rice because I always fucked it up. This takes my dumb brain out of the equation and lets me cook while the rice is being made. I can’t recommend this enough. I can make rice for 3-4 people in this thing and it’s perfect for just me. 10/10.
• Can you add another vegetable and split the salmon so that two people can eat this? In this economy, hell yeah you can. Try it with whatever veg you like.
• While the salmon and the veg can be done in advance, do the rice and the broth right before. If your rice and broth are hot, it will help with the stuff on top.
• Remember, as with everything on this site, a lot of things aren’t measured out as I’m making it. Make enough rice for however many people. Use soy to taste. You know your tastes, and if you don’t, failure is a great teacher.
• When you’re cooking the salmon: make sure you’ve dried that fucker off with a paper towel. Put it skin-side down in a hot, oiled pan. Press it down, then let it sit. If you let your fillet sit for a while, it gets easier to flip. Trust me on this.
• Cook the mushrooms alone and last. Mushrooms give off a bunch of moisture as they cook. Let them go last and alone. You’ll thank me for this.

Flaked Salmon and Beech Mushrooms in Dashi Broth

Matt

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Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup uncooked rice wash and cook
• 1 bunch beech mushrooms
• 1 fillet salmon cooked and flaked
• 3 scallions diced for topping

Broth

• 1 cup dashi broth see notes above for the link to make it
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp aji mirin or just put a pinch of sugar in
• 1 tsp ginger paste

Instructions

 

• Make the dashi ahead of time. Have that shit ready
• While your washed rice is cooking, start on the salmon. Cook to doneness and let it rest a minute. Flake it.
• Cook your mushrooms in the same pan.
• Start letting your broth simmer a bit. You don't want it boiling, just let it cook down a touch.
• When the rice is done, put it in a bowl and top with the salmon and whatever other veg you're using.
• Pour the broth over. Top with furikake if you want. Eat with a soup spoon.