Miso-Cured Chicken Wings

(makes 2 dozen wings)
Chicken wings are a party staple and a favourite among children, and the unique blend of Miso and honey will make your wings all the more popular. I have yet to meet a person who didn’t like my Miso-cured wings. The vast majority of Miso-flavoured wing recipes make you cook the wings twice, the second time after painting on a miso glaze. My method does away with this troublesome glazing procedure and cooks the wings in one go. Furthermore, curing allows the flavour of miso to penetrates all the way into the meat. 

Ingredients

1. Mid-joint Chicken Wings (1 kilo)
2. Red Miso
3. Mirin
4. Honey
5. Turmeric
6. Tahini
7. Sesame Oil
8. Soya Sauce
9. Liquid Smoke (optional)

If you are unfamiliar with Miso, refer to this page. Similarly for information on Mirin, refer to this page.

Preparation

1. You need to begin the day before. Defrost and rinse your wings.
2. Leave the wings to drain in a colander or strainer for at least 5 minutes.
3. Arrange the wings on half of a large dish cloth. Fold the empty portion over and press down gently to dry the wings as best you can. Unfold and allow the chicken to dry further while you make the marinade. You can place a sheet of paper towel between the chicken and the cloth to make the cloth easier to wash, but don’t try using paper towels alone or you end up using half a roll.
            
4. In a ceramic bowl mix the following: 2T red miso, 2T honey, 1T mirin, 1T tahini, 1T sesame oil, 1t soya sauce and 1t turmeric. You can also add 1t of liquid smoke if that is your preference. (nb. the T’s for the pastes are heaped ones)
5. As many of these ingredients are from the fridge you will need to microwave the mixture for about 15 seconds before they will can mix well. Alternatively, put the bowl in a larger bowl of hot water for a while. Stir and mash down with the bottom of a table spoon until all the lumps are gone and you end up with a smooth paste.
6. Place the wings in a gallon zip lock and add the marinade. Squeeze out most of the air and then massage the bag and roll it around to get the marinade evenly over all the wings.
7. Place the bag flat in the fridge overnight. Some water will be drawn out from the wings making the marinade a bit more watery, that is normal. Flip the bag over once every 6 hours or so to ensure the curing is even.
8. The next day the wings will be cured. Arrange them on a wire rack in a tray(s) and allow the wings to warm to room temperature. The wings should not be touching each other. Don’t leave any splotches of marinade on the wings as these will become black patches of burnt skin as the excess sugar carbonizes in the oven.
9. Preheat your oven to 180^oC (350^oF). Place the tray(s) in the oven for 20 minutes. The time may vary a bit from oven to oven, so decide when the wings are ready by visual inspection.

Notes

• The issue with most marinades is they are too watery and they drip off when they heat up in the oven, hence the need to paint on a layer of glaze at the end. That’s why this recipe emphasizes keeping the wings dry, so do not skip steps for 2 and 3. The tahini and turmeric play an important role in keeping the marinade thick so do not substitute them for something else. Also do not add any additional liquid to the marinade.
• You can also use a toaster oven. Set it to 200^oC (390^oF) and bake each batch for 25 minutes – the toaster oven is weaker than a regular oven, but can do the job – 8 wings at a time as shown in the photo.
• You can also skewer the wings and cook them over a BBQ.
• You can also use white miso, but you will need 3T instead of 2T as it is less salty. The white miso version is milder and sweeter. I typically use 2T white and 1T red when I make my wings.

 

Tuna Tartare with Scallion

(serves 3, or 6 mini portions, or 9 canapes)
This tartare recipe using raw tuna and scallion is a nice fusion cuisine appetizer of my own creation. It merges the Western concept of marinated chopped raw meat with Japanese sushi where raw fish is sometimes served with scallion. I have 2 secrets to making raw tuna delicious.  Firstly, adding cooked tuna to your tartare gives it the right bite and texture. Secondly, a creamy frosting made with caramelized scallion and turmeric provides the right balance for the dish. 

Ingredients

1. Fresh Tuna Fillet (160g)
2. Chopped Scallion (1/3 cup)
3. Mascarpone (60g)
4. White Bread (2 slices)
5. Turmeric 
6. Hon Dashi Pellets
7. Sesame Oil
8. Port
9. French Mustard

Preparation 

1. Dissolve 0/5t of Hon Dashi Pellets in 5T of hot water to make some concentrated tuna stock. Allow to cool.
2. Julienne your scallion (aka spring onion) into very fine rings. You are only using the bottom quarter of each scallion stalk, which is the fleshy light green to white part, so keep this in mind when you are buying the scallion. You can keep the leafy part for decoration if you like.
3. Cut the tuna into small cubes and then proceed to chop it into a coarse mince. You want to get it down to the level where there are no large chunks but you can still make out individual pieces of fish instead of just mush. At this point reserve 1/4 of the tuna for cooking. Add 1/3 of the julienned scallion to the remaining tuna and finish off with one last round of chopping to mix them properly.
4. In a bowl, stir together 2T sesame oil with 1t mustard, 1t port, 0.5t fined ground black pepper and a pinch of salt. Marinate the tuna scallion mince in this and then keep it covered with cling film in the fridge.
5. Stir the reserved portion of the tuna into the cold tuna stock. This will stop it from clumping together when it is cooked.
6. Fire up a frying pan with a few T of oil. Use a high flame. When the pan is hot, add the ‘wet’ tuna and stir fry. Press down with a spatula to break up the clumps as much as possible. When all the liquid has dried up and the tuna starts to brown, scoop out the tuna and allow it to cool. Mix the cooked tuna into the raw tuna after it has cooled.
7. In the same pan, fry the remaining scallion on low heat in a few T of oil. When the scallion starts to caramelize a bit, turn off the heat but leave the scallion in the pan for a further 3 minutes so it can continue to brown. Finally, add 60g of mascarpone (1/4 of a small tub) followed by 0.5t turmeric and a pinch of salt. Stir till everything is evenly mixed and allow to cool in the fridge, also covered with cling film.
8. Cut each slice of bread into 3 pieces and grill them in the toaster oven till they are somewhat burnt. Use a knife to scrape away the burnt layer and corners. This will give you a thin hard toast that can support the wet tuna. The scrapings can also be used for decoration if you like.
9. Plate the tartare, the scallion cream at the last possible moment so everything remains cold. You can either arrange everything on the toast as I have done above, or leave that to your guests. 

Notes

• The most important thing to ensure is you have sushi grade tuna, you are after all eating this raw. The translucent bright red cut (Maguro) is sufficient, there is no need to splurge on the fatty belly fillet (Toro).
• The proper way to hand-mince tuna: use a heavy un-serrated knife. Repeatedly hammer down lightly on the tuna with the blade from left to right and then fold the tuna over on itself. Repeat, but at right angles to the first round of chopping. Repeat a couple of times.
• Bread does not cut well after it is toasted so you won’t be able to use a regular toaster. Use the grill in your regular oven if you don’t have a toaster oven. You could also use commercially sold Melba toast I suppose.
• You may also consider layering the tatare and scallion cream in a small glass, with the toast plunged in like a straw.
• If you don’t have Hon Dashi, just make the stock the hard way, by boiling tuna and the left over leafy part of the scallion in salted water.    

 

The Spice Page

The strange thing about spices is they all taste terrible by themselves but when mixed in minute quantities with food, out of nowhere they produce new depth, and make dishes more wholesome. I’ve only put in spices that I use regularly and this by no mean a comprehensive list. Hopefully, there’ll be new additions from time to time. This page is only a starting point, so don’t be afriad to experiment with different spices and foods, you’ll discover your own ‘killer combos’.

1. Cardamon (also cardamom) is a spice from the Indian subcontinent, belonging to the ginger family. Cardamon has a unique bitter smoky flavour and being from India, they are naturally used in a lot of curried dishes, like biryani. In western cuisine, they are typically used to enhance the flavour of meat fillings, especially in savoury pies and pastries. They come either in whole seeds or ground seeds. I recommend using ground cardamom, because no one enjoys biting into a cardamom seed. Did I mention they are bitter? Use only a pinch at a time.
2. Cinnamon is a tree bark that is dried and sold as sticks or as a powder. As a stick, it is used as a fancy way of flavouring Italian style cappuccino but more often than not, it is used in powder form. The ‘warmness’ of cinnamon makes it partner well with many hot desserts and pastries, especially those which contain cooked fruits like apple pie. Cinnamon is also used in baked savoury dishes, but less frequently.
3. Cloves are the dried flower buds of a tree found in the former Dutch Indies. Its strong peppery bittersweet flavour makes it perfect for gamey red meat roasts (lamb, venison etc.). Its pointed shape and hardness allows it to be planted directly into the meat before baking. When used for soups, it is often planted into an onion for easy retrieval after it has surrendered its flavour. Cloves are a versatile spice, and they are also used in many hot alcoholic drinks like hot toddy and mulled wine.
4. Coriander Seed powder, unlike cilantro, only has a mild citrus smell and also a relatively mild taste. This mildness makes it a good all-purpose spice and coriander is used with everything from coffee, to meat seasoning, to soups. It is also used as a base to be mixed with other stronger spices, such as in the case of curry powder. When you wish to add body to your soup or stew without substantially adjusting the taste, you can’t go wrong with coriander seed.
5. Cumin seeds are usually ground up and used as the active ingredient in curry powder. It is used for specific dishes in a large number of different cultures but it is not used much in traditional western cuisine except for making creamy vegetable soups, especially cream of carrot soup. If your recipe calls for curry powder, you can more often than not simply substitute in cumin.
6. Fennel Seed has been described as a mild anise, which themselves are described to have the taste of licorice. It is traditionally considered one of the best spices for fish dishes in old world cuisine. Nowadays many modern bouillabaisse recipes have substituted fennel seeds for fennel bulbs. Fennel seeds are also used in Italian sausages and Chinese five spices powder.
7. Nutmeg is a brown powder ground from the seed of a tree by the same name. It has the appearance of an unrefined brown sugar like muscovado. You’d usually use it if you want to give a spicy kick to a egg dessert,  like custard or sabayon. It is also be used to marinate gamey meat and as an ingredient in hot alcoholic drinks like mulled wine. Mace is made from the outer cover of the nutmeg seed  and can be thought of as a milder form of nutmeg.
8. Paprika is the bright red powder ground from dried sweet and hot peppers. It is however not as spicy as it looks. It is used most in Eastern European cuisine, in dishes such as Hungarian goulash. Paprika is also used to make chorizo, a type of sausage from the Iberian peninsula. That’s why they are so red. I don’t know why, but I usually use paprika when I am marinating lamb or chicken.
9. Pepper – what’s there to say? Use it (black) all the time. Also try the japanese pepper powder, called Sansyo.
10. Saffron is reputedly the most expensive spice in the world. Luckily you only use a little at a time or you end up with a cough mixture taste. Saffron can be bought in powdered form or in threads, which should be then crushed into powder. Saffron is a standard ingredient in French bouillabaisse and Spanish paella and certain yellow risottos.
11. Shichimi Togarashi, translated as seven spices powder, is a japanese mix of pepper and chilli, with other ingredients such as tangerine zest and sesame seeds. Whenver a recipe calls for pepper or paprika, you can try using this instead to get that extra kick.
12. Turmeric is a bright yellow spice of the ginger family that actually tastes like, well dried ground up ginger. It is used in many far-eastern dishes where the rice is dyed yellow. Turmeric also gives chutneys their distinctive yellow tinge. There is a misconception that turmeric can be substituted for saffron, but all they share is the ability to make things yellow.