Picture by Lars Ranek

Power Lunch with Yuzu Vinaigrette

This recipe is from Simple Japanese and was first published in 2004, then stayed on the menu for another decade due to its popularity. I first introduced brown rice to the menu in 2002 as an alternative to sushi rice for a grain with complex carbohydrates for people on the go. This version is served with Eastern Pacific yellow fin line caught tuna, wakame seaweed and a yuzu vinaigrette. Works equally well with just avocado, marinated tofu, smoked mackerel, cooked prawns or cubed salmon as alternatives. Power launch was inspired by the Japanese Donburi bowl and I guess this super healthy version has many incarnations like Buddha Bowls, Earth Bowls and similar to the Poke Bowl.

I am a yuzu fanatic and have recently been part of an exciting project with farmers and conservationists from Valencia to use an European sustainable grown authentic yuzu in a commercial remit. I do love it when my micro universe collides with the day job enabling us to use an excellent quality fruit whilst supporting crop bio-diversity among Spanish citrus growers. Yuzu is best described as a cross between a satsuma and lime. Its is intensely aromatic and the zest is as popular as its juice, it is highly revered among chefs everywhere and slowly entering the mainstream food landscape like other Japanese ingredients. Its believed that yuzu contains 3 times more vitamin C than lemon and it’s versatility elevates many classic dishes traditionally done with lemon. I have included my original recipe for Yuzu Vinaigrette in this section of the website under Japanese Dressings. Yuzu can be ordered fresh online from the The Wasabi Company when in season from mid-autumn to early winter. Good supermarkets and Asian supermarkets will stock quality yuzu juice.

Seaweed is another super-food which has long been a stable of the Japanese cuisine. Wakame is widely used in Japanese style noodle soups, miso soups and more and more common as a side helping in Japanese sushi and salad dishes. Wakame will boost your metabolism and is said to be twice as effective when matched with a good quality oil; like organic rapeseed oil from the UK or Mediterranean virgin olive oil - so ensure to use either of these when making the yuzu vinaigrette.

To cook brown rice for sushi style dishes you momentarily need to forget everything you ever learned about cooking white rice for sushi as it need a total different treatment. When I first started I play around with brown rice for sushi there was no branded brown rice sushi available yet, so I used a short grain round brown rice from health food stores. Now brown rice is widely available from Japanese grocers. In the UK Clearspring does a brown rice which is available online and in most supermarkets, and of very good quality too.

Serves 4

300 grams brown sushi rice

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

15 ml extra virgin oil

15 ml honey

15 ml raw apple vinegar

10 grams of fresh coriander, finely chopped

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

160 grams frozen edamame beans (not in pods)

10 grams dried cut wakame

160-180 grams saku tuna block

80 grams salmon eggs (optional)

1 pun net shiso micro cress (or other micro herbs or pea shoot)

1 small handful fresh coriander

120 ml. Japanese Vinaigrette

Defrost the edamame in a shallow bowl.

To cook the brown rice place into a sauce pan, cover with cold water and leave to soak for 60 minutes.

Transfer the rice into a sieve and rinse under the running tap. Place the the empty sauce pan on a set of scales, reset to zero and add the washed rice to the sauce pan, top up with water until the scales reaches 900 grams. Add a pinch of salt. Cover sauce pan with a lid, bring to a boil and leave to simmer for 35-40 minutes until all water is absorbed. Take rice off the heat and leave to rest for 10 minutes in the sauce pan.

Whilst the rice is cooking prepare the rest of the ingredients. First make yuzu vinaigrette and leave rest on the side.

Place the wakame seaweed in a mixing bowl and add 1/2 liter ice cold water for the seaweed to bloom. Wash the coriander, pick the leaves and place on piece of kitchen towel to dry. For the tuna cut into 1/2 cm slices on a 45 degree diagonal sashimi style and place back in the fridge until the rice has cooled down, there should be 12-16 slices in total. Prepare the avocado by cutting into quarters, then cut each quarter in 5 slices.

When the rice has rested decant into a large mixing bowl, drizzle over the olive oil, apple cider vinegar and honey. Add the poppy seeds and chives, then mix well cutng through the rice. Taste the rice for seasoning, if needed then season with salt and pepper. Divide the rice into 4 serving bowls. Drain the wakame, gently squeeze out excess water, then divide in 4 piles. Add the tuna slices to each bowl, then edamame, wakakme, avocado slices, ikura and the fresh herbs. Serve with yuzu vinaigrette on the side. Enjoy.