Madame's Dinner

N sometimes grumbles to me that I cook more for my participants at workshops or guests during private dinners. Guilty as I do admit, for the years that we have been together, she hasn’t got a chance to see more than 30% of my culinary repertoire. We just celebrated another month anniversary and due to the on going workshops, I haven’t really made any plans for the weekend. I had been running a series of Japanese Cuisine workshops recently and have stocked up quite a fair bit of fresh tuna, ikura (Japanese Salmon Roe)and other Nippon related ingredients. Coming back from another workshop last Saturday, I was undecided on where to take my wife for dinner. I wasn’t really that hungry either as I had nibbled on some sushi that we made during the workshop. Looking at some of the leftover ingredients, a wave of ideas rolled in and I was inspired to do a few items for her before going to Canele for desserts. N has a craving for ikura ever since she got so hooked on it @ EN , Japanese dinning. During the trip to Hokkaido two years ago, she could just eat a bowl of rice crowned with these salty pearls of salmon roe and some pickles. Instead of producing what I had taught in class earlier, I twisted the ingredients around in a different way and ended up with the following:

I teased N with a starter of Tatare of Miso and Ginger Marinated Fresh Tuna with Tempura Crispies. This is one of my favorite recipes inspired by Japanese cookbooks found in Kinokuniya.

More fresh tuna ahead when I come back from the kitchen with a Seared Sichimi Togarashi Crusted Tuna Tataki with a Black Vinegar and Soy Garlic Dipping Sauce. By this time N was feeling that maybe it wasn’t too bad that we had skipped going out for dinner tonight.
The third item was the one that floored her completely. Her favourite Ikura was perched on top of a sliced tempura roll and given a light touch of spring onions. She burst with delight as each grain of pearl burst in her mouth and it was getting her satisfied that staying back home for dinner was the right thing to do.
The fourth item was slightly deviated out of the norm by having a sushi topped with Wasabi Flavoured Avocadoes and Crabstick Mayo. Again I used up the last bit of Ikura leaving N in sheer delight.
I ended dinner for her with tradition, putting out a classical futomaki roll. By then, I was looking forward to take her to Canele for desserts.