durabone
Jedi Council Member
That buckwheat crepe thread finally got me off my duff to try this experiment... went down Wednesday!
Nagiamo Yam Gnocchi with Salmon
Serves 4
These tasty Japanese yams are usually scraped raw into a salad. But here they are candied by roasting and made into tasty little yam pillows, with only rice flour and salt.
For the gnocchi:
2 lbs Fresh Nagaimo Japanese Yam
1-2 Cups Rice Flour
1/2 tsp salt
For the rest:
2 bundles chard or kale, or 4 of spinach, cleaned, dried, and stems removed. (Big chard or kale leaves need to be torn into 2-3 inch pieces.)
1 nutmeg
4 individual size salmon filets cut into 12 pieces, total. (~ 2 lb)
1/2 Cup Rice Vinegar
1/2 Cup Sweet Rice Wine (Mirin)
1/4 Cup good quality Soy Sauce
One bunch green onions, white sections thinly sliced, greens cut into 1/2 inch diagonal sections.
3 Tbsp cooking/olive oil, (or 1 Tbsp cooking/olive oil, 2Tbsp Butter)
Salt
Preheat oven to 350degF.
Pierce yam piece(s) all over with long-tined or barbecue fork, including on cut ends, if any. Careful! Yam may feel tough, but fork can go through like butter and break yam! These holes help yam dry while roasting. Roast for 80 minutes in oven, don’t worry if liquid at base of yam turns dark. Remove yams from oven and then remove from cooking pan or stone. Set out to cool. Turn oven off.
Once cooled enough, peel yams with potato peeler. If you wait too long, skins will get tough again. If you can’t peel perfectly, then use your fingers. Using a potato ricer, press peeled pieces through ricer into bowl. Any pieces of skin that still have chunks of yam can also be gently riced, removing each skin from ricer after. Allow riced yam to sit for fifteen minutes and dry a little.
Now pour scant 1 cup of rice flour onto kneading surface. Add yams and mix with fingers gently. If you get too aggressive or knead too long, the gnocchi will be rubbery. Rice flour takes a while longer to absorb water than regular flour, so that means even more gentle mixing. Once dry rice flour has been absorbed, add more flour gradually if still wet, and work into dough tacky to the touch. Dough will be light.
Now gently roll dough into 12”/30cm long, thin breadloaf shape. Gently slice lengthwise into two slabs of dough. Lay each of the slabs down and cut them in half length again. Now cut all four strips crosswise giving you eight pieces. Cover with damp cloth.
Sprinkle a large pan or cookie sheet with liberal rice flour. Now pull out one of the dough rolls, re-covering the rest. Gently roll each on a flat surface to make 3/4” ropes. Slice each rope into 1/2” inch slices, forming little dough barrels.
Now, using a gnocchi board, (a fork also works), form gnocchi. Hold board or fork in one hand above baking sheet. Pick up a dough barrel, stand up in center of gnocchi board, or at base of fork tines. Using thumb, “roll-not-quite-smear” dough along board or tines, and flick gnocchi onto cookie sheet. Done right, it will curl and flip over onto the baking sheet. Properly formed gnocchi have ridges around them and a dimple on one side. Some curl around and look more like seashell pasta. That’s getting the hang of it!
Continue rolling out dough pieces, cutting, and flicking gnocchi, trying to keep gnocchi on pan in a single layer, sitting on rice flour. If pan becomes full, start another, or gently add a layer of aluminum foil and start a second tier. once gnocchi is made, set aside.
Salt salmon. Place parchment or other cooking paper onto flat surface and dust with salt. Place salmon pieces down on paper, and and now dust salmon with salt.
In a pan with steamer large enough to hold greens, or wok with steam basket, heat 1 Tbsp of butter or oil. When hot, add chard, kale, spinach, etc. Scrape nutmeg onto leaves, perhaps 3/4 of of a small nut or 1/2 a large. Add salt to taste. Allow to cook down until thickest leaves are just chewable. Remove as much chard as you can and place into steamer basket. Now add 6 cups of water to remaining broth and cover. Bring to a slow boil.
Now cook fish. Mix Rice Vinegar, RiceWine, and Soy sauce together in bowl. Set aside. Place large frying pan over high heat. Allow pan its time to smoke, and then add 1Tbsp oil. Roll around in pan until bottom is covered. Add more oil if needed to cover pan bottom. Throw in salmon pieces. There will be noise when the salmon hits the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes on one side, moving pieces slightly occasionally to make sure of no sticking. Turn and continue cooking on other side 2-3 minutes. Salmon should be golden. If pieces are thin, reduce time. Remove salmon from pan when done, and set aside. Add remaining 1Tbsp oil or butter, and scrape pan with spatula, starting reduction. Allow to come to full heat again, and then slowly add 1/3 Rice Vinegar mixture. It will sizzle. Scrape Mix any bits formed during cooking and stir. Add remaining Vinegar mixture and bring to boil. Boil for 2 minutes more, then turn off frying pan heat.
Now dump gnocchi into barely boiling water. They take about 3 minutes to cook. Lid off. Continue using spatula to stir boiling sauce, and then add green onion and stir. Set fish pieces back into sauce.
When gnocchi pieces float to surface, they are done. Pour gently through strainer or steamer basket. Now arrange greens into wide arc on plates. Pile gnocchi onto plate inside arch, forming a beach below mountains. Place three strips of salmon on each “beach” and drizzle 1-2Tbsp sauce over each. Enjoy!!
Nagiamo Yam Gnocchi with Salmon
Serves 4
These tasty Japanese yams are usually scraped raw into a salad. But here they are candied by roasting and made into tasty little yam pillows, with only rice flour and salt.
For the gnocchi:
2 lbs Fresh Nagaimo Japanese Yam
1-2 Cups Rice Flour
1/2 tsp salt
For the rest:
2 bundles chard or kale, or 4 of spinach, cleaned, dried, and stems removed. (Big chard or kale leaves need to be torn into 2-3 inch pieces.)
1 nutmeg
4 individual size salmon filets cut into 12 pieces, total. (~ 2 lb)
1/2 Cup Rice Vinegar
1/2 Cup Sweet Rice Wine (Mirin)
1/4 Cup good quality Soy Sauce
One bunch green onions, white sections thinly sliced, greens cut into 1/2 inch diagonal sections.
3 Tbsp cooking/olive oil, (or 1 Tbsp cooking/olive oil, 2Tbsp Butter)
Salt
Preheat oven to 350degF.
Pierce yam piece(s) all over with long-tined or barbecue fork, including on cut ends, if any. Careful! Yam may feel tough, but fork can go through like butter and break yam! These holes help yam dry while roasting. Roast for 80 minutes in oven, don’t worry if liquid at base of yam turns dark. Remove yams from oven and then remove from cooking pan or stone. Set out to cool. Turn oven off.
Once cooled enough, peel yams with potato peeler. If you wait too long, skins will get tough again. If you can’t peel perfectly, then use your fingers. Using a potato ricer, press peeled pieces through ricer into bowl. Any pieces of skin that still have chunks of yam can also be gently riced, removing each skin from ricer after. Allow riced yam to sit for fifteen minutes and dry a little.
Now pour scant 1 cup of rice flour onto kneading surface. Add yams and mix with fingers gently. If you get too aggressive or knead too long, the gnocchi will be rubbery. Rice flour takes a while longer to absorb water than regular flour, so that means even more gentle mixing. Once dry rice flour has been absorbed, add more flour gradually if still wet, and work into dough tacky to the touch. Dough will be light.
Now gently roll dough into 12”/30cm long, thin breadloaf shape. Gently slice lengthwise into two slabs of dough. Lay each of the slabs down and cut them in half length again. Now cut all four strips crosswise giving you eight pieces. Cover with damp cloth.
Sprinkle a large pan or cookie sheet with liberal rice flour. Now pull out one of the dough rolls, re-covering the rest. Gently roll each on a flat surface to make 3/4” ropes. Slice each rope into 1/2” inch slices, forming little dough barrels.
Now, using a gnocchi board, (a fork also works), form gnocchi. Hold board or fork in one hand above baking sheet. Pick up a dough barrel, stand up in center of gnocchi board, or at base of fork tines. Using thumb, “roll-not-quite-smear” dough along board or tines, and flick gnocchi onto cookie sheet. Done right, it will curl and flip over onto the baking sheet. Properly formed gnocchi have ridges around them and a dimple on one side. Some curl around and look more like seashell pasta. That’s getting the hang of it!
Continue rolling out dough pieces, cutting, and flicking gnocchi, trying to keep gnocchi on pan in a single layer, sitting on rice flour. If pan becomes full, start another, or gently add a layer of aluminum foil and start a second tier. once gnocchi is made, set aside.
Salt salmon. Place parchment or other cooking paper onto flat surface and dust with salt. Place salmon pieces down on paper, and and now dust salmon with salt.
In a pan with steamer large enough to hold greens, or wok with steam basket, heat 1 Tbsp of butter or oil. When hot, add chard, kale, spinach, etc. Scrape nutmeg onto leaves, perhaps 3/4 of of a small nut or 1/2 a large. Add salt to taste. Allow to cook down until thickest leaves are just chewable. Remove as much chard as you can and place into steamer basket. Now add 6 cups of water to remaining broth and cover. Bring to a slow boil.
Now cook fish. Mix Rice Vinegar, RiceWine, and Soy sauce together in bowl. Set aside. Place large frying pan over high heat. Allow pan its time to smoke, and then add 1Tbsp oil. Roll around in pan until bottom is covered. Add more oil if needed to cover pan bottom. Throw in salmon pieces. There will be noise when the salmon hits the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes on one side, moving pieces slightly occasionally to make sure of no sticking. Turn and continue cooking on other side 2-3 minutes. Salmon should be golden. If pieces are thin, reduce time. Remove salmon from pan when done, and set aside. Add remaining 1Tbsp oil or butter, and scrape pan with spatula, starting reduction. Allow to come to full heat again, and then slowly add 1/3 Rice Vinegar mixture. It will sizzle. Scrape Mix any bits formed during cooking and stir. Add remaining Vinegar mixture and bring to boil. Boil for 2 minutes more, then turn off frying pan heat.
Now dump gnocchi into barely boiling water. They take about 3 minutes to cook. Lid off. Continue using spatula to stir boiling sauce, and then add green onion and stir. Set fish pieces back into sauce.
When gnocchi pieces float to surface, they are done. Pour gently through strainer or steamer basket. Now arrange greens into wide arc on plates. Pile gnocchi onto plate inside arch, forming a beach below mountains. Place three strips of salmon on each “beach” and drizzle 1-2Tbsp sauce over each. Enjoy!!
