Iwashi no Kabayaki

This is seasoned Pond smelt that is cooked in a similar style to Unagi. It requires a lot of patience but has a good taste and the Tare Sauce can be used for many other dishes.


Ingredients:
One Pack of Smelts
1/2 cup of flour


Tare Sauce:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup mirin
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup shoyu (soy sauce)
6 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Steps: first off mix all of the ingredients for the Tare Sauce together inside a bowl. After that stir the bowl so that the sugar gets fully dissolved into the sauce. Then put the sauce into a pan and heat until boiling, after it boils over leave it to simmer on low heat while cleaning the fish.

Now comes the Meticulous Part, meaning that you have to clean the fish before it can be used. Cleaning a Smelt: 

Step 1:Cut off the head behind the gill cover on a slight angle so that the pectoral fins are removed in the cut.

Step 2:Insert knife or scissors into anus and cut along the belly to the point where the head was removed. With finger or spoon, remove entrails by starting at the anus and scraping forward.

Step 3: and rinse by running under cold water. Scaling or skinning is not necessary, but can be done by scraping with a toothbrush or finger.

After you have finished cleaning the smelt, slice them in half and then cover in flour and let it stay for 5 mins. 

 

Then fry some oil on a pan and then fry the fish until it is golden brown. Then let the fish set while the Tare Sauce is simmering. Then Place the fish into the Tare sauce and boil until it sticks to the fish.

When the fish is finished cooking plate it and then garnish it with some sliced nori or any green that you have available. There you go Iwashi no Kabayaki. You will notice that the Tare Sauce tastes exceptionally good even though it is quite simple, you can reuse this sauce with any other meat or fish dish that suits your taste.

Chicken Quesadilla with Smoked Onion Dip

This is a recipe that I incorporated from restaurant. Its a good value meal because you can reuse the chicken again. It has three parts and is quite a good and easy dish (somewhat).

Chicken Quesadilla
Ingredients:

2 Tortillas
Butter

Baked Chicken-
One full spring Chicken
Black pepper
Cajun Spice
Salt
Red Wine
Honey


Dipping Sauce-

One cup of white Onion
Mayonnaise
Sour Cream
Milk
Worcestershire Sauce





Filling
Ketchup

Tabasco Sauce
Black Pepper
Honey
Diced Tomatoes
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Red Onion




Steps:
First off, marinade the Chicken with the Honey, Black Pepper, Cajun Spice and Salt. Add the Red Wine to the bowl and taste to check if the flavors balance each other well. Then Leave the Chicken within the Marinade for at least 2 hours so that the flavors will seep into the Chicken. Next bake the chicken in the oven for an hour. The texture of the chicken will be nice and covered and the meat will be tender.

                                   

Secondly focus on making the dip. Chop the White Onion into slices and then smoke it for at least an hour preferably over Hickory wood chips. The flavors of the Onion will be brought out after smoking it . Then get a blender and Put in the White Onions, Mayonnaise, Sour Cream, Milk and Worcestershire Sauce and blend it for a while. Make sure that the sauce is smooth and creamy as the dip.

                   









When the Chicken has fully baked, shred the breast meat for the Quesadillas filling. You can eat the rest of the Chicken on it's own or as Chicken Sandwiches. Then prepare the other filling ingredients, Grate the Mozzarella cheese, Dice the Red Onions and the tomatoes.

Now to Prepare the Filling Sauce. Get a bowl and mix together the Ketchup, Black pepper, Honey and Tabasco. Alter the amounts depending on your taste. (as in spicy or sweet). Then add all of the filling ingredients except the cheese into the sauce and mix together well.


Now your ready to make the Quesadilla. First Fry some butter on the Frying Pan and then put the Tortilla flat onto the pan. Then Immediately Put your mixed Filling onto one side of the wrap. Add the cheese and then cover it with the other side of the wrap. Press it down so that the Tortilla will hold together. After the bottom side is cooked, flip the whole tortilla again so that the other side will be nice and brown.

 When both sides are finished cooking Cut the Quesadilla into three slices and then Plate. Add the dipping sauce into a small plate and put it into the center. Garnish the top with Mozzarella cheese and some Scallions then add Basil leaf into the Dipping Sauce. Voila you got Quesadillas.