Chef Instructor Katsuhito Inoue · Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
THE FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts (PICA) is an award-winning culinary school that provides certified professional training programs in classic French and international cuisine, as well as short courses for recreational cooks. A graduate of the esteemed Japan Cooking School in Osaka, as well as kitchens in both Toronto and Montreal, Chef Inoue is one of the school’s chef instructors.
Raw eel is available in the frozen seafood section of Asian markets. Thaw the fish in the refrigerator overnight. To remove the spine bone, use a sharp knife to make a horizontal cut right above the spine, turn the fish over and repeat the same cut. Discard the bony middle piece and work with the two filets of eel. There’s no need to remove any other bones, as they are tender and chewy. If you can’t find, or don’t want to eat eel, substitute sablefish or swordfish.
In Japanese cooking, gin-an, or silver sauce, is the one most associated with steamed fish. It’s made by thickening dashi with cornstarch.
10 oz turnip, peeled, grated and squeezed dry
1 egg white
¼ tsp sea salt
2 oz oyster mushrooms, julienned
¼ bunch mitsuba
4 oz freshwater or saltwater eel, in four ¾-inch cubes
4 B.C. spot prawns, peeled and deveined
8 ginkgo nuts
1¼ cups dashi (page 110)
2 Tbsp mirin
2 Tbsp white sugar
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
3 tsp cornstarch
Wasabi paste to taste
IN A MEDIUM bowl, combine turnip and egg white and season with sea salt. Add mushrooms and mitsuba and toss well. Evenly divide this mixture among 4 small, ceramic Japanese miso soup bowls. Add 1 piece of eel, 1 spot prawn and 2 ginkgo nuts to each bowl.
In a wok fitted with a bamboo steamer or in a covered steamer, bring 6 cups water to a boil on high heat. Turn down the heat to medium. Arrange the bowls in the bamboo steamer or steamer insert, cover with a lid or aluminum foil and steam for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine dashi, mirin, sugar and soy sauce and bring to a boil on medium-high heat.
In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 3 tsp water until it forms a smooth paste. Slowly add the mixture to the saucepan and stir gently for 10 to 15 seconds until the sauce thickens. Evenly divide silver sauce among the 4 bowls. Garnish with wasabi and serve hot.