Fused by Fiona Uyema Ltd

I'm so happy to share with you my new venture, my new company Fused by Fiona Uyema Ltd. I launched “Fused by Fiona Uyema Ltd” to share my passion for Japanese cooking and flavours and to inspire people across Ireland and further afield. I've travelled to Japan and Dubai as an Ambassador for Japanese food and culture.

“Fused by Fiona Uyema Ltd” inspires Japanese flavours through my profile as a TV cook and cookbook author, Fused range of healthy and tasty flavoured soy sauces and Fused Japanese Street Food Pop-Up Roadshow.

Fused launched its first products last year, a range of healthy and tasty flavoured soy sauces with no added sugar, preservatives or additives and using non-GMO soy beans.

Fused Japanese Street Food Pop-Up Roadshow has appeared at Ireland's largest food festivals and events and also caters for private hire.

To see my live TV cooking videos go to my YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtHdgAxEmF1cO_I457qWLow

Experience Japan Festival 2016

All year I've been looking forward to this Japanese festival and I'm delighted to be able to say this year it was even bigger and better. Although the Irish weather can be unpredictable in April, the sun was shining the whole day and the temperature was higher than an average spring day. The first Japanese street food/ Japanese festival food I tried was curry udon garnished with bonito flakes, it was delicious and I got it from the WACAFE

There were more food stalls this year due to the growing demand for this Japanese festival every year. One of my favourite food stalls was the takoyaki and okonomiyaki. 

These are typical Japanese street foods/Japanese festival foods and always taste amazing when freshly made and served like this. 

The queue for this stall was particularly long even at the end of the day.  

I was delighted to see a Japanese gift shop called "Cactus Dublin" at the festival with a fantastic selection of Japanese gifts and they also stocked my cookbook "Japanese Food Made Easy".

There was plenty of opportunity to absorb Japanese culture with displays of marital arts such as kendo and karate. 

It was great to see Irish children embracing marital arts and tentatively listening to their Sensei!  

Asia Market Dublin had a stall again this year with a fantastic selection of Japanese ingredients and their stock of my cookbook sold out! 

 

I really enjoyed my talk on "Japan through the Eyes of Fiona Uyema" in the Cabinet Kitchen. There were so many questions at the end of the session and thanks to everyone who came up to say hello. It always motivates me to hear that people are following my journey and enjoying my recipes and adventures through my blog and online.

I had an information stall in the Cowshed on Japanese food & culture. My little boy came along to help me! 

I bumped into these two beautiful ladies again this year. Every year they wear costumes to the festival, I love them :)

Although the cherry blossom trees are not in full bloom across Ireland yet we found a few that had blossomed.

Notes:

If you 're interested in attending Japanese festivals around Europe you should also look at Hyper Japan in the UK and Japan Day in Germany. I hope to attend these wonderful festivals one day too. 

I want to say a special thanks to Natalia from Smiles!Photography for allowing me to use her photos for this blog post. Her photos are much nicer than mine!!

To see more about Experience Japan festival go to www.experiencejapan.ie

Taste of Dublin 2015 - Sushi Masterclasses Fiona Uyema

It was great to be part of Taste of Dublin again this year. I arrived on Thursday morning to kick off the festival with the traditional Taste of Dublin photo in front of the fountain alongside a fantastic line up of well known chefs.

One of the highlights of the festival was to be shoulder to shoulder with Michel Roux Jr. and Kevin Thornton talking about Japanese food.

I was overwhelmed with the demand for my sushi masterclasses in the SONY tent with every session booking out from Thursday to Sunday along with a waiting/cancellation list.

I was truly impressed with the knowledge and interest from the public in not only sushi but Japanese food in general. I had so many interesting conversations with people who came up to me after the demos learning about how they became fans of Japanese food.

I was lucky to have the wonderful staff from Banyi Japanese Dining next door to me who were serving delicious sake cocktails and freshly made sushi.

The Goastbridge trout caviar proved very popular as a topping for the temaki rolls!

When I wasn't giving demonstrations I was enjoying the live music and delicious food with my family and friends. If you haven't been to Taste of Dublin be sure to stick it in your calendar for next year as it's such an incredible festival for everyone. The Minions appearance was the highlight of the festival for my little boy.

Chirashi-zushi (home-style sushi) with prawn & avocado

This recipe has been very popular in my house over the summer months since it takes less time to prepare than rolled sushi. It can be served for lunch or dinner and also works well when entertaining at home. Try it and let me know how you get on. 

Ingredients:
For the sushi rice
2 cups of Japanese rice (320g)

2 cups of cold water
100ml rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
Half tsp salt

For the sushi fillings and toppings:
2 eggs (preferably free range or organic), beaten
Half a yellow pepper & half a red pepper (cut into small cubes)
1 avocado (cut into small cubes)
8 large prawns (cut into bite size pieces)

Vegetable oil (for frying)

Sesame oil and soy sauce (to garnish)

Instructions:

1. Click here to see how to make sushi rice.

2. To make the egg crepe, lightly oil a non-stick frying pan on medium to high heat. Depending on the size of your pan place about half the egg mix on the frying pan so you have a very thin layer of egg like a crepe. Now adjust the heat to low and leave the egg on the pan until the edges of the egg crepe start to break away from the pan. Set aside on a large plate. Continue to do this until all the egg mix is cooked. Place the egg crepes on top of each other as you cook them. When you're finished roll the pile of egg crepes together. Then using a sharp knife cut into thin strips to get shredded egg crepe.

3. Allow the seasoned sushi rice to cool to room temperature, and then mix half of the peppers, avocado and prawns into the rice. Place in a large serving dish. 

4. Scatter the remaining ingredients on top of the rice mix including the shredded egg crepe.

5. For extra flavour lightly drizzle sesame oil and soy sauce all over.

Fiona's Japanese recipes featured in Food & Wine magazine

I've been working on a few projects over the last few months and I'm really excited to be able to share one of them with you.

A few weeks ago one of my recipes was featured on the front cover of one of Ireland's leading food magazines called "Food &Wine Magazine". A special 8 page feature was also included inside including a collection of my favourite Japanese recipes (traditional and fusion).

I'm attaching some pictures for my followers living outside of Ireland who probably won't get a chance to see the magainze.

I'd love to hear what you think of it.

Fiona

BASIC JAPANESE COOKING: TEMAKI SUSHI HAND ROLLS

I love making temaki when I'm entertaining family or friends at home. Sometimes I prepare the temaki rolls in advance and other times I leave all the ingredients in the centre of the table and let everyone dig in and make their own temaki. My nieces and nephews eyes always light up when they're allowed to make their own temaki so it's a enjoyable way to encourage kids to eat a healthy meal. 

Temaki sushi is a cone shaped hand roll wrapped in nori seaweed and filled with sushi rice and your favourite ingredients.

INGREDIENTS:

Sushi rice and seasoning

160g sushi rice (uncooked)
Japanese white rice vinegar 50ml
Sugar 1 tbsp
Salt half tsp

Temaki

Half nori (roasted seaweed) sheets

Smoked salmon or raw salmon (make sure to source salmon which is suitable for eating raw)

Avocado (peeled and cut into long strips)

Mango (peeled and cut into long strips)

Sesame seeds (optional to garnish)

Soya sauce (optional as a dipping sauce)

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

How to prepare sushi rice

1. Click here to see my post on how to prepare and cook Japanese rice. 
2. To make the sushi rice seasoning pour 50ml of rice vinegar and 1 tbsp of sugar into a non-aluminium saucepan. 
3. Heat until the sugar is dissolved and then add half tsp of salt. Stir, take off the heat and allow to cool. 
4. Once the rice is cooked transfer it to a shallow non-metallic baking tray using a rice spatula or wooden spoon. 
5. Sprinkle the sushi rice seasoning evenly over the rice and then gently turn the rice with a spatula (try not to break the rice grains by gently using the spatula to cut into the rice at an angle and fold over the rice).
6. Fan the rice using a fan or a piece of cardboard to help cool the rice to room temperature and absorb the excess sushi rice seasoning. 
7. Try to use the rice as soon as possible and avoid putting it in the fridge as this will harden the rice. You can cover the rice with a damp tea towel and set aside in a cool place until needed.

 
Temaki
1. Cut the nori sheet in half placing the shiny side of the nori sheet down.

2. Put a heaped tablespoon of sushi rice on the left side of the nori sheet. 

3. Moisten your hands before spreading the rice evenly over nearly half of the nori sheet using your fingertips.

4. Place all the ingredients including the strip of salmon, avocado and mango at a 45 degree angle on the rice (try not to overload with ingredients as this will make it difficult to roll).

6. Slowly start to roll the temaki by taking the bottom left corner of the nori and fold it over towards the top right corner of the rice. Continue to fold as shown in the photos below. Place a few grains of cooked rice on the last corner of the nori (to stop the roll unfolding) and finish folding. 
 

 7. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the temaki. 

  
HOW TO EAT:
Serve as soon as possible so that the nori is still crispy. Dip into a little soya sauce and eat with your hand. 

TIPS:
You can roll the temaki by laying the nori on the palm of your hand but I find it easier to roll the temaki on a solid surface. 

Temaki is a perfect finger food to serve at a party. 

JAPANESE FOOD REVIEW: MICHIE SUSHI

If you like good quality sushi in a casual setting then you'll love Michie Sushi. It's not an easy place to find if you're not familiar with the Ranelagh area so make sure to look up the address before going there. It's located down a narrow lane called 11 Chelmsford Lane just off Ranelagh village. 

I went there for the first time last month with my husband and little boy. We started with the the salmon and tuna combo (€13.80) and miso soup. We enjoyed this so much that we decided to order more sushi!

My husband ordered the Michie Special (€13.80).

And I ordered the Ebi Fry Roll (€11.95). Our little boy tried a bit of everything!

I can honestly say this is one of the best sushi experiences that I've had in Ireland. 

Michie also serve traditional hot Japanese dishes. They provide a takeaway, delivery and catering service and won various awards including "The Bridgestone Best in Ireland 2011 & 2012" and the "Regional Winner Dublin Best Casual Dining 2011". 

I was delighted to hear that they recently opened another restaurant in Dun Laoghaire in Dublin. I've no doubt Michie's new venture will be a success and wish them the best of luck.

Website: www.michiesushi.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/michiesushi
Twitter: @MichieSushi
Email: info@michiesushi.com
Phone: (01) 497 6438
Location: 11 Chelmsford Lane in Ranelagh, Dublin 6 and Dun Laoghaire 

NOTES: All restaurant reviews posted on this blog are written by me without the prior knowledge of the restaurant. I visit the restaurant as an average customer and always pay for the food! 

EASY TO MAKE ROLLED SUSHI - MAKI ROLL/ MAKIZUSHI

The thoughts of making sushi at home sounds daunting but once you make sushi a few times you'll realise it's not as difficult as it looks. There are many different types of sushi but today I'm going to focus on maki rolls. A maki roll is a sheet of nori (roasted seaweed) rolled in sushi rice and different fillings. There is such a wide selection of fillings that I decided to make 3 different types of fillings that work well together and are reasonably easy to get in the shops. You can change these and replace them with your favourite ingredients or simply add what you happen to have in the cupboard or fridge at home. 

WHERE TO FIND THE INGREDIENTS: 
Nowadays, all the basic ingredients that you need to make sushi can be found in larger supermarkets, health stores and Asian supermarkets. Most larger supermarkets in Ireland like Tesco and Superquinn have a designated Asian/ Japanese food corner. The most well know Asian supermarkets in Dublin include The Asian Market (Drury St Co. Dublin and Merrywell Business park, Ballymount Dublin 22) and Oriental Emporium (Jervis St. Co. Dublin, George's St. Co. Dublin and Unit C, Aerodrome Business Park, Collegeland, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin). Click here to see my post on "Basic Japanese Ingredients - what they are and where you can find them".

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST TO MAKE SUSHI AT HOME? 
Sushi has developed a reputation for being an expensive food to eat and this can be true when you eat sushi in sushi bars or restaurants. However, it is relatively cheap to make sushi at home. In the last few years all the ingredients to make sushi have become readily available in our supermarkets and ever-growing selection of health stores and Asian supermarkets. I've listed the individual prices from Tesco and Superquinn of the items to make sushi (this price was collected in July 2012 and may change). Once you invest in these ingredients you'll be able to reuse them to make different sushi recipes making it even cheaper to make sushi at home!

TESCO	Price1	SUPERQUINN	Price2
Sushi Bamboo Mat	€1.79	Sushi Bamboo Mat	€1.61
Sushi Nori (roasted seaweed sheets)	€1.79	Sushi Nori (roasted seaweed sheets)	€1.99
Wasabi (Japanese horseradish)	€1.79	Wasabi (Japanese horseradish)	€2.19
Japanese Sushi Rice (500g)	€1.79	Shinode Japanese Rice (1 kilogram)	€3.19
Japanese Sushi White Rice Vinegar (150ml)	€1.79	Japanese Sushi White Rice Vinegar (150ml)	€2.99
Pickled Ginger	€1.79	Pickled Ginger	€3.19

INGREDIENTS: 

Sushi rolling mat
4 x Sushi Nori Sheets (roasted seaweed sheets)
Japanese Sushi Rice 320g (uncooked)

Sushi rice seasoning 
Japanese Sushi White Rice Vinegar 100ml
Sugar 2 tbsp
Salt half tsp

Serve with the sushi 
Wasabi (Japanese horseradish)
Pickled Ginger
Japanese soya sauce (Kikkoman preferably)

- Type 1 Sushi Filling
Cooked prawns (pull to straighten)
Avocado (cut into long strips)
Pickled Ginger 
- Type 2 Sushi Filling
Tinned tuna mixed with mayonnaise
Cucumber (cut into long strips)
- Type 3 Sushi Filling
Carrot (cooked and cut into long strips)
Egg (omelet style cooked egg cut into long strips)
Cucumber (cut into long strips)
Pickled Ginger

STEPS TO MAKE SUSHI:

1. Click here to see how to prepare sushi rice

2. Putting the sushi rice on the nori 
Place a sheet of nori shiny-side down and the lines in the nori running vertical on a rolling mat. Cut off the top piece of the nori as shown in the picture below to get the perfect sized maki roll. Put a few drops of vinegar in a bowl of water and use this to wet your hands when applying the rice to the nori to avoid the rice sticking to your hands. Using the spatula divide the rice in the tray into four quarters using one quarter for each nori sheet. Gently spread the rice over the nori sheet trying not to press on the rice too hard. Spread the rice to the edges of the nori and leave a 2 cm gap at the top of the seaweed as shown in the picture below.





 3. Put the fillings on the rice as shown in the pictures below.

 

4. Start to roll

Using both hands hold the filling in place with your fingers then use your index fingers and thumbs to start to roll the mat forward and bring the nori over the filling. Now, press down firmly but gently to create a roll shape. To form the complete maki roll pull the end of the mat with one hand and continue to push the roll forward with the other hand (if some ingredients fall out the sides just push them back in and don't worry if the edges of the roll look untidy as this is ok). Remove the mat from the roll.

5. Cut the roll

Place the roll on a chopping board and using a sharp knife cut in half (try to only cut in one direction). Then, using a damp clean cloth wipe the knife clean and continue to cut the two halves into four pieces and then cut the four pieces in half leaving you with eight pieces altogether.

Place on a plate and serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.