Tempura Lobster and Enoki-Miso Salad Roll

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice flour
• 1/2 tablespoon togarashi or chile powder
• 1 quart cold club soda water
• 1/2 tablespoon shiro-miso (light)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons sake
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 4 sheets yaki-nori
• 4 raw lobster tails, sliced very thinly on the bias
• 1 package enoki mushrooms
• 1 package daikon sprouts
• Salt and white pepper, to taste
• Sushi Rice, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat a fryer or large stock pot of oil to 450 degrees. In a bowl, mix flour with togarashi and whisk in soda water until a pancake batter thickness is achieved. In another bowl, whisk together the miso, sugar and sake. Whisk in the oil. Lay one sheet of nori, shiny side down. Lay lobster on the bottom 1/2 of the nori closest to you. Brush on a little of the miso mix. Mix the remaining miso mix with the enokis and sprouts. Check for seasoning. Lay a small layer of salad on the lobster. Using wet hands, lightly pat on a small column of rice in the middle of the salad. Roll nori and lobster around the rice. Moisten the edge with water to seal. Let rest 30 seconds before frying. Repeat process. Dip the rolls in the tempura batter and fry until golden brown, only 2 minutes. The lobster will be barely cooked. Drain on paper towels and season very lightly with salt.

PLATING Place a small mound of salad on a serving plate. Slice roll both straight and on the bias and surround the salad. Serve immediately.

Drink Suggestion: 1. Suishin, Japanese Sake 2. Laurent Perrier Champagne

• MASTER SUSHI RICE
• Copyright, 2000, Ming Tsai, All Rights Reserved
• 4 cups sushi rice (Calrose/short grain)
• Water, up to Mount Fuji
• 1 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1/2 cup sugar

Wash rice at least 3 times or until water is clear. Fill rice cooker or casserole with water to about 1-inch over rice. I highly recommend a rice cooker - more than 2 billion people use them in Asia for a reason. Slowly heat vinegar, mirin and sugar until very hot but not boiling. Fold in 'su' (vinegar and sugar) with the hot rice, add enough so that the rice has a tart/sweet taste. Rice should be shiny, not mushy. Carefully clean bowl with damp cloth, cover and let rest for 30 minutes.