August 28, 2004

Well, I decided to cook the "gobo" today as part of an Asian-themed meal. So, the menu will consist of sriracha-marinated halibut (grilled), zaru-soba, steamed bok choy, and stir-fried vegetables (including gobo, daikon, and carrot).

It's very hot here today so the zaru-soba should be a nice accompaniment. I must confess that I didn't buy soba noodles; I bought udon noodles, the thin ones that look like soba noodles. However, they're definitely not buckwheat...

The directions for cooking are very simple: just bring a pot of water to boil, add the noodles, reduce heat to a simmer, and let cook for 13 to 14 minutes. When they're done, the noodles should be thoroughly drained and rinsed under running cold water until they are cool.

The sauce is Kikkoman's Memmi soup base, thinned with water, with just a hint of sesame oil added. I only added half the sauce initially. If needed, I will add more just before plating.

The entire dish has a total of 8 points; because I'm dividing two udon noodle servings between the three of us, I will calculate it as 3 points per serving.

And here it is, ready to go into the fridge until serving time:



Next up, it was time to prep the stir-fry veggies. I did some reading up on gobo and learned that it must be kept away from the air until cooked, as it will turn brown. So, I had a bowl of ice water, ready and waiting! Also, the skin is paper-thin so the root need only be gently scrubbed. No peeling!

There will be carrots, gobo, and daikon (very hard to see in the white bowl) with a sauce made from 2 T. miso, 1 T. low-Na soy, and 1 T. rice vinegar:



Again, very simple prep work: just cut the veggies into slivers (not quite matchstick julienned but, if you have more patience than I do, go for that!). For the sauce, just mix it up. I did thin the sauce with an additional tablespoon of water.

The miso is worth two points and I'll need to put a wee bit of oil in the stir-fry pan before cooking, so I will count the vegetable dish as 1 point for each of us.

And here is the halibut, ready to go on the grill:

[photo removed as I obviously need to come up with a naming convention so that I don't overwrite previously posted images!]

Wayde's marinade is made of 1 T. mayonnaise, 1 T. sriracha sauce, and a splash of soy sauce. Most of it ends up left in the marinating dish but I will generally add one point to each serving of fish. That makes the halibut worth 6 points per serving.

And so, for a grand total of 10 points, we have the following:



The gobo didn't really move me; it didn't have too much flavour. Oh well, the rest of the meal was just super...