Shio Japanese Restaurant

by | Jul 26, 2011 | Asian, Japanese, Restaurants

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We all have one type of food we crave no matter what our mood is, and for me, that’s Japanese food. New England isn’t exactly the hotbed of Japanese cuisine, but when I was growing up, we happened to have a good little Japanese restaurant in town called Sakura. I regularly would beg for dinner out so I could eat miso soup and California rolls.

Over time I learned there were more exciting options than California rolls, and soon I moved onto Nabeyaki Udon (a rich broth filled with thick, chewy noodles and seafood and vegetables served in a cast iron soup bowl) and Beef Negima, (thinly sliced beef wrapped around scallions). I finally moved onto the Omakase chefs’ favorite sushi – and “please, hold the cooked shrimp”, because I wasn’t interested, thank you.

Sakura closed after I moved to San Francisco. I was sad to hear the news, certainly, but more out of nostalgia than any real loss. It wasn’t the best Japanese food, yet it was the place that opened my heart to an entire regional cuisine. However, I found out another Japanese restaurant opened in its absence when my mother started texting me photos of elaborate sushi rolls. It was called Shio.

tatamiluckycat

Fast forward to my big return to the Seacoast. I’ve been going on the gastronomic tour these past few weeks, eating at all the old haunts, and making a list of the new ones.

The first time we tried to visit Shio – on a Tuesday – they were closed and I had what we call affectionately in Yiddish, a “kanipshin”, which roughly translates to a big ole’ hissy fit. Two weeks in my hometown away from the big city and I really needed my Japanese food!!  When triple digit temperatures actually made the idea of raw fish in a blissfully air conditioned environment a necessity, we came back two days later.

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Shio is located in a half empty strip mall in Portsmouth, right on Route 1. This isn’t the type of place you’d be casually charmed to stop in after strolling by, you kind of have to know about it. If you aren’t the type of person immediately put off by neon sushi signs and a “Big Lots” next door, you’ll get rewarded by a pleasant looking restaurant interior. Shio has nice big tables, a sushi bar, and traditional tatami rooms, where you can take off your shoes and sit on cushions. The evening crowd is mainly families, although we saw a few dates, and it can get quite busy.

Let’s face it, it’s not Nobu, but the food is a notch above your New England neighborhood sushi joint. It filled my sushi cravings, used relatively high quality fish that wasn’t bland, and took greater care in plating. They took pride in their food.

Being a tee-totaler of late, we didn’t order any drinks (I know, shame on me), but I did observe a fairly well stocked bar, and some excellently kitschy cocktail umbrellas.

P1060792 Seafood Yaki Soba with Shrimp and Scallops ($14.00)

In addition to sushi, there is a good selection of cooked food made in the kitchen. Having grown up with a sibling that wouldn’t have touched raw fish with a ten foot pole, the relative variety of non-sushi options makes this more family friendly for those who haven’t yet hopped on the bandwagon. Even my grandmother eats sushi, then again, she also has a Mac and goes to Zumba classes.

At dinner, my father ordered the Yaki Soba which was unctuous, not too salty, and generously topped with seafood. The Dumpling Soup was a warming bowl of rich mushroom broth with little meat dumplings, scallions, mushrooms and vegetables (and was much better than the miso soup). Devon’s Chicken Katsu was lightly breaded with a great crunch, and avoided the typical katsu pitfall of being too greasy. It also tasted superb when I ate the leftovers at 11:45 pm, and was awarded my extra stamp of approval.

P1060794 Chicken Katsu ($13) lightly breaded and fried chicken cutlets

Although I’m not a “roll person”, the selections at Shio are creative and slightly more exciting than your average selection, using more traditional Japanese condiments such as plum paste, spicy kampyo (squash), or non-traditional additions such as cilantro, mango and fresh chile. My mother had the Rob Roll, which I’m fairly sure was named after someone named Rob, but immediately brought to mind the Urban Dictionary connotation of being very good at something unexpectedly after drinking a lot of booze.

P1060795    Rob Roll (11.95) Spicy crunchy yellow tail and avocado, topped with salmon roe, caviar, and fresh chili pepper. Side of Saba (Mackerel) sashimi ($4.50).

I ordered my favorite fish preparation, Chirashi, which is assorted sashimi scattered over a bed of sushi rice. This rendition was quite satisfying, and I found myself enjoying everything except for the imitation crab, which I could generally do without. I particularly enjoyed the variety of tsukemono (pickles), there were three beyond the standard pickled ginger.

P1060799  Shio’s Style Chirashi ($20) Assorted raw fish, eel, ikura, caviar and Japanese pickles on seasoned rice.

In the name of impartial research, Devon and I actually decided to go back to Shio for lunch, as the specials were quite reasonably priced. Interestingly, while the typical Seacoast lunch crowd is made up of women, we were surprised to see a crowd of mostly business men in button downs and slacks – clearly Shio is the place to be for a work lunch. Unfortunately, one of said businessmen spent twenty five minutes prodding his sushi with a chopstick, and left abruptly, but not before rudely telling the staff he was in a hurry, and wasting his entire meal. In his defense, the asshat convention was probably about to start without him.

Lunch specials were served with miso soup and salad, both of which I could have done without. While I generally like carrot ginger dressing, serving it ontop of iceberg lettuce pains me.  Devon ordered the sushi platter, which came with five pieces of sushi and a California roll, and I ordered the Sushi and Sashimi combo.

sushi platter Sushi Platter ($9.50) Five assorted sushi, and a California roll.

sushi sashimi combo Sushi Sashimi Combo ($12.50) Four sushi, six sashimi, and a California roll.

Although admittedly not as good as my Chirashi at the previous meal, the sushi was flavorful and lunch was a pretty good deal all around. Overall, two solid meals, a decent price, a lucky cat statue, and we will be back.

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Shio Japanese Restaurant
2454 Lafayette Road
Portsmouth, NH

www.shiorestaurant.com

Shio on Urbanspoon

Momofuku Bacon Dashi : A Myriad of Possibilities

by | Nov 18, 2009 | Asian, Books, Japanese, Pantry Staples, Quick and Easy, Soups

baconThis week one of those hokey “name 3 things you like to eat, 3 places you’ve lived, and forward it to everyone!!!” emails circulated throughout my friends, with one noted similarity between all of our responses: It seems that we all have a voracious passion for bacon.  Clearly our love for bacon will unite us for all time in friendship, so that’s exciting. And really who can blame us? There is so much you can do with the product – one slice lends entire flavor to soups, served crisply with eggs it is a miracle, even covered in chocolate there is demand.

Zingermans Guide to Better BaconAt the bookstore we have been selling copies of “Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon”, a rousing tour of bacon’s history (which for $300 you can get yourself a pigskin bound copy), as well as the Bacon Cookbook, which should have a prominent place in every bacon lover’s kitchen. In an unscientific poll that I’ve conducted, those most likely to buy these books were in a sub-set group of customers of which I include myself: the “JPAB’s”, say it: “Jay-Pab’s” or “Jews passionate about Bacon”. Maybe being deprived of bacon as a child led to my obsession, but really I think it’s actually a mix of deprivation and a greater cultural legacy- we Jews have a penchant for perfect savory brunch food – lox, whitefish, chopped liver, cream cheese, bagels – it’s no wonder that bacon sneaks itself in somehow.

momofuku-cookbook-cover-photo(Photo Helen Rosner/Eat Me Daily)

I’m always looking for new ways to use bacon, and most recently stumbled across a miracle in my new Momofuku cookbook – Bacon Dashi. Dashi, a traditional japanese stock made of konbu (kelp), and bonito flakes (dried fish, which has been powdered), is a staple broth that can be used in a myriad of ways. In the Momofuku cookbook, (of which a brilliant review can be found at Eat Me Daily), David Chang substitutes more easily findable smoky bacon for bonito, to create of this ever useful base broth. I made a batch last week, and have been using it in everything.

Things to use Momofuku Bacon Dashi for:

:: As the liquid for any soup, stew, grain, rice, or polenta. ::

Or:

1. Bacon Dashi over “stuff”: Slice shiitake mushrooms and green onions (scallions) in a bowl, and some silken tofu if you have it. Ladle hot Bacon Dashi over the contents of the bowl. Sit. Drink with glee. You know, I haven’t tried this, but I bet if you were to crunch up some of those onion strings that people put in green bean casserole in the bowl as well – it would taste good too.

2. Bacon Dashi Miso Soup – use the Bacon Dashi in this perfect and easy recipe for miso soup from Maki of Just Hungry.

3. Quick Bacon and Cabbage soup: Chop one strip of thick cut bacon and cook over medium high heat in a large soup pot. Add in one chopped onion and three minced cloves of garlic, and cook for about 4 or 5 minutes until slightly tender. Add in one chopped carrot, and rip in three leaves of sage. (If you have a potato, cube it into really small pieces, and add it here). Add a tin of cannelini beans, or great northern beans. Cook for about two minutes, and add 6 cups of Bacon Dashi – or a mix of water and dashi if you don’t have enough bacon dashi because you have used most of your double batch in the past few days. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add in a half head of cabbage, roughly chopped, and 1 tablespoon of white miso paste and simmer for 10-15 more minutes. Season with some pepper, and serve.

*If you don’t have white miso paste, you could just salt at the end, but it wont have that nice unctuousness and depth that the miso adds to the soup. Buy yourself a little tub, and use it!

Momofuku Bacon Dashi
from the Momofuku Cookbook
Makes 2 Quarts

Two 3-by-6-inch pieces konbu (kelp)
8 cups water
1/2 pound smoky bacon, preferably Benton’s

1. Rinse the konbu under running water, then combine it with the water in a medium saucepan. Bring the water to a simmer over medium heat and turn off the stove. Let steep for 10 minutes.

2. Remove the konbu from the pot and add the bacon. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down so the water simmers gently. Simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Strain the bacon from the dashi, and chill the broth until the fat separates and hardens into a solid cap on top of it. Remove and discard the fat and use the dashi or store it. Bacon dashi will keep, covered, for a few days in the refrigerator.

*Notes: All Asian grocery stores and most health food stores will carry dried konbu (kelp), although increasingly it is found in the Japanese part of the “world” section of the American supermarket. As to the bacon, I used Niman ranch thick cut apple-wood smoked bacon, and it worked out just fine.

*Also, you can half this recipe, or if you are smart, double it.

*Also, you can eat the konbu for snack instead of throwing it out. I wouldn’t advocate the same with the boiled bacon.

Other people using Bacon Dashi in creative ways:
Anticiplate: Southern Style Shrimp ‘n Grits
Inuyaki: Bacon Agedashi Tofu

Shiro Miso and Rice Noodle Soup with a Poached Egg

by | Feb 9, 2009 | Japanese, Soups

shiro-miso-soup

My kitchen for the past several months has seemed to take on a distinctly Asian flare inspired by the wonderful posts of one of my favorite food blog writers, Maki,  of Just Hungry and Just Bento . With her influence, I have been making bento lunches almost daily, and have a large stash in my freezer of dumplings, steamed buns, and udon noodles. I have been experimenting gleefully with fish sauces, chili oil, rice vinegar, adzuki beans, and miso paste, and have found that for the most part these ingredients are actually quite simple to use, and produce tasty results (regardless of whether they are being used authentically). (more…)