Chikuwa (Tube Formed Fish Cake) ちくわ

Make your personal do-it-yourself Chikuwa to eat as a snack and for important meals and bento bins! One of these Japanese fish cake has a traditional savoury flavour and a singular tube-shaped design that makes it versatile and preferrred for varied dishes. Making your personal chikuwa at residence isn’t troublesome and requires just a few easy elements and instruments!

What’s Chikuwa?

Chikuwa is a standard Japanese fish cake created from floor fish meat that’s shaped right into a tube form. Like most Japanese fishcakes, chikuwa fish paste is usually created from white fish meat which is pureed and blended with different elements like egg white, sake, salt, sugar, and starch. The combination is then formed into cylindrical tubes and cooked till agency and springy.

Chikuwa has a gentle and barely candy taste, with a agency but tender texture. It’s typically utilized in Japanese stews like Oden, stir-fries, noodle soups, and bento bins. It may be eaten by itself however may also be full of cheese or greens like carrot or cucumber sticks and eaten as a snack or added to a meal or bento field. Grilling the chikuwa can even add a scrumptious smokey flavour. The flexibility of Chikuwa makes it a staple in lots of Japanese households.

Primary Components

To make do-it-yourself Chikuwa, you will want the next important elements:

• White fish fillets : white fish is the primary ingredient in chikuwa and supplies the bottom taste and texture for the fish cake. Select white fish fillets like hoki or pollock for floor fish meat. If recent fish is just not accessible, you should use frozen fish fillets too.
• Egg white : egg whites assist bind the opposite elements collectively and offers chikuwa its clean and bouncy texture.
• Sake : sake provides depth of taste to the chikuwa whereas additionally serving to to tenderize the fish combination.
• Salt : salt helps to season the fish paste and improve its taste.
• Sugar: A small quantity of sugar provides a contact of sweetness to the Chikuwa.
• Katakuriko Starch (potato starch) :  potato starch is used as a thickening agent in chikuwa. It helps maintain every little thing collectively and offers it its attribute barely chewy texture.

Gear Wanted

You don’t want any particular tools, only a couple fundamental instruments that you just seemingly have already got or are simple to seek out.  

Japanese mortar and pestle OR a meals processor : One important piece of kit for making chikuwa is a big mortar and pestle or meals processor. This might be used to grind up the fish paste that varieties the bottom of the chikuwa. Should you favor a standard strategy, a mortar and pestle may give you extra management over the feel of the paste. Nevertheless, a meals processor can save effort and time in grinding up the elements rapidly and effectively.

Bamboo Straw : One other essential software for making chikuwa is a bamboo straw. The straw is used to form and mould the fish paste into lengthy tubes earlier than they’re cooked and creates the signature hole within chikuwa. You don’t want something particular although, I simply used low cost bamboo straws which can be thick and normally used for boba tea. Yow will discover them at many retailers these days or on-line. 

Grill : some form of grill or open flame is critical to prepare dinner the chikuwa. I like to recommend the Iwatani grill as a result of it has rails particularly designed for cooking issues on a stick like yakitori and chikuwa. Alternatively you would use a bbq, a transportable gasoline tenting range, or a gasoline cooktop you probably have one at residence.

Steps to Make Home made Chikuwa

Comply with these step-by-step directions to make scrumptious Chikuwa at residence:

1. Put together the fish paste: If you’re utilizing frozen fish fillets, defrost the frozen fish fillets half method by, not fully defrosted. Pat dry the fish fillets with paper towel. Reduce the fish fillets into small items and place them in a meals processor. Add egg white, salt, sugar, katakuriko starch, and sake. Blitz till you obtain a clean and sticky paste.
2. Form the Chikuwa: Take a portion(about 1/fifth) of the fish paste onto a sheet of parchment paper and unfold it thinly into rectangular form. Place a bamboo straw over the sting of the spreaded fish paste and roll all of them collectively from one finish like rolling sushi. Repeat the method for the remainder of the fish paste.
3. Prepare dinner the Chikuwa: warmth a grill or stovetop griddle over medium warmth. Place the Chikuwa on the grill and prepare dinner for about 3-4 minutes on either side, or till golden brown and agency to the contact.
4. Serve and revel in: As soon as cooked, take away the bamboo skewers from the Chikuwa and serve them scorching or use them to create different dishes.

Serving Solutions

Chikuwa will be eaten by itself nevertheless it’s extra typically utilized in different dishes. Listed here are some solutions :

Oden

If you consider a scrumptious method to take pleasure in chikuwa, the very first thing that involves thoughts for Japanese folks might be Oden. This Japanese stew is filled with totally different elements like radish, fried tofu, and fish desserts served in a flavourful dashi broth. The chikuwa absorbs all of the scrumptious flavour of the oden stew. It’s a staple in winter months and will be discovered at each comfort retailer or made at residence.

Chikuwa Isobeage 

Fried Chikuwa Isobeage is a dish created from chikuwa dipped in tempura batter with seaweed flake (aonori) and deep fried till crispy and golden. You possibly can eat it as a facet dish with rice, and it goes very properly with soba and udon.

Chikuwa Appetizer

Inserting cucumber sticks, gobo (burdock root), or cheese sticks into chikuwa is straightforward however tasty. You possibly can then minimize the chikuwa into bite-size items and eat it as a snack, add to a bento field, or function an appetizer or facet dish.  

Methods to Retailer Chikuwa

In case you have leftovers or wish to make Chikuwa upfront, listed here are some tips about the way to retailer it correctly :

• Refrigeration: Place the cooked Chikuwa in an hermetic container or wrap them tightly in plastic wrap. Retailer them within the fridge for as much as 3 days.
• Freezing: If you wish to retailer Chikuwa for an extended interval, you may freeze them. Wrap every Chikuwa individually in plastic wrap and place them in a freezer-safe container or bag. They are often saved within the freezer for as much as 2 months.
• Thawing and reheating: To take pleasure in frozen Chikuwa, thaw them in a single day within the fridge. As soon as thawed, you may reheat them by grilling, pan-frying, or microwaving till heated by.