Sakura denbu - the cutest fish flakes for many bento, snacks & sushi toppings
The most beautiful topping ever to amplify your bento, lunch pack, sushi, rice dish.... with a lovely shade of pink. It tastes kinda sweet with bit of saltiness and can compliment any dish easily.
Ingredients
- 1 lb white fish fillet: cod, tilapia, halibut, bass, grouper...
- 2 tsp minced white onion
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp dashi powder
- 2 Tbsp mirin use aji mirin for non-alcoholic
- 1 Tbsp sake or rice vinegar + extra sugar + pea size ginger
- 4 Tbsp sugar
- natural food colorants e.g beet or berry color powder
Instructions
- Wash, pat dry fish fillets. Cut into smaller blocks for easier to handle if need.
- In a heat safe bowl, mix all ingredients (except color) together.
- Steam for 10 minutes or until fish can be flaked with fork.
- Transfer the fish fillets into a clean bowl, use a fork, smasher or stick blender to smash and flake them. For the juice (from the steamed fish dish), strain out all the solid (onion) and reserve this fish juice.
- With a wok or large sauce pan on low heat, add the flaked fish fillets and stir constantly.
- Keep stirring and flaking to break all the clumps.
- Dissolve color powder or food color with the preserved fish juice. Pour this juice into damp fish flake. Less for lighter pink or more for deeper hue.
- Keep stirring and applying pressure to break up clumps so that flakes look finer. Adjust taste if need.
- When the flakes become so fine and dry, you can now stop.
- Let air cool at room temperature before storing.
