Flamenco Maki

Drawing from Argentine and Japanese influences, Chef Eugene Raymundo’s couture dish is perfect for a yuppie’s urban lifestyle.  Serve it when you invite your date over for a home cooked meal, or if you just want to try something new.

Flamenco Maki / Maki De Buenos Aires

Ingredients:

1 recipe sushi rice (recipe follows)
1 recipe maki filling (recipe follows)
½ cup shoestring potato chips (original flavor)
2 medium ripe saba, cut into 8 strips each and fried
6 large eggs, beaten and and fried to make 4 thin sheets
4 sheets nori, cut into halves
1 recipe chimichuri

Place half a nori on a bamboo mat and flatten about ½ cup of sushi rice. Place a sheet of egg over rice and about 3 Tbsps of the maki filling, potato shoestring and 2 sticks of the fried saba. Roll and tighten to hold shape. Repeat procedure and slice each roll into 8 pieces. Serve with chimichuri on the side, or top each slice with ½ a tsp of the sauce.

Makes 8 servings.

SUSHI RICE

Ingredients:

3 cups Japanese (sushi) rice, washed twice and drained
3 ¼ cups water

7 Tbsps rice vinegar
1 Tbsp mirin
3 Tbsps sugar

Place washed rice in a rice cooker and pour in water. Soak rice for 30 minutes before cooking. Cook rice until done.

In a bowl, blend vinegar, mirin and sugar and set aside until ready for use.

Spread the hot steamed rice into a large plate or a large bowl. Please use a non-metallic pan to prevent any reaction with the rice vinegar. It’s best to use a sushi-oke, but any wooden bowl is fine. Sprinkle the vinegar mixture on the rice and fold the rice in quickly using a rice spatula. Be careful not to mash the rice.

To cool and remove the moisture of the rice, use a fan as you mix the sushi rice. Fanning will give it a shiny look.

Use right away.

MAKI FILLING

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp corn oil
¼ tsp paprika
1/3 cup minced onions
2 Tbsps minced garlic
½ tsp chili flakes
2 Tbsps minced parsley
2- 175 g Argentina Corned Beef
3 Tbsps red wine

Heat oil in a pan. Saute’ onion, garlic, chili flakes and paprika. Add in corned beef, wine, and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until dry. Set aside and allow to cool before using.

CHIMICHURI

I know it sounds like something “Mahal” would say, but it is actually a  sauce  that is used as a dip and a marinade for meat. This brings in the “flamenco” component in the dish.

Ingredients:

½ cup chopped parsley
4 tsps minced garlic
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

2 Tbsps wine vinegar

zest of 1 lemon
1 lemon, juice extracted
½ tsp salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of pepper

Blend all ingredients well and season to taste.