Tsumiire are fish patties that are usually served in a clear soup or accompanied by boiled vegetables. The meatballs should be shaped by hand and dipped into the broth (or boiling water) immediately after being prepared.
This traditional homemade dish has been around for centuries, and each region of Japan has its own recipes based on locally available fish varieties.
Ingredients for 4 portions
- Pacific saurian pike 4
- Burdock 120 g
- Shimeji mushrooms 80 g
- Cipollotti 80 g
- Daikon 120 g
- Japanese parsley 60 g
- Pakchoi 240g
- Chili q.b.
- Ginger 20 g
- Japanese yam 40 g
- Sake 100 ml
- Clear soy sauce 88 ml
- Potato starch 8 g
- Egg yolks 4
- Halls q.b.
- Egg noodles 400 g
- Dashi broth as needed q.b.
Preparation
Prepare the dashi broth.
Separate the outer skin from the middle part of the spring onions. Remove the thin layer from inside the skin and cut it into strips. Mince the middle part.
Peel the ginger and grate it.
Peel off the stems of the shimeji mushrooms and cut them into 1 cm pieces. Cut the pak choi into 4 pieces. Boil both vegetables, then cool them in cold water. When they have cooled, cut the mushrooms into small pieces.
Cut the burdock into thin strips and place them in water to prevent them from oxidizing.
Cut Japanese parsley into 1-inch pieces.
Grate the Japanese yam.
Cut the daikon into 4-cm chunks.
Fillet the Pacific saurian pike, remove the skin, and chop it fine. Add Japanese yam, ginger, egg yolks, 40 ml sake, potato starch, 8 ml soy sauce, spring onions, and shimeji mushrooms and mix all ingredients together. Form patties with the mixture. Boil them in dashi broth. When they are cooked, remove them and strain the dashi broth. Set aside.
Pour 800 ml of the unused dashi broth together with 800 ml of the strained dashi broth, 60 ml of sake, 80 ml of soy sauce, 80 ml of rice wine, 12 g of salt into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add daikon, burdock, carrot, and shimeji mushrooms and continue boiling. At the last minute, add the fish patties and heat them slightly.
Cook the egg noodles in lightly salted boiling water, then drain and distribute to 4 bowls. Serve the patties and vegetables lying on the egg noodles and garnish with the spring onion strips and some Japanese parsley.
To limit our impact on the environment, we advise you to remain within 1 kg CO2-equivalent per meal, including all the courses you eat. Bear in mind that plant-based dishes are more likely to have a low environmental impact.
Even though some of our suggestions exceed the recommended 1 kg CO2-equivalent per meal, that doesn't mean you should never make them; it's the overall balance that counts. Regularly eating a healthy and eco-friendly diet in the long term offsets even the dishes with the most impact, as long as you don't make them too often.