Mango and Crab Salad Hand Roll with Thai Vinaigrette
Yield: 4 dervings
Ingredients:
- Cooked Blue Crabmeat - 3 cups
- Imitation Crabmeat - 1 cup
- Mayonnaise - 1/4 cup
- Mamenori (soybean wrapper) any color - 4 sheets
- Cooked Short-Grain White Rice - 2 tsp
- Loosely packed Mesclun (mixed salad greens), extremely dry - 8 cups
- Peeled and diced fresh Mango - 2 cups
- Dry Roasted Peanuts - 1 cup
- Coarsely chopped fresh Cilantro - 2 cups
- Japanese Cucumber, thinly sliced - 1 medium
- Thai Vinaigrette (recipe follows) - 1/2 cup
- Sweet Thai chili sauce - 3 Tbsp
Thai Vinaigrette
- Sake - 3 Tbsp
- Rice Vinegar - 1/2 cup
- Sugar - 1/2 cup
- Chopped Garlic - 1/2 Tbsp
- Fish Sauce - 3 Tbsp
- Sambal (Indonesian Chili Paste) - 1 tsp
In a sauce pan, cook the sake over high heat until the alcohol is cooked off, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Chill before using.
To prepare dish:
In a bowl, combine the blue crab meat, imitation crabmeat and mayonnaise. Mix well and set aside.
On a bamboo mat, lay 1 mamenori sheet. Spread 1/2 teaspoon of the rice in a very thin line 1/4 inch from the top of the mamenori (this is to seal the roll). Lay a quarter of the mesclun across the bottom two-thirds of the mamenori. Add a quarter of the crab mixture, mango, peanuts, cilantro and cucumber across the bottom third, keeping some peanuts, cilantro and cucumber aside for garnish. Roll firmly and seal. Repeat to make a total of 4 rolls.
Cut each roll into 4 pieces and place 4 pieces in the center of each of 4 plates. Ladle 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette around the pieces. Dot with the chili sauce and scatter the remaining peanuts, cilantro and cucumber over all.
Sansei's Dungeness Crab Ramen With Asian Truffle Broth
Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients:
- Fresh Ramen Noodles - 5 oz / 2 cups
- Dungeness Crab Meat - 1/2 cup
- Heated Dashi Broth (made from hondashi instant base & seasoned to taste with soy sauce) - 2 cups
- Truffle Butter - purchase from gourmet food store - 2 Tbsp
- White Truffle Oil - 1/2 tsp
- Fresh chopped Cilantro - 1 Tbsp
- Fresh chopped Thai Basil - 1 Tbsp
- Sliced Green Onions - 1 Tbsp
- Seeded and finely minced Red Jalapeno (optional) - 1 tsp
To prepare dish:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Loosen the ramen noodles and drop into the boiling water. Let cook for approximately 2 minutes or until al dente (do not over cook).
Drain the cooked noodles of excess water. Transfer into a serving bowl and toss to coat with the truffle butter. Pour the heated dashi broth over the noodles.
Garnish top with the crab meat, cilantro, thai basil, green onions, minced jalapenos and a drizzle of white truffle oil. Serve immediately.
About Chef/Owner Dave "D.K." Kodama:
It's been a dozen years since this "local boy" from 'Aiea, O'ahu, opened his first Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar in Kapalua, Maui. Saying he's "come a long way, baby," would be the ultimate understatement. Dave Kodama - known to all as simply "D.K." (which he says stands for "don't know") - now owns and operates seven restaurants on three islands. The original Sansei Kapalua moved to brand new digs just in time for its tenth anniversary in September 2006. In May 2000, Kodama opened his second Sansei at Honolulu's Restaurant Row and in April 2002, the third location of the wildly popular concept was opened in Kîhei, Maui. In September 2004, D.K. took another giant leap when he moved the Restaurant Row Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar from Restaurant Row to the beautiful Waikîkî Beach Marriott Resort & Spa and added d.k Steak House at the same location. In July 2004 he teamed with Master Sommelier Chuck Furuya to open VINO Italian Tapas & Wine Bar at Restaurant Row and four months later they brought in one of Hawai'i's best chefs, Hiroshi Fukui, to open Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas, also at Restaurant Row. In February 2008, Hawai'i Islanders got the Sansei they'd been craving at Queen's MarketPlace in beautiful Waikoloa. Like the others, it was an instant hit.
With his sushi-making skills and years of management experience, he quickly found a niche on Maui. He made a "great deal" with the folks at Kapalua and opened Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar in March 1996. The restaurant has been collecting rave reviews and racking up culinary honors ever since. Most prestigious are the overall rating of 90 in Wine Spectator, the highest food rating in both the 1998 and 1999 Zagat Hawai'i Restaurant Surveys, numerous consecutive HONOLULU magazine Hale 'Aina Awards, inclusion as one of Bon Appetit's "Favorite Asian Restaurants" and one of "America's Best Sushi Bars" in Travel + Leisure. His cookbook, "D.K.'s Sushi Chronicles from Hawai'i: Recipes from Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar," was released nationally in January 2004 (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley) and a paperback edition is planned for 2009. So wanna know how you can really make his day? "Dress casual, bring a smile, relax and enjoy the adventure of dining at Sansei," says D.K. By the way, if you compliment him on the job he's done, he will always credit the "team" - the "team" of which he is most definitely the captain.D.K. and his wife Lori live in Honolulu with their three children - Brie Ann, Chev, Cashel Bleu. And yes, we know the children all have "cheese" names. We told you he had a wry sense of humor, didn't we?
