5 Japanese dishes from the Konro Grill
Ralph de Kok prepares five Japanese dishes on the Konro Grill: from wagyu sukiyaki to salmon, prawn skewers and tuna.
The Konro Grill is a ceramic barbecue from Japan that reaches extremely high temperatures and emits a great deal of radiant heat. The thin stainless-steel grill ensures that contact heat is kept to a minimum. Using binchotan – a type of charcoal that reaches around 1,000 °C and burns for a very long time – Ralph prepares five Japanese dishes, briefly marinated in Japanese seasonings.
Ingredients
For the dishes
- fresh tuna
- fresh salmon
- A5+ Wagyu beef, sukiyaki (thinly sliced)
- prawns, peeled
- king boletes, cut into long, thin slices
- shiitake, with the stalk removed
- beech fungi
- Japanese soya sauce
- ponzu (or, alternatively, rice vinegar or lime juice)
- sesame seeds
- green asparagus, cut lengthways into strips
For the lacquer sauce
- ⅓ red chilli, sliced into rings
- 4 slices of fresh ginger
- peanut butter whisky liqueur (Five O’clock) or Frangelico
- a dash of soya sauce
- a dash of honey
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- juice of 1 lime
- a paste made from 1 tablespoon of cornflour and a little water
Preparation
- Light the barbecue and set it to the highest possible temperature.
- Thread the prawns onto a skewer and brush them with hot miso sauce.
- Cut the salmon and tuna into thin slices and pour a little Japanese soya sauce over them; leave to marinate for a while.
- Make the glaze: pour a little liqueur into a small saucepan and add all the other ingredients, except for the cornflour slurry. Stir well and let it reduce slightly.
- Remove the ginger and chilli, add the cornflour slurry and continue to reduce until you have a slightly thicker sauce.
- Cut the king bolete slices crosswise and brush them with the glaze.
- Cut the beech mushrooms from the log and pour a little ponzu and Japanese soya sauce over them.
- Grill the king boletes and chanterelles for a few seconds on each side, then place them on a plate.
- Sprinkle the salmon with a little sea salt, grill for a few seconds on each side and place on a plate.
- Grill the tuna for 30 seconds on each side, brush with a little more Japanese soya sauce, sprinkle with sesame seeds and place on a plate.
- Grill the prawn skewers for a few seconds on each side until they turn pink, then place them on a plate.
- Grill the shiitake mushrooms for a few seconds and add them to the salmon sauce; they’ll continue to cook in it for a little while.
- Grill the Wagyu slices for no more than 10 seconds on each side, sprinkle with a little salt and place on a plate.
- Brush the asparagus strips with a little olive oil, grill on both sides for a few seconds and place on a plate.
- Arrange everything on a single plate and enjoy the flavours of Japan!
