Kobumaki (Salmon Konbu Roll)
My Kobumaki (Salmon Konbu Roll) is a rolled konbu (kelp) stuffed with a piece of salmon, cooked in a sweet soy-flavoured sauce. Kobumaki is one of the Osechi Ryōri (Japanese traditional New Year feast) dishes.If you replace salmon with vegetables such as carrot and burdock, it becomes vegetarian.Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 50 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 40-50g / 1.4-1.8oz dried konbu ((20cm / 8" long, minimum 8cm / 3⅛" wide when rehydrated, note 1))
- 200g / 7.1oz salmon fillet cut into 2cm x 2cm / ¾" x ¾" wide (, 8-10cm / 3⅛-3 5⁄16" long sticks (note 2))
- 15g / 0.5oz kanpyō ((note 3))
- 1000ml / 2.1pt konbu dashi ((water from soaking konbu + water if not enough))
- 2 tbsp cooking sake
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
Instructions
- 1
Rehydrate konbu and kanpyō in individual bowl filled with water for 30 minutes.
- 2
Remove the konbu from water and keep the water. Pat dry konbu sheets.
- 3
Squeeze the water out of the kanpyō and cut the string into 16-18cm / 6¼-7" long lengths. If the string is wider than 1cm / ⅜”, halve the string vertically and make two narrow strings (note 4).
- 4
Place a sheet of konbu on a cutting board, with the short edge closest to you (note 5).
- 5
Place a piece of salmon on the edge of the konbu closest to you. If the salmon is too long, trim the excess off. If it is too short, cut a short piece from another salmon piece and link it to the first piece of salmon on the konbu.
- 6
Starting from the end where the salmon is placed, roll the konbu gently but tightly, moving away from you, until the roll reaches to the other end. Place the end of the roll facing down.
- 7
Using kanpyo strings, tie (firmly but not too tightly) the roll in 2-3 places, positioning the knot so that the knot will be centred when the konbu roll is cut into equal sizes later (note 6).
- 8
Trim the excess string after making a knot so that it makes a little bow.
- 9
Repeat the process to make konbu rolls with the remaining konbu sheets.
- 10
Place the konbu rolls in a shallow saucepan in one layer, facing the end of the roll down, i.e., with the knot facing up. You can also throw in the kanpyō bits that you got when the end of the string was trimmed after making knots.
- 11
Add konbu dashi, cooking sake and vinegar to the pan and bring it to a boil. If scum comes up, remove.
- 12
Reduce the heat to low, place a drop lid over and cook for 30 minutes.
- 13
Remove the drop lid, add the rest of the Simmering Sauce ingredients to the pot.
- 14
Put the drop lid back on and continue to cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the sauce reduces to almost none left (note 7). Shake the pot from time to time to coat the konbu rolls with the sauce evenly.
- 15
Turn the heat off and cool it down.
- 16
Place the Kobumaki on a cutting board and cut each roll between the knots, into 2 or 3 equal size pieces (depending on how many knots you have on a roll).
- 17
Serve in a large plate to share or few rolls individually (note 8).