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1
Wash the shiso leaves quickly, pat dry and shred.
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2
Drain the canned tuna very well Don't throw out the liquid from the can, since it will be used later.
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3
Julienne the hanpen finely, and grind to a paste in a mortar.
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4
Gradually addd 1 tablespoon of the tuna oil to form a smooth paste.
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5
A food processor makes this step much easier.
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6
Dissolve the shiratama flour in water or use the tuna can liquid if you still have some.
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7
Add the mixture from step 3 to the ground-up hanpen from step 2, then add mayonnaise.
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8
When it's smooth, add tuna shiso leaves bonito flakes in that order.
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9
The fritter mixture is done.
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10
Make the fritters: Heat a little sesame oil in a pan.
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11
Form the mixture into small oval shaped patties (like mini-burgers) and pan-fry both sides until golden brown.
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12
Arrange on a plate and serve.
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13
Eat with any sauce of your choice, such as soy sauce, ponzu sauce and so on.
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14
To make deep fried balls: Form bite-sized balls with the mixture, deep fry and then coat with ankake sticky sauce.
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15
To make the sauce: for every 1 cup (200 ml) of dashi stock, use 1 tablespoon each of sake, soy sauce and mirin + a little grated ginger juice, and thicken with a little katakuriko dissolved in water to taste.
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16
A small variation: Add corn kernels to the mixture.
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17
This is sweet and delicious.
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18
Add corn kernels at step 4.
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19
You can then pan fry or deep fry the mixture.
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20
Adding sesame seeds is delicious too.
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21
Variation 2: Use mayonnaise instead of miso, add 1 tablespoon of sakura shrimp (tiny dried shrimp) and deep fry.
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22
The mixture is very loose and hard to handle, but that makes them more light and chewy.
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23
These have a stronger flavor, so you can eat then without any sauce.
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24
I used rather small and tender sakura shrimp for the variation in step 10.
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25
Extra: This is the hanpen (left) and canned tuna (right) I used.
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26
I used a non-oil canned tuna, but you could use another type if you like.
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27
Added note: I used this reduced calorie mayonnaise.
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28
If you use tuna canned in oil rather than water, and full fat mayonnaise instead of reduced fat, the mixture may be hard to handle because of the added fat.
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29
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