ASARI, TAKO TUNA NO MAYONAISE AE

(Clams, octopus and tuna salad with mayonnaise dressing)

You should eat this dish with Nihon-syu(Sake). But my sons also don't drink and they like this dish. This rich sea food trio is a culinary treasure.

Photos: Feb 09 1997 , Made on: Feb 22 1997 , Tranaslated: 15 Jun 1998

Reference books: none

I first tasted this dish as OTO-SHI (an appetizer) in a bar. There was a quarter of the amount in the picture. It had a nice taste so I separated the ingredients with chopsticks. The clams had been frozen or came from a can so their texture was hard. Our recipe for preparing clams is better.

The combination of oily tuna from cans, chewy octopus, clams and a mayonnaise with a little soy-sauce dressing. The only weak point of this dish is the cost. Fresh clams are expensive, so I don't make it often. This recipe is very good serving, when you invite guests to your home.

The knack of making this delicious dish is to prepare the clams. It'll be far from tasty, if you use canned clams.

Ingredients (Serves: 4-6)

Clams 2 packs (about 1 kg)

Garlic 2-3 small pieces

Nihon-syu(Sake) 2-3 Tablespoons

Octopus 100g-150g

Tuna can 1 (little size ,80g)

Soy-sauce 0.5-1 teaspoon

Mayonnaise 2 tablespoons

Nihon-syu (Sake) 0.5 teaspoon

Salt some 1/5-1/4 teaspoon

Cooking
time
(min.) Pictures Comments

10
-
15
Prepare clams

Remove the sand from the clams or else they will smell bad. Put the clams in a bowl and scrub them with Arajio-salt ( a kind of Japanese Natural salt) and remove the slime dirt from the shells.

Put the clams in a frying pan ( a Vitacraft frying pan is best ), then add Nihon-syu and peaces of garlic. Cook it over medium heat. While cooking, keep your eye on the clams. In a minute, the clams will open. Promptly remove each opened clams from the pan. If you don't, the clams will harden and lose its rich taste. It may seem kind of bothersome, but you should do it if you use fresh clams.
"Shelling clams" is kids work.

5
Prepare octopus and tuna

Remove the excess oil from the tuna by putting down it on a paper towel.
Then chop octopus into small chunks like the clams in the pictures. All the ingredients should be the same size.

2
-
3
Mix

Mayonnaise, soy-sauce and Nihon-syu. Mix them together. It's finished.
When you have some guests, it also would be good to add some different kinds of seaweed on a plate. I think it would be an interesting and attractive dish at any party.
But do not serve too much of this to your guests. You won't them to came back to your house for more!