Valentine’s Day Menu for Your Restaurant
1st February, 2022
Since the 14th February is one of the most popular days of the year for a romantic evening meal, why not prepare your restaurant to serve the best Japanese dishes as part of your Valentine’s Day dinner menu.
Use Mizkan Chef’s specially crafted ingredients to add an extra touch of flavour that customers will surely remember. Let’s get started…
Sake Steamed Clams – Starter
Let’s start with an extremely easy to make appetizer common in izakaya (Japanese bars) – sake steamed clams. This dish takes around 10 minutes to make and only requires a handful of ingredients.
Ingredients (4 servings):
- 900g manila clams
- 60ml sake
- 60ml Honteri
- 30ml rice vinegar
- 2-inch ginger
- 1 green onion
- 1 dried red chilli pepper
- 60g butter
- 5ml soy sauce
Preparation method:
- Thoroughly clean clams to remove dirt and sand. Add clams and sake to a frying pan, cover with lid and bring to boil.
- On medium heat, add rice vinegar, Honteri, butter, soy sauce, thinly sliced ginger, and red chilli pepper. Stir and shake pan to ensure clams aren’t overlapping.
- Cook for 3-5 minutes until their shells are open. Add thinly sliced green onion and serve.
Miso Cod – Main
This classic Japanese seafood dish melts in your mouth, perfect for a romantic dinner. The secret behind the deliciousness is the miso sauce, which is prepared days in advance.
Ingredients (4 servings):
- 4 fillets of cod
- 11g sea salt
- 35ml sake
Miso marinade:
- 81g saikyo miso – white miso originated in Kyoto
- 53g Honteri
- 53g sake
Preparation method:
This step is required to be completed 2-3 days in advance, to ensure best results.
- Sprinkle salt over the fish fillets and set aside for 30 minutes. Once done, rinse off the salt with sake. Using a paper towel, pat dry the fish to remove moisture.
- Mix saikyo miso, Honteri, and sake in a bowl and pour into a flat bottom airtight container. Add the fish to the container, coating both sides with the marinade. Seal and refrigerate for 1-2 days.
Cooking the fish:
- Remove all excess miso from the fish, and place on a baking tray with the skin side up.
- Preheat the oven to 200C and place the tray in the centre of the oven to allow for slow and even cooking. After 20 minutes, transfer the fillets from the baking tray to a serving plate. Remove any burnt miso around the fish and serve with rice or vegetables of your choice.
Honmei Choco – Dessert
In Japan, Honmei chocolates are a Valentine’s Day speciality used to express love to those you’re romantically involved with. Incorporate this into your menu to capture the true essence of a Japanese Valentine’s Day.
Ingredients (2 servings):
- 150g butter
- 150g cocoa
- 414ml sweetened condensed milk
- 14ml vanilla extract
- Chopped walnuts
- Chopped dates
- Candy sprinkles (optional)
- Coconut threads (optional)
- Powdered sugar (optional)
Preparation method:
- Melt butter on low heat. Add and stir in cocoa powder until smooth. Add milk and increase the heat to medium, stir continuously for four minutes to create a pudding-like consistency.
- Turn off the heat, add vanilla essence and transfer the mixture into a bowl. Add dates and walnuts, cover with cling film and refrigerate for four hours.
- Roll the mixture into 3cm balls or any other shape you’d like and cover them in your preferred coating. Refrigerate again for two hours before serving.
We hope our blog has been helpful in sparking some inspiration for your Valentine’s Day dinner menu for your restaurant. For further information on Mizkan Chef’s specially-crafted products such as Honteri, check out our products page. Alternatively, sign up to our newsletter for all the latest news, recipes, and updates relating to Japanese cuisin
