American, Japanese Recipes
3 recipes found
Crunchy Greens With Carrot-Ginger Dressing
This recipe draws inspiration from the sunny-orange flavor of green salads with carrot-ginger dressing at Japanese American restaurants. The pulpy, aromatic dressing may be the star, but a salad is only as good as its lettuce. After washing and thoroughly spin-drying the greens in a salad spinner (alternatively, you can pat them dry in a clean kitchen towel), one way to maximize their crunch before adding the dressing is to refrigerate them, covered, for at least 30 minutes. Little Gem has a sweet, juicy sturdiness, but regular packaged mixed greens, baby spinach and chopped romaine hearts work, too.
Yum Yum Sauce
This mayonnaise-based Japanese steakhouse sauce tastes glorious with grilled shrimp, chicken and vegetables, or drizzled over a plate of fried rice. Slather it on a burger, use it as a dipping sauce for fried tofu, French fries and pizza crusts, or even as a salad dressing for crunchy iceberg, romaine or Little Gem lettuce. An all-purpose sauce for everyday pleasure, yum yum sauce should taste balanced with savoriness, sweetness and a touch of acid and gosoham, the Korean word often used to describe the nuttiness of sesame oil. Remember to salt generously so all the flavors can shine.
Spam Musubi
Spam, the love-it-or-hate-it canned ham, was introduced in 1937 and gained popularity during World War II, when more than 150 million pounds were shipped to American troops overseas. Soldiers introduced it to locals, who used the product to create spin-offs of regional dishes like Japanese onigiri and Korean budae jjigae. According to Hormel Foods Corporation, residents of Hawaii eat more Spam than those of any other state. A popular way to eat it there is in the tradition of Japanese omusubi: Stack a pan-fried slice of Spam and a rice patty and wrap a piece of roasted nori around it. This version of the dish is adapted from “Aloha Kitchen: Recipes From Hawai‘i,” a cookbook of classic Hawaiian dishes by Alana Kysar.