Japanese Recipes
207 recipes found
Eel Sauce
Unagi no tare, or Japanese eel sauce, is a salty-sweet combination of soy sauce, mirin, sugar and sake that is typically brushed over grilled eel and eel sushi. It’s similar to teriyaki sauce, but sweeter, and can be thickened to your liking. Besides using it as a glaze, try eel sauce as a marinade or dipping sauce for any number of dishes, such as chicken, fish, eggplant, mushrooms or tofu. Or, drizzle over rice, noodles or stir-fries.
Shabu Shabu
Shabu shabu, which means “swish swish” in Japanese, is named for the sound the ingredients make when they’re cooking. This warm and festive style of Japanese hot pot is meant to be shared with family and friends, cooked and served tableside in a donabe over a portable gas stove. A beautiful variety of vegetables and beef or pork are sliced so they can quickly poach in the mild kombu, or dried kelp, broth. (Sometimes, the kombu is paired with a bonito dashi.) If you don’t have a donabe, a Dutch oven or similarly sized pot will do; the portable burner is a must, though. Use this recipe as a guide, and select the ingredients you like from each category. A trip to a Japanese or Asian market will take care of the shopping, but many of the ingredients here are available at standard grocery stores. Once everything has been prepped, all that is left is to gather around and cook together.
Mochi
Sticky, chewy and pleasantly sweet, these Japanese rice cakes are fairly simple to make at home, but getting the right dough texture and assembly requires a little time and attention. Mochiko, a glutinous sweet rice flour, is simply combined with sugar and water to make the dough. Some recipes call for steaming the dough on the stove but here, the microwave is used to speed up the process, transforming it from opaque to glossy and almost translucent. To ensure the dough doesn’t stick when rolling it out, don’t be shy with the cornstarch, and keep a bowl of water on hand for dipping any utensils. For a pop of color, add a few drops of food coloring, then fill the rounds of dough with your favorite ice cream. (They can also be filled with red bean paste; see alternative method.) Mochi is enjoyed year-round, but it’s traditionally eaten around Japanese New Year festivities.
Shoyu Ramen
Soy sauce, or shoyu, dashi and chicken broth are the foundation of this comforting Japanese noodle soup, which is garnished with hearty toppings like soy-marinated eggs, pork belly, pickled bamboo shoots and fish cakes. Traditionally made with homemade dashi and chashu, or Japanese pork belly, you can speed things up by using instant dashi powder and store-bought chashu. (If you make chashu from scratch, use the cooking liquid to flavor the soup.) The soy-marinated eggs must be prepared at least 6 hours in advance, but that leaves time for other ingredient prep, including rounding up a range of textural toppings, which can all be found at a Japanese market. As for the ramen noodles, frozen, fresh or dried all do the trick.
Takoyaki
Crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside, a little bit savory and a little bit sweet, takoyaki are a popular street food in Japan made with a simple dashi-based batter filled with bits of octopus, bonito flakes, tenkasu, scallions and pickled red ginger, then fried in a molded pan to achieve an ideal bite-sized shape. You can make them at home with a little practice and a takoyaki maker (see Tip). The eggy batter might seem messy at first, but with a little finesse, you can mold them into practically perfect spheres. (Practice with a few to get the hang of the process.) Octopus is traditional (tako means “octopus” and yaki means “fried” in Japanese), but you can swap in cooked sausage or shrimp, edamame, corn or cheese. Serve takoyaki with any (or all) of the suggested toppings: takoyaki sauce, Kewpie mayonnaise and pickled red ginger, all of which are available at Japanese markets and online.
Okinawan Soba
Though soba usually refers to buckwheat noodles, Okinawan soba uses wheat noodles that more closely resemble ramen. The chef Steven Pursley, whose family comes from the island prefecture off the Southern coast of mainland Japan, makes his own noodles from scratch. You can use store-bought fresh ramen noodles or another thicker Asian egg noodle for this soup, which gets its flavor from a delicate pork and bonito broth. You can find the noodles, kombu, sake, mirin, bonito, fish cake and red pickled ginger at Japanese markets or well-stocked Asian grocery stores.
Ozoni (New Year Mochi Soup)
Typically consumed just once a year on New Year's Day, this brothy soup is comforting and nourishing. It’s also said to bring good luck and good fortune to those who eat it. Ozoni is highly customizable, but it must always contain pieces of chewy mochi. The rice cakes are traditionally pounded by hand, but are now sold already prepared and are easy to find in Japanese markets around the New Year. This Japanese American version from the chef Chris Ono includes pork belly that simmers in a mix of dashi, soy sauce, sake and ginger until tender. To balance that richness, he serves this soup with lots of mizuna leaves, which can easily be substituted with spinach. For those who believe pork is unlucky at New Year's, it can easily be left out or substituted with chicken.
Kurikinton (Japanese Sweet Potatoes and Candied Chestnuts)
A staple of osechi ryori, a box filled with a variety of traditional Japanese New Year’s dishes, kurikinton is said to represent gold and bring good economic fortune. The chef Niki Nakayama likes to imbue the Japanese sweet potatoes with a golden hue by simmering them with gardenia pods. If those are not available, a pinch of saffron works too. Do not discard the syrup that the candied chestnuts sit in — it’s used to flavor the mash. The candied chestnuts are available in Japanese markets, particularly around the New Year, and the white sweet potatoes with red skin are available in most supermarkets.
Yaki Udon
Pleasantly chewy udon noodles are tossed with a mix of vegetables and meat, then coated in a salty-sweet combination of soy and oyster sauce, mirin, rice vinegar and sugar in this version of yaki udon, the Japanese stir-fry dish. Using precooked frozen udon noodles, available at Asian markets in vacuum-sealed bags, ensures that they don’t overcook and fall apart. Keep them on hand for a fast meal: Just give them a quick bath in boiling water before stir-frying alongside just about any meat and vegetables. While using dark soy sauce (see Tip) and oyster sauce is not traditional, this variation combines them for a thicker and slightly sweeter sauce.
Hiroshima-Style Okonomiyaki
Meals seldom get more soulful than okonomiyaki — the Japanese cabbage pancake is soothing and filling, hearty with pork and savory with a topping of seaweed and bonito flakes. Its name stems from “okonomi,” which translates closely to “how you like,” and the recipe is an exercise in variation and flexibility. With a framework of shredded cabbage and its accompanying batter, any number of proteins, vegetables, cheeses and seasonings are fair game, yielding a meal that’s as personal as you’d like it to be. This iteration’s locality is commonly attributed to Hiroshima: the layered pancake’s noodles add texture while absorbing sauce and flavor from pork belly, a fried egg and whichever other toppings of yours are adorning the dish. If you’re cooking with a griddle, it’s possible to make multiple pancakes at once; but if you’re using a pan on your stovetop, it’s worth cooking them one at a time, then serving each immediately.
Chicken Karaage
At 750 Myrtle Diner in Brooklyn, Kaoru Ayabe single-fries his chicken karaage low and slow at a steady 320 degrees. In this variation of Japanese fried chicken, inspired by Mr. Ayabe’s wonderfully light and crunchy karaage, boneless thighs are gently seasoned with ginger, soy and sake — plus a hint of sugar for balance — so the flavor of the meat can be appreciated. What’s special about this karaage recipe, beyond the low and slow single fry, is that the marinated chicken pieces get dipped in beaten egg before gaining their craggy armor of starch (corn or potato). Fried in a rippling pool of neutral canola oil, this humble but stellar appetizer is best enjoyed with a carafe of sake or an ice-cold beer. (Watch Eric make this on YouTube.)
Sanshoku-don (Three-Color Rice Bowls)
Sanshoku-don is a classic Japanese comfort food that is equally delicious served hot and fresh or at room temperature, making it a hugely popular choice for bento-style school lunches. The base recipe combines ground chicken (other meats or vegetarian alternatives like ground tofu or plant-based ground meat work just fine) seasoned with the classic Japanese savory-sweet combination of soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar, and vigorously scrambled eggs served on top of Japanese short-grain rice. Add a simple green vegetable – frozen peas, steamed slivered snap peas or green beans, or simply sautéed spinach or kale – and you’ve got a full meal in a bowl.
Spicy Tuna Salad With Crispy Rice
This recipe transforms the sushi-restaurant specialty of spicy tuna crispy rice — raw spicy tuna balanced atop bricks of seared rice — into a straightforward, pantry-friendly, any-night meal. Instead of portioning and frying rice, you can cook seasoned rice in a skillet until it crisps, then scoop it onto plates. The tuna stays spicy and creamy, but this recipe calls for humble canned tuna instead of raw. Sliced cucumbers add freshness, but feel free to embellish further with sprouts, avocado, nori sheets or jalapeño slices.
Japanese Potato Salad With Mentaiko
A classic side dish for homemade lunch boxes or bento picnics, a Japanese potato salad is made with boiled russet potatoes, vegetables, boiled eggs and, often, ham, all seasoned with rice vinegar and tangy Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise. Folding in some raw mentaiko, the salt-cured roe of Alaskan pollock, gives it a savory, briny complexity (and is a good reminder of why potatoes and cured fish eggs are so often paired together). The potatoes in Japanese potato salad are typically roughly mashed, but you can dice them if you prefer a heartier texture. Salting the cucumber in advance helps it retain some crunch when you mix it into the salad, while adding vinegar to the potatoes while they’re still hot helps them absorb more flavor.
Classic Mentaiko Spaghetti
Mentaiko spaghetti is a staple of wafu cuisine, or Japanese adaptations of foreign ingredients. At its simplest, mentaiko spaghetti is made with nothing more than mentaiko (the salt-cured roe of Alaskan pollock), cream, butter and some simple umami seasonings like soy sauce or Parmesan. They’re whisked together in a bowl and tossed with hot pasta and a splash of pasta water, as with any sauce that is best served warm but uncooked (like pesto or carbonara). Adding an egg yolk to the base gives the dish a glossier, creamier texture, and using crème fraîche in lieu of regular heavy cream brightens the flavors. So does a bit of lemon zest and juice. The minty flavor of Japanese shiso leaves is a nice finish, but mint, basil, parsley, chives or even torn nori all work.
Oyakodon (Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl)
Oyakodon is pure bliss, combining the ease of lightly poached chicken with the velvety richness of eggs and onions simmered in sauce. In Japanese, oya means parent, while ko translates to child. Consequently, chicken and egg come together in a blend of dashi, mirin and soy sauce. A perfect weekday meal, oyakodon cooks in just under 30 minutes and is delightful alongside pickles and a bowl of miso soup. The chicken and egg bowl is a dream of soulfulness ladled over rice. Leftovers, if you have any, will hold in the refrigerator for a day.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/20230407-SEA-Natto-LorenaMasso-10-5b754e0b7ab24136b86859d5cf984913.jpg)
Natto (Japanese Fermented Soybeans)
Making your own natto—Japan's famously slimy fermented beans with a subtle coffee aroma—allows for nearly endless customization.
Chicken Doria
Doria is a warm blanket in a ramekin, an embrace in a casserole dish. This Japanese dish sits firmly in the canon of yōshoku, Western-inspired meals, and while the final product is reminiscent of a gratin, the meal is simmered with a base sauce prepared beforehand. Doria fillings run the gamut of your preferences — myriad proteins work exceedingly well here — while also serving as a keen means of utilizing extra vegetables. In this instance, diced chicken is folded into onions, mushrooms, carrots and spinach. That sauce overlays the rice in its entirety. Doria is a filling, comforting meal, perfect for taking care of yourself and those you hold dear.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/20230310-SEA-Sumeshi-hero-Theng-Khang-4b19e8faf32d4ec6a7346a92208fd031.JPG)
Sumeshi (Seasoned Sushi Rice)
Written by an experienced sushi chef, this recipe produces seasoned sushi rice that's balanced and flavorful, perfect for maki, nigiri, hand rolls, and rice bowls for topping with both cooked and raw fish.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/20230308-SEA-Mochi-AmandaSuarez-hero-b53c7cafa06f414e938463f7ba1710fd.JPG)
Homemade Yakimochi (Grilled Mochi With Soy Sauce and Nori)
Also known as isobeyaki or yakimochi, these tender grilled Japanese rice cakes come together from scratch with the help of a stand mixer.
One-Pot Japanese Curry Chicken and Rice
Usually milder and sweeter than Indian curries, classic Japanese curry is a thick beef-and-vegetable stew served over rice. This recipe is not a traditional one, but rather an easy weeknight version, a one-pot meal featuring juicy chicken thighs, vegetables and rice. Instead of relying on store-bought or homemade instant curry roux, this dish relies on a few spices to mimic traditional Japanese curry flavors. Curry powder, ground nutmeg and Worcestershire sauce are combined and bloomed in butter to create the round and rich sauce. Onions, potatoes and carrots create the bulk of traditional Japanese curry, but sweet potatoes, cauliflower and peas would be great substitutions or additions. Serve the meal with any type of pickle you have on hand for a vinegary hit to contrast the rich curry.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/20220511-Ebichiri-Amanda-Suarez-_14-93996e7cc3e54a8682f6212a5c7eb506.JPG)
Ebi no Chiri-Sōsu (Japanese Shrimp in Chile Sauce) Recipe
Commonly shortened to 'ebichiri,' this Chinese-Japanese dish features sweet and silky shrimp in chile sauce.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/20210930-pork-ginger-vicky-wasik-10-2681823b1af146d6b150cffcb5b95716.jpg)
Butaniku no Shogayaki (Japanese Ginger Pork)
A quick and easy Japanese pork stir-fry.
Shiitake Salmon With Crispy Skin From Marc Matsumoto
No Recipes brings all the umami to the party with simple grated dried shiitake mushrooms. Take salmon or any other fish to the next level with almost any dried mushroom!