Satsuma Potato Recipes

Yaki-imo
Baked Satsuma Potatoes

Satsuma potaoes

1. Preheat oven to 180 Centigrade (350 F.)
2. Wash potatoes.
3. Poke with a fork (so they don’t explode when they get hot in the oven.)
4. Bake for about 40 minutes, until soft.
5. Serve plain, or with butter.


Sweet Potato Cakes
Serves 4

2 medium sized Satsuma potatoes (also called Korean sweet potatoes. These potatoes look like American sweet potatoes, but are cream-colored on the inside.)
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp water

Peel and chop potatoes into similar-sized chunks.
Place in a microwave safe bowl, cover, and cook for 4-5 minutes until soft.
Add butter and sugar and mash together with a fork.
Using a little less than ¼ cup each, form into potato shaped cakes.
Make an egg-wash by mixing egg and water until smooth.
Brush the top of each cake with egg wash.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until cakes become golden brown.
Serve for snack or dessert.

Seaweed and Cucumber Salad

Wakame-kuri salada
Cucumber-Seaweed Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 Cucumber
3 tbsp dried cut wakame seaweed
½ tsp salt

Dressing:

¼ cup rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp usukuchi soy sauce
¼ tsp sesame oil (optional)

1. Slice cucumber very thinly. Place in a bowl and sprinkle on the salt. Squeeze the cucumber slices to mix in the salt. Set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Put seaweed in a bowl of cold water and set aside.
3. Mix dressing ingredients in a bowl.
4. When cucumber has set for 30 minutes, squeeze out the liquid and place in a bowl
5. Squeeze out the seaweed and place in with the cucumber slices.
6. Add dressing and mix.
7. Serve.

Grilled Salmon with Sake

Grilled Salmon with Sake

Ingredients:
½ inch ginger root
2 tbsp cooking sake
1 tbsp usukuchi soy sauce
1 lb salmon fillet
1 tbsp butter

Peel and grate ginger and place in a shallow container. Mix in sake and soy sauce.
Marinate the salmon in this mixture for ½ hour or more. Turn half-way through to be sure it has been thoroughly soaked.
Heat a heavy skillet, and add the butter.
Remove salmon from the marinade.
Over medium heat, sauté salmon uncovered, skin side first. Turn after about 3 minutes. Be careful not to let the butter burn, and adjust heat accordingly.
Serve with rice, and cucumber/seaweed salad, or sesame spinach.

My Favorite Tofu Recipes

Mabo-doufu
Tofu & minced meat over rice
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 pack firm tofu – rinsed & cut into ¾ inch cubes
½ pound ground turkey
4 green onions – chopped finely
¼ large red pepper – chopped in ½ inch squares
1 tbsp finely grated ginger
2 cloves garlic – minced
1 tbsp cooking oil
½ tbsp tobanjan or Chinese hot chili sauce
1 tsp fresh miso paste
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp utsukuchi soy sauce
1 tsp dashi powder
1 cup water
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp corn starch

Heat oil in frying pan and cook turkey, ½ of the green onions, pepper, ginger, and garlic.
As the meat cooks, add the Chinese chili sauce and miso paste and mix in well.
When meat is crumbly, add ¾ cup water, sugar, sake, soy sauce, and dashi powder. Stir in until all ingredients are mixed.
Add tofu. Stir in, being careful not to break up the cubes.
Mix corn starch into ¼ cup water until smooth and add. Mix in well.
Add sesame oil. Mix in well.
When sauce has thickened, it is done.
Serve over rice. Sprinkle on the remaining green onions.


Tofu Steak with Green Onion Sauce
Serves 2

1 pack of tofu (about 400 gm)
cooking oil
flour

Sauce:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sake
1 1/2 tbsp mirin
1/2 teaspoon dashi powder
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons corn starch dissolved in a little water
4 finely chopped green onions

1. Rinse tofu, cut into 4 pieces, and set aside to dry.
2. Put in a small pot: soy sauce, sake, mirin, dashi powder, and water. Heat.
3. When it comes to a boil, add the corn starch and stir until thickened.
4. Add the green onions and stir in. Turn off the fire, cover, and set aside.
5. Cover the tofu pieces with flour, dipping them in flour on all sides.
6. Heat a little cooking oil in a frying pan.
7. When the oil is hot, adjust the flame and put the tofu pieces in.
8. Cook tofu on each side, turning as needed so all sides are lightly browned.
9. Set tofu on a grill to drain the oil.
10. When drained, place on plates and top with the sauce.
11. Serve with rice and soup.

Tofu with Chicken
Serves 4

6 fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 pack tofu (about 400gm)
300 gm minced chicken
2 1/2 cm ginger, finely chopped
1 carrot, cut in very thin rectangular slices
3 tablespoons cooking sake
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 beaten egg
4 green onions, chopped in 1cm lengths
vegetable oil

1. Heat a little oil in a wok. Add ginger, mushrooms, and minced chicken.
2. Add carrots. Stir fry for about 2 minutes.
3. Add sake.
4. Mash the tofu with a fork. Drain any excess water. Add to the wok.
5. Stir fry until tofu is heated through.
6. Mix sugar, soy sauce and egg. Add to wok and stir until just cooked.
7. Add green onions and mix in.
8. Serve over rice.

About Tempura

Tempura

Just about any vegetable can be made into tempura. Some favorites are:

Japanese eggplant
Kabocha squash
Shiitake mushrooms
Onions
Satsuma sweet potatoes
Green, red, or yellow peppers
Carrots
Potatoes

The vegetables you choose should be sliced about ¼ inch thick and set aside to be dipped and fried. Shiitake can be held by their stems and dipped in the batter. Peppers should be cut in quarters lengthwise and seeded.

Tempura Batter:

1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1 egg
water

Combine starches. Break egg and mix in a 1 cup measuring cup. Add ice water to fill the cup. Mix into the starches.


Tips:

In order to make perfect tempura, care must be taken in these few things.

- The temperature of the oil should be between 340-350 degrees. A trick that the Japanese use to test the oil temperature is to drop a tiny bit of batter into the pan of oil. If the batter goes halfway down and then rises to the surface, the oil is just the right temperature. If it goes all the way to the bottom, let your oil heat up a bit more and test again. If it immediately goes to the top, let your oil heat a bit and test again.

- The batter is best when it is very cold, so use icy water. Don’t over mix the batter. Make it just before you want to use it.

- Cut the vegetables in uniform pieces and dip quickly in the batter, then place in the oil. (Don’t let them soak in the batter.) Tempura is done when it is lightly browned.

- Always cook vegetables before shrimp or other seafood.

- Keep the oil clean by using a small strainer to remove any bits of batter that may have strayed during cooking.

Cucumber and Daikon Pickle Recipes

Japanese Pickles

These can be prepared quickly and can be served with almost any Japanese meal, especially to accompany white rice. The key to good pickles is in thinly slicing the vegetables.


Daikon pickles 1

1 daikon
1 tbsp konbu dashi
soy sauce
bonito flakes

1. Peel daikon and slice into thin rectangles. To do this, cut daikon into 2 inch lengths, then stand on end and cut into ¾ inch slices. Cut these pieces into thin slices (about 1/16 of an inch.) Place in a large bowl.
2. Sprinkle on konbu dashi.
3. With your hands, mix and squeeze the daikon slices to absorb the dashi.
4. Set aside for about 5 minutes.
5. Serve the daikon slices piled on small plates. Top each serving with a dash of soy sauce and some bonito flakes.


Daikon Pickles 2

Ingredients:

1 daikon
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp rice vinegar
soy sauce
bonito flakes

Peel daikon and slice into thin rectangles. To do this, cut daikon into 2 inch lengths, then stand on end and cut into ¾ inch slices. Cut these pieces into thin slices (about 1/16 of an inch.) Place in a large bowl.
Sprinkle on about 1 tbsp of salt.
With you hands, mix and squeeze the daikon slices to absorb the salt.
Set aside for about 5 minutes
Squeeze out the liquid and discard, keeping only the daikon slices.
Add 1 tsp sugar and 2 tsp rice vinegar. Mix well with daikon slices.
Serve about 5 slices each piled on small plates or bowls. Top each serving with a dash of soy sauce and some bonito flakes.

Japanese Cucumber Pickles

Follow the same recipe for daikon, above, but instead use unpeeled cucumbers.

Chicken Recipes

Grilled chicken
Serves 4

4 Chicken thighs
2 tbsp sake
salt and pepper

1. Cut the chicken and sprinkle with sake, and salt & pepper.
2. Grill chicken, turn, sprinkle again and grill until done and skin is crisp.
3. Cut into strips.
4. Serve with rice and soup.

Oyakodonburi
Chicken and Egg over Rice

Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 medium onion
1 cup water
½ tsp hon-dashi (bonito)
¼ cup utsukuchi soy sauce
¼ cup mirin
1 tbsp brown sugar
4 eggs

1. Place water, dashi powder, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in a sauce pan. Mix and turn on high heat.
2. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Add to pot and cook.
3. When chicken is nearly done, add thinly sliced onions.
4. Mix eggs thoroughly. When onions are soft, pour in egg mixture. Cover and cook until eggs are nearly set.
5. Place rice in deep bowls. Ladle chicken and egg mixture over rice.
6. Serve.


Chicken Cucumber Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp. cooking sake
½ inch finely sliced fresh ginger
2 cucumbers
1/3 cup sesame seeds
3 tbsp. soy sauce
Mirin
Rice vinegar

Boil Chicken breasts in just enough water to cover the chicken, along with the sake and ginger. Cook, drain, and set aside to cool.
Slice cucumbers into thin strips. (Cut the cucumber into 2 inch lengths, then each of those into about 1/6”X1/6” strips lengthwise.)
Lay the cucumber strips in an artistic fashion on a platter or large plate.
Shred the chicken breasts and place them on top of the cucumbers.
Top with Sesame dressing or Sesame Miso dressing.


Sesame Dressing

Mix in a blender:

1 ½ tbsp sesame seeds
1 ½ tbsp soy sauce
1 ½ tbsp mirin
1 ½ tbsp rice vinegar
½ tsp sesame oil
½ tbsp chicken broth
(Add more broth until the dressing is the consistency that you like.)


Sesame Miso Dressing

Whisk in a bowl:

1/3 cup safflower or corn oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp utsukuchi soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp miso

When mixed, add:

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Serve on vegetables or salad.

Eggplant recipes

JAPANESE EGGPLANT

“Nasu,” or Japanese eggplant, is a very popular vegetable. It contains polyphenols and Vitamin K; it is a powerful antioxidant and very low in calories. It is considered good for the treatment of eyestrain.

Tempura is a popular method of cooking eggplant. You’ll find a recipe for that below.


Simple Baked Eggplant
Serves 4-6

2 Japanese eggplants
1 tbsp usukuchi soy sauce
½ package or 1 ½ grams bonito flakes
Plastic wrap

Wash, prick once or twice with a fork (to prevent bursting), and wrap each eggplant individually until completely covered in plastic wrap.
Place in the microwave and cook until tender, usually 3 minutes on high.
Be sure they are soft. If not, cook for another 30 seconds.
Let them cool a bit before unwrapping. (They are very hot!)
Unwrap and cut lengthwise in half, and then slice each half diagonally into half-circles.
Place on a plate or in a shallow bowl.
Sprinkle with soy sauce, then bonito flakes.
Serve.

NOTE: Baked eggplant can also be cooled and added to salads.


Eggplant, Tomato, and Onion Salad

Ingredients:

2 Japanese eggplants
4 medium tomatoes
½ onion

Dressing ingredients:

¼ cup canola or corn oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp tobanjan spice (Chinese hot chili pepper sauce)

Wash, prick, and wrap each eggplant until completely covered in plastic wrap.
Place in the microwave and cook until tender, usually 3 minutes on high.
Be sure they are soft. If not, cook for another 30 seconds.
Let them cool a bit before unwrapping. (They are very hot!)
Unwrap and cut lengthwise in half, and then slice each half diagonally into half-circles. Set aside to cool
Thinly slice onion.
Cut tomatoes into bite-sized wedges.
When eggplant is cool, mix with tomatoes.

To make dressing:
Whisk together all dressing ingredients.
Add thinly sliced onions and mix.
Pour over vegetables.

Serve or put in the refrigerator to cool and serve later. Leaving the salad to cool for 30 minutes to an hour before serving allows the flavor of the dressing to permeate the vegetables.

If you don’t have Japanese eggplant, any other variety of eggplant will work well.

American red pepper sauce can be substituted for Tobanjan (Chinese hot pepper sauce.)

Tempura Eggplant with Spicy Sauce
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 Asian eggplants (they are long and somewhat thin)
Oil for deep frying

Ø For tempura batter:

1/3 cup white flour
1/3 cup corn starch
1/3 cup cooking sake
Add ice water until the batter is the consistency of a thick white sauce

Ø For sauce:

½ Leek – cut small
½ inch grated ginger root
1 clove grated garlic
4 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp Mirin
1 ½ tbsp sugar
1 tsp to-ban-jan (Chinese hot chili spice)
2 tbsp rice vinegar

Cut eggplant into 1 inch lengths. Soak in cold water for 10 minutes. Dry it off.
While eggplant is soaking, mix the tempura batter. (The colder the batter, the crispier the tempura.)
Dip the dried eggplant pieces in tempura batter and deep fry (340 degree F oil) until light brown. Drain. Pat off excess oil. Place cooked eggplant in a serving bowl or plate.

Sauce –

Mix sauce ingredients in a ceramic (microwave safe) bowl. Heat for 1 minute in microwave to cook the garlic and ginger. You could either add the leeks before cooking, or if you prefer them raw, sprinkle them on the eggplant without cooking them.

Pour sauce over cooked eggplant. Serve.

About Vegetables, and Daikon Recipes

VEGETABLE DISHES

Japanese traditionally serve a variety of vegetables at each meal. Unlike the US, certain vegetables are only available when they are in season. Some common Japanese vegetables may be new to you, yet can be found in Asian and Japanese shops. In case you might be unfamiliar with them, I will describe the main vegetables, along with their nutritional assets and common use.


DAIKON

A daikon radish is white and shaped like a very fat carrot. The best daikons are hard and white. Choose them for freshness the same way you would judge a carrot. Daikons are considered extremely healthy in Japan. They contain carotene, vitamin C, calcium, and digestive enzymes. They are good for stomachache, heartburn, and are said to relieve stress and irritation.

Daikons can be cooked very simply.

Boiled Daikon

1 Daikon
½ tsp dashi powder
Water
1 tbsp usukuchi soy sauce
½ small package (1 ½ grams) bonito flakes

1. Peel daikon and slice into ¾ inch thick rounds.
2. Boil in water (with dashi powder) to just cover the slices.
3. When daikon is soft, after about 20 minutes, remove from water and place on a plate or in a shallow bowl.
4. Sprinkle with usukuchi soy sauce and fish flakes.
5. Serve.

Boiled Daikon 2

1 Daikon
4-5 cups water
2 1/2 teaspoons of dashi powder
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons cooking sake
karashi (Japanese hot mustard)

1. Pell daikon and slice into 1/2 inch thick rounds.
2. Put water, dashi, soy sauce, sugar and sake into a deep pot. Mix.
3. Add daikon slices and bring to a boil.
4. Turn fire to low (so that the water continues to simmer) and cook, covered for about 20 minutes, or until daikon is soft. (Check by inserting a fork into the center of one of the slices.)
5. Serve with a little karashi.

Grated Daikon

Grated daikon is often served to compliment grilled mackerel.

Daikon
Soy sauce

Peel and finely grate the daikon.
Serve in mounds beside the fish, or in a separate small bowl.
Sprinkle a few drops of soy sauce on each mound.

Japanese Rice Omelettes

Omu-Rice
Rice Omelets
Serves 4-6

Gather the following ingredients:
½ chicken breast
1 onion
1 green pepper
4 mushrooms
3 tbsp. ketchup or tomato sauce
salt and pepper
1 tsp vegetable oil
4 eggs
4 cups of cooked rice, Optional - add a little chicken bouillon to the cooking water

Dice chicken and vegetables into small pieces. Sauté chicken and add vegetables. Add rice and salt and pepper and thoroughly mix. Turn off fire. Add ketchup or tomato sauce and mix in.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a heavy skillet. Whisk one egg and pour it in the pan and spread it so that it becomes one thin layer. Place about ¾ cup of rice in a rectangular plastic container (like what you would use for storing a small bit of leftovers) and pat down gently. When the egg in the pan has begun to set, gently turn the container over so that the rice carefully drops on to the center of the egg. Fold up the two shortest sides of the egg, then fold up the two longer sides. Turn out on to the center of a plate.

Repeat this process until all eggs are cooked. Decorate finished omelets with a line or 2 of ketchup and serve.

About Rice, and various Sushi Recipes

RICE DISHES

Rice is the main dish of virtually every Japanese meal. Perhaps this accounts for the fact that the commonly used word for meal, “Gohan,” literally means “Rice.”

Rice is most commonly served in its pure, white state, and accompanied by many different types of “okazu,” or side dishes. You may be surprised to learn that Japanese rice is not eaten with soy sauce, as some Americans enjoy. A friend who was new to Japan was eating in a restaurant and, as was his custom, sprinkled soy sauce on his bowl of rice. When the waitress noticed this, she expressed horror at his dreadful “accident of spilling soy sauce on his rice” and quickly got him a fresh bowl of rice.

Japanese will eat rice with various types of “Furikake” – different types of mixtures of dried fish, seaweed, vegetables, etc., which are sprinked on the rice; ume-boshi (pickled plums); and various types of pickled vegetables.

There are also different types of “Don,” such as “Gyuu-don,” (Sauteed beef and onions on rice), “Oyako-donburi,” (Sauteed beef and eggs over rice), etc.

And of course, there is sushi. This is not so commonly eaten in Japanese households, but rather is something a bit special which is eaten in Sushi Restaurants.
Japanese Rice

How to cook Japanese rice without a rice cooker

Choose a heavy sauce pan.
Add equal amounts of rice and water.
Soak the rice for 10-15 minutes.
Turn on the stove to high, and bring to a boil. The pan should be covered.
When it’s boiling, turn the stove to low. Allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until all the water is absorbed.
Set aside and leave covered for another 10-15 minutes.
Serve.



Chirashi-zushi
Mixed sushi
Serves 4-6

Be sure to read through the whole recipe first, to get the idea of how to make this before you start. The basic idea is to cook the rice, and while the rice is cooking you prepare various foods to add to the rice, and to top the sushi with.

Gather the following ingredients:

2 cups raw rice
rice vinegar
white sugar
salt
shiitake mushrooms (fresh or dried and reconstituted)
bonito hon dashi powder
mirin
soy sauce
½ cup bamboo shoots
1 carrot
2 eggs
shredded nori
yusu age (thin fried tofu)

Sushi rice:
2 cups raw rice (cook in 2 cups of water)
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp konbu dashi

Cook the rice. Mix vinegar, sugar, dashi, and salt. While lightly stirring and fluffing the rice, sprinkle on the vinegar mixture. Keep stirring and sprinkling until all is used. The rice grains should each be shiny and not clumped together.

Set sushi rice aside.


Ingredients to mix in with the rice:

Mushrooms –

4 shiitake mushrooms – chopped into small pieces (Fresh, or dried and reconstituted for 1 hour are fine. If using rehydrated mushrooms, use the mushroom soaking water and add dashi powder to make your dashi broth.)
¾ cup dashi broth (water and ½ tsp dashi powder)
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar

Simmer all ingredients for 30 minutes, until the mushrooms absorb the flavor of the seasonings. When done, remove the mushrooms. Do not discard the broth. You will need it for the usu-age.

Bamboo shoots –

½ cup chopped fresh bamboo shoots
½ cup water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce

Simmer together for 30 minutes

Carrots –

1 carrot, chopped into ¼ inch chunks
1 tsp sugar
dash of salt

Simmer in a little water until carrot is soft. About 3 minutes.

When all ingredients are prepared, mix them into the sushi rice, being careful not to crush the rice. Stir and fluff the rice as you mix it.

Top the sushi with 3 sections of:

Thin fried tofu –

1 piece of Yusu-age

Cook in mushroom broth for 5 minutes. Drain. Slice very thinly.

Egg –

2 eggs
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp usukuchi soy sauce

Whip with a fork until mixed, but not bubbly. Cook a little bit at a time in a lightly oiled non-stick pan so that the layer of egg is very thin. Continue cooking little by little until all is cooked. Slice in very, very thin strips.

Shredded nori


Maki-zushi
Rolled Sushi
Makes 5 sushi rolls
Serves 4-5

This lends itself to much variety and personal taste. Read through the recipe and decide which types of rolled sushi you would like to make, then choose a few types to try this time.

Be sure to follow the preceding directions on how to cook Japanese rice.

Sushi rice:
2 cups raw rice (cook in 2 cups of water)
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp konbu dashi

Cook the rice. Mix vinegar, sugar, and salt. While lightly stirring and fluffing the rice, sprinkle on the vinegar mixture. Keep stirring and sprinkling until all is used. The rice grains should each be shiny and not clumped together.

Set sushi rice aside.

Sushi Fillings:
Kampyo (dried gourd) and shiitake mushrooms – soak for 1 hour. Rinse kampyo thoroughly and squeeze it out.
Simmer for 1 hour in:
2/3 cup dashi stock
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
When done, slice shiitake into thin strips. Cut kampyo to fit the length of the nori that you will use to wrap the sushi.

Tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelet):
3 eggs
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp usukuchi (light colored) soy sauce

Thoroughly mix eggs, salt, and sugar. Pour a little bit into an oiled hot heavy-bottomed frying pan. When it is set, roll up carefully. Add another very thin layer of egg to the pan and lift your little omelet roll to attach it to the new layer of egg. Roll it up carefully. Continue adding more egg, one thin layer at a time, then roll it up, until all the egg is used. Shape the egg into a rectangular shape. Slice into 1/4ths, lengthwise. Set aside.

Cucumber – sliced in ½ and then lengthwise in rectangles. You don’t need to peel the cucumber. Usually the seeds are not used.

Tuna and Lettuce –
Drain 1 can of tuna and mix with mayonnaise to moisten and hold it together. Add a little wasabi if you like.
Wash and dry large lettuce leaf and set aside.

Fried shrimp and lettuce –
Shrimp is dipped in egg and then in bread crumbs and deep fried.
Wash and dry large lettuce leaf and set aside.

Fried chicken breast strips and lettuce –
Cut chicken breasts in ½ inch lengths. Dip in flour, then in beaten egg, and then in Japanese bread crumbs. Deep fry. Drain and set aside.
Wash and dry large lettuce leaf and set aside.

Natto – set aside one pack of natto (fermented soybeans – not for the uninitiated.)

Boiled Shrimp – Straighten the shrimp out to make a line across the rice. Add a thin line of wasabi beside the shrimp before you roll the sushi.

Raw Tuna – Cut tuna into a long thing strip. Place on the rice. Add a thin line of wasabi beside the tuna before rolling.

Combinations:
Kampyo, shiitake, egg, cucumber
Tuna, lettuce
Cucumber
Fried shrimp with lettuce
Fried chicken breast with lettuce
Natto
Boiled shrimp
Raw tuna

Prepare all ingredients.

To make a rolled sushi:

Lay your bamboo sushi mat on your working surface.
Place a piece of sushi nori on the mat, shiny side down.
Cover the bottom 2/3rd of the nori with a ½ inch layer of sushi rice. Use a spoon or rice scooper that you keep in a bowl of salt-water to serve the rice with. This will keep the rice from sticking to the utensil. Press the rice firmly, making sure that the surface is even and that the rice is tightly packed.
Add your choice of ingredients from the list above. I will use chicken breast and lettuce as an example. Roll the fried and cooled chicken breast in about ½ of a large lettuce leaf. Both chicken and lettuce should be as long as the width of the nori. Place in the center of the rice, lengthwise. Carefully lift the sushi mat to roll the sushi away from you towards the empty part of the nori. Roll it tightly so the nori doesn’t fold or crumble. Dip your finger in a little water or soy sauce and use the liquid to seal the open end of the nori to the roll.
Use the bamboo mat to shape your sushi into a tight roll. Set aside.

Continue making sushi according to that method until 5 rolls are made. There should be just enough rice. Combination #1 is the most challenging, so be sure to hold the ingredients so they don’t tumble as you roll the sushi.

When all the rolls are made, slice them with a damp knife. First cut off the ends, then slice each roll into 8 tidy pieces. Clean and dampen the knife as needed, so the rice doesn’t stick to it. Lay the sushi attractively on a platter.

Serve with wasabi and soy sauce.


Inari-zushi
Sushi in fried tofu pockets

Serves 4-5

Gather the following ingredients:
For sushi rice:
2 cups raw rice
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 ½ tbsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
3 tbsp sesame seeds
For abura-age preparation:
4 pieces of abura-age (thin fried tofu), cut in half to make pockets
2/3 cup dashi stock
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp soy sauce
pickled ginger

Cook the rice.
While the rice is cooking, rinse the abura-age, and then simmer in mixture of dashi stock, sugar, mirin, and soy sauce for about 15 minutes. Remove from the pan and pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside.
When rice is done, mix vinegar, sugar, and salt. While lightly stirring and fluffing the rice, sprinkle on the vinegar mixture. Keep stirring and sprinkling until all is used. The rice grains should each be shiny and not clumped together.
Mix the sesame seeds into the rice.
Form the rice into little rectangular ovals to fit inside the pockets. Fold the excess abura-age over the rice.
Place decoratively on a plate.
Place a clump of pickled ginger nicely on the plate to be eaten with the sushi.

Oden and Udon

Oden
Serves 4

4 cups water
2 teaspoons dashi powder
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cooking sake

2 pieces atsu-age, cut in half
4 boiled eggs (peeled)
4 pieces chikuwa, cut in half
1/4 pack grey konnyaku, sliced thinly
2 in. daikon, peeled and cut in 1/2 in. rounds
Whatever else you would like to add, such as other varieties of Satsuma age, peeled mountain potatoes, tofu, mochi, etc.

1. Put in a wide, deep pan: water, dashi, soy sauce, brown sugar, and sake. Mix.
2. Heat the liquid. Blanch the konnyaku by putting it in a small pot of water and bringing to a boil. Drain.
3. Add all the remaining ingredients to the pot and cook for an hour or so. You can turn it off when the daikon is soft and just leave it in the pot to absorb the flavor of the sauce.
4. Serve with karashi.



Udon
Serves 2

You will need:

1 piece of abura-age, cut in half
utsukuchi soy sauce
mirin
dashi powder
sugar
2 bundles of udon noodles
2 green onions - chopped into small pieces
kamaboko fish cake, 4 thin slices (optional)

Ingredients for abura-age flavoring:
1 tbsp utsukuchi soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup water
1/8 tsp dashi powder

Place ingredients in a small pan and mix. Add the abura-age slices, bring to a boil, and then simmer on low heat until the flavoring is well absorbed and the liquid has boiled down.

Ingredients for soup:
3 cups water
3/4 tsp dashi powder
2 tbsp utsukuchi soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp mirin

Place all ingredients in a sauce-pan and bring to a boil.

Cook the noodles in plenty of water until just soft, according to the directions on the package.
Rinse noodles and place in deep bowls.
Add kamaboko slices, abura-age, green onions, and then pour on the soup.
Serve.

More Japanese Soups and One-pot Meals

O-Nabe
Winter One-Pot Soup
Serves 4

This is a great winter party meal, as guests can add their own food and cook it in front of them in the hot-pot.

There are many varieties of o-nabe, and this dish allows for much substitution of ingredients. Try the recipe below, and then experiment and create your own! The keys to a successful o-nabe are, 1. Do not overcook the vegetables or allow the tofu to boil, 2. Use ingredients that will not spread around in the broth. For example, Chinese cabbage cut in such a way that each serving stays together in one clump is more desirable than spinach leaves that will float about and likely overcook from being in the hot soup.

This meal is traditionally cooked on a gas burner or special electrical o-nabe pot in the middle of the dining table. Ingredients are added little by little, then they are taken out and eaten as they are cooked. An important point is to be sure to add the ingredients that take the longest time to cook first, then add the greens and tofu nearer to serving time. The greens are done when they are brightest in color. Mochi should be soft when eaten, but no so cooked that it has become liquidy.

The dish is more beautiful when it is served with each ingredient grouped together in the pot, so that there is a section of chicken, a section of tofu, greens, mushrooms, etc., with the leeks sprinkled about the top.

If you do not have a way to cook on the table, just cook it all on the stove, then carry the pot to the table for serving.

Each person is served a little dish of Ponzu sauce to dip their food into before eating.

Gather the following ingredients:

1 tbsp konbu dashi or bonito dashi
4 dried shiitake mushrooms (soak for 1 hour in about 1 quart of water before using. Use this water as your soup base.)
1 large chicken breast, or 2 thighs, boned and skinned and cut into 2X1 inch rectangles
½ daikon – peeled and sliced in ½ inch rounds
1 carrot – peeled and sliced lengthwise, then into 2 inch lengths
½ Chinese cabbage (Napa) – washed and sliced lengthwise, then into 2 inch lengths. Keep the cabbage in its natural shape (i.e. don’t separate the leaves.)
1 leek – washed and sliced diagonally into 1 inch lengths
8 oz shirataki (white noodle-like konnyaku tied in bundles) - rinse
1 block tofu – cut into 2”X1” pieces
Mochi – chopped into 1 inch squares
Ponzu sauce for dipping

In a large pot, add:

The rehydrated mushrooms and the soaking water.
Dashi powder, daikon slices.

Bring to a boil. When the daikon slices are soft, add:
Carrots

When carrots are nearly soft, add:
Chicken

When chicken is nearly done, add:
Shirataki and white part of the Chinese cabbage
Mochi

After about 1 minute, add:
The rest of the Chinese cabbage
Leek
Tofu

When leaves are bright in color, remove from the stove. Place in the center of the table. Serve into bowls, or let people serve themselves as they go.

Eat by first dipping each bite in Ponzu sauce.

Serve with a bowl of Japanese white rice.


Other O-Nabe varieties:

Use white fish pieces instead of chicken. Be careful not to overcook the fish. It should be added closer to the end of cooking, so as to be done when the vegetables are done.
Add kimchi to the soup base for a spicy flavor.
Use pork instead of chicken.
Another substitute for chicken could be meatballs made from ground chicken, ginger, and spring onions.
Small bok choy bundles can be used, as well as cabbage, and almost any of your favorite vegetables. When using broccoli, beware of the little florets overcooking and getting scattered in the soup, taking away from its esthetic beauty.



Beef and Daikon Soup

1 lb lean beef, thinly sliced, pounded, and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
½ medium daikon radish – sliced into 1 ½ in thin rectangles
1 inch thinly sliced ginger
1 leek – thinly sliced on a diagonal slant
1 package harusame – soak in boiling water until tender, drain, and cut into 2 inch lengths
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp canola or corn oil
1 tsp dashi powder
1 tbsp sake
½ tbsp usukuchi soy sauce
3 cups water

Pour oils in a deep pan or wok, and sauté ginger, meat, and daikon.
When the meat turns light in color, add water and dashi powder.
Simmer.
Skim off any scum that comes to the surface during cooking
When daikon is soft, add harusame.
Add sake and soy sauce.
Just before serving, add the sliced leek.

Serve in deep bowls, with white rice on the side.



Although not technically a soup, Niku-Jaga is an easy, one-pot meal with a thin sauce. It is commonly eaten as a winter meal.

Niku Jaga
Japanese Beef Stew
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 lb lean beef – sliced very thin
2 medium potatoes
2 carrots
1 medium onion
1 tbsp corn or safflower oil
1 tsp dashi powder
2 tbsp mirin (sweet cooking sake)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp cooking sake
2 tbsp usukuchi soy sauce (or to taste)
water

Slice beef against the grain into 1/8” thick slices, about 1½”X1” in size. If the beef is a little tough, pound it to make it more tender.
Cut onion in half, and then each half into ¼” thick slices, from top to bottom, and from the core to the outside.
Chop potatoes and carrots into similar-sized chunks, about 1 inch in size.
Place oil in a large saucepan and sauté onions and beef until beef is a little bit white in color.
Add remaining ingredients. The amount of water to add should be just enough to almost cover the ingredients.
Bring to a boil, add soy sauce, and then simmer until liquid is reduced and becomes like a sauce, and vegetables are tender. About 15-20 minutes.
Serve in bowls.

If you don’t have mirin, then increase the brown sugar to 3 tbsp, and add 3 tbsp cooking sake.

Japanese Soup Recipes

SOUPS

Soup is an integral part of nearly every Japanese meal. There are seemingly endless varieties of miso soups and clear soups to compliment main courses, noodle soups, as well as one-pot meal type soups that vary from region to region and family to family.

Soups can prove to be a wonderful part of your daily dining experience, and can help you along the road to greater health owing to their low-calorie and high nutritional contents.

I cannot go any further without telling you about my initial mystification concerning miso soup. I enjoyed miso soup at restaurants and at friends’ houses, but how to make it? Everyone I asked seemed to reply with the same answer, “Oh, miso soup? It’s so easy to make! Just put in dashi and miso and whatever you want.” I was left pondering, “How much dashi? How much miso? What kind of dashi? What kind of miso?” What was so simple to them, was so veiled to me.

After finally pinning down several of my friends for specifics, I now present to you….


Basic Miso Soup
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 ½ tsp dashi powder (bonito dashi is used traditionally, but konbu dashi works as well)
4 cups water
¼ cup miso*
Your choice of ingredients (see below)

Place water and dashi powder in a pan and bring it to a boil.
Add vegetables and cook until tender.
Dissolve the miso in the broth. Do not let the miso boil.
Serve.

*A note about miso. Pretty much any miso that you find at the supermarket will be fine. There are many varieties (just like there are many varieties of wines) and only you can discover what you like best. The one thing to watch out for is that some miso comes with dashi already added. If this is the type that you buy (and that’s what I used to make my first miso soup) then you don’t need to add any dashi. It’s already mixed in at the proper balance.

Some popular combinations to add to basic miso soup:

Tofu chopped in ¼-½ inch squares, dried cut wakame seaweed. (Add shortly before serving so that the tofu does not boil.)
Shiitake mushrooms, tofu.
Kabocha squash chopped in bite-sized pieces (add at the beginning since this take a while to cook), shiitake, tofu.
Thinly sliced potatoes, thinly sliced onions.
Mixed mushrooms (i.e. shiitake, shimeji)
Bamboo shoot, wakame seaweed.
Diagonally sliced leek, tofu.
Spinach, tofu, green onions.
Create your own!

Tips for a good miso soup:

Ø Never let the miso or tofu boil
Ø Add wakame close to serving time. Wakame left a long time in the soup tends to get a bit slimy.
Ø Less is more. Keep your ingredients few. It’s not a stew, it’s a soup.
Ø If you want to make miso soup with a mushroom base, which is very delicious, soak 2 dried shiitake mushrooms in the water you will use for the soup for 30-60 minutes. Take them out, slice them, and return to the pan. The mushrooms make a nice soup base, so you can decrease the dashi to ½ tsp. Continue cooking as for basic miso soup.

Kenjin Jiru
Vegetable-chicken soup
Serves 4-6

This meal takes about ½ hour from start to serving. This soup looks more beautiful when the ingredients are chopped in uneven, but similar sized, bite-sized pieces.

Gather the following ingredients:

1 package Konbu dashi (or plain hon-dashi)
½ inch thinly sliced Ginger root
6-8 inches Burdock root (gobo) (peel, cut & soak in water for 5 minutes before adding)
4-5 inches Japanese daikon radish (peel and cut)
1 Carrot
1 Satsuma-imo (Satsuma sweet potato. Sometimes they are called Korean sweet potatoes.)
1 Potato
2 Chicken thighs or 1 large breast (remove skin and fat)
6 oz. Grey konnyaku
8 oz. Atsu-age (packaged fried tofu)
1-2 Green onions (thinly sliced)
Usukuchi soy sauce
Cooking sake

1. Put 1 cup of water per serving into a large pot. Place on a high fire on the stove.
2. Add dashi and ginger.
3. Chop and add the burdock, daikon, carrot, Satsuma-imo, potato, and chicken. As you finish chopping the ingredients one-by-one, add them to the pot. Turn down the fire to keep the soup at an even, low boil.
4. The konnyaku should be blanched before it is added. To do this, chop into pieces, then add to a small pot of water. Bring to a boil and turn it off. Set aside.
5. When the vegetables and chicken are cooked, add the drained konnyaku and atsu-age and continue cooking.
6. Add 2 tablespoons usukuchi soy sauce and 1 tablespoon cooking sake. Add more of these to adjust the flavor to your liking.
7. Place chopped green onions in deep bowls. Ladle in the soup.

Serve with plain white rice, and ume-boshi or nori.

If you are unable to get some of the above ingredients, don’t be dissuaded from making a similar soup. Use whatever ingredients you have available, such as onion, chicken, potato, carrot, etc. You could substitute bouillon for dashi, regular soy sauce for “utsukuchi” soy sauce, regular tofu for atsu-age, and just leave out the sake. You will have a delicious, low-calorie meal!

Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients:
Serves 4-6

4 cups chicken broth (You can simply make this from bouillon and water, or you can use water that has had chicken cooked in it, or water that has had chicken or turkey bones boiled in it.)
2 eggs
salt and pepper

Bring chicken broth to a boil.
Thoroughly beat 2 eggs with a whisk.
Slowly pour the eggs in a fine stream into the boiling broth.
Leave for about 10 seconds, until eggs are set.
Add salt and pepper.
Serve.


Tofu Egg Drop Soup
Serves 4

I usually make this to compliment a meal that contains boiled chicken. That way I can use the water that the chicken was boiled in (after scooping off the excess oil from the top.)

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth or bouillon and water
2 eggs
8 oz silken tofu (also called soft tofu)
4 scallions - finely chopped
a little salt
1 tsp. sesame oil

Bring broth to a boil.
Thoroughly whisk eggs in a large bowl.
Mash tofu with a fork and add to the eggs. Whisk together until well mixed.
Slowly pour the egg-tofu mixture into the boiling water in a thin stream.
Simmer until eggs rise to the surface.
Serve soup into 4 deep bowls.
To each bowl, add:
¼ tsp. sesame oil
a pinch salt
¼ of the cut spring onions

Serve.