Today’s miso soup is made with kimchi and tofu. This miso soup is inspired by Korean Kimchi soup or Kimchi Jjigae, but it is not the authentic Korean soup. It’s rather a simple Japanese miso soup with kimchi in it. It’s lighter and milder than jigae (Korean stew).
You can have the soup simply as it is, or add some thinly sliced pork, seafood, or eggs to make it heartier.
Mentaiko Potato Salad is Mentaiko (spicy salted cod roe) mixed with mashed potato and seasoned with tangy Japanese mayonnaise. It’s a variation of regular Japanese potato salad, but it has become quite popular in Japan as a side dish in the last decade or so. Mentaiko Potato Salad is a great little dish next to a more substantial entree like Tonkatsu or Hamburger Steak, but also a nice item to fill a corner of a Bento box too.
Udon Carbonara is an Udon noodle dish which is mixed in a scrumptiously eggy and cheesy Carbonara sauce. Spaghetti Carbonara is one of the most popular Italian pasta dishes in Japan, and people there just love the taste of this pasta with savory creamy sauce. This Carbonara sauce may not be authentic Italian, but it is super easy to make for anybody. In fact, it actually takes only 15 minutes from start to finish. The rich Carbonara sauce clings to the chunky, chewy Udon noodles, and it is absolutely delicious. It is certainly not traditional, but it’s a kind of dish Japanese people eat as an everyday meal. Hope you try it!
Today’s miso soup uses Satsumaimo Japanese sweet potato.(さつまいも) Satsumaimo is a great vegetable for sweet dishes and desserts, and it works in miso soup very well too. You can add meat and other vegetables to this, but we wanted it to be simple here so that the taste of sweet potato is accentuated in the dish. Enjoy the flavor combination of Satsumaimo’s mild sweetness and savory miso. Hope you like it!
Nori Bento or Nori Ben is a Bento lunch box filled with Steamed Rice, Nori roasted seaweed, fried fish, and other side dishes. It’s been one of the most widely known and loved Bento for a long time in Japan. Nori Bento is nothing complicated or fancy, but it’s just a comforting kind of Bento any time.
Melon Pan Toast tastes just like Melon Pan, but it’s so much easier to make it with only 5 simple ingredients. Melon Pan (メロンパン) is a popular Japanese sweet bread, and it’s found everywhere in Japan from bakeries to convenience stores. Soft white Japanese milk bread is covered with a thin cookie crust on top, and the signature grid lines on the surface resembles a melon even though the flavor is nothing like melon. Homemade melon pan is very tasty of course, but it’s quite time consuming to make it from scratch. If you have a sudden craving for a melonpan, try this much simpler version! You will have a scrumptious melonpan-like toast ready in 10 minutes!
Today’s miso soup is made with Napa Cabbage, Onion, and Tenkasu Tempura Bits. Thinly sliced nappa cabbage and onion are cooked till soft in the dashi broth and seasoned with the miso paste. Simple vegetable miso soup tastes good as is, but with home-made Tenkasu tempura bits, it becomes hearty and even more delicious. Crunchy tempura bits soak up the tasty broth and adds nice texture.
Tenkasu can be purchased in a bag at Japanese supermarkets, but making it at home is quite easy. You can collect bits of Tempura crust floated in the oil when making Tempura, or you can follow our simple Tenkasu recipe.
Deep-Fried Cod is fish coated with flour, egg, and Panko bread crumbs and deep-fried. It’s a very simple dish by itself but extra delicious with homemade tartar sauce. It doesn’t sound very Japanese, but this is another Japanese food which is eaten all the time in Japan.
Teriyaki Tofu Bowl is pan-fried Tofu in Teriyaki sauce over rice. This is such an easy dish to make for busy weekday nights. All the ingredients are found locally in most places even outside Japan, and the steps are also very simple. It’s flavored with sweet and salty Teriyaki sauce that everyone loves, so it will please the pickiest eaters too. Too much work to mix seasonings for Teriyaki sauce? No problem. You can use a prepared bottled sauce to shortcut even further. Teriyaki Tofu Bowl is healthy (vegetarian friendly), yummy, and also easy on the budget. So what are you waiting for? Try this tonight!
Today’s miso soup is made with rolled oats. It tastes like porridge with a Miso flavor. This easy and tasty oatmeal soup is great for anybody but especially for people who want to lose some weight. Oatmeal has a lot of fiber, and spinach is full of nutrition. Miso Soup with Oatmeal could be part of a meal, or it can stand strong by itself. It’s filling and satisfying, and oh so healthy. Hope you like it!