Nametake is cooked soft Enoki mushrooms (Enokitake) in Soy Sauce flavored sauce. This little salty dish is a convenient preserved food in a jar, like pickles in western homes, that you want to keep in the refrigerator all the time. It is a great accompaniment not only for Steamed Rice but also a great topping for Tofu and even pasta.
Tarako Spaghetti is one of the most popular Japanese flavored pasta. Tarako is salted cod roe and eaten both as is or cooked. In this dish, the saltiness from Tarako and fresh taste of Shiso leaves match with spaghetti so well that you want to go back to make it again and again.
Hanami Dango (花見団子) is a Japanese sweet Mochi dessert, where 3 different Dango balls, pink, white, and green, are skewered on a stick. In Japan, the end of March to April is the time of viewing and appreciating cherry blossoms (“hanami”). People go to parks where a lot of cherry trees are and eat and drink under the trees. Hanami Dango is commonly eaten during the cherry blossom season, although it is available all year round at many stores in Japan. Hanami Dango is so popular it is even represented by the emoji! 🍡
Gyoza are Chinese dumplings made with meat and vegetables wrapped in round (pasta like) flour skins and then pan-fried. Gyoza are originally based on Chinese fried dumplings, but they are now a popular and well-rooted part of Japanese cooking today. Probably pork is the most common filling for Gyoza in Japan, but if you love shrimp, Shrimp Gyoza is a great alternative to regular Gyoza. Shrimp Gyoza not only have a nice shrimp flavor but also a texture you’ll surely enjoy.
Miso is a paste made from fermented soy beans. It is one of the crucial seasonings in Japanese cuisine to make various foods like soups, sauces and other dishes. Miso is quite salty by itself, but dense in Umami (savory) flavor from long fermentation. Japanese food using Miso such as Miso Soup is loved and well known to not only Japanese people but also to people in the whole world today.
Ebi Fry is Japanese fried shrimp. The shrimp is breaded with flour, egg, and Panko (bread crumbs), then deep fried. It is a very popular dish at many restaurants in Japan, from big chain family restrants to mom and pop’s small corner eateries. Although you may be able to find the dish more easily than some other Japanese food at restaurants outside Japan, making Ebi Fry at home is very easy too and also very cost efficient. Most of the ingredients in the recipe are easily found at US supermarkets too. So why not make it at home?
Nabeyaki Udon is an Udon soup dish that is cooked and served in an individual clay pot. It is this signature clay pot (nabe) that gives this dish its name – Nabeyaki.
Futomaki is a kind of sushi roll or maki sushi with a variety of fillings such as vegetables and seafood. It is much thicker than typical sushi rolls such as Tuna and Cucumber Rolls, and the fillings are often cooked and flavored. Seasoned sushi rice and filling of choice are rolled into a thick cylinder with a sheet of nori roasted seaweed.
