Tamago Tofu (Tamagodofu) is savory egg flan similar to Chawanmushi. Even though it’s called Tofu, it is not made from soy beans. It is really more like custard. Tamago Tofu is simply flavored with salt, Mirin, and Dashi fish stock. This subtle and comforting dish is usually eaten chilled, especially in warm seasons. If you…
Konnyaku Amakarani is braised Konnyaku, a gelatinous food made from Konnyaku potatoes, in a sweet and hot sauce. This little side dish always comes in handy to add one more item to dinner or to fill a small space in a Bento box.
Chikuwa Isobeage, perhaps a mouthful to pronounce for non-Japanese speakers, is Tempura Chikuwa (a kind of fishcake) flavored with Aonori (dried seaweed flakes). This deep-fried dish is often a side dish item in commercial Bento, but also a great home-made appetizer that goes well with drinks.Isobeage is a deep-fried dish that contains some kind of…
Kyuri Bainikuae is cucumber with Umeboshi sour plum sauce. This is a refreshing side dish/salad with a distinctive sour flavor, without being vinegary, and will go well with any Japanese meal.
Kimchi Nabe (キムチ鍋) is a hot pot dish popular in winter in Japan. That’s right, it is Kimchi in Nabe just like the Korean hot pot dish, Kimch Jjigae. Kimchi Nabe has been popular in Japan for a long time, and evolved as their own version of Kimch Jjigae. It is mildly spicy, but it is…
Instant Ramen (インスタントラーメン) with Vegetables is an easy and tasty noodle soup absolutely anybody can make. Instant Ramen has such a distinct flavor of its own, and it is hard to recreate it from scratch, so we don’t even try. And it’s funny how we all have cravings for various foods, but this is the…
There are a lot of tricks to make pretty shapes and cute characters with food in Japan. You can see more traditional ones like plum flower-shaped carrots in Chikuzenni, and also Tako Sausage for Bento box.Tomato Santa and Cucumber Christmas Tree are a Christmas version of this style. You can not only use these as…
Atsuage is deep fried Tofu that you can use without any breaking or using batter. Atsuage is an important ingredient in Japanese cooking, especially in Nimono (boiled and seasoned vegetables and meat). Because it is made of Tofu, it is healthy plant-based protein, but it has a little more body and deeper flavor from being…
Kenchinjiru is a clear soup with a lot of vegetables. This meatless but hearty hot soup is a great dish in colder weather, and perfect to serve a big crowd for various gatherings in fall and winter. There is a lot of cutting involved, but it is quite easy and simple to make.
Corn Potage Soup is a popular western-style soup in Japan. Corn gives the soup natural sweetness and this Corn Potage uses creamed corn, not just corn kernels, help adding even more body to the soup. This creamy corn soup goes so well with other western-style Japanese food like Hamburger Steak that together they make a…