Pork and Cabbage Curry is a simple variation of Curry and Rice using Japanese curry sauce mix. Typical Japanese curry requires some time to stew beef, potatoes, and carrots. This curry features thinly sliced pork and cabbage, which takes significantly less time to cook. The flavor combination of pork, ginger, and cabbage resembles Pork Shogayaki,…
Azuki Bar is a popular frozen popsicle in Japan made from sweet Azuki red bean paste. This cool treat has been enjoyed for its nutty flavor and grainy bean texture for decades. Azuki Bar contains nothing complicated or artificial, but it’s pleasantly sweet and full of flavor. It looks just like any popsicle with a…
Today’s miso soup features Shabu Shabu pork and leafy green lettuce. Shabu Shabu pork is paper-thin pork loin (or even pork belly), cooked by swishing it in the miso soup. Because the pork is very thin, it cooks through quickly. Rich umami flavor from the pork enriches the soup, giving it a wonderful taste. Lettuce…
Chopped salad is a salad where ingredients like vegetables, fruits, meats, and nuts are chopped into cube shapes and tossed with dressing. It became hugely popular in the US, particularly major cities like New York and LA first, before its popularity spread to Japan, where chopped salad specialty stores have started opening as well today.
This simple Yakisoba noodle dish features a whole head of iceberg lettuce and chicken. Iceberg lettuce is most commonly eaten as salads, but its crisp texture also works well in stir-frying. One whole head of lettuce seems like a lot, but it shrinks to about half of the volume when it’s stir-fried. Crisp texture somehow…
Black Tea Pork is pork tenderloin cooked in black tea and then marinated in Japanese seasonings. One of the polyphenols in black tea, tannin, tenderizes the meat, eliminates its odor and greasiness, and results in a light and delicious dish. Cooking pork in black tea is a practical method and a great choice to make…
Today’s miso soup features imitation crab. While imitation crab may not sound like a high-quality ingredient, it has a lot of umami flavor that enhances the base of the miso soup. Imitation crab, or Kanikama in Japanese, is made from fish paste (primarily pollock) that resembles crab meat. It contains no fat and is high…
Sauce katsu-don is a local delicacy of Fukui Prefecture, consisting of pork loin or fillet coated in panko breadcrumbs, deep-fried to crispy perfection, and served over steamed rice. Sauce Katsudon differs from regular Katsudon, which is Tonkatsu (deep-fried pork) and eggs cooked in a sweet and salty broth placed over rice. In Sauce Katsudon, the…
Natto Pancake is a savory pancake made with Japanese traditional fermented soy beans (Natto) and garlic chives. This savory pancake is similar to Okonomiyaki, but it’s more like Chijimi or Korean Buchimgae with simple vegetable ingredients.
Rice burgers are hamburger-like sandwiches made with molded and grilled rice buns instead of regular bread buns. The grilled rice is seasoned and browned just like Yaki Onigiri (grilled rice balls), and the beef patty is replaced with Yakiniku (grilled beef slices). Rice burgers offer a unique texture and more traditional Japanese flavor, appealing to…