Today,there are more and more people getting interested with Japanese recipes. Why?  Because they aren’t only taste good, but they are also comparatively healthier than their American counterparts. So, if you have always think of trying Japanese food but find that taking raw meat is a bit repulsive, now below are Japanese recipes that you might wish to try out.

Yakitori (焼き鳥)

Main dish: Yakitori
This is the popular Japanese recipes especially among the children because of its sweet sauce.

Ingredients:
-    Chicken parts such as thigh meat or liver
-    Negi *
-    4 tablespoons of Japanese Soy Sauce
-    Japanese cooking wine or Japanese Sake
-    3 tablespoons of sugar
-    Honey-    Bamboo skewers

*Substitute Negi with leeks or green onion if not available

Preparation:

1.    Cut and divide the chicken into small cubes size about 2 to 3 centimeters.
2.    In a saucepan, pour in all the liquid ingredients and mix with sugar then simmer with low hear. Wait until the sugar is completely melted.
3.    Marinate the chicken with the sauce and set aside for about 30 minutes. 4.    Cut the Negi into 3 centimeters long while waiting for the marinade to seep in.
5.    When the chicken gets ready, alternately skewer chicken with leeks.
6.    Grill to perfection. Be careful not to burn them.

Gomaae (胡麻和え)

Side Dish: Gomaae
This spinach based Japanese recipes complements Yakitori.

Ingredients:

-    Fresh Spinach
-    2 tablespoons sugar
-    1 tablespoon of Japanese Rice Wine
-    2 tablespoons of ground sesame seeds
-    2 tablespoons of Miso (Soybean paste)

Preparation:

1.    Blanch the spinach.
2.    Dry out the leaves by patting them with dry kitchen cloth or paper towel.
3.    Once dry, cut them approximately 3 centimeters long.
4.    Mix with other ingredients in a different container.
5.    Toss the spinach to the mixture and serve.

Buta no Shogayaki(豚の生姜焼き） is a famous Japanese food dish served in restaurant throughout Japan. It goes well with rice mostly prepared in set for lunch or dinner. Shoga or ginger, is the main ingredient for the dish. With some cornstarch to thicken the sauce, when it combined with the pork slices it makes the dish more delicious. And when you eat together with rice, it provide you with plenty of energy and boost you appetite during summer. Prefect!!

Ingredients: (4 servings):

300g thinly sliced pork
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp grated garlic
2 tbsp salad oil
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp sake
1 tbsp cornstarch
shedded  cabbage

Preparations:

Mix grated ginger, garlic and sugar in a small bowl. Pour cornstarch in the surface of thinly sliced pork. Marinate pork for 10 minutes. Heat salad oil in a frying pan. Stir-fry both side of pork slices on medium heat. Turn to low heat, pour in sake and soy sauce. Served ginger pork with cabbage.

Let’s introduce this healthy food and Japanese food low fat diet recipes of Ikabatayaki (Butter Squid in Japanese Style). This healthy food is simple but popular in Japanese cuisine. It always serve together with steam rice.

Japanese Diet Recipes : Ikabatayaki (烏賊バター焼き）

This low fat diet recipes is always on my cooking list whenever I have some squids. When I shared with my friends, they rated it as a gourmet food, healthy food and energy booster to them. YUMmm )

So, try this out today with this Japanese food low fat diet recipes below :

Gourmet food : Ikabatayaki (Butter Squid in Japanese Style)

Ingredients:

300g squid, thinly sliced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sake
30g butter
lemon
lettuce

Preparation:

Combine soy sauce, sake in a large bowl. Add squid into the bowl and mix until all the squid is covered with the sauce. Put aside to marinade the squid for about 10minutes. Melt butter in a pan with high heat. Remove only squid from bowl and add into the pan. Reserve marinated sauce. Stir -fry squid quickly and cook until it changes color. Remove squid from pan, cut into slices and place in a serving plate. Pour in reserved marinade sauce, garnish with lettuce and lemon. Serve with steam rice.

Enjoy the healthy food today!!

Japanese Recipes – Tempura

Common Ingredients (Seafood and vegetables)

*Shrimps, Squids, Fish pieces, Green pepper, Eggplant, Potato, Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), Shiitake Mushrooms Renkon (lotus roots)
1 tsp sake
Vegetables Oil for deep-frying

Ingredients for making tempura batter:

1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup iced water
1 cup tempura flour OR 1/2 cup cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup flour

Ingredients for making Broth:

1/4 tsp dashi powder dissolved in 200ml water
2 tbsps soy sauce
2 tbsps mirin
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsps grated radish (daikon)

Preparations:

To make the Broth, combine the dashi mixture, soy sauce, sugar and mirin in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil then remove heat and stir in the grated radish. Set aside and keep warm.

To make Tempura Batter, combine the egg and iced water in a bowl. Sprinkle half of the tempura flour over the top and whisk. Add remaining tempura flour and mix until almost combined. The batter should still be a little lumpy.

Make 3-4 slits aking the underside of each shrimp to prevent it curling when fried. Place into a small bowl with sake and marinate for 10minutes. Heat oil to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F) in a medium saucepan or until the bubbles form around the handle of a wooden spoon lowered into the oil. Coat the pumpkin, mushrooms, eggplant and prawns with flour then dip into the tempura batter. Fry for 2-3 minutes turning once, or until very lightly colored. When dipping shrimps, hold by tail and dip only the body. This makes for good presentation leaving the shrimp’s red tail exposed. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Place them to a serving plate and serve warm with broth and grated radish.

Enjoy it

Japanese Diet Recipes with Tofu

This is another miso flavor for Japanese Diet Recipe with Tofu called Tofu and Chicken Misoni (Tofu No Tori Misoni, 豆腐のとり味噌煮). It suit for both adult and children. Especially children will like the mild with some sweeten taste of the dish.　So, if you wanna to diet, or you have a diet menu list, put it into your daily diet menu list. And enjoy!!:)

Ingredients:(4 serving)

1 block silk Tofu cut into 2cm bit size
350g chicken breast cut into bite size
80ml water
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 dried shiitake mushroom
chopped green onions

(For sauce)
6 tbsps miso
3 tbsps japanese sake
3 tbsps sugar
2 tbsps oyster sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch

Preparations:
Soak the dried shiitake mushroom and cut into slices. Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Add in the chicken and cook about 3 minutes with medium heat. Pour in ingredients for sauce. Add in tofu stir slowly with low heat. Transfer to bowl and garnish with green onions for serve.

Japanese Sweet and Sour Pork Recipe

Wafu-Chuka, as the cuisine is known in Japan, is characterized by an elegance and style that heightens both Japanese and Chinese cooking traditions. Popular wafu-chuka dishes include mabo-tofu, hiayashi chuka, gyoza, subuta and so on. Subuta（酢豚） a sweet and sour pork dish which is one of the very popular wafu-chuka dish in Japan. The sauce is the main point of the dish. So, with a good combination among vinegar, sugar, ketcup and starch, it will determine how delicious the subuta is? Alternatively, you may replace kurosu (黒酢、black vinegar) for the dish which will increase your appetite.

Ingredients:

200 g pork tenderloin cut into bite size
1 onion cut into bite size
1/2 carrot cut into bite size
1/2 green pepper cut into bite size
1 clove garlic, minced
3 shiitake mushroom
2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup soup stock
3 tbsp soysauce
3 tbsps rice wine vinegar
4 tbsps sugar
1 tbsp ketchup
3 tbsps water
3 tbsps potato starch / corn starch
2 tsp oyster sauce (if you have)

Preparations:
Add in sugar, ketchup, soysauce, and rice wine vinegar to the pork in a bowl and let stand 30minutes.
Heat oil to 350F and deep-fry pork until golden/cooked. Drain oil and cook onion, garlic, carrot, green pepper, shiitake mushrooms and fried pork over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add mixture of water, soup stock and starch in the pan and stir quickly over medium heat.
Put in a plate and serve with plain rice.

  Watch this perfect ”Art of Eating Okonomiyaki” and learn how to cook a perfect Okomoniyaki from Abe Hiroshi. I really like the man in the video clip, Abe Hiroshi. Cool Man! Perfectionist!

 Here are some points from the video clip to cook a perfect okonomiyaki,
- When mix the flour and ingredients, be sure to let some “air” go into the ingredients
- Don’t over beat/mix to avoid moisture come out from cabbage
- Make the thickness around 3cm(Kansai-style Okonomiyaki)

  See the perfect presentation on how to cook Okonomiyaki.

  Enjoy the show!

 After watched the show, you will sure like Okonomiyaki, right? Comment it if you like.

* This is part of scenes taken from a Japanese Drama called “Kekkon Dekinai Otoko” (the man can’t get married).

Japanese Recipe Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き）

   Okonomiyaki is a popular pan fried food(Japanese style pizza) that fits the same ecological niche in japan as pizza does in US.  It consists of batter and cabbage with selected toppings such as sliced pork, yakisoba noodles, green onion, squid, shrimp, bean sprouts and others. As the name indicates “okonomi” literally means “to one’s liking”, you can add whatever ingredients you like in okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is very popular in Osaka and Hiroshima and have their own style in cooking okonomiyaki. In Japan, people usually eat okonomiyaki at restaurants that specialize in the dish. The attractive point in okonomiyaki restaurant is that you are free to cook you own style okonomiyaki on the dining table equipped with an iron griddle (“teppan”).

Ingredients:       
2 cups shredded cabbage (1 1/2 inch strips)
1 cup green onion chopped
2 eggs
1 cup water
2 tbsp  sake
1 cup tempura batter/flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
200g shrimps (others seafood as much as you like)
okonomiyaki sauce
katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
mayonnaise
aonori (seaweed/green laver)
beni shoga(red ginger)

Preparations:
Beats the eggs in a large bowl. Add flour and water and beat mix well. Add in sake, cabbage, green onion. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a skillet. Pour the batter over the skillet and make a round. Then sprinkle 1/2 of the shrimp, and others seafood on top. Cook each side on medium heat for 2 minutes, until lightly browned. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered for another 5 minutes, occasionally turning and gently pressing the okonomiyaki with a spatula. Flip the okonomiyaki again and spread okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise on top. Sprinkle aonori over the sauce. Sprinkle katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and beni-shoga (red ginger) for topping.

See also Okonomiyaki Eating Contest

   Japanese recipe – Teriyaki Chicken

    This is another recipe that real easy to prepare though it may take some time to marinate the chicken.  I really enjoy its delicious sticky sauce that stick firmly to the chicken. And the combination among the japanese sake, mirin, sugar are prefect to represent the japanese traditional taste.
 *Only one reminder for this recipe, turn the heat down to low in the final stage before the chicken overheated.

   Ingredients:

   4 chicken breasts
   2 tbsp japanese sake
   6 tbsp mirin
   6 tbsp soy sauce
   3 tbsp sugar
   3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped pepper

   Preparations:

     Mix soy sauce, sake, mirin, garlic and sugar in a bowl or a large Ziploc bag. Sprinkle chicken with pepper, cover if in bowl, marinate in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Heat a pan and pour in 2 tbsp vegetable oil. When the pan is very hot, add chicken, keep heat on high, stirring chicken constantly. Add in the rest of sauce and slimmer on low heat until the sauce become thick. Cut the chicken in strips, glaze chicken with thickened sauce and serve with rice.

    Tonkatsu (豚カツ)　has a long history since 100years ago. This Japanese style European cuisine is now popular as home cooking dish and can be found in most of the restaurant; ”katsu” came from katsu-retsu (cutlet) earlier, and become tonkatsu when using pork for the main ingredients.    

Ingredients:
       Pork Tenderloin cut into 1/4 inch slices
       2 eggs beaten
       1 cup Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
       Flour
       Cabbage shredded
       Worcestershire sauce

Preparations:

Drain off excess water from pork with kitchen papers; make few slits in the cutlet. Sprinkle both sides of cutlet with salt and pepper, coat with flour. Dip in the beaten egg mixture, coat in panko bread crumbs. Heat oil in a wok to 350F, add in pork and deep-fry 5 to 7minutes until golden crispy on both sides. Drain on kitchen papers. Garnish with finely shredded cabbage and lemon wedges. Serve with Worcestershire sauce.