]]> http://www.youlinchng.com/japanese-food/japanese-bento-box-recipes-for-kids/feed 0 http://www.youlinchng.com/japanese-food/main-dish/try-this-great-japanese-recipes http://www.youlinchng.com/japanese-food/main-dish/try-this-great-japanese-recipes#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:26:18 +0000 youlin http://www.youlinchng.com/?p=1066 Japanese Recipes : Yakitori , Gomaae.

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.

A wok can be your best friend, when it comes to cooking Japanese dishes. Almost all Japanese cooking recipes will require a wok, which is a bowl-shaped, rolled steel pan. You can use it for steaming and frying, as well as other ways to cook your food. It is especially great for stir frying, as its sides are high, and your food will not spill.
A rice cooker is necessary, since Japanese food is best eaten with rice. A simple rice cooker will give you an easy time preparing rice. A bamboo rolling mat is also a great equipment for a Japanese kitchen. It is used to make sushi—you will place the nori wrapper with all the ingredients on top of it (such as rice, mangoes, cucumber, fish) and roll it inside the mat. Once it is fully rolled, you will unroll the mat and end up with a long sushi. You will then slice this into smaller rolls.

The Japanese have their own knives called hocho(包丁). It is best used for cutting vegetables. Whatever dish you wish to prepare, a good set of knives is always good to have. Japanese cooking recipes also almost always include the following ingredients: soy sauce, wasabi (for sushi), mirin (or Japanese rice/cooking wine), and chilli spices. Having all these in your kitchen will have you preparing outstanding Japanese dishes in no time!

The word “sushi” in ancient times referred to fish that are preserved in vinegar. As time goes by, sushi has become a complete meal in itself. Now, the staples of sushi would include readily available ingredients like Japanese rice (short grain rice type), dried seaweed and seafood. Because the seafood are locally procured some even enjoy consuming them in raw.

If you are among the few who are reluctant to prepare the traditional hand-rolled sushi, here is the the easiest sushi recipes for you – Scattered Sushi (散らし寿司) salmon and avocado. Mixing all onto the vinegared sushi rice will do.

Chirashi Sushi – Salmon Avocado

Ingredient: ( 4 servings)
-    2 cups of sushi rice
-    4 tbsp rice vinegar
-    2 tbsp sugar
-    2 tsp salt
-    150g  salmon,
-    2 avocado
-    1 cucumber
-    1 piece celery
-    2 tbsp shrimp caviar (ebiko)

Preparations:
Cut cucumber and celery into small cubes. Cut smoked salmon and avocado into bite-sized pieces.
To prepare rice, rinse rice thoroughly in a sieve. Drain well. Pour the rinsed rice into rice cooker, add 2 cups water and start to cook. When the steamed rice is ready, transfer it to a big bowl, add rice vinegar, sugar & salt and cool to room temperature.
When the sushi rice has turned cool, mix the cucumber & celery cubes, ebiko into the rice and stir well. Then, arrange avocado cubes and salmon pieces on the rice then serve.

Japanese Scattered Sushi Recipes.

In Japan, when you enter a Chuka 中華(Chinese) restaurant, sit down then look at the menu, you will find this dish – Mapo Tofu. Mapo Tofu is a Chinese well-known dish from the Szechuan province. It combine the Chinese chili-bean paste or called Tobanjiang with tofu and minced pork. Tobanjiang plays the main role in spicy flavor of the dish. Although, most of the Chinese restaurants offer this famous dish, Mapo Tofu in Japanese style is not as spicy as the origin from Szechuan. It is sweeter and milder in taste.

Remember when I ordered, I will request for more spicy mapo tofu and add more chili-oil (rayu) when serve. If you are cooking at home, you may add more tobanjiang if you prefer more spicy taste. Serve with hot steamed rice will stimulate your appetite.

Tobanjiang (豆板醬）- Chili-bean paste

Ingredients : ( 4 servings)

2 block cotton tofu (600 g), diced into bite sized cubes
250g minced pork
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
1/2 leek, finely chopped
1 tbsp tobanjiang (Chinese chili-bean paste)
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp sesame oil
For seasoning:
1 cup water
3 tbsp miso bean paste
2 tbsp sake
1 tsp chicken soup powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Preparations:

In a big bowl, combine water, miso, sake, chicken soup powder, sugar and salt. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.Wrap tofu with paper towel and heat the tofu in microwave for 1 minute. Drain the excess water and cut into small cubes. Heat sesame oil in a wok on low heat, add garlic, ginger, leek and hot bean paste, stir fry for 3 minutes. Then add minced pork, cook until the color changed. Pour the seasoning mixture into the wok and bring to a boil. Add tofu cubes and simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes.
Mix corn starch with 1 tbsp water and combine it into the wok, stir gently until the sauce is thickened and smooth, remove from heat and dish out.　Garnish the tofu with some spring onion and serve with steam rice.

Buckwheat noodles or soba(蕎麦) is one of the healthy dish and a hot weather favorite in Japan.

Green Tea Soba (茶蕎麦）

There are many type of soba in Japan and the most delicious type is, of course, the freshly home-made type called “te-uchi soba”(手打ち蕎麦). But, it is hardly find outside Japan unless making own self.
Chilled buckwheat noodles are often served on a basket-weave tray called “Zaru” in summer and these cold noodles are equally attractive dished up into bowls. Normally, there are other famous dishes to serve together during summer with the chilled soba in Japan such as hiyayako (Japanese cold tofu appetizer), hiyashi-chuka (Chinese style cold noodle salad).

Japanese healthy buckwheat noodles

Here in this post I use Japanese dried green tea favor noodles that just freshly brought as “omiyage” gift from Japan by my friend couple days ago.

Japanese recipes with pictures

Ingredients: (4 servings)

250 g dried green tea soba noodles
2 spring onion thinly sliced
1 nori sheet, toasted, cut into think strips

For dipping sauce:
3 tbsp dashi granules
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup mirin
salt to taste

Preparations:

Filled half of a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to boil over medium-high heat. When it is boiling, lower the noodles slowly into boiling water. Stir gently so that the noodles don’t stick together. Pour in 1/2 cup of cold water and return to boil.  Repeat this step or until the noodles are tender. Drain and rinse well under cold water, lightly rubbing the noodles with hands to remove excess surface starch. Drain and set aside.

To make dipping sauce, combine 1 1/2 cup water, dashi granules, mirin, soy sauce, and a pinch of salt in a pan. Bring to boil and stir well. Simmer for about 3 minutes then cool completely. Pour the dipping sauce into four small serving bowls.

Arrange the green tea soba in a plate, or bamboo basket (zaru) if you have one. Garnish with spring onion, and toasted nori strips. Serve with wasabi and dipping sauce.

Here is the free and easy recipe  for those who love Japanese style salad – Pumpkin with almond salad. Mayonnaise , fresh cream and sugar play the main role here. Just prepare more to keep in the freeze. The next day, you will get the tasty mixture of 3 ingredients mixed into the pumpkin. Try this out, and let me know if you like the cool Yummy taste then!

Almond Pumpkin (kabocha) salad

Ingredient : ( 4 servings):
-   250g pumpkin squash
-    3 tbsp mayonnaise
-    2 tablespoons fresh cream
-    1/2 teaspoon sugar

Preparations:
Peel the hard skin from the pumpkin, cut it into large bite-size pieces. Boil the pumpkin pieces with hot water until tender. Drain and allow to cool. Combine mayonnaise, fresh cream and sugar in bowl then add the pumpkin & toss well. Transfer the pumpkin to the serving plate and sprinkle with some almond slices if you preferred.

As for me, I like to prepare more to keep in the freeze and take the next day. The mixture of mayonnaise and creame into pumpkin squash is somehow… “Yummy” as the time goes..

Have you ever been to Izakaya?

Izakaya is a type of traditional Japanese drinking place which serves food to accompany the drinks. Izakaya offers all sorts of dishes other than alcoholic drinks such as sake, beer shochu, chuhai etc. Food in Izakaya are designed to be shared like karaage, yakitori, kushiyaki, sashimi, hiyayako, tsukemono, edamame and more.

A mainstay of the nation’s food culture, the izakaya is a vital venue for socializing and an increasingly innovative culinary influence. Men drank sake and beer after work and due to the growing trend in population of independent women and students, many izakaya today cater for the more diverse clientele by offering cocktails and wines as well as improving the interior.

For me, the first time I experienced the amazing atmosphere was in one of Izakaya called “Iccho”, Mito in the year 1995.

We, (me and friends total of 8 person) ordered almost every dish from the menu. Tasted on every single dish, daikon tsukemono, fresh sashimi, cool hiyayako with nori topping, agedashitofu.. and enjoyed with the drunk. We finished up the left-over food with “janken” game where I was the person who cleared up the left-over “tori-karaage”(鳥唐揚げ) – a crispy Japanese fried chicken nuggets. It was my unforgettable experience in Izakaya where I eaten the extra (left-over 8 pieces) karaage after enjoying other varieties of food in Izakaya. Full stomach(満腹) and drunk… 爽快!　:) It was how i started falling love with the “tori-karaage”…

Try this, “finger lickin’ good recipe” by youlin
Japanese food recipes : Torikaraage Recipes

Ingredients: (4 serving)

4 whole chicken breasts, skinned & deboned
5 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp root ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, grated
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

5 tbsp cornflour
5 tbsp plain white flour
vegetable oil for deep frying
3~4 lemon sliced
Mayonnaise (optional)

Directions:

Cut chicken into bite-size pieces. Mix chicken with soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. Marinate for at least 30minutes. In a medium bowl, mix the cornflour with white plain flour ( 1: 1 ratio). Dipping the marinate chicken in flour until completely coated. In a wok, heat oil to 180 degrees C and deep fry the chicken pieces for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer chicken to serving plate and granish with lemon slices and mayonnaise. Serve immediately.

Shabu shabu is one of the Japanese hot pot dishes and most enjoyable winter dishes. The array of ingredients is prepared in advance. Ingredients such as thinly sliced meat, vegetables and other ingredients are cooked in a skillet on the table making it possible for hosts to relax and enjoy a convivial meal with theiï½’ guest.

Japanese beef with Shabu-shabu:

Ingredients: (Makes 4 servings)

700g sirloin beef, thinly sliced
15 spring onions (scallions), diagonally and thinly sliced
3 carrots, cut into thin round slices
400g button mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 Chinese cabbage, chopped to bite-sized
1 block cotton tofu, cut into bite-sized cubes
2 litres chicken stock
Japanese short-grain rice, cooked
ready made shabu shabu sauce

Preparations:

Arrange the prepared vegetables, tofu and meat in separate piles on a serving platter. Cover with kitchen wrap and refrigerate before cooking. Position the serving platter and electric wok so they are within easy reach of each diner. Pour the stock into the electric wok, cover and bring to a simmer. Each diner then picks up an ingredient or two with thier chopsticks and places it in the simmering stock for about 1 minute or until cooked. Do not overcook, the vegetables should be just tender and the beef still pink in the centre.Skim off any foam and repeat cooking. The food is then dipped into the sauce and eaten with the rice. The remaining stock can be served as soup at the end of meal.