Learning more about Japanese food

Yum Asia · 19 Feb 2009

Hellooo!

Having travelled extensively in Asia, we know a hell of a lot about Thai, Malay, Indian and Chinese food and have lots of recipes to recreate our favourite dishes. We have a real love of cooking and try to do cookery courses in every country we visit.

Japanese food however, it a bit of an enigma to us. We haven't visited Japan yet (it's up there on our list for the near future) and we've tried a few dishes like teriyaki and Japanese curry (maybe it was the one we tried but it was awful). We'd love to know more about Japanese food but think there is a popular misconception that it's only about sushi, certainly a lot of the restaurants we have seen in the UK have only been about sushi. Sushi is out as one of us is allergic to seafood. We liked the teriyaki, but aren't sure how authentically Japanese it is - you know how sometimes there are dishes attributed to a cuisine and you don't actually find it when you visit the country!☝

So, to get to the point any ideas for recipes for Japanese food which would be a great intro to the cuisine? Also we love the flavour of wasabi...is sushi the only dish it's used in?

Thanks for any ideas - we're looking forward to being able to try some Japanese food recommended by people who know their stuff!

undrentide · 19 Feb 2009

If you like wasabi, adding a bit of wasabi + soy sauce in mayo or dressing is great for salad.

Aurura · 19 Feb 2009

Wasabi is great with Saba Noodles, one of my summer favorites:

Zaru Soba: A Chilled Buckwheat Noodle Dish That's Perfect for Summer

It's also great with all kinds of Onigiri (plain or filled):

How to Make Onigiri, Japanese Rice Balls

Okonomiyaki is also a favorite, you can put anything in it (and it's fun to make with others!)

Okonomiyaki

Of course, Nabeyaki Udon *ROCKS the HOUSE*, :

A Recipe for Nabeyaki Udon Noodle With Fresh Spinach and Chicken

I could go on and on... but these are great starts!

Ganbatte kudasai!

- Aurura

konki_d · 20 Feb 2009

Tonkatsu - thin pork filets breaded in panko and then deep fried - is a favorite with my family, and something we enjoy on a regular basis. It is usually served with rice and a "salad" of shredded cabbage. It is also important to have a good tonkatsu sauce, which is similar to barbeque sauce but thinner and (IMHO) a bit tangier (is "tangier" a word?). If you don't want to make your own tonkatsu sauce, I recommend Bulldog brand.

Donburi dishes (various toppings and sauces over a large bowl of rice) are also quick, easy, filling, and delicious. There are popular and ubiquitous donburi dishes such as oyako-don (lit. "parent and child bowl" - i.e. chicken and egg) and unagi-don (broiled eel in sauce over rice).

To get back to something very basic, miso-shiru (fermented bean paste soup) was something I came to have with almost every meal when I was living in Japan. Outside of the basic ingredients of a dashi stock and the miso paste, many other ingredients can be introduced into the soup, including konbu (kelp), spinach, tofu, green onion, and shellfish.

There are several good yet inexpensive Japanese cookbooks out there that do well at not only decribing various foods and their ingredients, but also provide page after page of pictures so that you have an idea of what you are looking for (or at!).

Bon appetit!

jprecipes · 21 Apr 2009

Happy to get to know so many Japanese food lover here in the Forum. I would like to share the recipes & to get feedback. Grab Free Little Cookbook & more Japanese Recipes online @ youlinchng dot com
Happy Cooking!

Ashikaga · 21 Apr 2009

jprecipes said:
Happy to get to know so many Japanese food lover here in the Forum. I would like to share the recipes & to get feedback. Grab Free Little Cookbook & more Japanese Recipes online @ youlinchng dot com
Happy Cooking!

It'd be great if you could actually discuss Japanese food right here on the forum. You have already mentioned your blog site in your introduction post.
I did check it out and it looks lovely, by the way. However, this post here reads more like an ad.

jprecipes · 21 Apr 2009

ASHIKAGA said:
It'd be great if you could actually discuss Japanese food right here on the forum. You have already mentioned your blog site in your introduction post.
I did check it out and it looks lovely, by the way. However, this post here reads more like an ad.

Sorry that I not meant to put my ads here.. It was my 1st time post & i was hesitate to share most of my recipes to all.. I will be careful in future.

Ok, with this, I want to contribute/share my favorite Japanese food of
Oyako Don, a Japanese dish which chicken, egg, green onion and other ingredients are all simmered together in a sauce and then served on top of a large bowl of rice. It is one of easy-to-do japanese recipe and the ingredients are easy to get so I recommend this menu. The name of the dish, parent and child donburi, is a poetic reflection of the fact that both chicken and egg are used in the dish. I always like to cook this meaningful Japanese dish whenever there is a gathering party with friends and family. Let's try enjoy this meaningful japanese recipe with your freinds and family!!

mastercooker · 25 May 2009

Great list Aurura thanks for sharing..

rosielou · 19 Nov 2009

jprecipes said:
Sorry that I not meant to put my ads here.. It was my 1st time post & i was hesitate to share most of my recipes to all.. I will be careful in future.
Ok, with this, I want to contribute/share my favorite Japanese food of
Oyako Don, a Japanese dish which chicken, egg, green onion and other ingredients are all simmered together in a sauce and then served on top of a large bowl of rice. It is one of easy-to-do japanese recipe and the ingredients are easy to get so I recommend this menu. The name of the dish, parent and child donburi, is a poetic reflection of the fact that both chicken and egg are used in the dish. I always like to cook this meaningful Japanese dish whenever there is a gathering party with friends and family. Let's try enjoy this meaningful japanese recipe with your freinds and family!!

Can you advise if Oyako Don works without egg in it? I can't eat eggs but I'd love to give this recipe a go but I'm hesitant if it will taste awful without the egg in it?

Rosie

undrentide · 19 Nov 2009

rosielou said:
Can you advise if Oyako Don works without egg in it? I can't eat eggs but I'd love to give this recipe a go but I'm hesitant if it will taste awful without the egg in it?

Rosie

It's OK without egg if you do not like egg.
But you cannot call it "oyako" don anymore - because oyako means parent and child, in this case chicken and egg. ;-)
Still I think it would taste all right, just add onion or spring onion in place of egg.
Garnish it with mitsuba would be nice, if mitsuba is available.

Hiroyuki Nagashima · 19 Nov 2009

rosielou said:
Can you advise if Oyako Don works without egg in it? I can't eat eggs but I'd love to give this recipe a go but I'm hesitant if it will taste awful without the egg in it?
Rosie

It is "Tori-Don" or "Yakitori-Don".
Or it is "Teriyaki Don of the chicken"
TERIYAKI don recipe

Quatiska · 2 Dec 2009

I just bought this book online:
Shizuo Tsuji: Japanese Cooking - A Simple Art.
Not many fancy pictures, but I heard or read from somewhere that this is a must for any non-Japanese reader, who wants to learn about Japanese cooking. (As Julia Child's: Mastering the Art of French Cooking) is for French cuisine.)
Any comments/experiences on this book?

Dogen Z · 7 Dec 2009

Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking

Quatiska said:
I just bought this book online:
Shizuo Tsuji: Japanese Cooking - A Simple Art.
Not many fancy pictures, but I heard or read from somewhere that this is a must for any non-Japanese reader, who wants to learn about Japanese cooking. (As Julia Child's: Mastering the Art of French Cooking) is for French cuisine.)
Any comments/experiences on this book?

Thanks for the recommending Japanese Cooking – A Simple Art. I must get it.

Here's another highly acclaimed book that might interest you.

Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking

Learning more about Japanese food

Yum Asia

後輩

undrentide

Japa'n vagyok

Aurura

Reaching out...

konki_d

nora-ookami

jprecipes

Japanese Food Lover

Ashikaga

もちもちした食感

jprecipes

Japanese Food Lover

mastercooker

後輩

rosielou

後輩

undrentide

Japa'n vagyok

Hiroyuki Nagashima

TAN

Quatiska

後輩

Dogen Z

aka YOSUQUE

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