This harusame salad is a Japanese sunomono (vinegared side dish) made with glass noodles, crab sticks, and wakame seaweed, tossed in a light dressing of vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame seeds. It’s sweet-sour, refreshing, and takes about 10 minutes. In a Japanese set meal, a small bowl of something vinegary like this is what…
Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐, mābō dōfu in Japanese) came from Sichuan, but in Japan it became a completely different everyday dish: soft tofu and ground pork in a glossy, savory sauce that’s only gently spicy and a little sweet. It’s one of the most common weeknight dinners in Japanese homes, usually spooned over rice. Kids eat…
Nikumaki (肉巻き) means “meat-wrapped,” and this is one of the most popular versions in Japanese homes: green pepper halves stuffed with cheese, wrapped in thin slices of pork belly, pan-fried until crisp, and glazed in a sweet soy sauce of sake, mirin, and soy. The cheese melts inside, the pepper stays a little crunchy, and…
This Japanese lotus root salad is thin slices of renkon (lotus root), boiled until just tender and still crunchy, then tossed with canned tuna, mayonnaise, and whole-grain mustard. A splash of mentsuyu (Japanese noodle soup base) gives it a savory, slightly sweet Japanese flavor. It’s the kind of small side dish that sits next to…
Hayashi rice (ハヤシライス) is Japanese beef and onion stew in a rich, slightly sweet tomato and demi-glace sauce, served over rice. It looks a lot like Japanese curry, and it’s made the same way, from a box of roux, but there’s no curry spice at all. It tastes more like a beef stew with a…
Oden (おでん) is Japanese one-pot winter stew: daikon radish, boiled eggs, fish cakes, fried tofu, and whatever else you like, simmered for a long time in a light soy and dashi broth. If you’ve been to Japan in winter, you’ve probably seen it simmering in a tray by the register at 7-Eleven, Lawson, or FamilyMart…
Tonjiru (豚汁) is Japanese pork and vegetable miso soup: thin slices of pork, taro, daikon, carrot, burdock, and mushrooms simmered in dashi and finished with miso. It’s miso soup turned into a meal — thick with vegetables, rich from the pork, and the soup Japanese families make when the weather turns cold. With a bowl…
This is komatsuna and tuna mixed rice: finely chopped komatsuna greens and canned tuna, stir-fried for a couple of minutes in a sweet-sour soy seasoning, then folded into a bowl of hot rice. It’s a mazegohan — “mixed rice” — and it’s the kind of quick, thrifty dish Japanese families make on a busy night,…
Karamen (辛麺) is a spicy noodle soup from Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyushu: a light, garlicky chicken broth with ground pork, soft-set egg, and a big handful of garlic chives, finished with Korean chili pepper. It’s red, it’s comforting, and you choose how hot it gets. It’s the kind of thing we make at home when…
Furofuki daikon (風呂吹き大根) is thick rounds of daikon radish simmered in dashi until they’re soft enough to cut with chopsticks, then topped with a sweet, glossy miso sauce. It’s one of the plainest dishes in Japanese home cooking — a winter side dish your grandmother would make — and if you’ve watched Demon Slayer, you…