Ask a Japanese family what’s for dinner on a tired weeknight and “curry” is one of the most common answers — ours included. Japanese curry rice — kare raisu — is one of the most popular home-cooked meals in Japan. Almost every Japanese household has a box of curry roux in the pantry, and everyone…

There’s a dish I come back to again and again when I want something deeply comforting — daikon simmered with thinly sliced beef in a savory-sweet dashi broth. In Japanese, it’s called daikon to gyūniku no nimono (大根と牛肉の煮物), and it’s one of those side dishes that makes a bowl of plain rice taste like a…

Nanban Zuke — Japanese Sweet and Sour Fried Fish Nanban zuke (南蛮漬け) is one of my favourite things to make ahead — fried fish marinated in a sweet-and-sour sauce with vegetables that actually gets better as it sits in the fridge. The fish drinks up the vinegar marinade and the flavours deepen overnight, so I…

Takenoko Tempura — Fresh Bamboo Shoot Tempura from the Garden Every spring in Kyushu, bamboo shoots push up through the ground and need to be harvested before they get too big. This year I dug up a batch from our garden — and the first thing I made with them was tempura. Takenoko tempura (たけのこの天ぷら)…

Tori Ten — Japanese Chicken Tempura from Oita Tori ten (とり天) is a regional specialty from Oita Prefecture in Kyushu — chicken coated in a light tempura batter and deep fried until golden and crispy. It’s less well-known internationally than tonkatsu, but in Kyushu it’s a staple home-cooked dish. The key difference from regular fried…

Crispy Outside, Silky Inside — The Magic of Agedashi Tofu Agedashi tofu (揚げ出し豆腐) looks like restaurant food but is quietly easy to make at home — I make it when I want something a little special without much effort. Blocks of firm tofu are coated in potato starch, fried until golden and crisp, then served…

Japan’s Ultimate Comfort Food — Made Easy Nikujaga (肉じゃが) literally means “meat and potatoes,” and it’s about as homey as Japanese food gets — every family has their own version, and this is ours. Sweet, savory, and deeply comforting, it’s the kind of pot that makes the whole kitchen smell like home. Traditionally, nikujaga simmers…

The Bowl That Explains Japanese Home Cooking Oyakodon is one of those bowls I can put together from what’s already in the fridge on a weekday — chicken and egg simmered in a sweet-savoury broth over rice. It’s one of the most popular donburi in Japan. The name means “parent and child bowl”: chicken is…

Japan’s Favourite Ketchup Pasta Napolitan (ナポリタン) is a nostalgic, no-fuss lunch a lot of Japanese people grew up with — a pasta dish that, despite the name, has nothing to do with Naples. It was invented in postwar Japan around ketchup, sausage, and whatever vegetables were in the fridge, and became one of the country’s…

The Fish Dish That Feels Like Home Karei no nitsuke (カレイの煮付け) — simmered flounder in a sweet soy sauce broth — is one of those dishes that appears on Japanese dinner tables without fanfare. No special occasion. No elaborate prep. Just fish, a few pantry staples, and about 20 minutes. I made this last weekend…