“Yoshuku” is the Japanese word for Japanese adaptations of Western cuisine. This “yoshoku steak” illustrates that meaning since a pan-fried steak with a sauce is a Western idea, but in this case the sauce is made with such Japanese ingredients as soy sauce, mirin, and rice vinegar. This recipe made enough sauce for 2 lbs. Read More …
Gyoza are Japanese pork and cabbage dumplings which are cooked through a combination of pan frying and steaming, very much like Chinese potstickers. This version is an adaptation of a recipe in Japanese Soul Cooking by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat. Garlic chives are thicker than standard chives and are available at Asian grocery stores, Read More …
Yakisoba is a very popular Japanese noodle dish, which I enjoyed often when I lived in Japan. Confusingly, the noodle used is actually not a soba noodle, but is instead a wheat noodle, and it can be confusing trying to figure out in an Oriental grocery store what noodle is most suitable. This version was Read More …
This style of curry is very popular in Japan and was one of the standard lunches at the American School in Japan. Ben liked it so much that when he was the grubmaster for a Venture crew trip to the Weminuche Wilderness in southern Colorado in 2000, he picked it to be one of the Read More …
Since we lived in Japan for 8 years, I am periodically in the mood to make Japanese food. On my last business trip to Dallas I spotted the Feb/Mar issue of “fine Cooking” magazine which had a picture of Chashu Ramen on its corner. Real ramen, with a good broth and fresh noodles is of Read More …
This is a popular example of yoshoku, Japanese adaptations of Western food. It is an enriched bread with a soft texture, which is in part from the use of a Chinese technique, tangzhong, in which a cooked paste of flour, milk, and water is added to the dough. I have made this twice for Aunt Read More …
These Japanese chicken meatballs are excellent with a tare glaze. This is an adaptation from Serious Eats, and makes 4 servings. 1-1/2 lbs. ground chicken thighs ½ cup panko bread crumbs ¼ cup finely chopped scallions 1 large egg, beaten 2 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger 2 tsp. garlic puree (~2 large cloves of garlic) Read More …
Tare may look like molasses, but it is actually a very flavorful soy/mirin/sake reduction which hits the trifecta of sweet, salty, and unami tastes. I have used it in a separate post as a glaze for Japanese chicken meatballs, and I have also used it to glaze beef pinwheels stuffed with scallions. I find the Read More …
When I lived in Japan, I ate a lot of excellent grilled fish, but there was one type of grilled fish which I thought was exceptionally good. That turned out to be fish which had been marinated in miso and mirin. The salt in the miso and the sugar in the mirin lightly cured the Read More …
There are two basic types of food in Japan, washoku (traditional Japanese cooking) and yoshoku (Japanese adaptations of western food). When I lived in Japan one of my favorite examples of yoshoku was Japanese potato salad. It differs from American potato salad in a number of ways, most especially the type of potato used. In Read More …