Rice
Grocery list: Japanese short grain rice (sushi rice)
I like to use half white rice, half short grain brown rice or rose rice. You can use whichever rice you prefer.
These are instructions for making four portions of rice in a rice maker. If you do not have a rice maker, you can find stovetop instructions online. Be sure to search for “Japanese rice.”
Use two rice maker cups of rice. Wash the rice in a rice washing bowl or in a regular bowl, using a sieve to drain the water. Use your hands to gently wash the rice grains against each other. The water will get cloudy. If you’re using a rice washing bowl, wash it until the water drains clear. If you’re using a bowl and sieve, drain the water when it gets too cloudy to see the rice and repeat. End when the water is clear (4-6 times).
Follow your rice maker’s instructions for preparing rice. Usually it is as simple as filling water up to the place marked on the bowl and pressing the appropriate button for white or brown rice. Before you turn on the rice maker, let it sit in the water for a half an hour. You can skip this step if you’re in a hurry, but it does make a better batch of rice. Dashi
Grocery list: 2 pieces of konbu seaweed 2 cups bonito flakes
Use 6 cups of water, place them in a pot and add two strips of konbu seaweed. Let it sit covered for a half an hour. When the half hour is up, bring the water to a boil. Remove the konbu and discard. Add two handfuls of bonito flakes and reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer for fifteen minutes. Strain the dashi through a sieve or a piece of cheesecloth. Discard the bonito. The broth will be light and clear with a mildly savory smell. You can use dashi for miso soup, but it’s also used in a lot of Japanese recipes. You can store in the fridge for up to a week and freeze for up to two months. Miso Soup
Grocery list: 2 pieces konbu seaweed 2 cups bonito flakes 2-3 tbsp White miso 4 inches daikon radish 2 pieces wakame seaweed
Start with a batch of dashi. Peal about four inches of daikon radish and slice it into half moons, about a quarter inch thick. Rehydrate the wakame seaweed by soaking three pieces in some water. Slice the wakame into half in pieces. Bring the dashi to a light boil. Add the daikon and let it simmer for five minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the wakame. Ladle about a half a cup of broth into a bowl and add around two tablespoons of miso paste. Using a fork, spoon, or pair of cooking chopsticks, mix the paste into the broth until there are no lumps. Pour the miso into the soup and stir. Taste and add more miso if desired. Enjoy with the rest of your meal. Cucumber and Wakame Sunomono
Grocery list: 1 seedless or English cucumber 3 pieces wakame seaweed 1 tbsp rice vinegar 1 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp sake 1 pinch sugar or monk fruit sweetener 1/2 tsp Salt
Peel the cucumber. Slice it as thin as you can. Put the slices into a bowl and sprinkle with a half tsp of salt. Using your hands, rub the slices with the salt. Let it sit for ten minutes then use your hands to press the moisture out of the cucumber and drain. Rehydrate a couple pieces of wakame by soaking them in water for a few minutes. Slice the wakame into half inch pieces and add to the cucumber. Mix together a tablespoon of rice vinegar, a tsp of sake, a half a tsp of soy sauce, and a pinch of sugar or monk fruit. Pour over the sunomono and mix together. Garnish with sesame (optional). Carrot Kinpira
Grocery list: 3 carrots 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp sake 1 tsp mirin
Peel three carrots and cut into matchsticks. Heat a pan over medium and add a tablespoon of sesame oil. Sauté the carrots for a minute, then add a tsp of soy sauce, a tsp of sake, and a tsp of mirin. Continue to sauté while stirring occasionally for several minutes, until the carrots are bright and almost tender. They should be a little al dente. Unagi Kabayaki
Grocery list: 1 lb unagi eel fillets 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup mirin 1 tbsp sake 1/2 cup rice vinegar 1/3 cup brown sugar or 1/4 cup monk fruit sweetener (If using monk fruit, add a tsp of potato starch) Sesame seeds 1 green onion
Use a pound of unagi fillet, which should serve four. Divide it into four portions and set it on a rack over a tin foil lined cookie sheet. In a small pot, combine a half a cup of soy sauce, a half a cup of mirin, a tablespoon of sake, a half a cup of rice vinegar, and a third of a cup of brown sugar. Alternatively use a quarter cup of monk fruit with a tsp of potato starch mixed in. Over low heat, reduce the sauce while stirring. It should take five minutes at a simmer. The sauce should be roughly the consistency of Worcestershire or a little thicker. Brush the sauce on both sides of the eel fillets and turn the broiler on high. Cook the unagi for three minutes, remove from the heat and brush it again, flip and brush. Return to broiler and cook for three minutes. Repeat five to six times until the fillets are cooked through, with slightly crispy edges. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and garnish with green onion. Serve on top of rice for unadon. Serve on its own plate as an accompaniment to a Japanese style dinner. Onigiri (Rice Balls)
Grocery list: Japanese short grain rice (sushi rice) 1 sheet nori Salt
Make a batch of rice, as described above. Cut the nori into 5x1.5 inch strips. Transfer the hot rice into a mixing bowl and stir with a paddle to cool it slightly. Bear in mind, the rice has to be hot to work. Cool until it is just tolerable to have in your hands. Fill a smaller bowl with cold water and wet your hands throughly. Sprinkle salt on both palms. Put about three quarters of a cup of rice in your hands and form into a circle, packing the grains into a tight ball using your palms, turning the ball in your hands so you don’t burn yourself. Once it’s tightly packed, form it into a triangular shape. Place a strip of nori from the middle of one side to the middle of the other. It should look like this � . Repeat with the rest of your rice. Your should get five or six onigiri out of that amount of rice. Omurice (Rice Omelette)
Grocery list: Japanese short grain rice (sushi rice) 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil 1/2 cup mixed frozen vegetables (thawed) 1/2 a yellow onion 2 large eggs or 4 small eggs 1 tbsp ketchup 6 tbls cheddar cheese 1 tsp soy sauce Salt and pepper 2 tbsp milk
This recipe works best with left over rice. You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand, or use mixed frozen vegetables. You can also add meat. This recipe makes two omurice.
Heat a pan and add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add your onion (diced) and season with salt and pepper. Sauté until it begins to turn translucent. Add a cup and a half of leftover rice and break it up with a spatula. Add the vegetables. Add a tablespoon of ketchup and a teaspoon of soy sauce. Sauté together for a few minutes then remove from heat. Set the rice mixture aside and wash your pan thoroughly. You will make the omurice one at a time, so start by cracking one large egg or two small eggs, into a bowl. Add one tablespoon of milk and a little salt and pepper. Whisk together. Heat the pan of medium and add about a half a tablespoon of vegetable oil, spreading it evenly around the pan to the edge. Pour the egg mixture and spread it evenly across the pan. Sprinkle about three tablespoons of shredded cheddar down the middle of the egg. Let the egg cook about halfway, then add half the rice mixture down the middle of the egg, over the cheese. Using a spatula, tuck both sides up over the rice. They do not have to cover the rice completely. Turn off the heat and carefully flip the omelette onto a plate. While it is still hot, cover it with a paper towel and use your hands to shape the omelette into a football shape. Remove the paper towel and garnish with a squiggle of ketchup. Eat hot. Mapo Tofu
Grocery list: Japanese short grain rice (sushi rice) 1 box silken tofu 1 lb. ground pork (or shiitake mushrooms for vegan) 2 green onions 2 1/2 tbsp go-chu-jang sauce 1 tbsp red miso 1 tbsp oyster sauce or hoisin 2 tbsp mirin 1/2 tbsp soy sauce 2 cloves garlic 1 inch piece ginger 1 tbsp and one tsp sesame oil 1 tbsp potato starch
Make a batch of rice, as this is a donburi style dish. Mix together go-chu- jang, mirin, red miso, oyster sauce or hoisin, soy sauce, one tsp sesame oil, potato starch, and four tablespoons of water. Dice an inch long piece of ginger root and two cloves of garlic. Slice two green onions. Cut one box of silken tofu into 3/4 inch cubes. If using shiitake mushrooms instead of ground pork, cut off the stocks and rice the mushrooms into small pieces. Using a large frying pan or wok, heat to medium and add a tablespoon of sesame oil. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté until fragrant, which will only take a minute. Stir continuously so they don’t burn. Add the ground pork or shiitake mushrooms if vegetarian. Break the pork up with a spoon as it is cooking. Once it’s almost cooked, add the sauce mixture. Stir it together and cook for a minute, until the meat is cooked. Add the tofu and carefully stir, so the cubes remain more or less intact. Add the green onions and turn the heat off. Serve over hot rice, or cauliflower rice if grain-free. Sweet Potato and Apple Chakin
Grocery list: 200g Japanese yams (roughly 1 medium yam) 100g Fuji apple (roughly 1/2 an apple) 20g sugar or monk fruit sweetener 2 tbsp milk or soy milk 30g dried apricot (roughly 3 apricots)
Peel and cut (half inch cubes) 200 grams of Japanese yam (roughly two cups of diced yam). Wrap it in tin foil and cook at 375 for about 45 minutes, until it is completely cooked (baked potato consistency). Fifteen minutes before it’s done cooking, peel 100 grams of apple (roughly a half an apple) and cut into thin slices. Put it in a small pan with a tablespoon of water and 20 grams of sugar or monk fruit sweetener. Cook on low heat for fifteen minutes, stirring frequently. When the sweet potato (yam) is cooked, transfer it to a bowl and mash it using a wooden spoon. This should be done while it’s still hot. Dice 30 grams of dried apricot (roughly three apricots) and mix with two tablespoons of milk (or soy milk). Add the apple to the sweep potato and then add the apricot and milk. Mix together thoroughly. Using a scale with a small bowl on it, place a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl and measure out 25 grams of the mixture. Twist the plastic wrap around the sweet potato mixture tightly, so it forms a small dumpling. Leave it in the wrap and set aside. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Put the chakin in the refrigerator for thirty minutes. Serve chilled with hot tea. You can leave them wrapped in the refrigerator for up to two days. Makes roughly twelve. Kabocha Pie
Grocery list: 1 kabocha squash 2 eggs 1 can evaporated milk or 1 3/4 cup half and half 3/4 cup sugar or 1/2 cup monk fruit sweetener 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp ginger 1/4 tsp cloves 1 pie crust optional: whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
Use the pie crust of your choice, whether that be your favorite recipe or a store bought crust. Cut the kabocha squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place it cut side down in a casserole dish and bake at 375 for 40 minutes. When it’s done, spoon out the flesh and let it cool down. Use two cups worth for the pie. Preheat the oven to 425. Combine squash, eggs, evaporated milk (or half and half), sugar (or monk fruit), salt, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Pour the filling into your pie crust and cook at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350, put a pie ring on your crust or cover edge with tin foil, and cook for another 35 minutes. The pie should bounce but not jiggle when it’s cooked. Serve cool with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.