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How to cook "with visual instructions" healthy, traditional and delicious Japanese dishes!!

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Simple Creamy Potato Salad

Today I introduce you to Simple Creamy Potato Salad. The ingredients are potato, turkey ham and cucumber. The seasonings are mayo, salt and pepper. It is an easy and quick recipe. It takes only 20~25 minutes total. Of course you can use any kind of meat and vegetables you want, and also you can add more seasonings, such as onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and so on.

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Some people avoid potato because it is a carbohydrate, and also mayo because it can be high in calories. If you ask me, you can eat anything to be healthier. But portion size is key. For example, don’t eat a big amount of one dish at one meal, don’t eat just big amount of pasta for your lunch, or don’t eat just a bowl of salad for your dinner. Just eat small portions of various kinds of dishes to get many nutritious things in your body. (see also the post You can Eat Anything You Want! But… )

The recipe is

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Boil potato and mash. (If you like smooth potato salad, mash very well. If you like chunky potato salad, leave some chunks of potato.)
Combine all ingredients and seasonings and mix well.

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Simple Creamy Potato Salad

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Ingredients (Servings 2)

1 Large Potato

1 Seedless Baby Cucumber

2 Pieces Turkey Ham

4 Tbsp. Mayonnaise

Pinch of Salt and Pepper

Water for cooking potato

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Simple Creamy Potato Salad

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Egg and Ham Fried Rice (Gluten-free)

Today I introduce you to “Egg and Ham Fried Rice”. My mother sometimes cooked various kinds of fried rice for us for weekend brunch because it is very quick, delicious and healthy. It takes 15 minutes if you have leftover steamed rice in your refrigerator. 

In this recipe, I used egg and turkey ham so it has great protein and carbohydrate. I recommend you eat this with salad and/or vegetable soup so that your meal has a perfect balance of nutrition. Plus when you sprinkle with some minced parsley for final presentation, the dish becomes a very spring like colorful dish!! 

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You can adjust the ingredients as you want. For example, you can add some carrot, cabbage and/or onion. You can use any kind of meat. Or you can make egg fried rice using just egg and rice! Fried rice ingredients are very flexible so you can make any kind of fried rice depending on what you want or what you have in your refrigerator.

The recipe is

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Cook the seasoned beaten egg. Add rice and turkey ham. Stir-fry and season with salt and pepper.

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Egg and Ham Fried Rice

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Ingredients (2 servings)

3 Beaten Eggs + a pinch of Salt

3 Pieces Turkey Ham

2 Cups Steamed Rice

½ tsp. Salt

¼ tsp. Pepper

Some minced Parsley to taste

1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Egg and Ham Fried Rice


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Great Protein! Ginger Chicken Crumble (Gluten-free)

Today I will introduce you to Ginger Chicken Crumble. This is a common recipe in Japan. We usually eat this chicken crumble with rice and sometimes put it in a rice ball. It is also great with salad, pasta and so on. The picture shows my original chicken crumble rice bowl which has sautéed spinach, pickled belle pepper, carrot with sesame dressing and poached egg. It is divine!!

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In addition you can store it in the refrigerator for about 4 days so this dish works well for you to add protein to your meal easily. 

In this recipe I use traditional seasonings which give the dish a savory-sweet taste. But because of the simple recipe, you can change the seasonings as you want. You can make it spicy, salty or curry flavor! 

The recipe is very easy.

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Cook ground chicken and season. That’s it!!

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Ginger Chicken Crumble

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Ingredients (2 servings)
*Click BLUE TEXT to link to the product on Amazon*

½ lb. Ground Chicken

2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce REDUCED SODIUM [Gluten Free] (Organic)

1 Tbsp. Cooking Sake

1 Tbsp. Mirin (Sweet Cooking Rice Wine)

½ Tbsp. Sugar

1 tsp. Grated Ginger

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Ginger Chicken Crumble


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Ham and Cabbage Spaghetti

Today I introduce you to Ham and Cabbage Spaghetti. This is very popular dish in spring in Japan. I always cook this for my quick lunch but it is great for dinner too! The seasonings are just pepper and garlic powder so the dish is non-fatty and very delicious!!

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Cabbage is a very nutritious vegetable. It has high in vitamin C, calcium, potassium, vitamin K and vitamin U. Vitamin U restores the mucosa in our digestive organs. Some stomach medicines contain vitamin U. Vitamin U tends to break down when the cabbage is cooked so eating raw cabbage works well for your stomach.

When you boil pasta, do you use salt? I suggest to use right amount of salt for boiling pasta. We should boil a decent amount of water in a stockpot to keep pasta from sticking together and I usually add 4 Tbsp. of salt per 2 litter (1/2 gallon) water. The reasons for adding salt to the water for cooking pasta is to make the water boil at a higher temperature, to cook pasta to al dente easily and to add a subtle touch to pasta. Pasta is cooked more evenly at a high boiling temperature and has great slightly salty taste. The surface of the pasta soaks up the salt water and becomes softer than the core of the pasta. This makes pasta al dente. If you add less salt, you can’t expect these results. In this recipe the pasta is already savory so I don’t use salt when I toss it with the other ingredients. 

Lately I read an interesting article about pasta. When we cook pasta too much, the pasta becomes indigestible food. This is because of the interrelationship between gluten and starch in pasta. When you cook pasta al dente, the pasta is good for digestion. When pasta is cooked too long, the starch drains away and the interrelationship is broken down. The pasta has only gluten which is hard for us to digest. If you prefer to eat soft boiled pasta because it looks easy to digest, you might want to reconsider that approach.

The recipe is

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Cook pasta and add cabbage at the last minute when you are finishing cooking the pasta. In a pan, cook ham (I used turkey ham), the pasta and cabbage and season with pepper, garlic powder and cooking pasta water. Sprinkle some chili powder to taste.

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Ham and Cabbage Spaghetti

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Ingredients (1 serving)

2~3 Cabbage Leaves

2 Ham (any kind)

1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

Pinch of Pepper and Garlic Powder

Pinch of Chili Powder (to taste)

1 serving Dried Spaghetti

Water for boiling pasta

Some Salt for boiling pasta

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Ham and Cabbage Spaghetti


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Simple Japanese Egg Salad (Vegetarian/Gluten-free*)

Today I introduce you to “Simple Japanese Egg Salad”. It is a quick and easy recipe but very scrumptious!! (*When you use gluten-free mayonnaise, this becomes a gluten free dish. Japanese mayonnaises mostly contain small amount of gluten as an ingredient “Brewed Vinegar”)

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In Japan, we usually use this for sandwiches. But if you want to add one more dish in your meal, this is best because it is a fuss-free recipe.

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I use fresh eggs and boil them myself. If you have boiled eggs in your refrigerator, you might want to use them. It saves more time.

The recipe is very easy.

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Boil eggs for 12 minutes. Peel in cold water. Crumble the peeled eggs and season with mayonnaise, salt and pepper.

*Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Japanese Egg Salad

Ingredients (servings 2)

3 Eggs

4 Tbsp. Mayonnaise

Pinch of Salt and Pepper

Minced Parsley (to taste)

Boiled Water for boiling eggs

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Japanese Egg Salad


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Cheesy Sweet Potato Croquettes (Vegetarian)

Today I introduce you to Cheesy Sweet Potato Croquettes. I put shredded cheese and corn kernels in mashed sweet potato so it is very cheesy, creamy and incredibly tasty!!

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I use sweet potato instead of regular potato because it is healthier. Sweet potato is high in vitamin C, potassium and fiber. And it also has a low GI (glycemic index). This means sweet potato doesn’t make our blood sugar rise quickly or as much as foods with a higher GI, even though it contains carbohydrate. It is healthier to eat low GI foods first during your meals. You might want to consider the order in which you eat things to avoid raising your blood sugar quickly.

Croquettes are very filling and delicious. They are not only good as a main dish but also for kids’ snacks after school. You may think that frying is too much work but this delicious dish is totally worth it. We can cook a lot of croquettes at once and store in the freezer before frying.

The recipe is

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Mash boiled sweet potato. Wrap cheese and corn kernels mixture with the mashed potato.

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Batter the mash potato and fry.

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: sweet potato croquette

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Ingredients (7~8 croquettes)

1 Sweet Potato

½ cup Corn Kernels

½ cup Shredded Cheese (any kind)

1 tsp. Salt

½ tsp. pepper

¼ cup Flour

1 Beaten Egg

1 cup Breadcrumbs

Water for boiling

Vegetable Oil for frying

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: sweet potato croquette


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Homemade Authentic Sukiyaki (Gluten-free)

Today I introduce you to “Homemade Authentic Sukiyaki (Kansai Region Style)”. Sukiyaki is a savory-sweet beef hot-pot dish. I said Kansai region (west part of Japan) because the cooking process is different from the Kanto region (east part of Japan).

It’s a beef dish, but is unlike American beef dishes. It is a very healthy dish because we use small amounts of very thinly sliced high quality beef and tons of fresh vegetables. It has a savory-sweet taste, so kids who usually don’t like vegetables very much tend to love sukiyaki vegetables.

As vegetables ingredients, I use tofu, Shimeji mushrooms, Napa cabbage, and Japanese leeks.

You can use any kind of mushrooms substitute for Shimeji mushrooms.

Japanese leek, which is called Naga-Negi, is slightly different from the leek found at many grocery stores in the US. Japanese leek doesn’t have dirt between the layers so we just wash the outside, cut and cook. You can use green onion or American leek as a substitute.

Sukiyaki is a hallmark of Japanese food. Cook the meat in a pot, season, and add several kinds of fresh vegetables. You can cook at the table if you have a portable induction cooktop. And while you enjoy the dish with your family or friends, you can add more ingredients and seasonings so it’s always hot from the oven.

In Japan when we eat Sukiyaki we dip in beaten raw eggs. Japanese eggs are under extreme hygiene control from laying to selling and they set a very short best-before period so it can be eaten raw. Of course, we generally don’t eat raw egg in the US so you can eat Sukiyaki without raw eggs.

The recipe is

Heat beef tallow or cooking oil in a pot. Cook some sliced beef until some parts change their color.

Add soy sauce and sugar, and stir.

Add some vegetables and cooking Sake.

Cook until the vegetables get tender.

You can eat the beef first. While eating that, the vegetables should get tender.

Ingredients (4 servings)

1 Tbsp. Beef Tallow or Cooking Oil

1 1/2 lb. Very Thinly Sliced Spencer Roll Beef

1/4 heart Cut Napa Cabbage

2 Cut Japanese Leeks or 4 Green Onions

8 oz. Shimeji mushrooms or any kind

1 pack (14 oz.) Diced Tofu

4 Tbsp. Gluten-free Soy Sauce

4 Tbsp. Sugar

4 Tbsp. Cooking Sake

Enjoy!!!