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Tag Archives: easy recipes


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Somen [Japanese Wheat Noodle]

Today I introduce you to Japanese wheat noodle, Somen. In Japan, we often eat cold somen with cold Dashi soup in summer as a carbohydrate instead of rice. That is because it helps our bodies cool down and it has better taste and texture on a hot summer day than rice.

In this recipe, I use a store-bought Japanese noodle soup. There are many kinds of products but this Kikkoman Japanese Noodle Soup Base is decent. It is concentrated soup base so combine with water to dilute it right before serving according to their package instruction.

The recipe is very easy.

  1. Boil water in a stock pot, stir in dried somen. Cook according to the package instruction, for about 2 to 3 minutes.
  2. Drain and cool the noodles by running cold water. Add some ice cubes and scrambling with your fingers to cool each strings. Drain the cold noodles.
  3. In a small bowl, combine water and noodle soup base according to the package instruction. Sprinkle some chopped green onion to taste.
  4. Dip some noodles into the soup when you eat.

{Ingredients (servings 2)}

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Burdock Root Chips (Vegan/Vegetarian/Gluten-free)

Have you ever eaten burdock root called GOBO in Japanese? It has crunchy texture and mild earthy flavor.

Burdock root is high in fiber and rich in polyphenols. It is widely used for homemade dishes in Northern Asia.

Because burdock root has a thin skin, you actually don’t need to peel. Just scrub with a vegetable brush or the back of a knife. In addition, the burdock root gets discolored after scrubbing the surface by oxidation of polyphenols. This is natural and doesn’t harm you.

Today I will introduce you crunchy burdock root chips.

Ingredients (serving 2)

  • About 20-inch Burdock root
  • Salt
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 to 3 Tablespoons cornstarch

The recipe is easy. Burdock root is oven-fried so it can save a lot of bother compared to deep-frying.

Preheat the oven to 400 degree F.
Cut burdock root into about 5-inch-length pieces. Scrub the surface. Slice it with slicer or peeler.
In a bowl, combine the burdock root, olive oil, salt, and cornstarch. Toss well.
Line a baking pan with a piece of parchment paper.
Bake on top rack for 17 minutes until golden brown and crisp.


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Your New Chicken Recipe! “Simple Chicken Tenderloin Roll” (Gluten-Free)

Today I introduce you to Chicken Tenderloin Roll.

Chicken tenderloin has low fat, low calorie, high protein, great nutrition and is delicious! It is great for diet and also good for helping to build muscle.

In Japan there are many kinds of chicken roll dishes. The fillings are, for example, pickled plum and basil, cheese, asparagus and so on.

This recipe doesn’t take much time to cook because chicken tenderloin can cook quickly. So we can also enjoy the ingredient’s flavor.

Please check the recipe PDF. I introduce chicken tenderloin preparation in great detail.

Enjoy your new healthy chicken recipe!!

{Ingredients (servings 2)}

1 lb. Chicken Tenderloin

1 Carrot

15 pieces Fresh Green Beans

½ tsp. Salt (total)

½ tsp. Black Pepper (total)

3 Tbsp. Cooking Sake

Here is my recipe in PDF (7 MB): Simple Chicken Roll


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Scrumptious Mochi stuffed Fried Tofu Abura-Age (Vegan/Gluten-free)

Today I introduce you to “Mochi stuffed Fried Tofu Abura-Age in Dashi Soup”. The abura-age is juicy from soaking in delicious dashi soup and the mochi has a nice and soft texture.

Abura-age is a common food in Japan, deep-fried thin sliced tofu. You can find it in many Asian grocery stores.

Mochi is a traditional Japanese food. It is a soft rice cake made from steamed sticky rice. There are some products called MOCHI ice cream which is ice cream wrapped with a thin pieces of mochi. This sometimes makes people think all mochi is ice cream related. Therefore, please be aware that in Japan when you order mochi you will get a soft and sticky rice cake rather than ice cream.

Mochi staffed fried tofu is a very popular ingredient for hot pot dishes in Japan.

Ingredients (serving 2)

The recipe is easy.

Drizzle abura-age with boiling water to remove excess oil from their surface. Cut in half, put a piece of mochi in, and seam with a toothpick.

In a sauce pan, combine water, dashi stock powder, carrot, daikon radish, shiitake mushroom, cooking sake, soy sauce and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Add the mochi staffed abura-age and cook for 5 minutes. Flip them halfway through.


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Carrot and Daikon Radish Sweet Pickles (Gluten-free/Vegetarian)

Today I will introduce you to “Japanese traditional New Year’s food”. 

New year is very important event in Japan. Anciently Japan had a tradition that people wouldn’t shop or cook for the first three days of New Year. Therefore, people cook lots of colorful dishes that last long on 31st December and put them in beautiful boxes together for the three days, which is called Osechi. Each dish has auspicious meaning, such as health, longevity, and safety of the year.  Lately some shops and restaurants are open on New Year’s day, but many people make/buy Osechi and celebrate the New Year. 

This dish “carrot and daikon radish sweet pickles” is called “Namasu”. It has red and white color so it is considered as a happy dish.

The recipe is very easy and the dish last for about 5 days in the refrigerator so it is a versatile dish for any occasion.

Cut the daikon radish and carrot into about 3-inch-length thin strips. Combine the vegetables and salt in a zip-top bag or in a bowl and knead gently. Let it sit for 10 minutes until the vegetables become tender.

Meanwhile, combine the vinegar, sugar and dash powder in a microwavable bowl. Microwave for 40 seconds, mix well and set aside. Wring the vegetables dry by hand and add in the vinegar mixture.

• 6-inch-length daikon radish, peeled and cut in half

• 1 small carrot, peeled

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon Kombu Dashi Powder with No MSG (Vegetarian Soup Stock)


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Gunkanmaki Sushi

Today I will give you a quick advice about making sushi.

If you are struggling with making sushi rolls, please check

Sushi Cookbook for Beginners: 100 Step-By-Step Recipes to Make Sushi at Home

In this book I made the recipes easy and used ingredients that are simple to find and available in the United States. There are seafood, meat, vegetarian, and vegan sushi dishes. This book will teach you tons of easy-to-follow recipes that will help you turn your kitchen into a sushi workshop.

I recommend trying to make Gunkanmaki sometimes. It is much easier for beginners to make gunkanmaki than sushi rolls. The shape is also great for holding ingredients that would be easily dropped in any other form.


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Classic Japanese Biscuits “Egg Bolo” (Gluten-free/ Vegetarian)

Japanese egg bolo which is classic Japanese biscuits, has a very small ball shape and a light delicious taste.

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For Japanese, egg bolo may be the first sweet snack because there are many “egg bolo” products as a baby food.

However, lately, homemade egg bolo is very popular because it is easy to make using simple ingredients.

In this recipe, you need only 3 ingredients; cornstarch, egg yolk and sugar. In Japan, there are also other kind of bolo which uses flour or buckwheat flour.

My new cookbook Sushi Cookbook for Beginners: 100 Step-By-Step Recipes to Make Sushi at Home will be published on July 28th!! Now available for pre-oder on Amazon!

 

Ingredients (90 to 100 balls)

1/4 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup cornstarch

  1. Preheat the oven to 320 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar well. Add the cornstarch gradually while mixing by hand. Do not add the cornstarch all at once. If the mixture is still too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.

3. Shape the mixture into a very small ball; the size of the little finger’s tip. (They are going to puff up after baking. The big bolo texture is not good very much).

4. Bake for 15 minutes.


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Chicken Burger Patties (gluten-free/ egg-free)

Today I will teach you how to make Japanese style Burger Patties, which is the most popular style in Japan. The ingredients are ground chicken, tofu, mushroom and onion.

It is common to add Tofu to some dishes in Japan, as an ingredient, such as meatball, pancakes, muffins and so on. It makes the dishes healthier and it requires fewer ingredients. The texture of the patties is amazingly soft because of the tofu’s texture. Tofu is high in quality protein, so this patty has great nutrition!

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Japanese usually have homemade burger patties with sides of vegetables and white rice, not with hamburger buns.

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[Ingredients (servings 4)]

1-pound ground chicken

7-ounce (1/2 package) firm tofu

3 shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

 

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Drain the tofu and wrap it in paper towels, then microwave for two minutes. Let it sit at room temperature until cool down.

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In a bowl, combine the chicken, onion, mushrooms, salt and pepper. Mix for at least 2 minutes until very well combined. Shape the mixture into 8 palm-size balls, and flatten them with your hands. In a skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat and cook the burgers for 3 minutes. Flip them, cook the burgers over low heat with a cover for 7 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

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4 Ingredients Easy Custard Pudding (gluten-free, vegetarian)

There are many recipes for custard pudding. Today I introduce you to the easiest custard pudding. It is simple yet very delicious!!

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It has very smooth texture and great delicate taste!! There is no need to add butter or vanilla extract. This pudding already has rich taste!! If you prefer, you can mix in some shredded chocolate before refrigerating to make chocolate puddings.

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You need only eggs, sugar, cornstarch, whole or low fat milk and one soup pan.

You can use skim milk and nut milks for the recipe, but the pudding is going to be a bit watery  after refrigerating in my experience. When you use skim milk or nut milks, you might want to use less than normal amount of the milk in the recipe.

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Ingredients (servings 4)

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 1/4 cups whole milk or 2% milk

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  1. In a soup pan, whisk the yolks and sugar well.
  2. Add the cornstarch to the pan and mix gently.
  3. Pour the milk gradually into the pan while stirring.
  4. Cook it over medium heat for about 8 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture  just barely comes to a boil. Turn the heat to low and keep stirring until it is getting custard consistency, for 2 to 3 minutes.
  5. Pour the pudding into a deep (about 5 ounce) grass cup and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

 

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Easy healthy savory snack! Tuna and Tofu Nuggets (pescatarian/ gluten-free/ egg-free)

This is a very easy and quick savory snack recipe; Tuna and Tofu Nuggets.

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The ingredients are only tuna, tofu, cornstarch and seasonings. You can mix all ingredients in your food processor and cook with one pan without using large quantities of hot oil. No, muss, no fuss.

I use salt and pepper as seasonings. You can add some onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, chili pepper…depending on your taste.

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Ingredients (10 to 12 nuggets)

  • 1 (5-ounce) can tuna packed in water, drained
  • 1/4 (14-ounce) package firm tofu
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Here is a tip how to store tofu after opening. Place tofu in a clean container and pour in just enough water to cover. Cover and keep it in the refrigerator. Change water everyday and use within 3 days.

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  1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and mix well.
  2. Heat the oil in a pan until it shimmers.
  3. Spoon the mixture in the pan and cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 6 minutes, flipping halfway through. Enjoy!