How to cook "with visual instructions" "using familiar ingredients from your local grocery stores" healthy, traditional and delicious Japanese dishes!!
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.
Today I introduce you to Easy Chicken Meatball Soup. It takes only about 15 minutes to cook so is great to add as one more dish for weekday dinners. You can use any kind of ground meat that you have in your refrigerator.
I sometimes add tofu to my meatballs recipes but in this recipe I use only ground chicken so it is very juicy and flavorful!!
It is low calorie and low fat dish. This dish makes you warm, gives your metabolism a boost, and helps improve your immunity so it is great to help you recover from sickness and get back a good appetite.
The recipe is very easy.
Mix ground chicken and seasoning well, and cook in the soup.
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!!
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!
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”)
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.
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.
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
Today I introduce you to “Egg-Drop Tofu”. This is a very common homemade Japanese dish. The seasonings are Dashi stock and soy sauce, so it is savory, flavorful and delicious!! I usually use tofu, onion and shiitake mushrooms as ingredients. You can add any vegetables you want. Also you can use any kind of Dashi stock. If you use kelp Dashi stock it is a vegetarian dish. If you use fish-based Dashi stock it is not vegetarian, but the dish may be more flavorful.
This is a very nutritious and easy-to-digest dish. The ingredients are simmered in the Dashi stock so the dish has a very tender texture. And also, it has a lot of healthy protein from the egg and tofu.
The recipe is easy.
Heat Dashi stock and seasoning. Add cut vegetables and cook. Pour in beaten egg and steam for a few minutes.
“Sesame Tofu” is not a traditional Japanese dish. I have never had “Sesame Tofu” in Japan. When I had “Sesame Tofu” at a Chinese restaurant in the U.S., I was amazed at how delicious it was! So I tried to cook it myself.
This sesame tofu recipe is perfect! It is not too sweet and not too greasy, so it is in keeping with my dishes. It is a gluten-free and vegan dish! Delicious!! In addition, tofu has a lot of nutrition. As you know, tofu is high in great protein so it is often used as a meat substitute for vegans and vegetarians. Also tofu itself is low calorie (33 kcal / 2 oz.) so it is good food for people who care about their diet.
In this recipe 7 ounces (1/2 pack) of tofu can serve 2 people. You may think it is too small an amount compared to many Chinese restaurants in the U.S. In Japan, people traditionally eat many dishes containing soy beans. For a balanced-diet, which I highly recommend on the post You can Eat Anything You Want! But…, I suggest eating 1/4 pack of tofu every day depending on your other protein sources. If you make this recipe as a main dish, you might want to add some small side dishes to your meal.
The recipe is easy. We can cook with one pan.
Dry tofu and dredge in corn starch.
Cook and season.
Ingredients (servings 2) *Click BLUE TEXT to link to the product on Amazon*
Today I introduce you to a very popular homemade Japanese dish: “Pan-Fried Udon Noodles,” which is called “Yaki-Udon” in Japanese. The ingredients are cooked Udon noodles, sautéed vegetables and turkey sausage seasoned with soy sauce. It is good for a quick meal because you can get carb, protein and vitamins from one dish. And it is very delicious!!
The recipe is very simple and quick. If you sometimes cook pasta dishes in your house, the cooking process will be familiar to you.
Sauté turkey sausage and vegetables.
Boil Udon noodles.
Dress all with seasonings.
You can use any vegetables and meats. And also you can cut the ingredients however you want. If you like to eat chunky vegetables, you can cut into big pieces. if you or your family don’t like vegetables very much, you can mince well and stir in as a seasoning on the Udon noodles.
Enjoy your-own-“Yaki-Udon”!!
{Ingredients (servings 2)}
*Click BLUE TEXT to link to the product on Amazon*
Today I introduce you to Japanese Style Homemade Chicken Meatballs: “Tori-Tsukune”. This is a kind of Yakitori so you can have it in Yakitori restaurants. These homemade meatballs are delicious, easy to cook and great for to-go-lunches!
I used ground chicken, green onion and tofu as the meatballs ingredients. Tofu gives the meatballs a soft texture and makes them more nutritious. It also allows you to make a larger number of meatballs. You can use only ground chicken if you don’t want to use tofu. In addition, you can add more vegetables secretly if your family doesn’t like vegetables very much, such as onions, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli and so on. I recommend mincing them really well and then adding the meat mixture.
What I love about Japanese style meatballs is they are very flavorful because they are seasoned with grated ginger. And the sauce is sweet-savory like a Teriyaki sauce. It is seriously delicious!!
The recipe is easy.
Mix the meatballs ingredients.
Cook the meatballs and dress with the sauce prepared in advance.
Skewer the meatballs if you want to make the final presentation great!
{Ingredients (25 balls)} *Click BLUE TEXT to link to the product on Amazon*
Today I introduce you to a traditional Japanese bean side dish “Gomoku-Mame,” which is simmered beans and vegetables. This dish is never served as a main dish, but it is very popular and very important in the Japanese diet.
The basic rule of traditional Japanese diet is called “Ichi-juu, San-sai.” This means basic meals should consist of one bowl of cooked rice, one kind of soup and three vegetable or fish side dishes. Of course we don’t have enough time to cook this many dishes when cooking each meal so we tend to stock simmered vegetable dishes in the refrigerator. Lately there are a lot of pre-made, reasonably fresh, store bought vegetable side dishes in Japan. This is because there are many people who are too busy to cook who, however, care about their health and don’t want to eat fast foods.
Also, the Japanese diet contains many kinds of ingredients. We always think “Eat a balanced diet” which means we can have anything we want such as meat, fish, rice, bread, vegetables, seaweed and so on. But we have to be careful about the balance of the ingredients and eat in moderation. Japanese food is very healthy when we follow these rules.
The recipe is very easy.
Put all ingredients and seasoning in a pan and simmer.
To store, transfer to a container and keep in the refrigerator. Use within 5 days.
{Ingredients (servings 8)} *Click BLUE TEXT to link to the product on Amazon*
Today I introduce you to Japanese traditional side dish which is called “U no Hana”. This is cooked Okara with braised vegetables. Okara is a by-product of making tofu so it is high in protein, fiber, vitamins and Calcium. This dish is a very popular side dish in my family’s meal because it is healthy, delicious and inexpensive (in Japan).
Japanese use Okara for many recipes as a meat substitute to make the dish extremely healthy and to increase the amount of food in the dish. For example, we add Okara or we substitute it for the meat when we mix meat balls, hamburger steak,…etc. See the last post Delicious Vegetarian Pan Fried Nuggets using Okara substitution for meat.
In this recipe I used okra, carrot, shiitake mushroom and green onion. You can use any vegetables in your refrigerator. If you can get dried shiitake mushroom instead of fresh ones, the dish will be more flavorful and nutritious. You can just soak shiitake mushrooms in water the day before you cook.
This time I used kelp Dashi stock so for those who stick to a vegan diet this is a vegan dish. You can use any kind of Dashi stock you have.
Here is a tip: “How to store cut green onion.” We often use cut green onion in many Japanese dishes. I always keep cut green onion in my freezer.
Cut washed green onions and dry on paper towels. Put in a freezer bag and freeze in freezer. Use within 1 month.
Simmer all vegetables with Dashi stock and seasonings.
Cook soaked Okara and stir with braised vegetables.
{Ingredients (servings 2)} *Click BLUE TEXT to link to the product on Amazon*
I used in this recipe.
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