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How to cook "with visual instructions" "using familiar ingredients from your local grocery stores" healthy, traditional and delicious Japanese dishes!!

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Japanese Savory Pancake

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Okonomi-yaki (Japanese-style savory pizza pancake) is a traditional, well loved, representative cuisine from the west part of Japan (Kansai region). The recipe is very simple. It includes a baking mixture of flour, water, vegetables, shellfish, meat and so on.

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In Japan there are many festival days in summer and many food stalls sell Okonomi-yaki (and usually have long lines because it is so delicious). These stalls cook it on a big cast-iron pan.

This dish is very delicious and easy to cook. It also has a lot of nutrition in one plate, so it was my family’s regular dinner on Sunday, and my father used to cook (this means very easy to cook because my father couldn’t cook anything else)

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My mother always added ground dried anchovy to the mixture to add an anchovy Dashi stock flavor and fabulous nutrition such as calcium and DHA. You can put ground dried anchovy in most dishes to make the dish healthier. It works for omelets, soups, salad dressings, casseroles, pasta, and so on. Dried anchovy adds a slightly salty taste, so it doesn’t bother your dish’s balance. It is easy to grind dried anchovy with food processor (and we can get it at most Asian markets in the US).

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In my recipe, I use “Japanese Sweet Ginger Beef” in the Okonomi-yaki dish. This makes the dish taste great and flavorful. Please see the “Japanese Sweet Ginger Beef” recipe to learn how to prepare the beef.

{Ingredients (2 servings)}

1 ⅓ cups Water

1 ½ cups Flour

½ Cabbage

¼ cup Anchovy Dried Iwashi Fish

4 Eggs

4 Tbsp. “Japanese Sweet Ginger Beef

Here is my recipe in PDF: Japanese Savory Pancake

Here is “Japanese Sweet Ginger Beef” recipe in PDF: Japanese Sweet Ginger Beef


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Steamed Chicken (Gluten-Free)

Today I introduce you to a very easy, delicious and healthy recipe called Mushi-dori (Steamed Chicken). You can use this steamed chicken as an ingredients in your salad, soup, noodles, and so on. Of course, you can also eat it as dish by itself and goes well with any kind of sauce.

This is a popular Japanese dish. Also, it is similar to Chinese and Thai steamed chicken, although the seasonings are different.

For this dish I recommend using chicken breast because of texture, flavor and health benefits.

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I steam the chicken breast with ginger and cooking Sake. Ginger is very nutritious and healthy. It helps our blood flow, helps speed up our metabolism, and blocks the oxidation process in our bodies. Also, ginger is very flavorful and helps rid the meat of its chicken smell.

Also, in this recipe I show you a famous sauce for steamed chicken called Goma-dare (Sesame sauce). You can also use this sauce for Shabu-Shabu (boiled, thinly sliced beef).

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This is White Roasted Sesame Seeds I used in this recipe.

Sesame is also very nutritious. It is high in minerals, vitamins, fiber and protein. The most important ingredient in sesame is Lignan which is an antioxidant. Lignan helps liver function and cholesterol depletion. It is good for our health to take 1 Tbsp. of sesame per day.

{Ingredients (Serves 2)}
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1 lb. Chicken Breast

¼ cup Cooking Sake

¼ cup water

1 tsp. grated ginger

[Sauce]

1 Tbsp. leftover juice of chicken

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

1 Tbsp. Sugar

1 Tbsp. Miso Soyabean Paste

1 Tbsp. Rice Vinegar

1 Tbsp. Mirin Sweet Cooking Rice Wine

1 Tbsp. White Roasted Sesame Seeds

½ Tbsp. Pure Sesame Oil

Here is my recipe in PDF: Steamed Chicken


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Savory Egg Custard (Gluten-Free)

Chawan-mushi (Savory egg custard) is a dish in which eggs, various ingredients and Dashi stock are steamed together. It has a very smooth texture, great flavor and wonderful nutrition because the ingredients are steam cooked in the egg custard/Dashi stock mixture in a closed steamer so the taste, flavor and nutrition are condensed in the dish.

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Recently, people have started using the microwave for cooking Chawan-mushi because it is quick and easy, but I think the taste and texture are very different so I use a steamer. It takes a little bit more time but it is the best!

I used shiitake mushroom and chicken breast in this recipe. It is high in vitamins, has great protein, and also is low in calories.

Chawan-mushi has a delicate flavor and amazing texture. It is very delicious! Please cook it and taste it!

{Ingredients (Serves 2)}

3 Eggs

4 oz. Chicken Breast

2 pieces Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

2 ½ cups Water (leftover from soaking shiitake mushrooms)

2 tsp. Mirin Sweet Cooking Rice Wine

4 tsp. Soy Sauce REDUCED SODIUM [Gluten Free] (Organic)

¾ tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Cooking Sake

Here is my recipe in PDF: Chawan-mushi


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Chicken Karaage

Chicken Karaage is Japanese style fried chicken. Karaage is made in a very thin batter so it is very juicy, tender and flavorful. The chicken is also marinated in a  tasty sauce that is made of soy sauce, garlic and ginger. I am sure once you have a bite, you will not be able to stop eating because it is so delicious!

There are many kinds of Karaage, such as chicken, chicken gristle, shrimp, calamari, octopus, fish, fish bone and so on.

I used chicken breast to make the dish healthier. You can use chicken thigh instead if you prefer. I will also show you how to make the chicken breast more juicy with baking soda and salt in this recipe.

This is a very simple recipe but has great taste, texture and flavor.

Please enjoy it!

{Ingredients (Serves 2)}
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1 lb. Chicken Breast or Thigh

1 teaspoon grated Garlic

1 teaspoon grated Ginger

2 tablespoons Soy Sauce

1 tablespoons Cooking Sake

¼ cup Flour

2 ½ cups Vegetable Oil

Here is my recipe in PDF: Karaage


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Chicken Hamburger Steak in Japanese Style

Hamburger steak is a very popular dish in Japan. There are a lot of restaurants that specialize in hamburger steak. We usually have hamburger steak with sides of  vegetables and white rice, not with hamburger buns.

The hamburger steak recipe was brought to Japan from Germany. Japanese adjusted the recipe better for Japanese taste. Today I will teach you how to make the “Japanese style” Hamburger Steak, which is the most popular style in Japan.

I will teach you how to make Chicken Hamburger Steak with shiitake mushroom and onion in Japanese style. You can use any kind of vegetables you want in this recipe, and you could use beef instead of chicken if you want.

My mother often cooked it with ground chicken and many kinds of chopped vegetables to make it healthier.

Chicken meat has great taste, is good for digestion, and fortifies your nutrition if you are recovering from being sick. It is higher in amino acids and vitamin A than pork or beef, but has half the fat of pork or beef.

I put grated ginger in the steak because ginger has great flavor and also helps rid the meat of its chicken smell. Good smell is very important in many forms of Japanese cooking so that you can experience great taste, texture, and smell. Also, we serve Hamburger Steak with grated daikon (Japanese white radish) and soy sauce-rice vinegar sauce, which make the dish taste better and helps digestion.

It is very delicious! Enjoy!!

{Ingredients (Serves 2)}
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・1 lb. Ground Chicken

・1 Onion

・2 Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

・1 Egg

・½ cup Panko Bread Crumbs Japanese Style

・½ teaspoon Salt (total)

・½ teaspoon Black pepper

・1 teaspoon Grated Ginger

・1 teaspoon Chopped Garlic

・1 inch round, sliced Daikon (Japanese white radish)

・¼ cup Soy Sauce

・2 tablespoons Rice Vinegar

Here is my recipe in PDF: Chicken Hamburger Steak in Japanese style


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Seasoned Rice with Vegetables (Vegan/Vegetarian/Gluten-Free)

Today I introduce you to Takikomi Gohan which is seasoned rice with vegetables. It has a similar taste to fried rice, but it is steamed so a lot healthier. You can add vegetables (preferably root vegetables), shellfish, and/or chicken, and seasoning to the rice and cook just like cooking white rice.

The basic arrangement for many Japanese meals is called “Ichi-juu, San-sai”, and consists of one bowl of cooked rice, one kind of soup, and three vegetable or fish side dishes. Takikomi Gohan includes rice and some vegetables or fish so it is a fuss-free dish to help arrange Ichi-jiru, San-sai. And, or course, it just plain delicious! Also steamed rice absorbs the Umami of the ingredients so it is very nutritious and delicious!!

We sometimes have Takikomi Gohan as a Bento (boxed lunch) because it is tasty even when it is cold.

This time I use Shiitake mushroom, Daikon, Carrot and Snow pea with Kelp Dashi stock. So it has lots of vitamins, minerals, carotene and fucoidan. Dried Shiitake mushroom has vitamin D so we might want to eat winter time which has short sunshine hours.

{Ingredients (for 2 people)}
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・2 cups Premium Rice, Medium Grain

・3 pieces Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

・1 cup Water (leftover from soaking Shiitake)

・1 ½ cups Tap Water (Depends on amount of rice being soaked)

・2 inches round, sliced Daikon (Japanese white radish)

・1 Carrot

・10 pieces Snow peas

・4 inches × 4 inches sheet of Dashi Dried Kelp

・4 tablespoons Cooking Sake

・4 tablespoons Soy Sauce REDUCED SODIUM [Gluten Free] (Organic)

・4 tablespoons Mirin Sweet Cooking Rice Wine

Here is my recipe in PDF: Seasoned Rice


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Snow Pea and Egg (Vegetarian/Gluten-Free)

Today’s dish is called “Snow peas and Egg,” which is actually my mother’s original recipe. It uses sweet egg and snow peas that are a little bit salty. This dish is very easy to cook and popular with children because of the sweet and soft scrambled egg.

Snow peas have a lot of vitamins and carotene so it is good food for beauty. Egg is, needless to say, high quality protein and high in vitamins and minerals. So my mother knew it is good for children because it is easy, nutritious and delicious!!

{Ingredients (For 2 people)}

About 20 pieces of snow pea (according to your taste)

3 Eggs

2 tablespoons Sugar

¼ teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Here is my recipe in PDF: Snow pea and Egg


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Simmered Japanese White Radish (Vegan/Vegetarian/Gluten-Free)

Japanese use Daikon (Japanese white radish) for many dishes. Daikon is high in water, vitamin C and vitamin A, and is a low calorie ingredient. Daikon helps digestion so we sometimes eat fish or meat with grated daikon.

Today I will introduce “Simmered Daikon”.  This dish is really easy to cook and delicious! It is one of the best dishes in my mother’s recipes. It is called “Daikon no taitan” just in the Kyoto area (Kansai region) of Japan, so this dish is one representative of Kyoto.

{Ingredients (For 2 people)}
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Daikon (Japanese white radish)

2 ½ cups Kelp Dashi stock
(Recommended Dried Kelp for Dashi stock) Dashi Dried Kelp

2 tablespoons Cooking Sake

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

1 tablespoons Mirin Sweet Cooking Rice Wine

Here is my recipe in PDF: Simmered Japanese white radish

Here is “Kelp Dashi Stock” recipe in PDF: Kelp Dashi stock