Making light, airy, evenly browned crêpes that are just a little crisp around the edges is no harder than making pancakes (I actually think it’s easier). Here are 5 tips to ensure things go smoothly. 5 tips for making perfect crêpes Refrigerate the batter for at least one hour. Gluten, a cross-linked chain of two proteins, forms when wheat flour and water are agitated. It’s a desirable reaction when you’re making things like bread, but is not so desirable in cakes, pie crusts and crêpes....

What is Arroz Caldo? Regardless of where you’re from, I think most of us can agree that there are few things more soothing than a comforting, delicious bowl of hot chicken soup. In the Philippines, they take this to the next level by cooking rice with chicken stock until it turns into a thick rice gruel called Arroz Caldo. It’s a subset of a class of rice porridge dishes called Lugaw, and although the name Arroz Caldo is Spanish for “rice soup,” the dish is rooted in Congee, which was brought to the Philippines by Chinese immigrants....

I love bridging the culinary traditions of my Japanese roots with my California upbringing, so this California Roll recipe holds a special place in my heart. Today, I’m thrilled to share my version of this classic sushi roll, which brings together creamy avocado, crisp cucumber, and flavorful crab meat rolled with tangy sushi rice and umami-rich nori. It’s the perfect bite of textures and tastes and embodies my journey from Japan to California and back again, blending the traditional with the modern....

Tomato Egg Stir-Fry (番茄炒蛋) Tomatoes with scrambled eggs may sound more like a Western breakfast than an Asian stir-fry, but this easy meal has been a Chinese comfort food staple for over 100 years. All you need to make this Chinese tomato and egg stir fry are some tomatoes and eggs, along with a few pantry staples. Put them together in a hot pan using a few kitchen techniques, and you’ll have a magically flavorful entre that’s creamy and flavorful yet juicy and refreshing, all in one bite....

If you’ve ever had cucumber sunomono in Japan, you know the crunch-the kind that echoes in your head-and the clean, sweet-tart finish that resets your palate like a citrusy sorbet. This traditional sunomono salad is deceptively easy: just a few minutes and a handful of ingredients. I’ll show you each step in this recipe to dial in the perfect crunchy texture and tangy sweet flavor for a delightful contrast to any Japanese meal....

Japanese Curry Fried Rice (カレーチャーハン) Although it didn’t originate in Japan, the Japanese have adapted curry to suit their tastes, and it’s become one of the most popular home-cooked meals in Japan. This curry fried rice is a mashup of Japanese-style Curry and another home-cooking staple: Chahan . My mom would often make this for lunch by making an ordinary pan of fried rice and adding curry powder. I’ve gone a step further by incorporating other aspects of Japanese Curry Rice ....

What is a Bento? Bento (弁当) is a Japanese word that refers to both a portable meal, as well as the container it’s carried in. With a history stretching back nearly 700 years, it was originally a utilitarian meal meant to be carried to work. The fancy lacquered boxes came later when bento would be eaten for special events such as hanami, or Noh performances. These days bento can be found almost anywhere in Japan, from train stations to convenience stores, and they’ve even started spreading around the world....

Matcha Ice Cream (抹茶アイス) Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream is a popular flavor of ice cream around the world. Here in Japan, it’s known as Matcha Ice (抹茶アイス), and it’s made by adding a particular type of powdered green tea called matcha to an ice cream base before freezing it. The trick to making this smooth and creamy green tea dessert is to prevent the formation of ice crystals in the ice cream mixture while incorporating a small amount of air....

Sushi is just cooked short-grain Japanese rice, seafood, and some seasonings, but the finest sushi chefs in Japan distinguish themselves from the rest by carefully selecting their ingredients and employing secret techniques that they’ve developed to transform these basic staples into the pinnacle of Japanese cooking. Perfect Sushi The first step to perfect sushi, whether you’re making nigiri sushi, temaki sushi, or a sushi roll , is to master cooking Japanese short-grain white rice ....

Chicken Teriyaki Wings “Teriyaki” literally means glossy grilled in Japanese, and although boneless chicken teriyaki can be made in a frying pan, the method doesn’t work great for wings. That’s why I’ve developed this easy two-step method that will get you tender flavorful wings, glazed in a gloriously glossy homemade teriyaki sauce . They don’t require much work, and most of it can be done in advance making them an easy appetizer, so I hope you give these a shot!...

Buta Kimuchi(豚キムチ) is a milder Japanese version of the Korean dish Jaeyook Bokkeum (제육볶음). With only 7 ingredients (less, if you omit the garnish), my version of this dish is an incredibly simple stir-fry that comes together in a matter of minutes. The brilliance of Buta Kimuchi is that kimchi is so flavorful that it doesn’t need much seasoning beyond its own pickling juices to create a wonderfully complex stir-fry....

As much I love making chicken adobo at home, I’ve somehow managed to skip doing an adobo recipe on this blog. I hadn’t thought much about it until I started getting requests to do more Filipino recipes . I guess it never occurred to me to write about my Filipino chicken adobo recipe because it’s always been such a “no recipe” dish for me; just thrown together without much thought....

Chicken Katsudon Although there are many regional variations around Japan, the most popular version of Chicken Katsudon (チキンカツ丼) is made with a bed of rice topped with cutlets of chicken that have been simmered in a savory-sweet broth with onions and egg. It’s a great way to use leftover cutlets, which makes it a popular lunch item in homes and cafeterias around Japan. Chicken Katsudon Why this recipe works Ingredients for Chicken Katsudon How to make Chicken Katsudon Variations on Katsudon Other Japanese rice bowls 📖 Recipe Comments Why this recipe works I usually fry chicken katsu at 340 degrees F (170C) for about 6-8 minutes, which results in a fully cooked (though still juicy) interior and crisp golden-brown exterior....

Green beans are a humble ingredient, but when prepared well, they can pop off the plate with a luminous green hue that sings with a tender, crunchy texture in each bite. These Chinese Garlic Green Beans hit all the right notes with a chorus of textures and flavors thanks to a few traditional Chinese techniques. Oil blanching locks in the texture and color of the green beans, while stir-frying transforms garlic and Sichuan chili paste into an umami-packed sauce that blankets each strand of string bean with flavor....

Why My Recipe Works Ingredients How To Make Hamburg Steak Hamburg Steak Sauce What to Serve with Japanese Hamburg Steak 📖 Recipe Comments Why My Recipe Works Coarsely grated onions and cabbage serve as a reservoir of flavorful juices that gush out when you bite into the hamburger steak. The vegetables also add natural sweetness and umami to the hamburger steaks, which boosts their flavor. Adding gelatin to ground meat is a classic trick used in many Western dishes like meatloaf or cabbage rolls, and the added collagen thickens the juices just enough so they don’t all leak out while cooking....

Of the standard soup offerings at Chinese-American restaurants, I’ve always been a fan of hot and sour soup. It’s not the prettiest soup, but what it lacks in aesthetics it more than compensates for with a cornucopia of textures, flavors and tastes. Because there are so many components, it may seem like a lot of work, but like most Chinese food, the bulk of the work is in the prep, so making this hot and sour soup recipe actually takes very little time....

Mazemen, or Mazesoba, is a delightful twist on Japanese ramen , skipping the soup for an aromatic scallion oil that coats the chewy noodles. Garnished with a colorful array of toppings like spicy pork, nori, sliced green onions, and egg, the layers of textures and tastes pack a mind-blowing depth of flavor. The best part is that because it’s brothless, this bowl of ramen can be prepared from start to finish in about half an hour....

What Is Sushi Rice? Sushi rice, or sushimeshi (鮨飯) in Japanese, is steamed short-grain rice seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar and salt. It’s the common component that all sushi recipes share; you could even say it defines the dish. Here in Japan, good fish is a given, so the best sushi restaurants differentiate themselves based on the quality of their sushi rice recipe. The best sushi rice teeters the line between tender and firm, and the individual grains of rice stick together without being gluey or gummy....

I know this recipe has been long overdue. After Kani Salad and Seaweed Salad , Wafu Dressing (lit. “Japanese-style dressing”) might be my most requested pseudo-Japanese recipe. “Pseudo-Japanese?” you say? While we have salads in Japan, and even sesame dressing, but it’s not quite the same as the Wafu Dressing found in Japanese restaurants across the US. Aside from being less sweet, the sesame dressing in Japan also tends to be less rich because it’s made with coarsely ground toasted sesame seeds instead of neri-goma (練り胡麻), which is a pureed sesame paste....

While it can be a marvelously tender and juicy cut of meat, consistently cooking chicken breast perfectly can be challenging for even the most experienced chefs. The difference between a worryingly pink breast and and a dry clump of protein with a texture like damp cardboard is only a matter of seconds. Since most conventional ovens don’t go below 175 degrees F, we usually cook chicken by blasting it with heat in the hopes that we can stop the cooking just as the inside reaches 165 degrees F....