Posts

Hayashi Rice (ハヤシライス) Savory, tangy, and sweet, Hayashi Rice is a Japanese stew made by stewing beef with onions and mushrooms and serving it with a side of Japanese short-grain rice . It’s a classic Japanese yoshoku comfort food that’s become a favorite among kids and grownups alike. I make my Hayashi rice recipe from scratch, building layers of flavors by browning the meat, mushrooms, and vegetables and balancing their savory umami with the tartness of red wine and tomatoes, along with a hint of sweetness from some honey....

Homemade Granola Unlike store-bought granola, which can be full of fat and sugar, making homemade granola allows you to control the amount of fat and sugar while loading it up on fiber, protein, and micronutrients. I’ll include a recipe for the Coconut Mango Granola pictured at the bottom of this post, but first, I want to show you a framework for making granola based on what you have in your pantry....

Japanese Mapo Tofu (マーボー豆腐 - Mabo Dofu) Mabo Dofu is a Japanese adaptation of Sichuan Mapo Tofu . In the same way that American Chinese food has been adapted to use locally available ingredients and to appeal to American tastes, there is a whole genre of Japanese-style Chinese cuisine called wafu-chuka (和風中華 - literally Japanese-style Chinese). Compared to the Sichuan original, Japanese Mapo Tofu has a milder flavor, sweeter taste, and is much less spicy....

In Japan, the seasons play a central role in determining the flavors and colors of the food. While greenhouses and modern transportation networks allow “seasonal” produce to be had all year round, there’s an irresistible draw to the fleeting seasonality of ingredients. That’s why there’s still a great emphasis placed on the seasons. Matsutake mushrooms are the embodiment of this fixation on seasonality with a primary season lasting just a few short weeks during fall....

With a growing drift of snow on my thirteenth floor balcony and icicles dangling down from the fourteenth floor, winter isn’t relenting anytime soon. It’s the kind of bleak white day that makes me want to have a pot of stock simmering away for hours or bake something bright and sunny to warm the house and add a splash of color to my day. Whether you’re caught up in the throes of life, or ensnared in the thick of winter, this Meyer lemon cake will brighten your day and put a smile on your face....

Spring is undeniably upon us. Here in Tokyo, the cherry blossoms have bloomed, there’s a warm plushness to the air, and the markets are full of spring greens and baby vegetables. Whether you’re planning a spring picnic or a light meal at home, this Niku Miso (肉味噌, literally “meat miso”) makes for a delicious condiment that ups your vegetable stick game. I like to start my Niku Miso by caramelizing aromatics like shiitake mushrooms, scallions, and ginger....

Easy Homemade Poke Bowl Poke Bowls have become popular in restaurants worldwide, but they’re super easy to make at home, and they shouldn’t take more than ten minutes to prepare, assuming you have some cooked rice. For my Poke Bowl recipe, I marinate cubes of fresh tuna with sweet onions, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil to make a delicious Shoyu Poke. Then I layer this on top of a bowl of rice with a rainbow of veggies before finishing it off with a crunchy macadamia nut and sea salt topping....

While the word “pudding” tends to refer to a class of egg-and-starch-thickened desserts in the US, in other English-speaking regions of the world it can refer to a range of sweet and savory dishes. Sticky Toffee Pudding is one example of the broader definition, and it’s usually made with a date-infused cake topped with a rich toffee sauce. While its history only goes back about 40 years, it has become a modern classic that can be found in restaurants and homes around the UK, Australia, and New Zealand....

Beef Stroganoff is such an easy meal and yet it’s flavorful and comforting. My secrets for making the best Stroganoff. Growing up, my mom was undeniably the queen of the kitchen. Although my step-dad owned Thanksgiving, I can count the number of times he cooked dinner each year, on one hand. On the rare occasions he did cook, Beef Stroganoff was a perennial favorite, and something I crave to this day....

The Best Spaghetti From Scratch Spaghetti with Meat Sauce is one of those classic global comfort foods that moms around the world make for their kids. Pasta and sauce has a myriad of variations, whether it’s Spaghetti Napolitan in Japan, Macaroni and Cheese in the US, or this Italian-American classic, it’s always a favorite family meal. Although the sauce and pasta have roots in Italy, it didn’t come together as a dish until Italians started migrating to other parts of the world....

Tofu Katsu (豆腐カツ) Katsu just means “cutlet” in Japanese, and it’s an easy dish that can be prepared by breading and frying a protein. Straight out of the package, tofu doesn’t work great for this because of its high water content and bland taste. That’s why I freeze and defrost the tofu to reduce its water content and alter its texture. Then I infuse it with a flavorful marinade to transform it into a meaty plant-based protein that’s perfect for making a traditional Japanese katsu....

Chicken Teriyaki Bowl (照り焼き丼) Teriyaki is a simple preparation method of grilling a protein and glazing it with a sweet and savory sauce. It’s a delicious way to prepare whole cuts of chicken, and I have a traditional teriyaki chicken recipe , but you can also turn it into a chicken teriyaki bowl by making it with bite-sized pieces of chicken and serving it over a bowl of rice with an assortment of veggies....

Filipino Garlic Fried Rice It may sound like a pungent way to get your day started, but Sinangag (a.k.a. Garlic Rice) is a brilliant way to transform boring leftover rice into a garlicky flavor-bomb that will awaken your senses. Served alongside a fried egg with some Tocino, Tapa, or Longanisa, it’s a key part of breakfast in the Philippines. Like a simple Italian pasta, this Filipino fried rice consists of just three basic ingredients (five if you count salt and pepper), and yet every cook seems to have their own way of making it....

Did a curry craving hit you out of the blue? This Quick Ground Beef Curry, Japanese-style, comes together in about the time it takes to cook a pot of rice to go with it. No fancy equipment or complicated technical skills are required here, just some easy cooking tips. But this recipe isn’t just a shortcut version; the flavor of this ground beef Japanese curry is just as deep and satisfying as my longer Japanese Curry from Scratch ....

Ginger is one of those spices that you generally don’t need a lot of, but it’s hard to buy just a small piece. That’s why I like buy it in bulk and preserve it. I’ve talked before about preserving ginger in vodka , but juicing it and creating a syrup is another great way to make it last. This Lemongrass Ginger Syrup is convenient to use, and the sugar will help preserve the ginger for months....

I love spicy food, but jalapeños just aren’t something I use tons of at any one time. Since I feel a little odd just buying one pepper, the rest of the bag usually ends up going bad. After realizing how easy it is to make pickled jalapeños, I don’t think I’ll ever be running into a bag of half decomposed jalapeños at the bottom of my vegetable drawer again....

Making chicken stock is simple, add bones, aromatics and water into a pot and cook them for a long time. I’ve shared my technique for making clear chicken consumé, but what if you want a rich creamy stock to use as an ingredient, or for making an unctuous soup like chicken ramen ? The trick to getting a rich creamy soup is to use parts of the chicken that have a lot of collagen and fat, cooking them long enough to allow the collagen to break down into gelatin, and then emulsifying the fat into the stock....

Whenever I visited my grandparents in Kyushu as a kid, there was one dish I always hoped would be on the table: zuke donburi (漬け丼), or marinated sashimi bowl. They usually made it with katsuo (skipjack tuna), but this method works beautifully with almost any sashimi-grade fish. Today, I’m showing you how to make my zuke salmon donburi recipe, also known as sake don. With just a quick soak in soy sauce and mirin, raw salmon is transformed, yielding a luxuriously velvety texture while supercharging it with loads of umami....

We had the first snow of the season today. It’s cold and dreary, but having this colorful tangle of savory-sweet yakisoba reminds me of a summertime festival in Japan; complete with fireworks, food stalls and people dressed in colorful yukatas. But after gorging myself over the holidays, it’s time to cut back the calories and I’ve come up with a delicious, satisfying version of the Japanese classic that has only 173 calories per serving, and almost no carbs....

What is Shōgayu? Shōgayu (生姜湯) literally means “ginger hot water” and is a tea made by steeping grated ginger in boiling water. Ginger has long been revered for its medicinal properties in Asia, and drinking Shōgayu was not only a way to warm up during the frigid winters in Japan, but it was also thought to ward off colds. As it turns out ginger is loaded with anti-inflammatories and antioxidants, which may help to explain some of its immune system boosting properties....