Japan Food

Tofu Hot Pot

Yudofu, Japanese tofu hot pot, is a pefect dish for a cold day. Tofu is simply simmered in plain dashi soup. It's usually cooked at the table like other Japanese nabe dishes. To eat yudofu, take pieces of tofu from the soup and dip them in a dipping sauce with toppings.

Amazake

Amazake is a thick drink which is traditionally made by allowing a mixture of steamed rice and malted rice (koji) ferment at about 60 degrees for about 12 hours. It's naturally sweet and contains no alcohol. Amazake is sometimes served at Japanese festivals. This is a quick recipe to make amazake with sake kasu. It warms you up on a cold night

The Most Popular Recipes of the Year 2009

Many people around the world visit About.com Japanese Food site, trying to cook Japanese food. I am happy to know that Japanese food is loved by various people. Do you wonder what Japanese recipes people are looking for? Here are the most popular recipes in this

Shiruko - Sweet Mochi Sup

Shiruko or o-shiruko is a Japanese red bean soup with mochi rice cakes. It's sweet and is often eaten during the winter in Japan. There is a Japanese tradition called kagami biraki which literally means "opening the mirror." It actually indicates breaking of kagami mochi (a stack of two round rice cakes) which was placed in the house during New Year's holidays. Kagami biraki is held on January 11th, and the broken pieces of kagami mochi are cooked in various ways. The most commonly eaten mochi dish on this day is o-shiruko. If you don't have the time to make anko yourself, buy a can of yude-azuki (boiled red beans) and make the soup.

Rice Porridge

It's a Japanese custom to eat seven-herb rice porridge (nanakusa-gayu) on January 7th, praying for good health. Seven harbs include seri (water dropwort), nazuna (Shepherd's purse), gogyou (Cudweed), hakobera (Chickweed), hotokenoza (Nipplewort), suzuna (turnip), and suzushiro (daikon radish). Since rice porridge (okayu) is easy to digest, nanakusa-gayu is a perfect dish to eat after holiday feasts. Seven herbs are sold at supermarkets in Japan, but they might not be available in your areas. Try using radishes and some leaf vegetables as substitutes

Japanese Recipe of the Week: Zoni - Rice Cake Soup

Monday December 28, 2009

Zoni is Japanese rice cake soup which is usually eaten during Japanese New Year's holidays. There are many different zoni recipes around Japan. In general, round mochi is used in western Japan, and square mochi is used in eastern Japan. This is how I cook zoni for my family.

Kuri Kinton

Friday December 25, 2009

Kuri kinton is mashed sweet potatoes with sweet chesnuts (kuri). As its golden yellow color symbolizes prosperity, it's one of Japanese New Year's dishes (osechi). If you can get chestnuts in syrup, this is a sweet addition to New Year's food. Kuchinashi-no-mi (Cape Jasmine seeds) help brighten the yellow color.

Cooking New Year's Food

We are busy cooking New Year's food called osechi at the end of December. Many dishes are prepared by New Year's Eve so that we have enough food for New Year's holiday. Osechi dishes are packed in layers of lacquer boxes, called jubako. Most of the dishes can last a couple days in the refrigerator.

Japanese Recipe of the Week: Kimizu

Kimizu is a Japanese yellow sauce which mainly made with egg yolks and rice vinegar. Kimi means egg yolks, and zu means vinegar in Japanese. This sour sauce is handy to serve with plain boiled shrimp, vegetables, chicken, and more.

Chicken and Cake for Christmas

Japanese people typically eat cakes and roast or fried chicken on Christmas Eve. Popular Christmas cakes found in Japan are round sponge cakes with whipped cream toppings. Make sure to whisk eggs very well so that you can bake a fluffy sponge cake.