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Simmered Hijiki Here's a very traditional Japanese side dish that uses a seaweed common in East Asia but (as far as I know) nowhere else - it's called hijiki. You can buy hijiki in most Japanese and Chinese food stores, as well as health food shops, in its dried form. As with other seaweeds, there's a lot to like about hijiki nutritionally - it's high in magnesium, iron, calcium and iodine and is full of dietary fibre. I should point out that it does also contain traces of ar

Kombu Tsukudani OK, first things first. What is tsukudani? Answer: Tsukudani is a cooking technique that involves simmering ingredients in a soy & mirin solution until the liquor has almost evaporated. Tskudani is a great way of creating a very concentrated umami flavour. But originally, tsukudani was used as a method of preserving foods in the days before refridgeration. Nowadays, kombu is the most common form of tsukudani but you can also use the technique with other ingred

Japanese simmered Burdock and Carrot - Kinpira Gobo Here's another dish to give your body a nutritional boost - simmered burdock and carrot, which in Japan, is called " kinpira gobo ." Kinpira can be translated as the cooking technique of "saute + simmer". Gobo is the Japanese name for burdock root, which in the UK is best known as one half of the cordial, dandelion & burdock. Burdock is native to northern Europe and East Asia so it's no surprise that it has a long history in

Marinated Turnip and Choy sum I don't think there can be any doubt that the Japanese love their veggies - it's not uncommon for a Japanese dinner to include 2 or 3 separate marinated or pickled vegetable side dishes for the diners to consume. In the uk, the government advise a 5 - a - day regime for eating vegetables and fruit - in Japan, that's a whopping 13 - a - day and that's only the vegetables! One vegetable that is really commonplace on a Japanese table is the kabu

Here's my recipe for Kakiage Tempura Soba - this combines tempura battered vegetables and shrimps and buckwheat soba noodles all served in a bowl of soba noodle broth

Aubergine / Eggplant recipe.

Daigaku Imo Here's my recipe for a dish called Daigaku Imo in Japanese which literally translates as "university potato". There are various stories about why caramelised sweet potatoes became associated with a university - some say the dish was invented by a student struggling to pay his fees, others that the dish was first popularised by an outlet selling its wares to students at the nation's #1 learning centre, Tokyo University. My guess is that these potatoes appealed to

The Japanese love their eggplant/aubergine (or nasu as it's called locally). It's far more a part of Japanese cookery than it is here in the UK, which is a shame for the Brits because aubergine is very good for you. Traditionally, aubergine was thought to have a cooling effect on the body (because of its high water content) but modern science shows it's also high in vitamin B6 and C as well as minerals like potasium and manganese. Eggplant /Aubergine and Pepper Nabe Shigi N

Pan fried Celery and Shimeji with Bonito flakes Here's a big question for you. Are food likes and dislikes inherited or based on the environment? The reason I ask is that both my husband and I love celery and mushrooms but our sons won't touch either and remove them from their plate with a grimace whenever I serve them up. How did this happen? Answers, please! Anyway, today's dish is one I make when I'm cooking for one or two. I like celery when it is lightly fried and pai

How to make Japanese Cold soba with summer vegetables.

Simmered Turnip with Fried Tofu) My latest post is another recipe designed to help you recover from the excesses of Christmas and New Year. This dish is called Simmered Turnip with fried Tofu. Turnip is a much under-rated vegetable here in the UK (in fact, more of it is fed to cattle here than humans which is crazy!) In Japan, turnip (known as kabu ) is widely eaten in raw, cooked and also pickled forms. It's very good for you, containing high levels of vitamins a, c and k

We're approaching the end of January and for anyone out there on a diet or a detox, here's another healthy, light dish for you to try -...

Here's another simple vegetable side dish - Broccoli with black Sesame - that's packed with nutricious uber-goodness and top scoring in...

Here's my latest recipe - fried aubergine in a spicy soy sauce marinade. I know aubergine (or you might know it as eggplant, melanzana,...

Japanese Aubergine Katsu Curry Aubergine is one of my favourite vegetables and I think there is no better way to serve it than as a katsu - that is, deep fried in panko breadcrumbs. IMHO, deep frying aubergine in panko lifts it to another level - you get the lovely soft flesh on the inside but a nice crunchy coating on the outside - yum -nothing more, nothing less. While aubergine katsu is great by itself, it also goes brilliantly with a curry sauce. I used the S&B brand Gol

Have you ever come across the Japanese term, "sappari suru"? It means "refreshing" or "cleansing" as in when you come home after a hot...

The daikon (AKA white radish or mooli) is a much beloved vegetable in Japan - you'll find it featured in many classic Japanese woodblock...

Soy Butter Vegetable stir fry It seems difficult to believe now, but time was when butter was almost unknown in Japan. I admit I'm going back a few years but even in my childhood in the 1960s, butter was regarded as something of an out of reach luxury. Like many Western things, butter (known as " bata " in Japanese) began to be assimilated into Japanese cooking during the post-war years of the US military occupation. At that time, butter was still so rare in Japanese food cul

I used carrot and celery as burdock root isn't that easy to find where I live in the UK as it is in Japan.