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Nikujaga is one of the home cooking dishes in Japan.

I came up with my own creation - omu fries.

Inside Out Egg Sushi Rolls Have you ever been to a sushi bar, seen inside out sushi rolls on the counter and wondered, "Who had the idea to turn a sushi roll inside out?" Or maybe,"How does the chef do that?' If you have, then read on..... So, Inside Out Sushi Rolls are Japanese, right? Well, not exactly...in fact, you don't often see uramaki (as they are called in Japanese) on the menu in a sushi bar in Japan. That's because, as the name California Roll might suggest, they

Fish Finger Musubi Here's my latest easy fusion creation. Fish Finger Musubi. I think I can safely claim to this dish being a Kurumicooks original - I haven't seen it anywhere else and it was just one of those serendipitious occasions when I found some fish fingers in the back of the freezer and wonder what to do with them for a quick lunch - eh, viola! The Fish Finger Musubi was born! If you know your Japanese, you'll know that a "musubi" translates as a "rice ball". Musubi

Cod with a Wasabi Soy Olive Oil dressing I am a big fan of cod. It's known in Japan as tara although it doesn't possess the symbolic status in there that it has in the UK. Cod is quite bland taste-wise which means it happily absorbs just about any flavour you wish to add to it. Mixing some wasabi, soy sauce and a quality olive oil brand with some soy sauce provides a punch, almost piquante, flavour to cod which I just love. I think you might just like it. too! When I make

Miso soup with Tofu Miso soup must be the most popular dish in Japan. At least half the Japanese population drink miso soup three times or more every week. That's a smart thing to do because miso soup is high in protein and low in fat. There are lots of health claims made about miso that I shan't go into here but if you are looking for a non-animal source of protein you cannot do much better than this recipe. The two key ingredients in a classic miso soup are Japanese dashi

Takikomi Gohan Japanese rice doesn't have to be a sidekick dish - mixed with flavourings and vegetables, it can be a one pot show stopper all by itself - the Japanese call this dish " takikomi gohan ", (literally, steamed mixed rice). The rice is steamed in a broth of soy sauce, cooking sake and mirin under a bed of vegetables. I've used chicken and mushroom in this recipe but you can use other vegetables and/or exclude the meat component. Takikomi gohan is delicious eaten ho

Steamed tea cup is a literal translation for what the Japanese call "chawanmushi". (chawan = tea cup, mushi = steamed)

I have a love/hate relationship with Japanese shiso (which you might know as green perilla) - you know, those large sweet mint leaves with serrated edges you get when you eat sushi and sashimi at a restaurant.) don't get me wrong - I love eating the leaves - not just with sushi but also in salad, or mixed with miso (a dish which is called shiso miso) on rice but I hate buying shiso leaves - they are sooo expensive! Shiso So, the ideal solution is to grow them myself which I n

Here's a one-pot winter warmer from Japan...Oden.

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

Miso Mayo Cod steaks Are you in the mood for a dose of healthy Japanese cooking? This recipe features cod steak baked with a topping of miso-mayo sauce. I'm a big fan of Atlantic cod - the flesh is softer than the pacific variety and the fish themselves tend to be bigger meaning its easier to get nicely sized steaks (or large fillets, if you will). Atlantic cod is also a little sweeter so it makes a great combination with the rich savoury flavours of the miso-mayo topping.

Japanese Onion sauce You may have seen this recipe already on my blog with my Japanese Steak salad and Onion sauce dish. I am posting it separately as well just because it goes well with so many things and not just meat. You could try this with a cod or tuna steak or with deep fried tofu - it's easy to make, versatile and a great "go to" when you need a tasty sauce in a hurry. You can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Japanese Onion sauce and the written recipe is as belo

Daigaku Imo means Caramelised Sweet Potato and this is popular side dish in Japan.

Ebi fry is bread coated prawns or shrimp.

Miso Tahini sauce I am a big fan of combining Japanese ingredients with foods from other cultures. So the other day, I tried out a new sauce combining Japanese miso with tahini. Both miso and tahini are quite rich and I thought the combination might be a bit overwhelming but, somewhat to my surprise, the result is truly outstanding. What you get is a thick, rich sauce with a big umami-ful nutty miso flavour. Combining miso and tahini also means you're getting a lot of protein

Tofu Skewers in Miso Tahini sauce I'm in Japan at the moment visiting friends and family. Before I left, I developed a really nice Miso Tahini sauce which I thought would be a perfect accompaniment for barbecue foods - I posted it on the blog last week. The weather at the time wasn't great so I resorted to my grill indoors to try out some grilled Tofu kebabs with the sauce and I can safely say it worked very well! This is a great dish to serve to vegetarians, vegans and als

Coffee Kanten with Whipped cream Do you remember a recipe for berry fruits kanten that I posted a few weeks ago? I'm a fan of kanten (agar agar, jelly) because it's easy to use, versatile, low/no calorie and contains no animal products. So, I thought I'd post another kanten based dessert today - this time using coffee as a flavouring. As kanten has no calories, I thought I'd be a little extravagant and top these desserts with whipped cream but, of course, that's up to you en

How to make Japanese Cold soba with summer vegetables.

Two layer Fruit Kanten Hello everyone. Here's my latest offering - a kanten based dessert made in two layers. For anyone who hasn't come across kanten before, (agar agar is a close relative,) it's an algae based product used to make jellies and other desserts. It's similar to gelatine but it's completely a non-animal product, so suitable for vegetarians and vegans. It's also full of fibre so it's also great for your digestion. This recipe is healthy, a cinch to make and it a