Blog Categories

This is a healthy Japanese salad recipe with Ponzu dressing.

Basically that means a Tonkatsu fillet served on a bed of rice and soft cabbage and given a good slathering of Bulldog brown sauce.

Here's my latest inside out California sushi roll dish. This time, I've made Natto California rolls - so, natto and cucumber with some black sesame sprinkled on the rice.

This quick Japanese Steak salad is served with Japanese Onion Sauce.

Miso minced Pork in lettuce leaf wraps I love sharing platters of food with family & friends, don't you? I don't know what it is but there's something communal about eating with your hands that seems to bring people together. So, to me, these Miso minced Pork and Lettuce wraps are a kind of finger food heaven. You might think that the Japanese eat everything with chopsticks but we eat with our hands as well. If you want to, you can always eat sushi with your fingers! Miso

This is a quick easy salad recipe with the tahini create a really rich umami flavour when combined with soy sauce in this dressing.

Introducing Ishiri sauce and a few recipes using Ishiri sauce .

Ishiri sauce is a bit similar to fish sauce.

Teriyaki Salmon skewers I hope you checked out my "easy teriyaki sauce" post last week - it's a quick way to make a yummy teriyaki sauce without any of the nasties (stabilisers, emulsifiers etc) that you get with a shop bought sauce. Here's a great way to use teriyaki sauce - teriyaki salmon skewers. Summer is beach barbecue time in Japan and this is a firm favourite, especially if you want want something a little lighter over your charcoal than steak. Of course, you don't ha

Fried Mackerel with Rocket and Onion How may times have you been to eat out and ordered something that left you thinking, "I think I'll try to make that myself." Here's a recipe for a dish that is most often found in Japanese pubs (known as "Izakaya") although it's also popular in Japanese homes these days as well. The fish is mackerel, which despite its well known health benefits, gets a bit of a bad wrap for the fact that it has a reptilian-looking skin and is, well, perhap

Simmered Chicken and Daikon Now that autumn is here, it's time to start making some dishes for cooler darker, evenings - something warming and nutricious. This week, I'm featuring simmered chicken and daikon (white radish/mouli.) As you may know, most kitchens in Japan lack an oven but gas or electric hobs are ubiquitous. So, cooking food in a pan, either by frying, deep frying or, in this case, simmering (known as "Nimono" in Japanese) are the standard techniques for prep

I made a Seafood Doria and a Chicken Doria. This time around, I've made a Doria with a meat sauce.

Quick Japanese pasta - Three Mushroom Spirali with Ishiri Sauce

Miso Udon Hotpot I've posted a number of New Year's resolution style, light and healthy veggie dishes in recent weeks but here's something different for you (still pretty healthy though and definitely tasty) - red miso udon. I don't count myself as an authority on miso but as far as I know, this fermented soya bean paste falls into three categories - white, yellow and red. (Some people say there are four categories, with black being the fourth, but the black miso I've seen ju

Japanese Tomato Hotpot is easy to cook and comfort food in cold winter.

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

This is easy cook Japanese Potato Salad recipe using Kewpie mayonnaise.

This quick and easy Stir Fried Pork with 3 Vegetables is great for busy weeknight family meal.

Japanese Java Cheese Curry Here's a recipe that shouldn't work but it really does. I have to admit that the first time this was put in front of me by my father-in-law many years ago when we had just been introduced, I thought, "what? cheese in a curry? maybe he doesn't like me.." and then I took a taste and realised how wrong I was to doubt the combination. It's like curry + western umami flavour - weirdly, it works very well. A spicy curry mixed with little chunks of soft,

Now and again, I get the urge to spoil myself with a nice steak.