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Stir fried Lotus Root My last post was titled, "a healthy Japanese feast" and featured Japanese grilled mackerel. Here's the vegetable recipe to accompany your fish dish- Stir fried Lotus Root. The Japanese are advised to eat an impressive 13 different vegetables every day and this dish provides 4 of them, including lotus root (renkon in Japanese). I don't know if you've tried lotus root before - if you haven't, it's healthy stuff - lotus root contains lots of good minerals like potassium & iron & vitamin C and B6 as well. It's also high in fibre and protein. Lotus root when cooked has a crunchy texture and a subtle, nutty flavour. You can buy lotus root in fresh & frozen forms. Once lotus root is peeled and cut, it oxidises very quickly so if you don't plan to use it quickly, put it in water with a little vinegar to slow the oxidation down. You can stir fry lotus root like I do here, or you can blanche it, simmer it, stew it or steam it - you can also use it for tempura - it really is quite versatile. It isn't something you can eat raw however. You can click my video tutorial - Stir fried Lotus Root on youtube here or you can find the video and for the written recipe is as below. I'll be posting a third dish for your healthy Japanese feast early next week. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. Ingredients: 2 servings 200g / 7oz lotus root 100g / 3.5oz mangetout 1/2 red pepper 1/2 yellow pepper 1 tbsp veg oil 1/2 tbsp mirin 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tsp sugar how to: peel the lotus root and soak it in water with a little vinegar for 15-20 mins cut the lotus root in half lengthways and then cut into 5mm / 1/4in slices remove the strings of the mangetout cut the peppers into bite size pieces heat the oil in a frying pan. add the lotus root and stir-fry for 2 mins add & fry the mangetout for 1 min add & fry peppers for another 2-3 mins add the mirin, soy sauce & sugar and stir fry for 30 secs serve with a bowl of rice as a side dish Stir fried Lotus Root

Curried Okra This is the final dish in my "Japanese feast" feature which I started last week. You might recall that the other dishes were grilled & salted mackerel and stir fried lotus root. I must admit this dish sounds a little creepy in English, (old lady's fingers) but in Japan, it's simply known as "okra". It isn't indigenous to Japan but it is certainly popular and very easy to grow there. It's also a cinch to make this Curried Okra dish. Together with the mackerel and lotus root, you're getting six veggies plus fish, so this is also uber-healthy. Okra doesn't have a distinctive flavour so it combines well with stronger flavourings like curry. But what okra lacks in flavour, it makes up for in nutrition - it's full of fibre, has good amounts of vitamins A, C, B6 and K and contains potassium, zinc, copper and phosphorus. It even gives you some protein as well. You can make this curried okra dish in ten mins and put the whole three dish meal together in about thirty mins. You can find the written recipe as below, and the youtube tutorial for Curried Okura is here or the bottom of this page. You can find the Youtube tutorials for the other dishes by clicking Grilled Mackerel & Stir fried Lotus Root. For the written recipes click Grilled Mackerel & Stir fried Lotus root. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. Ingredients: 2 servings 1 tsp salt 170g okra 1/2 onion 2 cloves, garlic 1 tsp veg oil 1.5 tsp mild curry powder 0.5 tbsp tomato ketchup salt & pepper how to: rinse the okra, then sprinkle with the salt. rub the okra with your fingers to remove the stubble. rinse the okra once more cut off the tops of the okra slice the onion mince the garlic heat the oil in a frying pan, add the garlic & onion and fry for 1 min add the okra and fry for a further 3-4 mins add the curry powder & tomato ketchup season with salt & pepper and fry for 1 more min your curry fried okra is ready to serve Curried Okra

Shiso Miso The Japanese love to have a selection of fermented and pickled foods to eat with their rice at dinner and today, I'm looking at one of the best - shiso-miso. It's a great way to give your miso a sweeter flavour. Shisomiso hails from Tohoku prefecture in northern Japan. The original version (where miso is mixed with sugar, sesame and/or crushed walnuts and wrapped in a shiso leaf, then fried) is quite salty but as it has become more popular in Japan, the flavours have been softened to suit more modern tastes. It's very simple to prepare & absolutely delicious to eat with a bowl of rice. In this recipe, I add some tahini paste to provide a milder flavour. It's quite rich so a little goes a long way. You can keep shiso-miso in the fridge for two to three weeks, so it makes sense to prepare a batch that will last for several meals. I've been growing my own shiso but you can find it at Japanese & Asian groceries as well. You can find the written recipe by clicking Shiso Miso and the Youtube tutorial by clicking Shiso Miso. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. Ingredients: 30g fresh shiso 2 tbsp miso 2 tsp sugar 1 tbsp tahini paste ( sesame paste) 2 tbsp mirin 2 tbsp water Preparation finely chop the shiso leaves put the miso, sugar, tahini, mirin and water into a pan and stir well over medium heat add the shiso and simmer for 3-4 mins, stirring constantly. leave to cool your shiso miso is now ready to eat. it will last for 7 - 10 days in the fridge Shiso miso

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 arsenic but you would need to it in very large quantities for it to be harmful to your health! This dish is vegetarian friendly but it does contain dashi stock, so if you wish to make it vegan friendly, you will need to produce your own vegan dashi stock - if you want a recipe for that, just click vegan stock. There's also a Youtube video tutorial vegan stock, if you want to take a look. As for simmered hijiki, you can find the written recipe as below and the Youtube tutorial at Simmered Hijiki. This would make a healthful lunch paired with a bowl of rice and miso soup! Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: 2 servings as a side dish 1 packet of dried hijiki seaweed (15g) 1/2 abura-age (fried thin tofu) sheet 25g carrot 200ml japanese dashi stock 1 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp mirin 1 tsp veg oil 3 mangetoutes for garnishing (optional) how to: soak the hijiki in water for 20 mins, then discard the water and rinse the hijiki blanch the mangetoute in boiling water for 1 min shred the mangetoute, carrot & abura-age finely heat the oil in a saucepan and stir-fry the hijiki, abura-age & carrot for 30 secs add the dashi stock, sugar, soy sauce & mirin and bring to the boil simmer over a medium heat with the lid on for 10 mins and another 5-8 mins with the lid off until almost all the liquid has evaporated your simmered hijiki is now ready to serve. garnish each serving with a few shreed of mangetoute Simmered Hijiki

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 ingredients. This is also a great way to "recycle" kelp that you've already used once to make Japanese dashi stock - and kelp is so good for you so that it's such a shame to throw it away. As I said, tsukudani creates a very rich flavour so a little goes a long way. My recipe makes enough for 2-4 people to be eaten as a side dish part of a meal along with other dishes. Once you've made your kombu tsukudani, just top a bowl of steamed rice with a heaped teaspoon and enjoy! You can find the written recipe as below. Alternatively, click Kombu Tsukudani for the Youtube tutorial. Happy simmering! Kurumi XXXX. Ingredients: 2 servings 100g used konbu (wet weight, leftovers from making japanese stock) 3 wet shiitake (leftover from making japanese stock) 400ml water 1 tbsp vinegar 30g brown sugar 0.5 tbsp mirin 2 tbsp soy sauce 0.5 tsp toasted sesame seed how to: finely slice the shiitake mushroom finely slice the konbu put the water & vinegar in a saucepan & bring to the boil add the konbu and cook for 5 mins before draining put the kelp back in the saucepan add the shiitake, sugar, mirin and soy sauce and simmer over a medium heat for about 8 mins stirring occasionally or until the liquid has almost gone your tsukudani is now ready to serve - just sprinkle with the sesame and serve as a side dish with rice Kombu Tsukudani

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 the food culture of Japan and the UK - (having such a long history, burdock also sports some wonderfully whacky alternative names - Gobo root, Beggar's Buttons, Thorny Burr, Happy Major - take your pick!) The burdock root certainly has a lot going for it nutritionally - it's a good source of Vitamin c, magnesium and manganese and, apparently, full of anti-oxidants. Burdock root is also a diuretic, so if you ever need a little help moving things along digestively, you know what to call on. I grow burdock in my garden every year, or to be more precise, the burdock grows itself without almost no help from me! So look out for more recipes. Alternatively, a lot of Chinese stores sell burdock root and it's available online. Anyway, back to this recipe - Kinpira Gobo is easy to prepare and makes a very healthy side dish - serve with rice and a soup and you have a super-healthy, immune system boosting lunch or supper. I paired the gobo with carrot here but you can use other vegetables such as carrot, lotus root or potato. I also use chillis to add a little heat to the flavour so you can experiment with more or less chilli depending on how much heat you want to put into the dish. Personally, I like to keep the heat quite low so as not to overpower the subtle, nutty flavour of the burdock root - but that's just me. You can find the written recipe for this dish is just below and the Youtube tutorial by clicking Japanese Simmered Burdock and Carrots/Kinpira Gobo or scroll to the bottom of the page. Happy simmering! Kurumi XXXX. For an alternative "Kinpira" style dish, you could try my Carrot and Celery Kinpira. Kinpira Gobo ingredients: (makes 2 portions) 200g gobo (burdock) 100g carrot 1.5 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp mirin 2 tbsp water 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 tsp dried red chilli 1 tsp toasted sesame for garnish how to: pare the skin off the gobo with the back of your knife, then slice it diagonally cut the gobo into matchsticks ( 5 - 6cm length) then soak in a bowl of water for 10 mins peel & slice the carrot diagonally, then shred into matchsticks (5 - 6cm length) heat the sesame oil in a frying pan, add the gobo and stir fry for 30 secs add the carrot & stir fry for another 1 min add the water, mirin, soy sauce & chilli, then simmer for 5 mins with the lid on stir for another 5-10 mins without the lid or until the liquid has almost evaporated your kinpira gobo is ready to serve. pair with miso soup and rice Japanese simmered Burdock and Carrot - Kinpira Gobo

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, known in English as turnip. This is a vegetable that really comes into its own when it is marinated. I don't think turnip is eaten raw very much in the UK but if you want to try it uncooked, (and you really should) this is a great way to do it - and of course, eating turning raw means you preserve more of it's many health benefits. You may not have thought of the turnip as a health powerhouse but its nutritional values are legion - vitamins A, 5 Bs, C, E & K. you also get folate, manganese, potassium, iron, copper and calcium, not to mention omega-3 fatty acids and protein. In this side dish, I pair "kabu" with the Chinese leaf vegetable choi sum which is another great way to get high levels of vitamins A and C. I marinade the two vegetables in a mixture of rice vinegar, lemon juice and sugar to give them a refreshingly tangy appeal. Last, I sprinkle over a little toasted white sesame for added texture and another taste layer. This nutricious, refreshing vegetable dish can be made in under 30 mins and it's a great way to get 2 of your 5 a day (or 13 - a - day if the mood takes you!) Interested? you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Marinated Turnip and Choy sum or by scrolling to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy marinating! Kurumi XXXX. If you would like to pair this with another vegetable dish, why not try my brocolli in sweet sesame? You can find the recipe for that dish here. Marinated Turnip and Choy sum ingredients: (makes 2 servings) 1 turnip (approx. 250g) 60g choy sum 1 slice ginger 1/2 tsp salt for the marinade: 1 tsp lemon juice 2 tbsp rice vinegar 1 tbsp sugar 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds how to: peel, halve & slice the turnip as thinly as possible (you can also use a slicer to get it nice and thin) rinse the choy sum and cut into 2cm lengths finely slice the ginger put the turnip, choy sum & ginger in a bowl, sprinkle with the salt, mix well and leave to stand for at least 15 mins (this will osften and season the vegetables and remove the bitterness) to make the marinade, mix the lemon juice, vinegar & sugar well in a bowl squeeze any excess liquid from the vegetables and add the marinade. stir together well sprinkle with the sesame seeds. your turnip and choy sum dish is now ready serve as a side dish or as a salad Marinated Turnip and Choy sum

Kakiage Tempura Soba 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...uummm. This is one of those "what's in my veggie basket?" dishes that you can throw together using available vegetables. Here, I use sweet potato, onion, green beans and some shrimps but you could use carrot, spring onion, mangetoutes - literally whatever you have available - the shrimps had to be used as they were approaching their sell by date, so into the tempura batter they went! When I make Kakiage Tempura Soba, I make my tempura batter from a mixture of plain flour, potato flour (which I find makes the batter crisper) and water. Some cooks use egg, but I prefer my kakiage tempura batter to be a little lighter. For the broth, I used a dashi bag with some Japanese Usukuchi light soy sauce and mirin. Dashi bags are great if you don't have time to make your own dashi and IMO dashi bags make a tastier broth than instant dashi granules. You can find my written recipe for Kakiage Tempura Soba just below. For the youtube tutorial click Kakiage Tempura Soba or scroll to the bottom of the page. You'll also find a link to my Soba Broth recipe at the bottom of the page too! Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. If you would like to see another tempura recipe, take a look at my traditional tempura recipe by clicking Tempura. Kakiage Tempura Soba ingredients: (makes 2 portions) 70g cooked or raw prawns 1/2 onion, approx 75g 40g green beans 70g sweet potato 2 servings (200g), dried soba noodles for the batter: 2 tbsp potato flour 5 tbsp plain flour 70ml water for the soba broth: 800ml water 2 japanese dashi bags* 2 tbsp usukuchi soy sauce 1 tbsp mirin 2 tsp japanese cooking sake *or use 2 tbsp dashi granules (or use one of my make your own dashi recipes) veg oil for deep frying some kitchen paper to rest the tempura after frying how to: slice the onion remove the ends of the beans and halve cut the sweet potato into 5 mm slices, then cut into thick matchsticks now to make the tempura batter: add the water to the plain flour & potato flour in a bowl and mix well add the prawns, onion, sweet potatoes & beans to the batter and mix well fill a saucepan with 3cm of veg oil & heat to 170’C to make the kakiage, take a large spoonful of the batter mixture and add to the pan, hold it in the spoon or between chopsticks for 3 - 4 seconds so the batter will hold the vegetables together then release. repeat with another spoonful. deep fry for 2-3 mins until golden, turning over once or twice and repeat with batches 3 & 4 drain the tempura on kitchen paper to make the soba broth: put the water & dashi bags (or instand dashi granules) in a pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 3 mins remove the bags, then add the mirin, sake & soy sauce and simmer for another 2-3 mins and your broth is ready to assemble: put the noodles in a bowl, add the kaki-age & pour the broth over the contents just before eating, (soba noodles will become too soft very quickly if left waiting in the broth) Kakiage Tempura Soba Soba Broth Soba Broth

Yakitori sauce Here's the Yakitori sauce recipe that I used for my Yakitori recipe. It's dead easy to make (not to mention much cheaper than buying a branded sauce from the shops) and it has no additives, preservatives, stabilisers or any of the other stuff manufacturers put into their products to extend their shelf life. This sauce contains some chicken skin to give it a little oil which combined with the sugar helps the sauce "cling" when you brush it over your yakitori. If you prefer not to use chicken skin, the sauce will be (almost) as good without it. Keep any leftover yakitori sauce in the fridge for up to two weeks. You can find the written recipe for my Yakitori sauce just below and for the Youtube tutorial just click Yakitori sauce or scroll to the bottom of the page. Happy grilling! Kurumi XXXX. If you want to try another delicious Japanese sauce, try my easy Teriyaki sauce recipe here. Yakitori sauce ingredients: (makes approx. 250ml of yakitori sauce) 180ml soy sauce 6 tbsp sugar 90ml mirin 1 small chicken skin 1 spring onion how to: combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to the boil with a lid on and simmer for 7-8 mins. adjust the heat as you simmer so the sauce doesn't boil Yakitori sauce

Japanese style roasted Aubergine Here's a healthy vegetable recipe for you. It's also a great way to enjoy aubergine. I know that aubergine divides opinions - some people just don't like the slightly bitter flesh or the skin. But you'll find aubergine used a lot in Japanese cooking (the Japanese name for the aubergine is Nasu) - perhaps it is because Japanese varieties of aubergine tend to be less bitter and have thinner skins (they're smaller too). I like to think that the way I prepare aubergine in this recipe would persuade most people that it's a great vegetable to eat - so what do I do? First, I soak the aubergine to extract some of the bitterness before baking it in the oven. When it's out of the oven and baked, I dress it with a sweet and sour dressing with a little hint of Chinese flavours about it by using a little toban djan chilli sauce. To make this even more healthy, I pair the aubergine with a small edamame and baby radish salad - so, all-in-all, a plate of health for lunch or a light supper and of course, it is suitable for vegans and vegetarians as well. Would you like to try your hand at this? If so, you can find the Youtube tutorial Roasted Aubergine / Eggplant in Sweet Soy dressing or scroll to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. Want to pair this with another dish for a more sustaining meal. How about my Japanese Tamagoyaki sweet omelette. You can find the recipe here. Japanese style roasted Aubergine ingredients: (2 servings) 1 aubergine 2 tbsp sesame oil 3 tbsp rice vinegar 1.5 soy sauce 1/8 tsp ginger paste 1 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp toban djan (chinese chilli bean sauce)* 1/8 garlic paste 2 spring onions 80g frozen edamame 4 red radishes 30g peeled red onion *a 1/2 tsp of chilli powder + 1/2 tsp of veg oil is ok as a substitute for toban djan how to: remove the aubergine stem, then halve lengthways. use a sharp knife to score the flesh in a criss-cross pattern. soak the aubergine flesh side down in water for 10 mins to make the sauce, put the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger paste, sugar, toban djan and garlic paste in a bowl and mix well chop the spring onion finely, add to the sauce and mix well heat your oven to 180’C brush the sesame oil onto a baking tray & roast the aubergine for about 25 mins to prepare the salad: simmer the edamame for 2-3 mins in boiling water thinly slice the onion thinly and soak in water for 10 mins remove the ends of the radish and thinly slice mix the edamame, onion & radish together once your aubergine is baked, remove it from the oven and place one half on each serving plate. place 1/2 of the edamame salad next to each aubergine when you serve and drizzle the aubergine with the sauce Japanese style roasted Aubergine

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 below. Why not start getting saucy! Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: 2-3 servings 110g peeled onion 30g peeled carrot 2 cloves of garlic 1/2 tsp ginger paste 1 tbsp vegetable oil 3 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp mirin 1 tbsp Japanese cooking sake 1 tsp rice vinegar how to: slice the garlic, carrot & onion thinly. heat the oil in a pan and stir-fry the garlic, ginger paste, carrot & onion over a medium heat for 3 mins. add the soy sauce, mirin, cooking sake & vinegar and simmer for 3 mins. put it in a blender and blend well. Japanese Onion Sauce

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 students because they are a sweet, quickly made street food that suited the student lifestyle of food on the go. Yakiimo or roasted sweet potato was one of Japan's original street foods which were made in carts with charcoal burners set up by the roadside. They are, sadly, a rarity these days but I hope this recipe will give you a taste of those days gone by. The key to this dish is to cook the sweet potatoes until they almost soft before you deep fry them. Some people insist that the coating has to be made with honey but I use brown sugar instead and finish with a sprinkle of black sesame. You can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Daigaku imo and the written recipe for this dish is as below. Get your thinking cap on! Kurumi XXXX. Why not pair this dish with another Japanese recipe to make a substantial meal? How about browsing my Miso Minced Pork in Lettuce Wraps as a main with Daigaku Imo as a side? Ingredients: 2 servings 1 large sweet potato for the caramel: 3 tbsp brown sugar* 1 tsp soy sauce 2 tbsp water 1 tsp black toasted sesame seeds a garnish some veg oil for deep frying *you can use white sugar but you may not get the same deep brown colour how to: peel the skin of the sweet potato, then cut into random bite sized pieces, then immerse in a plastic or glass bowl of water and stand for 10 mins next, cover the tope of the bowl with a sheet of cling film & microwave for 3 mins (600w) when finished, empty the potato pieces onto kitchen paper to absorb excess moisture fill a pan with 2cm with veg oil and heat to 180’C / 350 F deep fry the potato for 3 - 4 mins and drain again on kitchen paper now, to prepare the caramel sauce: add the sugar, soy sauce & water to a small pan and stir over a medium heat until the sauce thickens add the sweet potato and coat well with the sauce your "daigaku imo" are now ready to serve. sprinkle over the sesame seeds Daigaku imo