All About Foods Court

Chawamnushi is a Japanese custard steamed in a cup. Chawan means tea cups or rice bowls, and mushi means steaming in Japanese. Chawanmushi cups are available with lids.

Japanese Egg Recipes
Japanese Recipes
Japanese Food Pictures
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup dashi soup stock
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sake
1 chicken thigh, cut into bite-size pieces
4 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced, or 1/4 enoki mushrooms, chopped
1 oz. mitsuba (trefoil)
8 slices kamaboko or narutomaki fish cakes

Preparation:
Lightly beat eggs in a bowl. Try not to bubble the eggs. Add cool dashi soup stock, soy sauce, salt, sake, and sugar in the egg. Strain the egg mixture. Put shiitake, chicken, and kamaboko or narutomaki in four chawanmushi cups, or tea cups. Fill each cup to third-forths full with the egg mixture. Place mitsuba leaves on top of the egg mixture. Cover the cups. Preheat a steamer on high heat. Turn down the heat to low and carefully place cups in the steamer. Steam for about 15 minutes. Poke the custard with a bamboo stick. If clear soup comes out, it's cooked.

*Makes 4 servings.
By Setsuko Yoshizuka

Kuromame means black beans in Japanese, and it indicateds simmered sweet black beans. The Japanese word for beans, mame, also means "working like a bee." So, people hope for being able to work in good health, eating kuromame on Japanese New Year. It's preferable to simmer kuromame in iron pot or add rusty nails to blacken the color of the beans.
*Makes 4 servings

Japanese Recipes
Japanese Food Pictures
Ingredients:
1 cup black beans
4 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. soysauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
A couple of rusty nails, washed
*A sheet of gauze

Preparation:
Wash black beans. Put water, sugar, salt, soysauce, and baking soda in large deep pot or iron pot. Bring to a boil. Stop the heat and add black beans. Leave it over night, or about 8 hours. Clean a couple of rusty nails, and wrap them by gauze. Add it in the pot. Put the pot on high heat and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low. Skim off any foam that rise to the surface. Cover the pot and simmer the beans on low heat for about 5 hours, or until beans are softened. When the liquid decreases, add some water. Stop the heat and let it sit until cool.
By Setsuko Yoshizuka

Edamame isn't just a healthy snack. Adding edamame makes pork stir-fry so colorful and more nutritous.

Edamame
Japanese Pork Recipes
Ingredients:
3/4 lb thinly sliced pork, cut into bite-size pieces
1 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsps vegetable oil
1/2 inch fresh ginger root, minced
4 small green bell peppers (about 1/4 lb), cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 lb edamame, boiled and shelled
1 1/2 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp sake
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp katakuriko starch/corn starch
2 tsp water

Preparation:
Season pork with 1 tbsp of sake and soy sauce in a bowl. Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large skillet and stir-fry the pork until changes its color. Remove the pork from the skillet. Mix measured water, sake, soy sauce, and sugar in a cup and set aside. Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable in the skillet and fry minced ginger, then stir-fry green peppers on high heat until softened. Put the pork back in the skillet and add edamame. Stir-fry all the ingredients, and pour the mixed seasonings over. When it boils, add the mixture of katakuriko starch and 2 tsp of water and stir quickly. Stop the heat.
*Makes 4 servings
By Setsuko Yoshizuka

Edamame are green soy beans which are rich in proteins, vitamins, and fibers. Boiled edamame in pods is known as a healthy snack. Shelled edamame beans can be added in various dishes, such as stir-fry, soup, and so on. Adding edamame makes a dish more colorful and nutritious.
*Make 4 servings

Japanese Rice Recipes
Ingredients:
2 cups Japanese rice
2 1/4 cups water
3 inches kombu
2 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1 cup boiled and shelled edamame, or frozen shelled edamame

Preparation:
Put the rice in a bowl and wash it with cold water. Repeat washing until the water becomes clear. Drain the rice in a colander and set aside. Place the rice in rice cooker and add water. Further, add konbu, sake, soy sauce, and salt in the rice. Let the rice soak in the water at least 30 min. Start the cooker. Meanwhile, shell boiled edamame, or thaw frozen shelled edamame. When rice is cooked, add shelled edamame over rice and mix lightly.

Boiled edamame beans are good to add in salads. This is a Japanese-style potato salad with edamame.

Japanese Salad
Ingredients:
2 slices bacon, cut into thin strips
1 lb potatoes, boiled and peeled
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 lb. edamame, boiled and shelled
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Preparation:
Fry bacon in a skillet and drain on a paper towel. Mash potatoes in a large bowl. Season the potato with salt and vinegar. Add edamame, bacon, cucumber in the bowl. Add mayonnaise and mix well.
*Makes 4 servings

It's creamy soup made from edamame (green soy beans). This soup can be served cold or hot.

Ingredients:
3/4 lb edamame
1/2 small onion
2 1/2 cup chicken soup stock
1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 Tbsp butter

P reparation:
Boil edamame beans. Shell edamame and set aside. Slice onion thinly. Heat oil in a deep pan and saute onion slices. Add chicken soup stock and edamame in the pan and simmer for 30 minutes on low heat. Mix the soup in a blender. Put the soup back in a deep pan and add milk. Simmer for 5 minutes on low heat. Add butter, salt, and pepper to season.
*makes 4 servings

Anko is a sweet azuki bean paste which is often used to make various Japanese sweets. This is a type of anko called tsubu-an. Tsubu-an contains skins of azuki beans.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hours, 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. azuki beans (1 1/3 cup)
2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt

Preparation:
Put lots of water in deep pot. Soak azuki beans in the water overnight. Heat the beans on high heat and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium and simmer beans for about 10 minutes. Drain the beans. Put the azuki beans in the pot again and add about four cups of water. Heat the azuki and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low and simmer the azuki beans for about one hour, or until softened. Drain the liquid from the pot. Add sugar and salt in the beans. Stir and simmer beans until thickened. Stop the heat and cool the anko.

Kakiage is mixed tempura. A few ingredients are mixed together in tempura batter and deep-fried. You can use various vegetables, mushrooms, and seafood for kakiage.

Ingredients:
1 onion, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1/2 large carrot, cut into thin stips (1/2 cup)
1/4 lb. scallops
1 egg
1 cup ice water
1 cup all purpose flour
*Vegetable oil for frying
Preparation:
Thinly slice onion. Cut carrot into thin strips. Tear scallops into small strips. Beat an egg in a large bowl. Add ice water in the bowl. Add sifted flour in the bowl and mix lightly. Heat oil to 340 degrees F in a deep pan. Add onion slices, carrot strips, and scallps in the tempura batter, and mix well. Take a scoop of the mixture with a large spoon and slip into the oil. Deep-fry kakiage until brown. Serve with tempura dipping sauce.

Makes 4 servings

Spring rolls are called harumaki in Japanese.
Ingredients:
1/4 pound ground pork
1 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup boiled strips of bamboo shoots
4-5 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 oz. harusame (bean starch noodles) or cellophane noodle
1 tsp grated ginger
2 tbsps vegetable oil
1 tbsp cornstarch
2/3 cup chicken soup
1 1/2 tbsps soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsps sake rice wine
mixture of 1 tbsp water and 1 tbsp cornstarch
10 egg roll wrappers
mixture of 1 tsp flour and 1 tbsp water
vegetable oil of frying

Preparation:
Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in water for 30 min. to soften. Sprinkle cornstarch over pork meat and stir the meat. Boil starch nooldes (harusame) in a pan for a min. and drain. Cut the noodles into 3-inch length. Cut shiitake into thin strips. Heat oil in a frying pan and add ginger and saute. Add pork meat in the pan and saute well. Further, add shiitake and bean sprout and saute. Add chicken soup, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sake in the pan. Add starch noodles in the pan and simmer. When it boils, add mixture of water and cornstarch and stir well. Place the filling into a bowl and cool. Put 1-2 tbsps of filling on an egg roll wrapper. Fold one side over the filling to cover. Further, fold both sides of the wrapper over and roll to the edge. Seal the edge with the mixture of flour and water. Heat oil in a deep pan and fry spring rolls in 360 F until it's brown.

Makes 4 servings

Gyoza is a kind of dumplings. Gyoza can be steamed, fried, boiled, and more. About Japanese Gyoza Dumplings
Ingredients:
1/3 cup chopped cabbage (boiled)
2 tbsps chopped green onion
1/2 pound ground pork
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
2 tsps soysauce
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
20 gyoza wrappers
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients other than oil in a bowl and mix well by hands. Place a teaspoonful of filling in a gyoza wrapper and put water along the edge of the wrapper by fingers. Make a semicircle, gathering the front side of the wrapper and sealing the top. Heat oil in a frying pan. Put gyoza in the pan and fry on high heat until the bottoms become brown. Turn down the heat to low. Add 1/4 cup water in the pan. Cover the pan and steam the gyoza on low heat until the water is gone.

*Makes 4 servings

Tonkatsu is breaded deep-fried pork. It's a popular dish in Japan. Tonkatsu sandwiches are called katsusand.

Ingredients:
8 slices white bread
4 pieces tonkatsu
4 cabbage leaves
*butter
*tonkatsu sauce or Worcester sauce

Preparation:
Make tonkatsu and set aside. Slice cabbage into thin strips. Spread softened butter on each slice of bread. Spread some cabbage on a slice of bread and put a tonkatsu on the top. Put some tonkatsu sauce or Worcester sauce over the tonkatsu. Place a slice of bread on the top. Make four sandwiches. Cut each sandwich in half.

Oden is a Japanese one-pot dish.

More Japanese one-pot dishes
Ingredients:
1/3 daikon radish
2 potatoes
2 carrots
4 boiled eggs
1 blocks of konnyaku (transparent yam starch cake)
2 blocks of fried tofu (ganmodoki or atsuage)
2-4 fish cakes
4-5 tbsps of soy sauce
1 tsp of sugar
2 tbsps of sake (Japanese rice wine)
*You may use oden seasoning sold at Asian stores instead of using sake, soysauce, and sugar.

Preparation:
Cut daikon into thick rounds. Cut potatoes in half. Peel boiled eggs. Cut other ingredients into large pieces. Boil 4 cups of dashi soup stock in a large pot or donabe pot. Add ingredients into the pot. Add sake, soy sauce, and sugar in the pot. Turn down the heat to low and simmer for 40-60 minutes. *The longer you cook oden, the better the taste. Add dashi soup stock and soy sauce as needed.

Okonomiyaki is said to be Japanese-style pizza. This recipe makes Osaka-style okonomiyaki. There are lots of toppings.

Ingredients:
2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup dashi soup stock or water
4-6 eggs
1 - 1 1/4 lb cabbage
6 tbsps chopped green onion
2/3 cup tenkasu (tempura flakes)
12 - 18 strips of thinly sliced pork or beef
For toppings:
Ao-nori (green seaweed)
Okonomiyaki sauce (or tonkatsu sauce)
Mayonnaise
Preparation:
Pout dashi soup stock in a bowl. Mix the flour in the soup stock. Rest the batter for an hour in the refrigerator. Chop cabbage finely. Take about 1/2 cup of the batter (to make one sheet of okonimiyaki) in another bowl. Mix chopped cabbage (about 1/4 lb), chopped green onion (about 1 tbsp), and tempura flakes (about 2 tbsps) in the batter. Make a hole in the middle of the batter and add an egg in the hole. Stir the batter. Heat an electric pan and oil slightly. Pour the batter over the pan and make a round. Fry meat or your choice of toppings on the side. Cook 5-7 minutes and place meat (toppings) on top of the okonomiyaki. Flip the okonomiyaki and cook for 5-7 more minutes. Flip the okonomiyaki again and spread okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise on top. Sprinkle aonori over the sauce. Sprinkle katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and beni-shoga (red ginger) if you would like.

Makes 4-6 sheets.

Banbanji is chilled chicken and cucumber salad.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
2-3 slices fresh ginger root
1 tbsp sake
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 lb bean sprout
1-2 cucumber
3 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup sesame seed

Preparation:
Boil water in a pan. Add sake, salt, ginger slices, and chicken in the pan. Boil chicken breasts until cooked. Cool chicken and tear into thin stripps. Boil bean sprouts in a pan for a min and drain. Cut cucumber into thin stripps. Grind sesame seeds well and add soy sauce, mirin, and rice wine vinegar. Add some chicken soup stock in the sauce to adjust the thickness. Stir the sauce well. Spread bean sprouts and cucumber in a large plate. Put chicken stripps on the top. Pour sesame sauce over the salad before serving.

*Makes 4 servings
By Setsuko Yoshizuka

Yakitori is usually skewered like a kabob. Yakitori is a great appetizer which goes with beer and sake. A common vegetable to grill with chicken is negi. Yakitori skewered with negi is called negima and is a popular kind of yakitori in Japan. Also, there are mainly two kinds of flavors: tare and shio. Tare indicates basting sauce, such as teriyaki sauce. Shio means salt in Japanese. This is a recipe to make tare-flavored yakitori.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 medium negi
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp sake
3 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp soy sauce
*Bamboo skewers (soaked in water to prevent burning)

Preparation:
Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Cut negi into 1 inch lengths. Skewer the chicken and negi in alternating order. To make teriyaki sauce, mix sugar, sake, mirin, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Grill the skewered chicken over hot coals, basting with teriyaki sauce until the chicken is
Yakitori (Tare Flavored) Recipe

This dish is called saba tatsuta-age. It's a great appetizer to serve with beer and sake.

Japanese Seafood Recipes
Ingredients:
2 fillets mackerel, bone removed
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sake
2 tsp grated ginger
*katakuriko (potato starch) or corn starch for coating
*vegetable oil for frying

Preparation:
Cut mackerel into about one inch thick pieces. Mix soy sauce, sake, and ginger in a bowl and marinate mackerel for 15 minutes. Dry the mackerel with paper towels and cover with katakuriko or corn starch. Heat enough oil for deep-frying in a deep pot to 340 degrees F. Deep-fry mackerel until browned.
By Setsuko Yoshizuka,

Ingredients:
12-16 hanaguri clams
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups water
1 tbsp sake
1 tsp soy sauce
1 bunch of nabana (rape flower)

Preparation:
Soak clams in salted water. Wash the clams well. Boil nabana for a few minutes and cool it in cold water. Drain nabana and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Put water and clams in a pan and heat until the clams open. Remove the clams and strain the soup. Put the soup back in a pan and season with sake, soy sauce, and salt. Place 3-4 clams in a soup bowl and pour the hot soup over them. Garnish the soup with boiled nabana.

Kabocha manju is a Japanese steamed cake with kabocha pumpkin filling.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
For Filling: 1/2 lb kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) / 1 cup sugar / pinch of salt

Preparation:
Peel kabocha pumpkin and cut into small pieces. Heat kabocha in the microwave until soften. Put kabocha in a bowl and add sugar and salt and mash them. Shift flour, baking powder, and 1/3 cup of sugar into a bowl. Add water and knead the dough. Make eight to ten balls. Take each dough and flatten by hands. Put kabocha filling in the center of the dough and wrap it with the dough to make a round. Repeat this process. Preheat a steamer. Place manju in the steamer and steam over high heat for 10 minutes.
By Setsuko Yoshizuka,

Japanese pumpkin, kabocha, is a very popular vegetable in Japan. Kabocha has slightly sweet taste, so it's often used to make desserts. This kabocha cookies are soft and are slightly sweet.

Japanese Recipes
Ingredients:
1/4 lb. kabocha
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
Preparation:
Cut kabocha into large chunks. Steam kabocha in the microwave until softened. Peel kabocha and mash in a bowl. Mix butter and sugar in another bowl. Add mashed kabocha in the bowl. Mix well. Add an egg yolk and stir well. Sift flour and baking powder together. Add the flour in the bowl. Mix the dough. Rest the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 340 degrees F. Flatten the cookie dough on floured board and cut into your favorite shapes. Place a cooking sheet in a baking pan and place shaped cookie dough on the sheet. Bake cookies in 340F oven for 15-20 minutes.

*Makes 16 small cookies or 8 large cookies

Making delicious ramen noodles isn't easy. Ramen chefs in Japan usually train hard to make good ramen. This is a quick recipe to make soy sauce flavored ramen at home.
About Ramen Noodles

Ingredients:
2 Chukamen (raw Chinese noodles)
1 clove finely chopped garlic
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
2 cup chicken soup stock
1 cup kombu dashi soup stock
1 tbsp sake
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp soy sauce
*For toppings:
Chopped negi
Nori (dried seaweed)
Pepper

Preparation:
Heat sesami oil in a deep pan. Saute chopped ginger and garlic in the pan. Lower the heat. Add chicken soup stock and kombu dashi soup stock in the pan and bring to a boil. Add sugar, salt, sake, and soy sauce in the soup. Run the soup through a strainer. Serve hot soup into individual bowls. In the meantime, boil water in a large pan. Add chukamen noodles in the boiling water and cook for a few minutes. Drain the noodles and serve in the hot soup. Place toppings, such as chopped negi and nori seaweed. Sprinkle some pepper if you would like.
*Makes 2 servings