Japanese cuisine is a favourite amongst many; from sushi to tempura to miso soup, Japanese recipes are decadent and delicious. Many people think that cooking Japanese food is difficult; however, some of the best Japanese dishes can be easily prepared and enjoyed in the comfort of your home. In this post, we will take a look at four of the best Japanese dishes that you can make and impress your family and friends!
1. Miso Soup
Miso soup is a tasty and warming staple in Japanese cuisine. It is a great example of easy Japanese cooking for you to make at home.
Dashi stock is a type of Japanese fish stock, and it forms the base of miso soup. Once you have boiled the dashi stock with water, you add and mix in miso (fermented soybean) paste, mirin (sweet rice wine) and soy sauce. Traditionally, sliced spring onions are mixed in with miso soup, but you can also add other vegetables including cabbage, chilli, garlic, ginger, potatoes, mushrooms and daikon (giant Japanese radishes). If you’re a seafood lover, you can also try adding some shrimp! Top your miso soup off with sliced cubes of silken tofu for an authentic touch, and enjoy with a Japanese soup spoon.
When it comes to cooking Japanese food, miso soup is an excellent place to start. Not only is it a delicious staple in Japanese cuisine, but it is also great for boosting your metabolism and is packed full of nutrients.
Why not go the extra mile and serve up your miso soup using traditional Japanese lacquerware for a truly authentic way to enjoy your delicious meal?
2. Soba
One of the best Japanese dishes to make at home is soba, an authentic and delightful noodle dish. The words ‘soba noodles’ directly translates to ‘buckwheat noodles’, and they have a naturally nutty and earthy flavour. It only takes a few minutes to boil soba noodles, making it a quick and easy Japanese cooking recipe to try. Just remember to rinse the noodles in cold water before boiling them to remove the starch.
Zaru Soba is a traditional, cold soba recipe which is typically served with a dipping sauce. After boiling the soba noodles, strain and then cool them down in ice water for a few minutes and strain again. For the dipping sauce, mix dashi stock, soy sauce and mirin before allowing to cool. Serve toppings alongside, such as shredded nori seaweed and spring onions for extra flavouring. Enjoying Zaru Soba is a great way to test out your chopstick skills! If you want a refresher, have a read of our step-by-step guide on how to use chopsticks.
Soba noodles are a healthy choice as they have been shown to benefit your blood sugar levels and reduce inflammation. Moreover, soba noodles that are 100% buckwheat are ideal for those who are gluten-intolerant because, despite what the name suggests, 100% buckwheat noodles are wheat free!
3. Tonkatsu
Tonkatsu is one of the best Japanese dishes as it is both delicious and widely loved. Tonkatsu is a crispy pork cutlet covered with panko bread crumbs typically served with tonkatsu sauce, steamed white rice and shredded cabbage.
To make this tasty dish, take pork chops and season with salt and pepper before evenly covering in flour, then egg and then panko bread crumbs. Heat oil in a pan to 180 degrees Celsius and deep fry the pork chops until they are golden brown. Make your tonkatsu sauce by mixing tomato ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, or try to find some in an Asian supermarket. Serve with steamed rice and shredded cabbage.
If you don’t fancy pork, try cooking up a chicken katsu – known as torikatsu – or, for a vegetarian option, pumpkin makes a great substitute!
4. Gyudon
Gyudon is a one-pot, warming and flavourful example of authentic Japanese cooking. Gyudon is a Japanese beef bowl, and it is a fantastic example of Japanese comfort food and an easy Japanese cooking recipe that you can perfect at home.
To assemble your gyudon, you need a bowl of steamed rice topped with thin slices of beef, yellow onions, spring onions and egg. Heat the yellow onion and beef in a pan and cook before adding sugar, sake, mirin and soy sauce. Simmer your mixture before adding beaten eggs. Place the beef, onions and eggs on top of a bowl of hot, steamed rice and garnish with spring onions and pickled ginger.
Not only is this dish delicious, but it is also affordable and a definite crowd-pleaser. Feel free to swap out the beef for other meats, such as pork, as long as your meat of choice is thinly sliced. Also, if you would prefer, you can swap out the rice for noodles instead and still achieve a tasty result!
There you have four fantastic picks of authentic Japanese recipes that you can master at home! So why not gather your family and friends, dress your table in traditional Japanese tableware, and test out some of these easy Japanese cooking recipes for everybody to enjoy? Don’t forget to show off your chopstick skills while you’re at it!