I really like her, she simplifies Japanese food to the shreds for the home cooks. As usual, her tuna donburi looks delicious and simple enough to make.

Shiokara (塩辛, Shiokara?) is a food in Japanese cuisine made from various marine animals that consists of small pieces of the animal’s meat in a brown viscous paste of the animal’s heavily salted, fermented viscera. The raw viscera are mixed with about 10% salt, 30% malted rice, packed in a closed container, and fermented for up to a month. Shiokara is sold in glass or plastic containers.

The flavor is quite strong and is considered something of an acquired taste even for the native Japanese palate. The taste of shiokara lingers in the mouth. One method of enjoying it is to consume the serving at one gulp and to follow it with a shot of straight whisky. Some bars in Japan specialize in shiokara.

In Korean cuisine, Jeotgal (젓갈) or Jeot (젓) is similar to shiokara but ingredients and amounts of salt are differently used. A small amount of Jeotgal made from anchovies or shrimps is often used in the making of kimchi.

Check out this thread on how to make your own: Squid Shiokara

Nikuman are Japanese steamed buns usually filled with either savory or sweet filling made out of adzuki beans. These japanese version of steamed buns are very similar to the Chinese baozi, also usually filled either a savory or sweet filling.

These hot food are usually sold in street hawkers or the convenience store in a ready-to-eat heat pack. Here are several brands to lookout for:

Circle K Sunkus

* White curry man
* Squid ink seafood man
* Deli chicken man with mayo-style flavor

Ministop

* Crunchy Chinese seafood man
* Crunchy cheese sausage donut man
* Boiled pork cube crunchy curry man
* Crunchy cheese lasagna man

FamilyMart

* Cream cheese man
* Sakura man
* Choco-man

Lawson

* Milk caramel man

SAVE ON

* Sakura anman
* Beef tendon man
* Jiaozi man

But if you want to make Nikuman at home, it’s is not impossible. Like a lot of asian style cooking, preparation is usually the hardest part of the whole thing. Here’s a very good recipe of steamed buns with pork filling that you can try out during your long weekends:

For the dough:

A:
2C (240g) flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp potato starch
1/2+ tbsp oil
3 tbsp sugar in 4 oz H2O

B:
½ tsp yeast
1 ½ tbsp lukewarm water
½ tsp sugar

1. Combine ingredients A and B and knead for 10 mins. Cover with wet teacloth to proof for 1 to 1.1/2 hours. Punch down and knead at least 20 times. Rest dough for 10 mins. If the dough pulls back, the rest time is insufficient, extend the rest time.

2. Divide dough into 1 oz pieces and fill with chosen filling. As you pleat the closing, be sure not to grease the edges so that the dough will stick.

For a good pork filling:

3T dark soy sauce
3T light soy sauce
1/2c honey
1/2t salt
3T oyster sauce
2T rice wine / sake
3T teriyako sauce
1t five-spice powder
1/2t ground white pepper

1-2 lbs pork tenderloin, loin, or belly cut into strips approx. 2″ thick and 8″ long. (I only used 1lb, but the marinade will easily take 2lb of meat.)

Stir all ingredients together in a deep bowl until honey dissolves.

Poke the pork all over with a skewer and place in the marinade. Turn until well coated. Cover and refridgerate for 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Set a wire rack over a deep baking tin filled with about an inch of hot water. Place the meat onto the rack, well spaced out. Baste generously and roast for 15 minutes.

Baste the meat once more and roast for another 20 minutes. Baste once more then turn the meat over. Baste generously and roast for another 20 minutes, basting 2-3 times during this period.

Turn the oven up to 200C/Gas Mark 6. Baste the meat one last time. Roast for 15 minutes until the meat is mahogany-coloured and the edges are slightly charred. Remove meat from to a chopping board and leave to rest. Don’t throw away the pan juices, you’ll need some for the filling!

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of my own for show but I will make sure to post it up when i made Nikuman again. But it would have to be during cooler climate :)

The most common Japanese pickle we know off are Umeboshi which is a plum pickle often served with rice and gari, pickled ginger used as palate cleansers to accompany sushis and sashimis. Japanese pickles are different from the western pickles which uses vinegar as a preservative agent. Also, ingredients used in picking in the west seems a little more palatable than the ingredients used in Japanese pickles.

In Japan, pickling does not stop at fruits and vegetables, pickling goes way out to rice bran, soybean to even fish. The purpose of tsukemonos is to offer color, texture and aroma to meals in Japan. It is even a good appetizer to start the meal with. The most common ingredient used for pickling in Japan are soy sauce, miso, vinegar, rice bran (nuka), salt, brines and sake lees (sake kasu).

Read here for more info about Tsukemono

I found a really nice website that offers some good recipes to start you off with making your own Japanese pickles. There are three recipes (all vegetarian) of pickling used in the site and they are Salt pickling, rice bran pickling and miso pickling that you can use.

Here’s one of the recipes to check out:

KYABETSU TO NINJIN NO ASAZUKE (pickled cabbage and carrot)

1 small head of regular cabbage (3/4 pound),
the leaves cut into pieces about an inch square
1 medium sized carrot, cut into matchstick slices about an inch long
1 Japanese cucumber, unpeeled and cut into matchstick
slices about an inch long
4 tablespoons of salt

Method:
Place vegetable slices into the pickle press (or jar) and add one teaspoon of salt, mix well by stirring with your hands. Add the second teaspoon of salt and mix again. Add the final tablespoon of salt and mix well. Clamp on the top of the pickle press and screw down the lid until it pushes down tightly on the top layer of vegetables. Leave under pressure overnight or for at least 10 hours. Remove the pickles from the press and place them in a colander, wash them well to remove salt, pat them dry and serve.

A slab of minced meat, seasoned with spices and tasty seasoning transcends culture. Of course, Hambagu is a very popular part of Youshoku, or Japanese-style western cuisine. Hambagu is a delicious take on the western hamburger with very simple seasoning and doused generously with Tonkatsu sauce. As you can imagine, this version of hamburger patties goes very well with rice or as miniature burgers. Of course, the size of the patties depends on whether you want to make it bigger.

Here’s a very simple recipe from Just Hungry for you to try: Hambaagu or hambagaa:Japanese style Hamburger

Has anyone every tried this? It looks like a very loose okonomiyaki.

Have you ever wondered what Sumo wrestler’s eat to help maintain that weight and energy for their tournaments? They eat this thing called Chanko Nabe, a type of stew that incorporates various meats and vegetables. Needless to say it is high in calories and is absolutely hearty for cold days. It contains a dashi or chicken broth soup base with sake or mirin to add flavor. The bulk of chanko nabe is made up of large quantities of protein sources (usually chicken (quartered, skin left on), fish (fried and made into balls), tofu, or sometimes beef) and vegetables (daikon, bok choy, etc). While considered a reasonably healthful dish in its own right, chankonabe is very protein-rich and usually served in massive quantities, with beer and rice to increase the caloric intake. Leftover chankonabe broth can also later be used as broth for somen or udon noodles.

Here’s a recipe I am keen on trying, even though i am in no hurry to gain weight. Ever. It’s looks pretty yummy and the main protein for this Chanko Nabe is chicken.

* 1 pack udon noodles
* 12 cups chicken stock
* 4 boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch chunks
* 1 daikon radish, sliced
* 1 potato, sliced
* 2 onions, quartered
* 12 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed removed and quartered (can use reconstituted dried shiitakes, if you like)
* 1 carrot, peeled and sliced into bite-size chunks
* 1 cake fresh tofu (”cotton” or non-silken so it won’t break up on you), cut into small cubes
* 1 cake fresh tofu (also cotton variety), cut into small cubes and fried on all sides in oil til they take on color (if you can find it in the store, get abura-age,which are deep fried thin slices of cotton tofu)
* 1 medium bok choy cabbage, chopped into small pieces
* 1/2 cup soy sauce
* 1/2 cup mirin (sweet sake)
* 2 teaspoons salt

Garnish: gratings of that racy, narcotic shichimi, if you can get your hands on it

Cook the udon noodles according to directions, drain, and reserve.

Bring water to boil in a saucepan, then add the sliced daikon and potato and parboil for a few minutes. Drain, refresh with cold water, and reserve.

Bring the chicken stock to a boil, add all the vegetables (not including the daikon and potato or the cabbage), chicken, and two kinds of tofu and simmer until the fresh vegetables are cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add the daikon, potato, and cabbage and simmer 5 more minutes.

Season the broth with soy sauce, mirin, and salt to taste, simmer a few more minutes.

Place the cooked udon noodles in deep soup bowls, then ladle the soup over them and serve piping hot, passing the shichimi separate, to grate over the soup to taste.

Recipe from HERE..

I know that I have a soft spot for Miso soup but did you know that there are at least 3 kinds of Miso in the market? The miso we know is made from fermented soybeans but the term miso also applies to the product created from fermented barley and rice. The three varieties of Miso I know off are:

# Shiromiso, “white miso”
# Akamiso, “red miso”
# Kuromiso, “black miso”

The red and white miso are the ones most commonly used in miso soup that we drink and it’s sold worldwide as a generic term, “Miso”. The raw materials used to produce miso may include any mix of soybeans, barley, rice, buckwheat, millet, rye, wheat, hemp seed, and cycad, among others. Lately, producers in other countries have also begun selling miso made from chick peas, corn, adzuki beans, amaranth, and quinoa. Fermentation time ranges from as little as five days to several years. The wide variety of Japanese miso is difficult to classify, but is commonly done by grain type, color, taste, and background. Black Miso in this case is perhaps produced from buckwheat or other dark colored grains.

Here’s a very ritualized video …almost artsy fartsy… video of making miso soup with some noodles.

Rice for breakfast in Japan is not an unusual thing. In the west, eating rice for breakfast may seemed a bit weird because it’s just not the same as bacon, eggs, toasts or cereal and milk. But look at it this way, people eat healthy carbs for breakfasts, the Japanese does too - with rice.

Tamago kake Gohan is essentially piping hot rice with an egg broken into it. The concoction is usually stirred and the hot rice will semi-cook the egg. It is not unlike softboil egg on rice except it is all mixed together.

What you need is:
1 egg
1 bowl of hot rice
soy sauce

Method:
1. Crack egg in a plate, season with some soy sauce to taste. Stir to combine.
2. Take out the bowl of hot rice, make a center in the middle and pour the egg mixture in. Stir well and eat it with your favorite Japanese pickle and a side of miso soup.

This is the easiest, most nutritious breakfast on the go if you think about it. If you have left over rice from last night, just heat it up in the microwave with a sprinkle of water and crack and egg in. Hey, Rocky drank eggs every morning, i don’t see why we can’t eat eggs and rice. Seems like a yummier version, if you ask me :)

Since Aomori is located by the sea, naturally their cuisine involves a ton of seafood. In my opinion, produce from the seas offers the BEST in terms of flavors. Fresh seafood like fish, clams, crabs and shrimps has a type of sweetness in its flesh that requires very little seasoning. One main reason why sashimi needs sushi-grade fish is for this reason.

One of the local specialty in Aomori is the Ichigo-ni, which literally translates to stewed strawberries. It’s nto made out of strawberries but sea urchin eggs decked ontop of a soupy delicious broth. It needs little seasoning and is eaten with a touch of Shiso. Writing this, my mouth is salivating as sea urchin eggs are my favorite. The texture and creaminess of the eggs is unbeatable and I would say, liken to the roes of Hairy Crabs roes from China.

Read more about Aomori’s regional cuisines.

Here’s a video on how to eat sea urchin: