Japanese Recipes

Just because resources might be sparse doesn't mean food has to be dull. Along with recipes for standard store-cupboard staples, we want to bring you a selection of dishes made using common ingredients, but that you might not have tried. This collection looks at simple Japanese dishes, some of which like Okonomiyaki are an easy way to use up some staple or left over supplies.

Tori no lime teriyaki don

Don’t let the title confuse you, this is about as simple a recipe as you could imagine, involving a few store cupboard staples and Chicken (which can easily be bought frozen then defrosted). We’ve included a basic recipe for Teriyaki Sauce, but 9/10 times, people will use store-bought.

Ingredients (for 4 portions):

• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 leeks, chopped into 2cm long pieces
• 500g Skin-less Boneless Chicken Thighs, cut into bite-size chunks
• 4 tbsp Potato Flour or Corn Flour/starch

For the Teriyaki Sauce (if making):

• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp sake (or very dry white wine)
• 1 tbsp lime juice, with zest of ½ a lime

To serve

800g Thai Jasmine Rice or Japanese Short-Grain Rice, cooked

Method:

1. If making the sauce (rather than buying) mix together all the ingredients in a bowl until the sugar has dissolved, set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the leeks and fry gently until browned on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Toss the chicken in bowl with the Potato/Corn Flour to evenly coat all over.
4. Add the chicken to the pan and fry for about 2 minutes a side until browned on both sides.
5. Add the leeks back to the pan with the chicken, then pour over your sauce (either the homemade mix of 1 standard sachet from a supermarket). Stir to coat everything evenly.
6. Simmer for 4-5 minutes over a medium-high heat until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is fully cooked.
7. In four bowls, portion out the rice evenly, then top each with the Teryiaki mix.

Buto no shoga yaki

Another dish with a name that makes you think it’s harder than it is to make. In English this would probably be called “Pork in Ginger Sauce”. The only difficulty with this recipe is getting pork sliced thin enough (it should be about the thickness of a Minute Steak is).

You can do this at home by getting a Loin, wrapping it in Clingfilm, freezing for a couple of hours to firm up and slicing yourself, or you can ask a butcher to do it. That said, if you buy thin loin steaks (as the recipe below calls for) you’ll still make an acceptable approximation.

Ingredients (For 4 portions):

• 560g thinly sliced pork loin steaks, most of the fat removed
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp sake or very dry white wine
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 50g Ginger, peeled and finely grated (the stuff in jars pre-grated works fine)
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced

To serve:

• 800g Thai Jasmine Rice or Japanese Short-Grain Rice, cooked
• Whatever salad leaves, like Rocket or Watercress, you have to hand

Method:

1. Stir together the soy sauce, sake (wine), honey and ginger in a bowl to make the marinade.
2. In a bowl or food container, add the pork steaks and cover with the marinade, mixing to ensure coverage. Cover and refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes (leave longer if your pork is a little thick)
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, and fry the sliced onions for about 6 minutes, or until they turn translucent.
4. Add the pork to the pan, but reserve the marinade in the container for now. Fry the pork for 4 minutes a side until browned.
5. Pour the reserved marinade over the pork and onions, and stir-fry for about 2-3 more minutes until the sauce is caramelized and thickened, and the pork is cooked through (the time it takes will depend on the thickness of your steaks)
6. Serve on a plate over the cooked rice and a few salad leaves to garnish.

Okonomiyaki

Essentially the Japanese equivalent to Pizza. This street food is often served in Japan with a wide variety of toppings from salmon, prawns, bonito fish flakes, pickled vegetables. Making these at home you could use toppings like tinned mackerel, avocado, even a fried egg.

The idea of this is to take some vegetables you probably have lying around, a few store-cupboard basics and come up with something customisable. There’s a reason“Okonomiyaki” means “As you like it”.

Ingredients (makes 8 small, 4 large):

• 3 large free-range eggs
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp dark soy sauce
• ½ tsp toasted sesame oil (you can use any good Olive or Rapeseed oil if you don’t have this)
• 2 large spring onions, thinly sliced
• 275g white cabbage, shredded

For a basic Okonomiyaki Sauce:

• 1½ tbsp tomato ketchup
• ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp runny honey
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce

Method:

1. Mix together your Okonomiyaki Sauce ingredients in a bowl and put to the side – I often make more than the recipe requires and keep it in a container in the fridge to have with omelettes
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, eggs, sea salt, oil and soy sauce until you have a smooth batter
3. Fold in the shredded cabbage and spring onions, coating everything well. Make sure to stir it occasionally while frying the others, to keep it all mixed together.
4. In a frying pan heat a neutral cooking oil (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan) over a medium high heat.
5. Fry a few spoonful’s of your cabbage mixture in the pan (they should be about the size of the palm of your hand), pressing down the mix gentle with a spoon. Fry until golden brown before turning over and frying the other side to the same golden brown state.
6. Remove from the pan and reserve on some paper towels to drain the excess oil while you fry the rest of the mixture in batches.
7. Serve your finished Okonomiyaki with a little drizzle of the sauce you made earlier

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