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| Sharing a meal with family and friends is an integral part of Japanese culture. Good food is well appreciated and any Japanese Cook Book you pick up run into several hundred pages. This web page is not intended to be any where near representative of depth of Japanese dishes, it is written to help a person new to Japanese Cooking as a starting point. |
Sushi and Onigiri Sushi is probably the best known Japanese dish so let us start with this and a close associate of Sushi called Onigiri. To make Sushi or Onigiri, the first step is to make the cooked rice for it. The fundamental difference between making Sushi and Onigiri is how the basic rice is made. Sushi Rice has Vinegar and Mirin put in it while Onigiri Rice has only salt added to the basic recipe. Otherwise, the recipes for the basic rice for both are the same. Click on these phrases to get recipes for Sushi Rice and Onigiri Rice then, press the back button on your browser to return to this page Using the basic recipes for Sushi Rice and Onigiri Rice, some of the tools described on this web site and your imagination, you can create many varieties, a few of which can be seen by clicking the hyperlinks of Sushi and Onigiri Sushi is almost always served with Soy Sauce and Wasabi Paste on the side. Pickled ginger called Gari is sometimes served with Sushi. |
Gohan (Cooked Rice) Rice is an essential part of any Japanese Meal and a bowl of rice is included in most of them The term Donburi, literally translated means a Rice Bowl but in practice, Donburi (sometimes referred to as Don) is taken to mean a large bowl of steamed short grain rice with some other food items such as meat, fish or vegetables put on top of it. Such is the importance of Rice in a meal in Japan that the Japanese refer to each meal in the day by a prefix followed by "gohan” which means cooked rice. Breakfast is referred to as Asa-Gohan (literally Morning-Rice), Lunch as Hiru-Gohan (literally Noon-Rice) and dinner as Ban-Gohan (literally Evening-Rice) Recipes for a few Japanese Rice preparations can be got by clicking on these hyperlinks: Gohan (Steamed Rice), Takenoko Gohan (Steamed Rice with Vegetables), Takikomi gohan (Mixed Rice), Imo-gohan (Sweet Potato Rice), Tsuna Gohan (Tuna Rice), Omurice (Omelet Rice), Yaki Onigiri (Pan-fried Rice Cakes), Zoni (Japanese Rice Cake Soup), Kuri Gohan (Chestnut Rice) |
Dashi Dashi is a broth widely used as an ingredient in Japanese Cooking. The traditional Dashi uses dried Seafood flakes. There are several types of fish which could be used. Recipes for some kinds of Dashi can be got by clicking on these hyperlinks: Katsuo Dashi (Bonito Broth), Kombu Dashi (Kelp Broth), Niboshi Dashi (Anchovy Broth), Shiitake Dashi (Shiitake Mushroom Broth) |
Soups As mentioned several times on this web site, Rice is the most important food in Japan. It is very common to serve any of the Gohan recipes with a Soup. Recipes for a few Japanese Soups can be got by clicking on these hyperlinks: |
Deserts
Japanese Deserts truly have a identity of their own. Many ingredients call for Rice Flour, this can be easily made at home by grinding Koshihikari Rice in a mixer till it becomes a fine powder Recipes for a few deserts can be got by clicking on the hyperlinks below: Mitarashi Dango (Japanese Dumplings), Tsukimi Dango (moon-viewing dumplings), Pinattsu bata Mochi (Peanut Butter Rice Cake), Mah-n-goh Mochi (Mango Rice Cake), Ginger-Infused Japanese Rice Pudding, Sticky Rice with Coconut and Strawberries |
Mirin Substitutes
There are three basic types of Mirin available, hon mirin, shio mirin and shin mirin. As Mirin is not easily available outside of Japan, recipes for substitutes of hon mirin and shio mirin can be got by clicking the hyperlinks below |