Shoyu Ramen

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.

Ingredients:
2 Chukamen noodles
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
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 sesame 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

Edamame Potato Salad

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

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

Shrimp Tempura

Tempura shrimp is often served on a bowl of rice or hot noodle dishes.

Ingredients:

12 large shrimp

1 egg

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup ice water

*Vegetable oil for frying

*flour for dusting

Preparation:

Remove heads and shells from shrimp without removing tails. Devein the shrimps. Make two or three incisions on the stomach side of the shrimp to straighten them. Lightly press the back of shrimp to straighten. Remove the dirt from the tails of shrimp, using a knife. Dry shrimps on paper towels. Make tempura batter. Heat the oil to 340 degrees F. Lightly flour shrimp. Dip the shrimp in the tempura batter. Deep-fry the shrimp until crisp.

Gyoza

Gyoza, known as Japanese potstickers, originated in China. There are a number of variations in the filling. This is a recipe to make the most common pan-fried gyoza.

Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
1/3 cup chopped and boiled cabbage or hakusai (Chinese cabbage), excess water removed
2 Tbsp chopped green onion

1/2 lb ground pork
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsps soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
20 gyoza wrappers
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
*For dipping sauce
soy sauce, rice vinegar, rayu (chili oil)

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients other than oil in a bowl and mix well by hands. Place a spoonful of gyoza 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. Serve gyoza with dipping sauce on the side. For the dipping sauce, mix a 1:2 ratio of soy sauce to rice vinegar and add some rayu chili oil if you would like.

Matcha Green Tea Chocolate Balls

Yield: Makes 12 balls

Ingredients:

1/2 lb white chocolate, finely chopped
2 tsp Matcha (green tea powder)
1 Tbsp milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
*matcha green tea powder for coating
Preparation:

Put finely chopped white chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside.
Put 2 tsp of green tea powder in a small bowl.
Pour warm milk over green tea powder and stir well. Set aside.
Pour heavy cream in a small pan and heat on medium heat.
Stop the heat before cream starts to boil and stir in the green tea and milk mixture.
Pour the cream mixture over white chocolate. Melt the chocolate, stirring well.
Cool the chocolate mixture for about one hour in the room temperature.
Scoop the chocolate into about 1 1/2 inch balls and place them on a sheet of aluminium foil.
Cool them in the refrigerator for about one hour, or until firm.
Round chocolate balls by hands and coat with green tea powder on a tray.
Cool green tea chocolate balls until firm.

Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk
2 egg yolks
5 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp matcha green tea powder
3 Tbsp hot water
Preparation:

Mix hot water and green tea powder together in a bowl and set aside. Lightly whisk egg yolks in a pan. Add sugar in the pan and mix well. Gradually add milk in the pan and mix well. Put the pan on low heat and heat the mixture, stirring constantly. When the mixture is thickened, remove the pan from the heat. Soak the bottom of the pan in ice water and cool the mixture. Add green tea in the egg mixture and mix well, cooling in ice water. Add whipped heavy cream in the mixture and stir gently. Pour the mixture in an ice cream maker and freeze, following instructions of the ice cream maker. Or, pour the mixture in a container and freeze, stirring the ice cream a few times.
*Makes 4-6 servings

Tekkamaki

Tuna sushi rolls are called tekkamaki in Japanese. 

Japanese Sushi Recipes

Ingredients:

4 cups sushi rice

4 sheets of nori (dried seaweed), cut in half

4 oz sashimi/sushi-grade tuna

Preparation:

Cut tuna into thin and long sticks. Put a nori sheet on top of a bamboo mat (makisu). Spread the sushi rice on top of the nori sheet. Place tuna horizontally on the rice. Roll up the bamboo mat, pressing forward to shape the sushi into a cylinder. Press the bamboo mat firmly and remove it from the sushi. Cut the rolled sushi into bite-sized pieces. 

*Makes 8 rolls

Spicy Tuna Roll

It's a sushi roll made with seasoned tuna sashimi.
Ingredients:
4 cups sushi rice
4 sheets nori (dried seaweed)
1 Tbsp white sesame seeds
1/2 lb sushi/sashimi grade tuna (maguro)
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 tsp togarashi (chile powder) *adjust the amount to your preference.

Preparation:
Chop sashimi/sushi grade tuna and mix with mayonnaise and togarashi. Put a nori sheet on top of a bamboo mat (makisu). Spread sushi rice on top of the nori sheet. Sprinkle sesame seed on top of the sushi rice. Place the tuna mixture lengthwise on the rice. Roll up the bamboo mat, pressing forward to shape the sushi into a cylinder. Press the bamboo mat firmly and remove it from the sushi. Cut the rolled sushi into bite-sized pieces.
Makes 4 rolls

California Maki Roll

Ingredients:
4 cups sushi rice
4 sheets of nori (dried seaweed)
1 avocado
3/4 cup crab meat
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 tsp salt

Preparation:
Peel an avocado and cut it into strips or mash it. Put imitation crab in a bowl and mix with salt and mayonnaise. Cover a bamboo mat with plastic wrap. Put a sheet of dried seaweed on top of the mat. Spread about 1 cup of sushi rice on top of the seaweed and press firmly. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the sushi rice. Turn the sushi layer over so that the seaweed is on top. Place avocado and crab horizontally on the seaweed. Roll the bamboo mat forward, pressing the ingredients inside the cylinder-shaped sushi. Press firmly the bamboo mat with hands, then remove the rolled sushi. Cut the sushi roll into bite-size pieces.
Makes 4 rolls