Cooking authentic Japanese cuisine can be as easy or difficult as you want to make it.  It can be time consuming, but there are also lots of easy Japanese food recipes that are quite simple, easy, and quick to make.

Grilled fish entrees, for instance, are often very easy and you can use an ordinary frying pan or a small toaster oven.  Buying fresh fish at the local meat market or grocery store can be rather expensive, but then again, what good food isn’t?

While Western cooking has become a significant part of modern-day Japanese culture, Japan remains a very traditional country, by global standards and, as such, traditional cooking is still by and large main stream.

Here you will find a traditional, authentic Japanese food menu, from morning until evening, a typical day in Japanese cooking and eating.  The Japanese are a very clean people, and many dishes are eaten with chopsticks and/or fingers, so every meal begins with cleaning your hands with a hot moist towel called an oshibori.

Ready to get started? Great. Let’s have breakfast, the traditional Japanese way.

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Please note: For your convenience, you can click on the recipes listed below and be taken directly to a page with just that one recipe on it, in printer-friendly format.

You are certainly welcomed to read through this whole page, all the recipes are here as well, and there are some videos and pertinent information on background, history, customs, special notes, etc., so it is well worth the read.

Here is the list, in alphabetical order:

Dragon Roll Sushi

Egg Drop Soup

Ginger Sesame Salmon Sashimi

Grilled Salmon

Miso Soup

Nikujaga (Meat and Potatoes Stew)

Perfect Sushi Rice

Saba Shioyaki (Grilled Mackerel)

Sunomono (Japanese Cucumber Salad)

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A Japanese-style traditional breakfast will consist of steamed rice and miso soup (always), and typically also includes several other side dishes. Side dishes most common include tamagoyaki (rolled omelet), broiled or grilled fish, nori (dried seaweed), natto, tsukemono pickles, and several others, the choices too numerous to list for our “starter” purposes here.

Plain, steamed white rice is the traditional favorite, and a simple soup made with miso, a fermented soybean paste will be our first recipe, and some grilled salmon also. The side dish condiments can be usually purchased at a local Asian foods store. If you do not have any such store near you, links will be provided to you so you may obtain them.

Enjoy, this delicious way to start your ethnic eating experience you will, I am sure, find to be among the most easy Japanese food recipes you will come across.

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A Traditional Japanese Breakfast

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Miso Soup

Ingredients:

(serves 4)

• 8 oz. miso, medium brown
• 1) 12 oz. package silky firm tofu, chopped into 1/2″ cubes
• 4 green onions, chopped fine, use the white part and half of the green stalk as well
• 6 cups Dashi (fish broth)
• sesame oil
• Sriracha hot red pepper paste sauce 

Directions:

1. Bring Dashi to a boil in a large pot. Spoon in the miso, a lump at a time, stirring continuously, until all the miso is mixed and blended well with the water. Reduce the heat to a bold simmer.
2. Add in the tofu chunks and chopped green onions. Let the soup simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until the onions are tender.
3. Put a few drops of sesame oil in the bottom of each serving bowl, then pour in the soup while it is still steaming hot, and serve.
4. Have hot pepper paste/sauce on the table for those who like their miso soup hot spicy.
5. Serve with a large soup spoon and chopsticks for utensils.

And there you have it, traditional Japanese miso soup!

Wasn’t that easy? Quick, simple, and so tasty, mmm …

Okay, next on our breakfast menu is the …

Grilled Salmon, Japanese Style

Ingredients:

• 4 (5-ounce) salmon fillets skins removed and saved
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Marinade:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sake
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 2 tablespoons granulated white cane sugar
• 3 tablespoons chopped green onions
• 3 tablespoons chopped & minced fresh ginger root
• 1 small lemon, thinly sliced

Directions:

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For our Japanese lunch, let’s have some sushi. With sushi you can’t go wrong, because it is a typical inclusion in almost any authentic Japanese food menu for the mid-day meal.

The key to making good sushi is twofold:

One, the ingredients (other than the rice) must be fresh—fresh veggies, and if you are using raw fish and seafood ingredients, they absolutely must be very fresh; if possible, get seafood caught that very morning. Certainly not caught more than two days ago, and never caught, frozen, and then thawed for sale.

Two, and this is where many amateur sushi makers fall short, the rice must be perfectly prepared. Perfect sushi rice is fragrant, slightly sweet, and sticky yet still crumbly.

Because the flavor and texture of sushi rice is so important, this next recipe will show you how to prepare rice in such a way that your sushi will be top notch, fine restaurant grade in quality.

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How to Make Perfect Sushi Rice

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Ingredients:

• 2 cups good quality uncooked (glutinous) sushi rice
• 2-1/4 cups water
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 1-1/2 tbsp. granulated white cane sugar
• 1 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. In a strainer or colander, rinse the rice thoroughly, until the water runs clear. Leave the rice in the strainer, suspended over a bowl, for a full hour, so the rice is completely dried.
2. In a full sized saucepan, combine the rinsed rice with 2-1/4 cups of water and bring the water to a simmer, and set your timer for 10 minutes.
3. Put a lid on the pot and allow rice to simmer for 10 minutes, on low flame.
4. While the rice is cooking, prepare your seasoned rice vinegar, by mixing together, in a small bowl, the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar has all dissolved.
5. When your timer goes off, turn off the burner and, keeping the pan covered, let the rice sit for another full 10 minutes.
6. After 10 minutes, the next step is to “fan” the rice. Do this by spreading the rice out on a large enough baking pan, little by little, until all the rice is evenly spread over the pan. Drizzle some of the seasoned rice vinegar, tablespoon at a time, over the rice. Using a fork, fluff and fan the rice, so all the grains are being coated with the seasoning as they are being separated from each other. Drizzle the rest of the vinegar over the rice evenly, and keep fanning and fluffing the rice. You want the rice to be sticky, but not clumpy. The grains should all be separate, nicely seasoned, and yet sticky enough to hold the shape you want during sushi assembly time. The rice will take on a beautiful shine to it, also.
7. Now that the rice is well seasoned and fanned and cooled, it is ready to work with. To test your rice for perfection, take a small amount and form it into a small cylinder in your hand. It should hole its shape well, but if you take your finger and poke/pull at an edge of the cylinder, the portion you are applying pressure to should easily crumble and fall away from the rest.

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Here is a well done video presentation that will walk you through all the steps listed above.

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Now that we have a fresh batch of perfectly prepared sushi rice, it’s time to make our sushi. And you are in for a real treat, trust me. Among the finest and most popular of traditional Japanese food recipes, when it come to sushi, is this one …

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Dragon Roll Sushi

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Ingredients:

(makes 8 servings)

For the Roll-

• About 6 cups prepared sushi rice
• 1 Japanese cucumber (you can use a long regular cucumber, but if you can get a true Japanese cuke, by all means use that)
• 4 avocados
• 1 lemon
• 4 nori sheets, cut in half crosswise
• 16 shrimp tempura
• ⅛ cup (20 oz) Tobiko (Japanese orange caviar)
• Roasted Unagi (eel)

For toppings-

• Spicy Japanese Mayo
• Unagi Sauce
• Black sesame seeds

For Garnish and Dipping-

• Wasabi paste (ground, green Japanese horseradish)
• Thin sliced pickled ginger
• 1 lemon, thin sliced
• Soy sauce – provide on table, with a small bowl for each diner to pour some soy sauce into and mix some wasabi paste in with it, for dipping sauce.

Vinegar water for dipping hands (Tezu)

• ¼ cup water
• 2 tsp. rice vinegar

Items you will need-

• Bamboo Sushi Wrapping Mat
• Plastic wrap

Directions:

1. Peel the skin off the cucumber and slice it into thin strips, lengthwise.
2. Take the avocado and cut in in half, lengthwise, circling the knife around the seed, then twist the knife in one direction—the two halves will separate. Keep twisting in the same direction until one half comes apart from the pit. Now dig the knife point into the pit. Holding the skin of the avocado with your other hand, twist in back and forth directions. The pit will pop out easily.
3. Skin the avocado halves, and slice them width-wise into narrow slices.
4. Press the avocado slices with your fingers, gently, and then keep applying gentle and even pressure with the side of a knife until the length of the avocado slice is about the same as that of your nori seaweed sheet. Important! Squeeze some lemon juice over the avocado slices—this will keep them from tarnishing into a tannish-brown color as they sit while you do the rest of the steps.
5. Take some plastic wrap, and wrap the bamboo mat with it, then place half of a nori sheet, shiny side down, on it. Clean your hands in vinegar water (tezu) and spread the rice over the nori sheet. It is important that the rice is evenly spread over the entire nori sheet, and at a uniform thickness, even at the very edges and corners.
6. Now turn the rice-loaded over, and place the shrimp tempura, cucumber strips, and tobiko at the bottom edge of the nori sheet. If you are using unagi, place inside with the rest, as well.
7. Starting with the bottom edge, roll the nori sheet up and over the filling, nice and tight, and firm, with the bamboo mat until the bottom edge reaches the nori sheet. Lift the bamboo mat up and roll it over.
8. Place the bamboo mat over the roll and squeeze the roll tightly.
9. Place the avocado on top of the roll, using the edge of a knife.
10. Now place another plastic wrap over the roll, and put the bamboo mat over it. Squeeze tightly—but not too tightly, until the avocado slices are firmly wrapped around the sushi. Take care to squeeze with just enough pressure that the avocado slices adhere to the roll but are not broken.
11. Now take a sharp knife and cut the roll into 8 pieces. Between each slicing, wipe the knife clean with a well soaked towel. One you have completed slicing, take the plastic wrap off, and transfer the slices to a serving platter, arranging them in a gentle “S” pattern, to symbolize a slithering dragon.
12. Put your tobiko on top of the slices, and then drizzle the tops with the Unagi sauce and spicy mayo. Lastly, sprinkle on the black sesame seeds.
13. Garnish the sushi with a lump of wasabi paste, a small pile of thin sliced pickled ginger, and a few wedges of sliced lemon. The Japanese are very much into artistic presentation, so for the true ethnic experience, form the wasabi and ginger into pleasant looking shapes, and arrange the lemon wedges neatly as you place the garnishes on the platter.

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Now, if you are like I was, when I first read a recipe like this for making a complex sushi roll, you might a little dazed by now, teehee. So, here is a good video presentation that will walk you through the steps. Hopefully, visualizing how it is done will erase any doubts from your mind about preparing a Dragon Roll – it did for me.

This particular cook uses some small variations from our recipe, but the basic steps are the same, and most importantly, the easy to be confusing techniques (in written form) are all there, so seeing how it’s done is going to help you.

Here we go:

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Also for our authentic Japanese lunch menu, let’s have some sashimi. Sashimi is basically raw fish.

Yes, you read that correctly. Raw fish.

“Yuk,” you say?

Then my guess is you’ve never tasted well prepared sashimi before. I was very reticent at first when someone offered to take me to a fine Japanese restaurant and treat me to a lunch of sushi and sashimi. Sushi, sure, I had tried that and loved it. But … come on, raw fish?

But, being the ethnic food adventurer that I am, I tried some. and I was forever hooked, line and sinker! It is absolutely delicious!

It has to be extremely fresh, however, the fish, because good sashimi does not have any of that “fishy” taste. It is clean smelling, fresh and subtle on the palate, with a texture that just melts in your mouth.

Even two-day-old caught fish can start to develop unwanted smells and textures that will make for poor sashimi. So when you get your salmon (or whatever seafood you are using) find a meat and seafood store that provides wild-caught and fresh caught that morning seafoods.

We are going to be using salmon, and key to making a great sashimi is how you do your salmon sashimi preparation. There is a special, specific way to trim and slice the fish into bite sized sashimi, and really, that is all you do to it, other than place the slices artistically on the serving platter with some garnishes.

Here is a video of a master sushi chef properly trimming, slicing, and presenting salmon sashimi on the serving platter.

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Next is a great recipe for adding a little zing flavor to your perfectly prepped and sliced salmon sashimi.

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Salmon Sashimi with Ginger and Hot Sesame Oil

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Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon fresh orange juice
• Twelve 1/8-inch-thick slices (about 1/4 pound) of fresh-caught and well trimmed salmon, cut into 2-inch squares
• One 1/4-inch piece of fresh ginger root, sliced to paper-thin and then cut into matchstick strips (about 24 pieces)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
• 2 tablespoons pure grapeseed oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons roasted white sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro (coriander) leaves, chopped

Directions:

1. Make a soy-citrus sauce by mixing two tablespoons of the soy sauce in a small bowl with the orange and lime juices.
2. Take the remaining 1/4 cup of soy sauce and, in a medium sized bowl, toss the salmon with it, allow to stand for 1 minute, and then drain.
3. Place in a pleasant pattern, three of the salmon slices on each serving plate. Top them with the ginger and chives.
4. Now, over moderately high burn, heat your grapeseed oil in a small saucepan together with the sesame oil. Heat it until the oils are smoking; this will usually take about 2 minutes.
5. Drizzle the hot oil over the salmon slices, then do the same with soy-citrus sauce over top. Sprinkle on the chopped cilantro and roasted sesame seeds, and serve.

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Now we move on to dinner. A traditional Japanese dinner menu will include four entrees, along with the ever-present rice. And at dinner time, often the rice will be brown, not white. The entrees will typically include a soup, a meat dish, a vegetable and meat stew, or a solely vegetable dish, and perhaps a salad.

The next four recipes will show you how to prepare a truly authentic, traditional, and classic Japanese dinner.

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First off, we will make the soup. This is one of the most easy Japanese food recipes you will ever come across, but, much like Miso Soup which is shown above, in its simplicity lies its unmistakably unique elegance, so representative of …

Japanese Cuisine at its Finest!

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Egg Drop Soup

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Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

• 4 cups chicken broth, divided
• 1/8 tsp. ground dried ginger
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped green onions – use all the white parts, and the first half of the green stalks
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk

Directions:

1. Pour 3-1/4 cups of the chicken broth in a medium sized saucepan—reserve the other 3/4 cup of broth.
2. Add in the chopped green onions, ginger, and salt, stir together well, and bring the broth to a rolling boil.
3. Take a small mixing bowl and put the reserved broth in it, together with the cornstarch. Stir and mix them together until nice and smooth, then set aside.
4. Whisk the eggs and egg yolk together in another small bowl, using whisk or a fork.
5. A little at a time, and now using a fork, drizzle the whipped egg mixture into the boiling broth. The egg should cook immediately. As soon as all the eggs have been drizzled into the broth, stir in the cornstarch mixture, again little by little, until the soup is at the desired thickness consistency. It should be thicker than regular soup, but not syrupy.

 

Remember, it is traditionally the custom in Japan to serve the soup with the main meal, not before as an appetizer, as is done in Japanese restaurants in western countries.

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Sunomono

(Cucumber salad)

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Ingredients:

• 3 Japanese cucumbers (if you cannot get these very large cucumbers, you can substitute 4 Persian cucumbers and get the same good results)
• 4 to 6 green onions, chopped into ¼” pieces, using all the white parts and the first half of the green stalks
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Slice cucumbers as very thinly. Stir in the salt, and let the slices sit for 4 to 5 minutes. Take a clean cheesecloth and squeeze any excess water out of the cucumbers.
2. Place the salted cucumber slices in a bowl, add in the chopped green onions, and stir together for an even mix.
3. Mix rice vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce together in a small bowl until the sugar is dissolved.
4. Into the bowl with the sliced cucumbers and green onions, add vinegar mixture and sesame seeds.
5. Mix all ingredients together well, and serve.

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Now that we have our soup and salad prepared, let’s get into the “meat” of our traditional Japanese dinner. The next two recipes will round out our ethnic food adventure.

Have fun cooking, and enjoy the fruits of you labors – I am most certain that you will!

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Saba Shioyaki

(Grilled Mackerel)

 

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Ingredients:

• one whole large mackerel (or two fillets)
• salt
• 2″ length of pickled Daikon radish
• soy sauce

Directions:

1. Take a proper sized, good quality frying pan, and cover its inside bottom with aluminum foil.
2. Grate the pickled Daikon radish, and set aside.
3. If you are using a whole mackerel, clean and fillet it.
4. Now chop each fillet in half. Liberally salt both sides of the fillets.
5. Heat the frying pan up to medium high, and lightly oil the surface of the aluminum foil.
6. Skin side down, place the fillets into the pan. Fry for 7-8 minutes, then flip over and fry for an additional 6 to 7 minutes, until cooked through and browned on both sides.
7. Place the fish on an attractive serving platter.
8. As a garnish and finishing touch, place some grated radish beside each fillet; if you like, pour a little soy sauce on the radish.

 

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Nikujaga

(Meat and Potatoes Stew)

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Ingredients:

(Serves 4 to 6)

• 15-20 snow peas
• 4-5 medium small potatoes
• 2 onions
• 1 large carrot
• 1 tsp. oil
• 1/2 lb. stewing beef, thinly sliced
• 1 cup water
• 4 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. cooking sake
• 2 Tbsp. Mirin

Directions:

1. Put the snow peas in boiling water and cook for only one minute. Let cool, and diagonally cut them into 2-3 pieces each.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut into about 4-8 pieces (depending on size); peel and chop the onions into 8 pieces, and then peel and chop the carrot into ½” to ¾” chunks.
3. Chop the beef into 1-1/2″ square chunks.
4. Heat up the oil at medium high temperature in a large pot, add in the beef and cook until the chunks are nice and browned.
5. Now add in the carrots, onions, and potatoes, and cook for one more minute.
6. Next add in the water, put a tight fitting lid on the pot, and let the ingredients cook, keeping the heat at medium high, for about 20 to 25 minutes—until your potatoes are tenderized all the way through.
7. Now season the mix with soy sauce, sake, sugar, and salt. Allow the seasoned ingredients to cook for an additional 15 minutes.
8. Turn the burner off, remove the pot, and allow it to sit for 30 minutes, then add snow peas and mix them into the rest of the ingredients well.
9. You are done! Serve and enjoy.

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And there you have it! All you need to do, other than prepare the four entrees above, is cook up a nice batch of long grain brown rice, set all the dishes on the table in an attractive manner, invite your family, friends, and guests to join you, and dig into an authentic ethnic eating experience, a meal comprised of nothing but classic, traditional Japanese food recipes.

Note: For the full, traditional and authentic Japanese dinner, you will want to serve you and your guests a good quality sake. Sake is best (and almost always) taken very warm, almost too hot to drink when first set on table. Before serving, heat the sake in a saucepan to a near boil, then pour it into your sake carafe, and set on the table with the traditional small ceramic sake cups that come with any good sake serving set.

To get some fine quality sake, Click Here.

To get a traditional Japanese ceramic sake serving set, Click Here.

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