Tag: soy sauce

Jibuni: Kanazawa-style simmered duck stew
Kanazawa boasts a special regional cuisine called Kaga no aji. In general the taste is mildly sweet, like most Japanese country cooking. Visually, it is not as sophisticated or ornate as Kyoto’s kaiseki haute cuisine, since it’s based on the food of the samurai – substantial and hearty, with taste, not looks, being paramount.

Jibuni is one tasty example, a special regional recipe of duck (or chicken) and vegetable stew eaten not only as a seasonal daily dish in Kanazawa but also served on many special occasions. We don’t know the precise origins of jibu, but ni means “to simmer.” Some people say that jibu jibu is the sound the stew makes while cooking. Others believe that the stew was invented by a samurai named Jibu. Since it is one of the few dishes that uses flour as a thickener, many suspect that it has Portuguese origins from the early days of the Edo period (1603-1867).

Jibuni: Kanazawa-style Duck Stew Recipe

Jibuni is one of my favorite Japanese winter comfort dishes, but please don’t limit yourself to consuming it only during that time of year. Based on the season, there are many variations around. It’s fun to play with the basic recipe, replacing ingredients according to your tastes or what’s available at the market. For example, you can try fresh spinach; dried, reconstituted shiitake mushrooms or other Japanese mushrooms; Japanese parsley (seri); or Japanese leeks (negi).

My variation of jibuni is based on a recipe from Tsubajin, one of Kanazawa’s oldest (two hundred seventy years plus) and most famous restaurants.

The ancient castle town of Kanazawa, located on the Japan Sea side of Honshu in Ishikawa Prefecture, was ruled peacefully for over three centuries by one of the country’s richest daimyo families, the Maedas. It retains a rich cultural heritage and old-world charm, and also remains one of the true gourmet meccas of Japan.

Other Delicacies from Kanazawa

Many of Kanazawa’s delicacies, such as gori (singing bird fish), come from the Saigawa and the Asanogawa – two large rivers running through the center of town.

The Omicho Market, which is at least two hundred and fifty years old and is often referred to as “Kanazawa’s Kitchen”, continues to be one of the most notable food markets in Japan. The market is filled with more than two hundred open stalls selling a variety of fresh seafood and local produce, including game and a small, sweet coldwater shrimp called ama-ebi.

And since Kanazawa produces nearly all of Japan’s gold leaf, it shouldn’t be surprising that a local custom involves drinking green tea, coffee, or sake with edible gold leaf floating on the surface. It remains one of my favorite towns to revisit over and over.

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Jibuni: Kanazawa-style simmered duck stew

Lucy Seligman

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Servings 4

Ingredients

6 cups dashi fish stock
8 tbsp soy sauce
9-10 tbsp mirin (sweet sake)
4 slices bamboo shoot, 2 inches by 1 inch
4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed
8 snow peas, trimmed
4 4 Kanazawa-style sudarebu (fresh wheat gluten – may be replaced by broiled tofu or dried wheat gluten) cut into 1-inch squares
4 slices boned & skinless duck breast*, 2 inches by 1 inch each,
All-purpose white flour as needed
Garnish
Freshly grated wasabi horseradish

Instructions

Heat the dashi stock and season it with the soy sauce and mirin. Boil the vegetables until crisp but tender. Turn down the heat to a high simmer and add in the sudarebu or tofu. Add in the duck (or chicken), which should be generously coated in the flour, at the last moment. This flour coating creates a thicker dashi broth and is a key element to the success and tastiness of this dish. It will take less than three minutes to cook each ingredient.

To serve, pile the vegetables and duck (or chicken) separately in small mounds in a shallow bowl, pour a little of the remaining sauce over them, and place a dab of wasabi in the center. Serve immediately.

Notes
Notes:
If you’re using tofu, first press some of the water out by putting it between two plates for 10 minutes. Drain.
You may replaced the duck with boneless, skinless chicken breast.

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Japanese Curry Rice Recipe
As much a part of the national food culture as sushi, various types of curry served with white rice (Kare Raisu, カレーライス) has been an enduring favorite in Japan since the Meiji era (1868-1912). Known as “curry rice” or “rice curry”, these days they usually contain meat or poultry, potatoes, carrots, and onions. Unlike Indian curries, however, for which the spice mixture is created fresh each time, the Japanese dish uses curry powder (such as S & B Oriental Curry Powder) – which came from Britain and was first sold in Japan in 1930 – with flour as a thickener.

Curry Rice: The Ideal Meal?

It is a big family favorite here (my daughter often replaces the chicken with firm tofu and even adds in fresh shiitake mushrooms sometimes) and a great addition to your culinary repertoire. Fast, easy, savory, and delicious…what more do you want in a weekday meal?! Be warned: Japanese curry can be thicker than you may be used to and not ultra-spicy (unless you use one of the ready-made ‘hot’ curry roux packs) but it has a very alluring flavor and my biggest suggestion is to make double the amount to have some extra in the freezer or for another meal!

The earliest curry recipes are found in two cookery books published in 1872. Seiyo Ryori Shinan (A Guide to Western Cooking), written by the owner of a bookstore called Keigakudo, featured a recipe for frog curry quite unlike any curry eaten in Japan today. As well as frog meat, it included leeks, shrimp, garlic, ginger, butter, salt, flour, and curry powder, and was boiled for one hour. One can only wonder about the taste! Later in the same year, the first chicken curry recipe appeared in Seiyo Ryori Tsu (The Western Cooking Expert) by the noted journalist, Robun Kanagaki.

The Origin of Curry Rice

Curry rice’s real popularity can be traced back to the Japanese military, which began serving it at the end of the Meiji era and the beginning of the Taisho era (1912-26). It was considered the ideal meal, using only one bowl yet incorporating rice, vegetables, and meat. It also became popular in rural areas during harvest time, being easy to make, substantial, and cheap. Nowadays, a whole range of instant curry roux (with varying levels of spiciness) is part of Japanese life, and curry remains a perennial favorite for take-out, restaurants, and for the home cook.

If you make this recipe and love it, please come back and give it a 5-star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It helps others find the recipe! ❤️ Above all, I love to hear from you. Then snap a photo and tag me on Instagram! I would love to see your creation.
Japanese Curry Rice Recipe

Lucy Seligman

5 from 1 vote

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

3 tbsp neutral oil
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and grated
1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced
4 tbsp Japanese curry powder (such as Oriental S & B Curry powder), or to taste
4 tbsp white flour
5-1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock
1 small red apple, peeled and finely grated (grate just before using to prevent discoloration)–I used Fuji
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
Salt and black pepper to taste
1.5 lbs skinless, deboned chicken thighs or breast, cut into large bite-sized pieces
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into large bite-sized pieces
2 carrots, peeled and cut into large bite-sized pieces
1 large onion, peeled and cut into eighths (wedges)
1 tbsp soy sauce, or to taste
Cooked & hot Japanese white rice
Optional Garnishes:
Rakkyo pickles ( a type of Japanese shallot)
Kizami pickled ginger
Fukujinzuke relish

Instructions

In a deep frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. Sauté the garlic and ginger briefly, then add in the sliced onions and sauté over medium heat, stirring, until brown – about 20 minutes. (Note: Caramelizing the onions adds another layer of flavor and depth to your curry.)

Next add in 2 tablespoons of curry powder, sauté briefly, then add the flour and sauté for a few minutes more, stirring constantly, until well combined. Little by little, add in the chicken stock, stirring continuously, to make a thick roux, and bring to a boil. Add in the grated apple, bay leaves, and ketchup, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Remove any scum.

Meanwhile, salt and pepper the chicken. In another pan, heat the remaining oil and butter, and sauté the chicken until it becomes brown on both sides.
When the sauce is ready, remove the bay leaves, add in the chicken, vegetables, salt, and pepper to taste, 2 more tablespoons of curry powder (or more if you want), and the soy sauce. Cook, covered, over medium heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook or reheat the rice. Adjust the curry seasoning to taste and serve hot over rice. Pass the garnishes separately.

Notes
It is a matter of personal preference how thick you like the roux. In Japan, it can be anywhere from very thin and watery to very thick, especially if you decide to use ready-made roux. This recipe is in the medium thickness range. Play with it and see what variation you like. It is a very forgiving recipe!

Keyword chicken

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Small Potatoes in Sweet Sauce with fresh Ginger Recipe
I get a lot of potatoes in my bi-monthly CSA box, so I have been making Small Potatoes in Sweet Sauce with fresh Ginger recipe quite a bit. It makes for a great and easy side dish.

Small Potatoes in Sweet Sauce with fresh Ginger Recipe

And since I freely admit to being a history nerd, I also love collecting old books about cooking in Japan, both in Japanese and in English. They range from a volume in Japanese dating back to the late Meiji period (1868-1912) to a curious tome written in 1948, during the U.S. Occupation (1945-52). Its rather overblown title is The American Way of Housekeeping of the Women of the Occupation by the Women of the Occupation for the Women of the Occupation. No single writer is acknowledged, only groups such as the American Women’s Guild, Cavalry Officers’ Wives, and Navy Officers’ Wives. Another similar book, recently reprinted, is called simply American Recipes. First published in 1939 by the Yokohama chapter of the Daughters of America, it was meant to assist Japanese cooks in preparing both Western and Japanese dishes to suit the tastes of the foreigners living in Yokohama.

Need books?

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Arigatou Gozaimasu / ありがとうございますいます –Lucy

Looking at these two books (both of which, incidentally, are bilingual), particularly The American Way, it is apparent that the Occupation forces really brought home cooking and housekeeping methods with them when they came to Japan. It is also apparent that ready access to U.S. base commissaries allowed them to maintain a standard of dining quite lavish for those times. Recipes in The American Way, for example, include baked ham with champagne, beef stroganoff, and a fine three-layer cake. The book’s opening chapters provide descriptions of a typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner in 1948, as well as instructions for the housekeeper and cook on how to set the breakfast tray, clean the house, do the laundry, store food, and polish silver!

For the vast majority of Japan’s inhabitants, however, the period during which these books were published was a time of acute food shortages. Rice was strictly regulated by the government via consumption allowances and price controls. Diners had to have a rice coupon to order rice at a restaurant, a practice that was continued for a time even after the war ended.

Sweet Spuds: A Good Potato Dish From Hard Times

By the close of World War II, in fact, there was virtually no rice to be had in the country. Vegetables were being grown outside the Diet (Parliament) building in Tokyo, and many Tokyoites were forced to scour the countryside for food on a regular basis. Sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and potatoes were some of the more accessible starch substitutes for the rice that serves as the mainstay of the Japanese diet. Several recipes, including the one below, adapted from a 1938 book called Nichi-nichi katsuyo ryori jiten (Encyclopedia of Practical Everyday Cooking), put out by the NHK television network, took advantage of that relative abundance.

If you make this recipe and love it, please come back and give it a 5-star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It helps others find the recipe! ❤️ Above all, I love to hear from you. Then snap a photo and tag me on Instagram! I would love to see your creation.
Small Potatoes in Sweet Sauce with fresh Ginger

Lucy Seligman

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Course Side Dish
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

3 tbsp salt
18 oz (500 grams) small or baby potatoes, peeled
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
4 tbsp mirin (sweet sake)
1/2 cup hot dashi (fish stock)
4 tbsp soy sauce
1-1/2-2 tbsp white sugar, or to taste
Garnish
fresh ginger, peeled & grated or cut into slivers

Instructions

Pour the salt into a medium-sized bowl of cold water. Add the potatoes, lightly scrubbing them under the water with your hands to get rid of excess starch, then drain and rinse them in more cold water. If they are a bit large, cut them into chunks.
Place the potatoes in a saucepan, add enough water to cover, then add the vinegar. Bring to a boil and cook until done, about 8 to 10 minutes. Check for doneness. Drain the potatoes and lightly rinse them in cold water.
In another saucepan, boil the mirin for one minute. Add the potatoes and dashi stock, bring to a boil again, and add the soy sauce and sugar. Partially cover the pan, and cook until 80 percent of the stock has boiled off. Shake the pan occasionally to help color the potatoes with the sauce. Remove the potatoes from the heat, drizzle with leftover sauce, top with ginger, and serve at room temperature.

Notes
Try making the same recipe with sweet potatoes if that is all you have on hand or prefer to white potatoes.

Keyword potatoes

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Tai Chazuke
Keeping with our theme of quick, versatile, and easy to eat and make rice dishes (like Zosui), here is another traditional favorite of mine, chazuke. I like to make it when I am in a hurry to get dinner on the table and also when I have left-over rice.

What is Tai Chazuke?

Simply put, chazuke is either hot or cold cooked rice, topped with a variety of ingredients and then immersed in either hot strong green tea or dashi stock. We have samurai warriors and Buddhist priests to thank for chazuke, a venerable Japanese fast food that remains popular to this day.

This particular recipe uses tai (sea bream) and dashi stock, but of course, there are endless variations. If we use green tea instead of stock, then it would be called Taicha, which is quite popular at the moment. Cha meaning tea and zuke meaning to submerge. Most likely this dish originated in Kyushu, which is famous for its sea bream.

Chazuke remains a popular craze, with a variety of instant, dried and inexpensive toppings (furikake), such as the well-known Nagatanien brand used. There are even gift sets of more sophisticated and pricier chazuke flavors available.

The practice of mixing rice with a liquid began in earnest back in the Heian era (794-1185), when aristocrats poured hot water over cold rice in the winter and cold water over the rice in the summertime. This was thought to disguise the taste of rice that was occasionally poor in quality.

Fast Food From The Past

By the Muromachi era (1333-1568), the standard breakfast for samurai was rice, miso soup, and pickles. During the civil wars that raged in the latter half of this era, samurai were asked to be frugal as an example to the populace, so they often poured their soup over their rice to create a single dish. This was known as nekomeshi, or “cat’s meal,” because pouring soup on rice for cats is to soften the rice to make it easier for them to eat. Since it was filling and quick to make, this dish became a samurai staple.

The forerunner of modern Ochazuke

Hoban or hohan, the forerunner of modern chazuke, was also being eaten by Buddhist priests during the same period, and soon found its way onto the menus of high society. It was served to guests during the tea ceremony, which also developed during this time. The principle was the same: cooked or flavored ingredients (such as vegetables already cooked) were placed on top of rice, and then covered with either green tea or weak dashi stock. It was beautiful to look at and easy to prepare – a perfect offering for unexpected guests.

By the middle of the Edo era (1603-1867), a greater variety of colorful, flavorful toppings were in use, spurred on by the influence of kaiseki (Japanese haute cuisine) and newly sophisticated tastes. It didn’t matter if the rice was hot or cold, but the tea or stock had to be really hot, since it helped cook any raw toppings such as fish.

Regional Variations of Ochazuke

Regional versions of chazuke can also be sampled around Japan. On Shikoku Island, the local version is called bokkake. Bokkake’s main ingredient varies from place to place – rabbit and mackerel are two that come to mind. The main ingredient is cooked together with lots of different vegetables, almost like a stew, and then everything is laid over hot rice. In Okinawa, a number of chazuke variations with a Chinese influence are made. The only difference is that the stock is made from both pork and fish.

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Tai Chazuke Recipe
Tai Chazuke

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

9 ozs (250g) sliced very fresh sashimi-grade tai (sea bream), cut sashimi style
3 tbsp soy sauce
3/4 tsp sansho (ground Japanese pepper), or to taste
3 cups firm, hot, freshly cooked Japanese white rice (can also use leftover or even cold rice)
Kizami Nori (seaweed slivers) to taste
Dashi Stock (or use homemade)
2-1/2 cups water
1 tsp instant dashi granules
1/8 tsp salt

Instructions

Separate the fish slices and place in one layer on a flat dish. Combine the soy sauce and sansho pepper and pour the resulting mixture over the fish. Marinate for 15 minutes, turning once or twice. Meanwhile, prepare the dashi stock by bringing the water, stock granules, and salt in a saucepan to a boil. Cover and keep the stock very hot.
Just before serving, place the rice in four bowls and top generously with the seaweed. Place the fish slices on top of the rice in a sunburst pattern, covering the seaweed. Pour enough hot dashi stock over the rice, fish, and seaweed to nearly cover the fish. Lightly mix the result with your chopsticks and eat immediately. Tsukemono (pickled vegetables) are a nice accompaniment to chazuke.

Notes
Some other common toppings include Japanese pickles, umeboshi, sesame seeds, salted salmon, trefoil, scallions and wasabi.
If you decide to use good quality strongly brewed green tea instead of dashi stock, top with a generous dab of wasabi to taste after pouring the piping hot green tea over the rice/fish combo and eat immediately.

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Recipe ingredients: Sansho pepper and Kizami Nori

Do you love Tai Chazuke?

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Chicken and Vegetable Zosui (Rice Porridge)
The History of Rice in Japan

Wet-rice culture came to Japan during the dawn of the Yayoi period (300 B.C. – 300 A.D.), either directly from China or via the Korean Peninsula. It was a time characterized by people known as the Yayoi, new tools and farming techniques (such as growing rice in paddies), and a deep reverence for rice itself, typified by seasonal ceremonies and festivities that are observed to the present day.

Contrary to popular belief, however, white rice didn’t become Japan’s primary grain until after World War II.

Until then, grains like millet or barley were the dietary mainstays of most Japanese. Rice farmers didn’t get to enjoy the fruits of their labor very often, either. During the Edo Period (1603-1867), rice was primarily used to pay taxes to samurai landholders; a samurai’s wealth, in fact, was measured by the number of koku (a koku equaled to little over five bushels) of rice he collected. The only people who ate white rice in those days were samurai, the upper classes, and rich merchants, and they were prodigious consumers of the stuff. In 1859, for instance, members of the upper social strata ate an annual average of 228 kilograms of rice. In comparison, in 2017, the average rice consumption rate was around 82.1 kilograms per person.

Rice’s Importance in Japan

Another reflection of the continuing importance of rice in Japanese culture is that the word gohan means not only “cooked rice” but “meal” as well. When somebody says “Gohan desu!” it can be translated as “Soup’s on!” During a typical day in a Japanese household, rice is served in many guises-plain rice accompanying a steaming bowl of miso soup and pickles for breakfast; a box lunch filled mainly with rice and topped with a fat umeboshi (pickled plum); onigiri (rice balls) for a snack; and for dinner, often rice, served in any number of variations.

Zosui

Zosui (rice porridge) also known as ojiya is one such excellent way to utilize left-over rice and make it into a meal. Although my recipe uses chicken and vegetables, you could also do a simplified version just using flavored dashi stock of some sort, eggs, and minced green onions or trefoil as a garnish. It is also particularly tasty using left-over reserved soup stock from a nabemono (hot pot) meal such as Oden.

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Chicken and Vegetable Zosui (Rice Porridge)
Chicken and Vegetable Zosui (Rice Porridge)

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

5-1/2 cups dashi fish stock
3 tbsp sake, or to taste
3 tbsp soy sauce, or to taste
1 tsp salt, or to taste
5-1/4 ozs skinned and boned chicken breast (150g), cut into small cubes
1 ¾ ozs carrots (50g), peeled and cut into thin half-moons
2 small turnips, peeled and cut in two, then cut into thin half-moons
4-1/2 cups slightly undercooked short-grain Japanese rice (can also use pre-cooked leftover rice or even frozen rice)
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
Garnish
Use either minced green onions (to taste) or mitsuba (trefoil), trimmed and finely chopped with stems, to taste.

Instructions

In a deep pot (ideally an earthenware one you can bring to the table for easy serving), add the stock, sake, soy sauce, and salt. Bring to a boil, mix well, then add the chicken and vegetables and cook over medium heat until halfway done.
Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken and vegetables are completely cooked. Add the beaten eggs, stir once and turn the heat off. Cover the pot for a minute or two-the egg will still be undercooked and runny at this point-then sprinkle the top with either the green onions or trefoil, mixing it into the porridge if desired.
Serve immediately in soup bowls. A plate of tsukemono (pickles) would provide the perfect accompaniment to this dish.

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Do you love Zosui?

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Regional Recipe Corner: Tai Meshi from Shikoku Island
Shikoku Island (the smallest island in Japan) may have only four prefectures, but when it comes to regional cuisine, it is very wealthy. I had the chance to eat my way through the whole island when living in Japan. What struck me the most, was that, although most of the cuisine is fish-based, I never got bored eating fish every day. Each dish was a new adventure in tastes and textures.

Tai Meshi Recipe

One day, we stopped at a restaurant in, Uwajima, Kochi Prefecture, called Gansui. One dish was Tai Meshi. It was a simply crafted dish that was wonderful. I’ll include my version of it in my Shikoku Island tribute.

Chazuke is either hot or cold cooked rice, topped with a variety of ingredients, and usually immersed in hot green tea or stock. The practice of mixing rice with a liquid began back in the Heian era (794-1185). This recipe is an exception, a chakuze variation called shiru-kake meshi.

Various regional versions of chakuze can be sampled around Japan. On Shikoku Island, another local chakuze is bokkake. Bokkake’s main ingredient varies from place to place–rabbit and mackerel are just two that come to mind. The main ingredient is cooked together with lots of different vegetables, almost like a stew, then everything is poured over hot rice.

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Tai Meshi

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

9 ounces (or 250g) sliced fresh tai (sea bream), cut sashimi-style
3+ cups hot, firmly cooked Japanese white rice
Cold Dashi Stock: Fast Version*
2 cups water
1 teaspoon dashi stock granules
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin (sweet sake)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Condiments:
4 fresh raw eggs
Toasted sesame seeds to taste
Shredded Yakinori (seaweed) to taste

Instructions

Make the dashi stock by placing all the ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir to combine well. Cool to room temperature, then chill well in the refrigerator until ready to use.
To serve, divide the cold dashi stock into four 1/2 cup servings. Place into four bowls and top with a freshly cracked egg. Divide the sea bream into four servings, and place attractively onto four small plates. Place the garnishes in small bowls on the table. Each person mixes the egg into the stock and adds the sea bream. Let sit to marinate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Divide the hot rice into four rice bowls and bring them to the table. Pour the fish/stock mixture over the hot rice, and top with the condiments. Stir lightly and eat.

Notes
*Of course you can make your own from scratch as well.

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Some Other Shikoku Specialties: A mini-survey

Sanuki Udon: From Kawaga Prefecture. Firmly textured and chewy udon noodles (thickly cut) are dipped into a strongly flavored soy-based sauce, with sesame seeds and minced green onions as condiments.

Sobagome Zosui: Soba (buckwheat) grains are cooked in a flavored dashi/soy sauce stock, with bits of chicken, fishcake, and vegetables. Chopped trefoil (mitsuba) or green onions are sprinkled over the top and the dish is eaten like a thick soup.

Tai Men (Men Kake): A whole sea bream is boiled. It is then dipped into cold somen (Japanese vermicelli) sauce, with the cold noodles (usually five different colors of somen are used.) Garnishes for the fish include thinly sliced boiled egg, sweetened cooked shiitake mushrooms, all dramatically presented on one big platter, with the whole fish in the center.

Another Type of Tai Meshi: A whole sea bream is cooked in rice. Considered a Japanese classic.

Sawachi Ryori: A culinary masterpiece of Tosa cooking, a traditional dish of Kochi Prefecture. Gorgeous platters, usually with diameters of 40 to 60 centimeters, offer a selection of every imaginable food; from local sashimi to katsuo no tataki, grilled fish, lightly flavored boiled vegetables, and many others.

Local Products from Shikoku Prefectures

Local products from Kagawa Prefecture:

Onions, melons, grapes, winter persimmons, sea bream, shrimp, conger eel and udon noodles. In the old days, it was essential for a bride to arrive in her new home with a rolling pin and a cutting board to make homemade udon. Produces the largest amount of olives in Japan. 和三盆WASANBON（a special sugar produced in Kagawa or Tokushima Prefecture) used to make Wagashi (tea ceremony sweets).

Local products from Tokushima Prefecture:

Lotus root, spinach, carrots, yuzu (a fragrant citrus fruit), Sudachi (すだち) is a sour green Japanese citron fruit and sora-mame (a broad bean). Narutokintoki is a well-known sweet potato in this area. Narutowakame (なるとわかめ) is also famous.

Local Products from Kochi Prefecture:

Yuzu (Japanese citron) is also grown here for yuzu jam, miso, juice, and vinegar. Local fish includes top-quality skipjack and tuna.

Aonori (fresh green nori) from Shimanto River is famous. Aonori is used for sprinkling over Okonomiyaki.

Buntan (Tosa Buntan), is a large Kochi orange with a taste that is very refreshing (さっぱり).

Local Products from Ehime Prefecture:

The most famous product is mikan oranges and other varieties of Japanese oranges. The largest chestnut harvest in Japan is located here, and the best katsuobushi (dried bonito shavings). There are also salt fields in Ehime.
Kishimen Noodles from Nagoya
This month’s recipes are typical Nagoya fare: kishimen, a flat, wide quick-cooking udon noodle called hirauchi; and misonikomi (in next blog post), a dish of thicker handmade udon noodles in a hearty hatcho (red miso) broth.

If you don’t like noodles, you could never be happy in Nagoya. Happily, I love noodles, and loved my years of living in Nagoya and sampling and cooking many of their regional dishes. If you can’t get the right sort of noodles. Western-type pasta such as fettuccine can be used instead.

Although there are few ingredients in this classic Kishimen recipe, don’t be deceived. It packs an intense wallop of flavors and taste sensations, especially the abundant topping of katsuobushi.

A Nagoyan friend recently told me that Fried Ebi (shrimp) Curry Kishimen is a modern twist to this traditional kishimen recipe I am posting about and becoming popular. Of course, fried shrimp is a favorite Nagoyan dish too!

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Kishimen Noodles from Nagoya

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

14 oz. fresh or dried kishimen noodles
3 ½ oz. fried tofu (abura-age) cut into triangles or squares
5 tablespoons mirin, sweet rice wine
3 tablespoons soy sauce
½ cup water
For the broth:
5 cups strong dashi, fish stock
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sake rice wine
1 ½ teaspoons mirin
¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
To garnish:
2 cups lightly packed dried bonito shavings, katsuobushi

Instructions

First, make the broth: in a large saucepan, combine the dashi, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and salt. Heat through and set aside.
Place the fried tofu in a separate shallow saucepan with the mirin, soy sauce and 1/2 cup of water. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer, turning occasionally, until the tofu has softened, plumbed up, and takes on a deeper brownish color – roughly ten minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the tofu in the saucepan to keep it warm.
Cook the kishimen according to the directions on the package, but take them out while still chewy. Add to the dashi broth and mix for a minute or two.
Pour the kishimen broth mixture evenly into four large soup bowls, distribute the abura-age between them, and top with generous mounds of bonito shavings. Eat at once.

Keyword noodles

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Fried Sardines with Shiso
I love shiso, also known as perilla leaves, and am always thinking about how to use it in recipes. In fact, in my last blog posting on yakumi: Essential Japanese Herbs, Spices, and Condiments, I wrote about shiso (perilla leaves).

This is a simple yet absolutely delicious fish dish that not only uses shiso, but other Japanese standards such as soy sauce and rice vinegar are also used in the sauce. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. It also makes for a great keto Japanese dish, for those of you eating low carb!

Fried Sardines Stuffed with Shiso Recipe
Fried Sardines Stuffed with Shiso in Soy-Vinegar Sauce

Thanks for the Meal

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

8 medium-sized sardine fillets, deboned
Salt as needed
½ cup (or as needed) stemmed shiso (perilla) leaves, shredded
cornstarch as needed
Vegetable oil as needed for deep-frying
6 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
6 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
Garnish:
4 large shiso leaves

Instructions

Place boned sardine fillets on a flat plate and sprinkle the meat side with salt. Leave for 30 minutes to soften any remaining bones. Rinse in cold water and pat dry. Carefully pick out any bones.
Place the shredded shiso leaves evenly in each fillet and roll up lengthwise. Secure carefully with toothpicks. Dredge well in the cornstarch and pat off the excess.
Combine the soy sauce and vinegar in a flat container. Fry the rolled fillets, four at a time, in the hot oil until they begin to float and turn brown all over. Immediately roll the fried, undrained sardines in the soy-vinegar sauce to coat. Carefully remove the toothpicks. Serve piping hot, on individual plates each garnished with a shiso leaf.

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Rafutei: Okinawa’s Slow-Simmered Pork
I was lucky enough to visit Okinawa once and loved it! Here is one of my favorite recipes from there.

Modern Okinawa cuisine is based on dishes enjoyed by the rulers of the Ryukyu dynasty, which controlled Okinawa from 1372 to 1879, and traditional island homecooking.

Originally, royal Ryukyuan cuisine was served only during special events and ceremonial occasions. It was gorgeous fare, richly laid out in the style of a Chinese banquet, and dramatically presented on exotic black and red lacquerware. When the dynasty eventually collapsed, and Okinawa became a prefecture of Japan, most of this sumptuous formal cuisine disappeared with it. But some dishes were adapted to fit the budgets and tastes of ordinary folk. The passage of time has made it difficult to find the culinary seam between royal and traditional cooking.

Okinawa’s proximity to China and the Ryukyu’s dynasty’s close ties with the Middle Kingdom are reflected in Okinawa’s overwhelming preference for pork – it’s estimated that there are over 150 pork dishes in Ryukyuan cooking. Other similarities include an abundance of dishes stir-fried in the Chinese fashion, the often heavy-handed use of oil and salt, and the pungent presence of plenty of garlic. Because of its hot, humid climate, many of Okinawa’s dishes are also preserved, using such techniques as slow boiling and braising in sweetened soy sauce. One of these is rafutei, which is also one of Okinawa’s most popular pork dishes. Rafutei’s origins are uncertain, but written records give the original name for the dish as rafutai-ni, so it is likely that it came from China.

Rafutei can be cooked in either a soy or miso-based sauce. My recipe is soy-based. The important thing is that the meat is boiled for a long time, the aim of which is to create a meltingly tender mixture of meat and fat, but without the fattiness. In Nagasaki, they make a similar pork dish called kaku-ni. Kaku-ni is also braised in sweetened soy sauce, but it is cooked for an even longer period than rafutei, resulting in even greater tenderness.

If you like this, check out the other regional Japanese recipes >>>
Rafutei

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 6

Ingredients

2-1/4-2-1/2 lbs boneless pork belly, ideally with three layers each of meat and fat
1-1/4 cups Awamori, an Okinawan liquor distilled from rice, or good quality sake
1-1/4 cups dashi fish stock
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup Japanese soy sauce
1 small knob of fresh ginger, peeled and thickly sliced, optional
Garnish:
Bok choy, spinach, choc (sometimes also called choy) sum or fresh nigauri* (bitter melon/bitter gourd)

Instructions

Place the port in a deep, thick-bottomed soup pot, fill the pot three-quarters full with water, and bring to a boil. Cover, and continue boiling over medium heat for one hour, occassionally skimming off any scum. (If too much water boils off and the pork is not completely covered, add more boiling water.) Remove pork from heat, and cool down enough to cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks.
Prepare the seasoning stock by combining all ingredients and putting them in the cleaned soup pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, add the pork, and simmer for two and a half hours, turning the pork chunks over about once every 30 minutes. Halve the bok choy and boil briefly.
Lay the bok choy (or other green garnish) in a serving dish. Place the pork chunks next to it and drizzle the remaining sauce over. Serve hot or at room tempurature.
*If fresh nigauri is available, by all means use it! It can replace the bok choy and or other greens. To prepare nigauri, scrape the skin, slice thinly, remove the seeds, and blanch to
remove the bitterness. It can also be lightly stir-fried.

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Eating Japanese Food While Maintaining Ketosis

Following a ketogenic diet is a great way to lose weight, but can you eat Japanese food on keto? The answer may surprise you, but YES! Eating keto, otherwise known as a low-carb-high-fat diet, is beneficial for a number of reasons, but a big part of it is eating in such a way that allows you to still enjoy many of your favorite foods.

Anyone who loves sushi knows that you’re only ever one artfully made tuna roll away from a better mood, and the same can be said for good Japanese food in general. While you might think that a sushi restaurant isn’t the most ideal place to eat when you’re counting carbs…prepare to be pleasantly surprised. Japanese cuisine, while it has a few carby pitfalls, is full of dishes that focus on simply prepared fish and vegetables designed to let the food speak for itself.

If you’re not already familiar with Japanese food culture, then you will almost certainly have some questions about the various fruits, vegetables, sauces, and preparations that you will be experiencing and that’s fine. The goal here is to familiarize yourself somewhat so you can make better informed food choices that are not only delicious, but also allow you to sample some of the best techniques that Japanese cooking offers. Of course all of this was written keeping in mind that you want to maintain ketosis while eating delicious food and not stressing about the type of restaurant that you’re at; Japanese food is more than just sushi, after all!

The Wonderful World of Osechi: Japanese New Year’s Recipes

New Year’s is one of the best times in Japan, at least for eating and relaxing. Get Lucy’s Osechi cookbook, full of recipes that are fast to make, easy, and quite delicious for your New Year celebrations (along with the history and traditions and little tidbits Lucy always includes). Get the book!

Makes a great gift too! Did you know on the Amazon page there’s an option to give it as a gift?

Keto Japanese Food

Japanese Keto Appetizers

While tenpura is a mainstay in Japanese restaurants in the US, there’s are plenty of non-fried starters you can enjoy instead.

Miso soup is a thin, broth-based soup made with fermented soybean paste. It has a very unique flavor, with a high degree of umami while still being light and refreshing. Often it’s simply populated with cubes of tofu and some vegetables like cabbage. This is a delicious and often cheap start to a meal that’s keto-friendly. It’s worth noting too that if you’re avoiding soy but don’t have a good reason to (like allergies) other than word-of-mouth that it’s somehow bad for you, then stop avoiding it. Soy is healthy and a good source of protein, and it’s reasonably low in carbs.

Oshinko vegetables are essentially pickles and often includes daikon, lotus root, seaweed, and burdock. Daikon is a type of radish, burdock is similar to artichoke, lotus root is its own thing altogether, but delicious and still low carb friendly.

Edamame isn’t super low carb, but again most people avoid it because of some odd aversion to soy. In small amounts, edamame fresh from the lightly salted pod is a delicious way to whet your appetite.

Grilled vegetables are another way to enjoy an appetizer in a new way without overloading on sugar or carbs.

While you can’t enjoy the many splendors of sushi in all its forms, you can still enjoy the flavors and freshness by eating sashimi. Sashimi is essentially the same cuts of fish your sushi chef has available for rolls or maki, served with the same familiar additions as sushi – pickled ginger, wasabi, soy sauce – just without the rice. The best part of sashimi is the fact that because you don’t have the nori or rice to cover up imperfections, you will likely get the best cuts they have available.

Depending on where you are, most Japanese restaurants specialize in both sushi and hibachi. Hibachi grills are incredible both for the delicious food cooked right in front of you, but also because of the beautiful knifework and performance art that goes into the cooking. Dazzling displays of cutting, flipping, and searing are the visual appetizers to a main course of grilled meat or fish and Japanese vegetables. Just ask for your chef to hold the rice and you can stay keto friendly very easily at a hibachi.

Even if you don’t have a hibachi at your restaurant of choice, you can still likely get whatever meat they have offered in other dishes grilled simply to your liking and it never hurts to ask.

Shabu-Shabu is an interesting course that consists of very thin slices of beef and vegetables that are served with a very hot bowl of broth that you actually cook yourself at the table. Because of how hot the broth is and how thinly the food is cut, it takes just a minute or less to cook perfectly. I’ve got to be honest – it’s also really fun!

Negamaki is a delicious alternative to other sugary dishes, being that it’s simply grilled beef wrapped around green onions or sometimes asparagus, served with soy sauce. While I’ve had it both as an appetizer and as a meal, I think you could get it as either.

Things to avoid

Of course like any restaurant there will be a number of things that won’t work well with your keto lifestyle, the most obvious of these being rice and noodles. There are some other things to avoid though, and it might require you to speak with your server or chef to determine what might be lurking in the dishes you have your eye on.

Tenpura, though lightly fried and crispy, it still a flour batter and so should be avoided. Even a small piece of tenpura vegetable can have upwards of 8g of carbs and that’s just not doable on a keto diet.

Most sauces that go beyond simply soy sauce – like teriyaki for instance – are going to be sugar or corn- syrup based and absolutely not compliant with a keto meal.

As sad as it makes me, seaweed salad is often quite sugary, despite being delicious. You can typically get a small green salad with Japanese dressing on the side so any added sugar is negligible, or again just opt for grilled or pickled vegetables to be safe.

Potstickers, called gyoza, are delicious but of course are made with a type of flour that is filled with carbs. Best to avoid them.

I remember avoiding going out to eat with my friends when I first started keto if they were going to a place where I simply couldn’t imagine eating low carb. Outside of a pizzeria or pasta house, however, you can adapt almost any cuisine to a low carb lifestyle, Japanese included.

Meshiagare!

Author Bio

Tony is a HealthyWage winner father of two who enjoys finding ways to turn his favorite carby foods into keto recipes (like his infamous air fryer steak bites and keto chicken tenders!) Be sure to check him out on Pinterest!

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Arigatou Gozaimasu / ありがとうございますいます –Lucy