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I love mushrooms! You can grill them, simmer them, stir-fry them and boil them. I use them for my cooking almost everyday. As for shiitake mushrooms, you can simply grill them and sprinkle with a little bit of salt or soy sauce, which of course works pretty well. Sometimes I want a fatty version and I usually add some tuna and mayonnaise on top and grill. Goes well with beer too!
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Ingredients (for four people)
- 6 raw shiitake mushrooms
- One can of tuna
- Two tablespoons of mayonnaise
- Some peppercorns
- Some soy sauce
- Some wakegi green onions or parsley
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Recipe
- Drain the oil off the can of tuna and mix the tuna with mayonnaise, peppercorns and soy sauce.
- Cut off the woody stems from the shiitake mushrooms. Thinly slice the stalks and mix them with 1.
- Stuff the mixture into the mushroom caps.
- Grill them in the oven toaster for about five minutes.
- Sprinkle with wakegi green onions or parsley.
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Tips
- Grilling time can differ depending on the oven toaster. Watch out!
- You can put some melting cheese on top to make it richer.
Baked Ayu with Herb and Breadcrumbs
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I’ve tried it! By the editorial staff
- Ponzu or wasabi plus soy sauce work great too.
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When I was small, when it came to spaghetti, I used to get Napolitana at home. I’ve tried so many kinds since then, but I was quite impressed when I first tried tarako (cod fish roe) and squid spaghetti.
Once I got hooked on the fascinating taste, I’ve been cooking it ever since at home. It’s so simple you don’t even need a frying pan! Of course, you can cook tarako and squid like some do, but I like the soft textures of raw seafood in my spaghetti. Here we go!
Ingredients (for four people)
- 200 grams of spaghetti
- Two pieces of tarako (raw)
- 100 grams of sashimi squid
- 5-6 shiso leaves
- 20 grams of butter
- One tablespoon of sake
- Some salt and pepper.
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Recipe
- Make a cut on the thin layer of the tarako skin and take the eggs out.
- Thinly slice the squid.
- Manually separate the eggs and put them in a bowl along with butter, sake and pepper. Add freshly cooked spaghetti to the bowl and give it a mix.
- Add the sliced squid and give it a rough mix.
- You can add some more salt if you want to.
- Transfer the spaghetti to a plate and decorate it with julienned shiso.
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Tips
- If you want to lightly cook the squid, you can add the sliced pieces when adding spaghetti to the bowl.
- You can use mentaiko (spicy fish roe) instead of tarako.
- The saltiness of tarako varies. You can adjust the salt quantity according to that.
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I’ve tried it! By the editorial staff
- In Japan, there are many kinds of fish roe and they are very popular. They are a little expensive though.
- Tarako is the most common fish roe product and it’s about 400 yen for 2 pieces.
- Some people like to sprinkle lemon juice on their tarako spaghetti.
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I can’t resist a mouth-watering toro sashimi (fatty flesh of raw tuna), but sometimes the rich fatty taste gets too much as you keep eating it. In fact, it’s much easier eating it with some plain rice, which is quite a mystery to me but it works! By simply adding some veges on top of rice and tuna, you can enjoy a healthier version in a bowl!
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Ingredients (for four people)
- One block of toro (about 200 grams)
- One onion
- One packet of kaiware (Japanese radish sprouts)
- Two cups of rice (360 cc)
- Some sesame, salt and peppercorns
＜Sauce＞
- Ponzu or soy sauce or soy sauce plus butter
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Recipe
- Sprinkle salt and pepper on the toro and cook just the surfaces in the frying pan.
- Thinly slice the onion and mix the sliced pieces with kaiware.
- Mix some sesame with freshly cooked rice and transfer it onto a dish.
- Thinly slice the toro on an angle, place them on top of 3) and then place 2) on top.
- Pour on the sauce of your choice.
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Tips
- I used a plate this time, but of course a donburi bowl (big bowl) is okay too.
- You can use red flesh of tuna but it’s less fatty than toro.
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I’ve tried it! By the editorial staff
- People usually lightly grill the surface of tuna in Japan.
- Lightly grilled tuna goes well with ponzu rather than soy sauce.
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Chikuwa: fishcake shaped in a long tube
Aemono: cold dishes seasoned with sauce or dressings
Once I wanted one more dish to add to the table and another time when I wanted some refreshing beer snacks, I used some leftover ingredients in the fridge and it worked quite well. You only have to cut the ingredients in this recipe. Speedy huh!
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Ingredients (for four people)
- About 10 centimetres of daikon (Japanese radish)
- One cucumber
- 3 chikuwas
- Some sesame
- Some soy sauce or ponzu
- Some sesame oil (if you like)
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Recipe
- Peel and julienne the daikon. Drain the water well.
- Julienne the cucumber and drain the water well.
- Cut the chikuwas in half and thinly slice them vertically.
- Mix 1, 2 and 3. Transfer it onto a plate and sprinkle some sesame on top.
- Pour some soy sauce or ponzu on top.
- Pour some sesame oil on top if you like.
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Tips
- If you cut the daikon vertically along the fibre lines, it gets less watery. Smart move!
- Of course, you can use some bought dressings as well.
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I’ve tried it! By the editorial staff
- Chikuwa is one of the processed fish paste products. Sometimes it’s used instead of meat in Japan.
- Many people like eating chikuwa as a sake snack.
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Isobemaki Potato Cake (Potato cake wrapped with a piece of nori)
One of the Japanese-style bars that I sometimes go to has this special dish. It’s so delicious and you can easily cook it at home. I often cook some for my husband for his beer snacks. There isn’t any hassle either. All you have to do is to grate some potatoes and cook! Grated potato has a very interesting texture, which you can’t really get by boiling them. Got your apron ready?
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Ingredients (for four people)
- 3 potatoes
- 2 sheets of nori
- Some butter
- Some soy sauce
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Recipe
- Peel the potatoes and grate them.
- Put some butter in the frying pan. Cut the grated potato into 8 even pieces and put them in the frying pan.
- Turn them over when the bottoms are brown. When the heat goes through, caramelise them with some soy sauce.
- Wrap them in nori like a riceball.
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Tips
- If you put grated potato in a frying pan, it gets very watery. Don’t worry about it so much. You can make adequate shapes with chopsticks and a spoon and they will set once they’re cooked.
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I’ve tried it! By the editorial staff
- Eri san recommended that we add some cheese to grated potato. It worked really well.
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