Japanese Cooking

Sqeekyjojo

I love Japanese food. Well, not ramen. I prefer udon myself. And, sacrilegious though it may be, I tend to use chicken stock as I don't like packet dashi. The odds of getting proper bonito and kombu over in the UK seems fairly minimal. Even with relatively easy access to some great Chinese/Japanese/Thai stores round here.

Anyhow, I use quite a lot of tamari, mirin, sake and sesame/goma. It's fairly high in sodium, but I think, as long as you have all aspects of a Japanese diet like lots of vegetables, not just tempura and tonkatsu, it's pretty healthy.

Anyhow, start off with tamari/soy, mirin, sake and miso. If you aren't into strong tastes, I think white miso is probably the best to start with. Use combinations of those as marinades for fish. Serve with lots of different vegetables.

Oh, and have fish and veg that is in season. It tastes a whole lot better than hothoused stuff.

I must confess that my number one treat meals are sushi, sashimi and tempura, though. Plus mochi with a strawberry tucked inside. It's hard to restrain myself when it all tastes just soooooo good.

bostonwolf

Does anyone know about Japanese cooking? I love sushi, ramen (sorry low carb folks) and all things japanese except fermented soybeans. Can anyone give me any tips or recommend a good Japanese cook book. I live near a HUGE Japanese market and don't know what to buy. The market is Mitsuku in Edgewater New Jersey. Thanks!

Mitsuku is one of the best Japanese markets in the US. And for the record this slow-carber (who lived in Japan for six months) LOVES ramen, though I much prefer it in a ramen-ya made fresh with a super fatty and delicious broth to slurp.

I have a couple of Japanese cookbooks at home that are pretty good. I will grab the names tonight and try to remember to add them here. Ping me if I don't just to remind me.

bostonwolf

I did but there were so many books that I didn't know which one to get. I also googled natto and found an article in the journal of nutrition that said it was shown to prevent osteoporosis in Japanese woman and a Japanese woman at my job told me her people swear it is a great anticancer food. If I knew that I would have forced myself to at least try it. I read that it tastes better than it smells Guess I'll have to actually go to Barnes and noble

The Japanese also have a horrible herd mentality. Fads (like natto) are so commonplace over there it's ridiculous. One study showed those findings and the manufacturer jumped all over it, marketed the hell out of it and made a ton of money on it.

bostonwolf

There is a big Japanese chain in uk called Wagamamas and they are expanding in USA. On the website www.abebooks.com you will find THE WAGAMAMA COOKBOOK by Arnold Hughes. You should I hope get some excellent ideas from there. We are keen on Indian and Thai food which we cook from scratch. Having lived in Hongkong my husband worked for a spell each year Nepal and our taste for Indian started then Great to make on a wet, cold Saturday for serving up on Sunday complete with Indian or even easier, Lebanese bread.

To be polite, Wagamama's sucks. There is no pork on the menu! How can one pretend to serve ramen and not offer pork broth?

bostonwolf

natto tastes like something is actively decomposing in your mouth. Honestly, as I type this I can remember the taste of it, and that was eleven years ago.....*shudders*

I have a bilingual book called 'stonesoup' It's sort of readers recipes, and not sure how good it would be ingredientswise, but it should give you a good grounding in everyday Japanese food.

it doesn't have an okonomiyaki recipe in unfortunately. Osaka-style is best....just sayin'....

Oh man....okonomiyaki. One of my friend's landlord owned an okonamiyaki restaurant in Tokyo that we went to once a week. Each table was a grill and they just brought you two bowls. Wet and dry. After a month or so they loved us because we were the gaijin who knew how to make the pancakes ourself and did not have to be shown. I so wish a restaurant like that existed in Boston.

RM10003

I must confess that my number one treat meals are sushi, sashimi and tempura, though. Plus mochi with a strawberry tucked inside. It's hard to restrain myself when it all tastes just soooooo good.

If you ever find yourself in or near Hilo, Hawaii, make sure you get to Two Ladies Kitchen, which is a mochi shop. Their strawberry mochi is so good....

bostonwolf

I visited a farm when I was in Japan and helped mochi. The old ladies LOVED me because I could (and did) pound the hell out of the rice powder. The benefits of being 6'3 (190cm) and weighting 260 as I did back then.