Tag: Japanese

Ramen soup base

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The ultimate quick weeknight soup for noodles

  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp peanut butter
  • 2 tbsp chilli oil
  • 1 stock cube of your choice
  • 1 tsp mirin
  • 1 tsp sugar
  1. Combine ingredients and decant into the bottom of two bowls
  2. Add about 400ml boiling water and stir together
  3. Add cooked noodles
  4. Top with all the toppings – try rare steak, blanched mange tout, soft boiled egg, coriander, chopped spring onion

Miso pork belly

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Rich, savoury and super-simple to make. Feeds 2

  • 400g pork belly slices, cut into pieces
  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 6 spring onions, sliced
  • 2 tbsp white miso
  • 2 tbsp tamari
  • 3 tbsp mirin
  1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and slip in the pork belly pieces
  2. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 5 mins
  3. Drain the pork and discard the water
  4. Mix together the miso, tamari and mirin in a small bowl with 150ml water
  5. In a shallow saucepan or deep frying pan, heat the veg oil over medium
  6. Fry the pork belly until golden and then remove
  7. Turn the heat down and briefly cook the garlic and spring onions
  8. Pour the miso mixture into the pan and bring to a bubble
  9. Add the pork back in and stir
  10. Turn to the lowest heat, cover and cook for 1-2 hours. Stir occasionally and add a little more water if it gets too dry
  11. Serve on steamed rice with a scattering of sesame seeds – plus a crisp and crunchy salad with sesame dressing on the side

Japanese-style sesame salad dressing

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Tangy, creamy, deeply delicious. Japanese flavours with no pretentions of authenticity – but it makes the perfect dressing for a salad to eat alongside a katsu curry.

  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted in a dry pan
  • 1 tbsp tahini
  • 2 tbsp mayo
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • ½ tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp mirin
  1. Thoroughly mix all ingredients
  2. Use to dress a salad of crisp lettuce, pickled ginger, cucumber, radish and spring onion

Teriyaki aubergine rice bowl

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

The perfect weeknight dinner. Simple and utterly delicious, full of contrasting flavours and textures. Feeds 2.

  • 1 aubergine, cut into small chunks
  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce/tamari
  • 4 tbsp mirin
  • 2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
  • 3 cm ginger, sliced thickly
  • 2 cloves garlic, smacked with the back of a knife to squash them without disintegrating
  • 1 level tsp cornflour, mixed with 1 tsp water
  • ½ cucumber
  • 1 spring onion, finely sliced
  • 2 tsp rice vinegar
  • Large pinch salt
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted in a dry pan
  • Small handful fresh coriander, chopped
  • Small handful fresh mint, chopped
  • 150g cooked edamame beans
  • 400g pre-cooked sticky rice (I really like this one)

Make it a bigger feast with the addition of spicy slaw in each bowl instead of the fresh herbs.

  1. Heat the oil in a wok over a medium hear and stir fry the aubergine for 7 mins or so until caramelised and soft
  2. Set the aubergine to one side
  3. Make the teriyaki sauce in the wok. Add the honey, soy sauce, mirin, shaoxing, garlic and ginger and heat to a bubble.
  4. Cook for 2 mins then remove the garlic and ginger
  5. Drizzle over the cornflour and whisk in until glossy and thickened
  6. Stir in the aubergine and turn the heat off
  7. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and scrape out the seedy core
  8. Slice into ½ cm pieces, sprinkle over the rice vinegar and salt, and mix through the spring onion
  9. Now you’re ready to construct!
  10. Heat the aubergine to a bubble
  11. Heat the sticky rice and spoon into bowls
  12. Top with the aubergine, cucumber salad, edamame, fresh herbs and toasted sesame seeds. As artistic as you like – very much depends how hungry you’re feeling!

Beef ramen

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

I’m a big fan of a noodle packet, but this is for when you want something a bit more special. Not completely authentic, but quick and simple to make. And very delicious – deep, rich and savoury. Endlessly adaptable, and always good. Change it up with grilled chicken, slow cooked meat, gyoza, tofu, salmon, vegetables. Feeds 2.

  • 900ml beef stock (I like to use one of these and one of these – because who has time to make stock?)
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp black vinegar
  • 2 thick slices of ginger
  • 1 garlic clove, left whole and squashed a bit with the flat of a knife
  • 1 tsp mirin
  • 400g rump steak
  • Veg oil
  • Salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 300g mange tout
  • 200g noodles, whichever sort you like. I like wheat udon because they’ve got a lovely texture
  • 2 spring onions
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tsp Szechuan chilli oil
  1. Heat the beef stock in a large pan with the soy sauce, vinegar, mirin, garlic, ginger and the green ends of the spring onions. Bring to the boil then simmer for 5 mins. Taste it – it should be beefy, aromatic and delicious
  2. Rub the steak with oil and sprinkle with salt
  3. Heat a frying pan until very hot and cook medium-rare. For a 1 inch thick steak, give it 2 mins on each side and then rest. Slice thinly and add any juices into the soup
  4. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and lower the eggs into it. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 6-7 mins, depending on egg size. Remove the eggs and run under cold water until cool. Peel and keep on one side until the soup is ready
  5. Cook the mange tout for 1 min in boiling water
  6. Finely slice the spring onions
  7. In the bottom of each soup bowl, put 1 tsp of sesame oil and 1 tsp chilli oil
  8. Fish the flavourers out of the broth and bring it to the boil
  9. Add the noodles to the soup and cook them for as long as they need. Then it’s time to construct the soup!
  10. Use tongs to divide the noodles between the 2 bowls
  11. Pour over the stock then arrange the other ingredients on top – sliced steak, mange tout, spring onion. Finally, cut the egg in half lengthways and place on top

Ready, steady, slurp!

Simple okonomiyaki

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Not that it’s especially complicated in the first place, but this simplified version of the Japanese cabbage pancake, smothered in condiments, is a quick and easy lunch. And still manages to be a veritable party in your mouth! Crunchy, spicy, savoury, creamy, tangy – it’s the ideal way to use up leftover raw white or sweetheart cabbage. Feeds 2.

  • 3 eggs
  • 3 heaped tbsp plain flour
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • Large handful of shredded cabbage
  • 1 spring onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • Mayonnaise, ideally in a squeezy bottle
  • Sriracha chilli sauce
  1. Make a thick batter with the eggs, flour, sesame oil and soy sauce
  2. Mix in the spring onion and cabbage
  3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and, dividing the mixture into quarters, spoon 4 heaps of the cabbage mixture into the pan
  4. Fry on one side for 2 mins until golden brown (don’t be tempted to mess about with it while it’s cooking)
  5. Then flip them, press down gently and give them another 2 mins until cooked through
  6. Serve them straight away with lavish zigzags of mayo and chilli sauce over the top, and tuck in.

Katsu curry sauce

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

More Wagamama or Yo Sushi than authentic Japanese, but savoury and delicious nonetheless. For a quick dinner, use pre-made breaded chicken escalopes or goujons. Serve over rice, garnished with sesame seeds and sushi ginger, with a zingy salad on the side. Or just dunk chips in it. Makes enough for 4

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 5 whole garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
  • 2 carrots, finely diced
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 tbsp medium curry powder
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  1. Heat the oil in a small pan
  2. Add the onion and whole garlic cloves and saute for 2 mins
  3. Add the carrots and sweat slowly for 10 mins with the lid on over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to caramelise
  4. Stir in the flour and curry powder and cook for a minute
  5. Slowly pour in the stock until combined (gradually to avoid getting lumps)
  6. Add the honey, soy sauce and bay leaf and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 mins, so the sauce thickens but is still pouring consistency
  7. Add the garam masala, then either strain or whizz up the lumps using a hand blender to create a smooth sauce

Make veggie katsu by par-cooking cauliflower florets, thick slices of sweet potato and baby corn. Dredge them in flour, then dunk into an egg whisked with a tsp of sesame oil, then dried breadcrumbs. Bake at 200C fan for 20 mins or fry until golden.

Teriyaki sauce

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Glossy, savoury, sweet. Makes everything it touches better

  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce/tamari
  • 4 tbsp mirin
  • 2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
  • 3cm ginger, sliced thickly
  • 2 cloves garlic, smacked with the back of a knife to squash them without disintegrating
  • 1 level tsp cornflour, mixed with 1 tsp water
  1. Put all the ingredients except the cornflour in a small pan and heat until bubbling
  2. Cook for 2 mins then fish out the ginger and garlic
  3. Add the cornflour and whisk in
  4. Turn the heat right down and cook until glossy and thickened

To make teriyaki chicken, marinade small pieces of skinless, boneless chicken thighs in all the ingredients except the cornflour for 20 mins. Remove the chicken from marinade (don’t throw it away though!) and fry over medium/high heat in 1 tbsp of oil. When cooked, turn the heat right down, pour the marinade/sauce into the pan (removing the garlic and ginger en route), add the cornflour/water mix and cook for a further 5 mins until bubbling and glossy. Serve over rice, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and some delicious stir-fried broccoli or green beans on the side.

Beef gyudon

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Intensely savoury, wonderfully comforting. Feeds 4

  • 500g steak
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 4 small onions, finely sliced into half moons
  • 2cm ginger, peeled and finely julienned
  • 100ml soy sauce
  • 100ml mirin
  • 50g dark brown sugar
  • 150ml beef stock
  • To serve, sliced spring onion, pickled ginger, toasted sesame seeds
  1. Slice the beef against the grain into very thin pieces, approx ½ cm thick. Remove any hard fat or sinew
  2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the onions
  3. Cook over medium flame, stirring occasionally until they are completely soft and brown. This takes at least 10 mins
  4. Add the fresh ginger, stir in and cook for a further 2 mins
  5. Add the soy, mirin, sugar and stock. Cook for around 10 mins until the sauce is reduced to a syrupy consistency
  6. Stir the beef into the sauce and cook for just a couple of mins, until the beef is no longer pink on the outside
  7. Serve straight away on top of white rice, sprinkled with sliced spring onion, toasted sesame seeds and pickled garlic. Eat with a spoon