High quality, raw tuna is one of the most delicious fish treats I can imagine. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to excellent quality product and usually pan-grill tuna steaks, keeping them rare inside. When I saw at Shizuoka Gourmet deep-fried tuna chunks on a bed of red onions I knew I had to prepare them as soon as possible. Despite my seasoning modification, I loved…Continue Reading “Deep-Fried Tuna with Red Onion (Maguro no tatsuta age 竜田揚げ)”
When asked what are my favourite Japanese dishes, I never forget to mention tonkatsu (豚カツ), or breaded pork cutlet. Thanks to the deep-frying method and the use of crisp panko instead of softer bread crumbs, this dish is my opinion superior to its European breaded, shallow-fried cousins (in fact “katsu” is a Japanised version of…Continue Reading “Hitokuchi katsu (Japanese Breaded Tenderloin, or Mini Tonkatsu)”
Japanese cuisine can be divided roughly into washoku 和食, traditional Japanese food, and yoshoku 洋食, which defines dishes inspired by Western cuisines. Unsurprisingly, the former is healthy and light, while the latter contains many deep-fried, rich dishes. I quickly realised my heart goes very often (maybe too often) to the westernised cuisine and such deep-fried delicacies…Continue Reading “Chicken Katsu チキンカツ (Japanese Breaded Chicken)”
When I try to explain, for the hundredth time, that sushi is not the daily fare of the huge majority of the Japanese and that my favourite, regularly eaten Japanese dishes are not based on raw fish, I usually get incredulous looks and am asked to give some examples. Apart from Korokke, Okonomiyaki, Oyakodon and…Continue Reading “Thin Tonkatsu 豚カツ (Thin Japanese Breaded Pork)”
I love eggs and have always considered myself an exceptionally big egg consumer until I read that the Japanese eat more than 300 eggs per person a year. Nowadays everyone agrees that an egg a day is perfectly safe (for healthy people of course), but when eggs were on a nutritional black list in Western…Continue Reading “Egg Croquettes (Tamago no Korokke)”
These humble-looking golden and black chunks are one of my biggest culinary discoveries of this year and the dream dish for sesame seed lovers. The idea to prepare it came while I was leafing through my favourite Japanese cookery book (Japanese cooking. A simple art by Shizuo Tsuji). Some of you might remember Scallops…Continue Reading “Sesame Coated Chicken Nuggets, or Tori no goma age”
I still remember discovering Korean dishes made me feel like tasting a bolder and hotter version of the Japanese cuisine. I quickly realised this vision was too simplistic, since Korean cuisine is much more than chili and garlic, which are not as ubiquitous as many people think. Until now I have cooked very few Korean…Continue Reading “Pork Rolls and Shiso in Tempura”
“Comfort food” usually means uncomplicated, nostalgic home dishes, often bringing back childhood memories. Sometimes, however, a new culinary discovery feels instantly homely and comforting, almost like a regular meal from a previous life. This is exactly what happened when I tasted these croquettes. They are simple, contain almost exclusively Western ingredients (apart from the Japanese…Continue Reading “Meat Korokke (コロッケ) with Cumin, or Potato, Meat and Mushroom Croquettes”
After Shira-ae dressing and Potato Teriyaki Pork Rolls, Chicken Karaage is another fantastic recipe I found on Nami’s blog (Just One Cookbook). In fact, I wouldn’t have noticed it in Nami’s older posts if it wasn’t for the Cooking Gallery blog, where I kept on admiring Chicken Karaage, always neatly arranged in bentos and prepared…Continue Reading “Chicken Karaage”
Horse mackerel, or jack mackerel (aji in Japanese, Trachurus genus in Latin, chinchard in French) is highly praised in Japan, but treated as a cheap, secondary fish variety in most European countries. I have recently noticed my fishmonger carries horse mackerel almost all year round, especially the smaller ones. Following Hiroyuki’s kind advice (from Hiroyuki’s…Continue Reading “Ajiten or Horse Mackerel Tempura”