SHOKUTAKU 食卓 

Ingredients: Dry konbu seaweed sheets (about 5cm x 10cm after soaked) Kanpyo (dried calabash in strips, soaked in water) Shishamo (or salmon, mentaiko, gobo... ) soy sauce, mirin, sake, dashi powder Directions: Soak konbu sheets into water (save the water), prepare two sheets of about 5cm x 10cm Dry konbu with paper towel, place two shishamo (remove heads and bitter part, heads facing sides) on 2 layers of konbu sheets. Instead of Shishamo, mentaiko or salmon could be use

Ingredients: Daikon Carrot salt Amazu sweet vinegar marinade (Vinegar: sugar = 1:1), a pinch of salt, Directions: Cut daikon and carrot thin strips Soak in salted water (water 500ml, salt 1 tbsp) for 30 minutes Drain and squeeze lightly Mix vinegar and sugar (or mirin), salt and mix with vegetables Note: With its celebratory red and white colors, it‘s called "kouhaku (red and white) namasu" and also an important dish in Osechi. Goes well with citrus - yuzu skin peel, etc.

Ingredients: ground chicken or turkey 1 pound green onion or regular onion, chopped fine dry shiitake mushroom soaked in water, lightly squeezed and chopped ginger (optional), as much as you like miso paste (optional), adjust to your taste mirin, sake, salt, pepper, adjust to your taste potato starch or flour to stick the ingredients, 1-2 tbsp 1 egg (optional) poppy seeds (or sesame as alternative, optional) , a handful Directions: Mix all the ingredients except poppy seeds w

sweetened black bean (typically in the New Year food) Ingredients: dry black beans 200g sugar 100 - 200g (Japanese 1/2 cup - 1 cup, according to your taste) salt 1/3 tbsp soy sauce 50 cc (Japanese 1/4 cup) baking soda 2/3 tbsp Directions: Wash the beans lightly and place in a colander Boil 8 cups of water in a deep pot, add sugar, salt, soy sauce and baking soda, beans. Stop the heat and leave it for 4-5 hours in the pot. Boil on high heat. Keep removing the foams, add 1/2

Kabu (turnip) that resembles kiku (chrysanthemum flower) Ingredients: kabu = japanese turnip (small, round) yuzu citrus for flavor (optional) vinegar, sugar (or mirin), salt Directions: Cut off the top and bottom of the turnip, and peel the skin Cut downward in thin, vertical slices spaced 2 mm apart without cutting all the way through to the bottom. It is helpful to place the turnip between a pair of chopsticks and use them as a guide to prevent the knife from cutting all

Ribbed scrolled egg for New Year Ingredients: Egg 3 Hanpen (small, 50g) 1 sheet Sugar 1 tbsp Mirin 1 tbsp Water 1 tbsp Dashi powder 1 pinch Salt a pinch Use baking pan or frying pan. Adjust the sweetness to your taste. My recipe is much less sweet than the typical dashimaki. Directions; Blend eggs with small pieces of hanpen, other ingredients until smooth. (I used the electric mixer.) Pour the mixture into a parchment-lined pan (18cm x 18 cm square or alternative) and bake

Candied dried anchovies typically seen in Osechi cooking Ingredients: Iriko (dried anchovies, no salt) sesame walnuts or walnuts (optional) soy sauce, sugar or mirin or honey, sake Directions: Toast iriko on the frying pan with low heat until crispy Toast nuts (sesame, walnuts, almond, etc) on the frying pan Empty the frying pan, and heat up the mixture of soysauce, sake, sugar or mirin or honey with low heat until it thickens Put 1 & 2 into the mixture and stir to blend well

Japanese New Year's tradition Osechi ingredients are symbolic foods for Japanese New Year, each representing a wish for the coming year, like good health ( black beans - kuromame ), prosperity/fertility ( herring roe - kazunoko ), wealth ( sweet chestnuts/potatoes - kuri-kinton ), long life ( shrimp - ebi ), and clear future ( lotus root - renkon ). These foods are prepared in advance and packed in lacquered boxes ( jūbako ) to allow families to rest and celebrate togeth

easy way to make fermented paste using a yogurt maker Ingredients: Boiled and cooled soy bean (or use pre-cooked) 200g Dry Koji 200g Salt 35g Water 160cc Directions: Soak the soy beans overnight, drain the water, add water and cook until tender Cool down the soy beans and drain (drained water could be used for other recipe) Add water to the soy beans Smash (using blender, etc) the soy beans till your favorite smoothness Slowly add dry koji, and mix well Add salt and mix Put i

a sweet condiment often used in Japanese cooking Ingredients: Sweet Rice 360 cc (2 rice cups) Dry rice koji 200g - 300g Shochu (35％)　600cc salt Direction: Cook sweet rice in a rice cooker Spread cooked rice in a tray, let it cool a little bit, and pour shochu Add dry koji and mix well Add salt (at least 2% of the total weight of the mixture to be legal in Japan) Put the mixture into a clean glass jar and seal During the first week, open the jar and stir the mixture once a d

Ingredients: Kale White beans (Any bean is OK, but white bean goes well.) Any vegetables (onion, carrot, potato, celery, ginger, etc.)...

Ingredients: Kale Salt, pepper, herb salt, etc.. Olive oil or sesame oil (optional) Directions: Wash and wipe dry kale Cut into your...

Ingredients dry soy bean　200g rice straw 2,3 strips yogurt maker Directions Soak the dry soy beans overnight with plenty of water Darin...

Ingredients shiratamako powder tofu yomogi herb (dry or fresh) - dry products "Kansou Yomogi" are purchased at grocery store or online. ...

All purpose hot sauce pupular in northern Japan Ingredients: 1 cup Hot peppers chopped 1 cup Dry Koji (Japanese fermentation starter) 1...