Okonomiyaki is broadly divided into two styles: Osaka (Kansai) and Hiroshima. I’m focusing on the former in this recipe, with a batter that includes cabbage, scallions, and tempura flakes topped with a layer of crispy pork belly. Why This Recipe Works? Using dashi instead of water makes for a flavorful and umami-rich Okonomiyaki. Weaving the pork belly gives this a thick, crispy layer of delicious pork on top and prevents the individual slices from falling off from the pancake when you flip it....

So why hasn’t it enjoyed the same kind of popularity in the US? My guess is that it has to do with the mouthfeel. Like other members of the mallow family, including okra and marsh mallow, the plant has a mucilaginous texture that’s intensified by bruising and lightly cooking the leaves. While it’s a cherished consistency in many cultures, I can see how it might be a turn-off if you associate the texture with the unpleasantness that comes with a cold....

The char-grilled endives are dressed before they’re grilled, which seasons them to the core. The high heat from the grill crisps the outer leaves, while rendering the stem meaty and crunchy. The smoky green flavor of the endives pairs beautifully with the salty, pungent gorgonzola, which starts to melt as it hits the hot leaves. These components are all brought together by clusters of nutty honey roasted cashews. They start off crunchy and sweet as you take a bite, but slowly turn creamy as you chew, with small flashes of kosher salt that makes them unstoppably addictive....

Ingredients for Shōgayu At its simplest, Shōgayu is just ginger, steeped in hot water, but there are many variations, in how the ginger is added to the water as well as what else goes in. Ginger Ginger is the name of the plant whose rhizome we use for cooking. Depending on when it’s harvested, and how it’s cured, the texture and flavor can change. Young ginger which is typically very light in color tends to be very tender and has a milder flavor, while mature ginger becomes more fibrous and pungent....

I’m chronically impatient and unrepentantly lazy. Whether I’m navigating a city’s streets or planning a meal, I’m always seeking the quickest, easiest route. It’s not one of my best traits, but it has a tendency to make me more efficient. If a dish has too many ingredients, involves too much prep, or looks like I’ll get too many pots and pans dirty, my first thought is to figure out how I can make it simpler....

Although I don’t work a regular nine to five, there are still times that I get slammed with work. With two public speaking engagements and two TV appearances this week, I needed to keep my recipes quick and easy. During these ultra-busy times, I often turn to quick pastas, or some kind of protein with a simple sauce that can be made in the same pan. This week, that meal ended up being this pan-roasted cod with a cherry tomato and basil pan-sauce....

Growing up in the US, bamboo shoots were a food you bought in a can, and aside from a passing acknowledgement that they were related to the tall green stalks that pandas eat, I never really put much thought into how they’re grown or how they’re prepared. One time, I found some fresh bamboo at a Chinese market and decided to try it out. Peeling the tough exterior sheaths to reveal the pale tan interior reminded me a bit of an artichoke, and I decided to fry them up with some olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper....

This week’s clearance basket from my local produce market, held a pair of battered (though still salvageable) zucchinis. Having gotten a little zucchinied out this summer, I resolved to turn them into a loaf of chocolate zucchini bread. Still, after a few days of holiday baking I wasn’t really in the mood for something sweet and I had a lump of cheddar in the fridge that needed to be used before I head to Saudi Arabia for a few weeks....

Why This Recipe Works? Although tonkatsu is served with a savory sweet sauce, I always season the pork cutlet before breading it to ensure it’s seasoned all the way through. I recommend using homemade panko for tonkatsu. The larger crumbs create a thicker coating that stays crisp longer and it’s what differentiates this Japanese dish from Western cutlet dishes. I’ve tested frying tonkatsu at various temperatures, and using a relatively low temperature of 320°F (160°C) produces the best result....

Kamameshi is rice cooked in a cast iron pot along with a flavored broth and some other goodies. It’s similar to takenoko gohan and takikomi gohan, except the pot it’s cooked in encourages the bottom layer of rice to lightly burn (known as “okoge” in Japanese), giving it a nice flavor reminiscent of rice crackers. Unfortunately, I don’t have a kama (iron pot) and I imagine most of my readers don’t either, so I made this using a small Le Creuset (enameled cast iron pot)....

Why This Recipe Works? Using generously marbled salmon ensures the salted salmon flakes stay moist and tender. Steaming the salmon cooks it evenly, giving it a uniformly tender and fluffy texture without any tough or dry bits. Moderately salting the salmon and lightly salting the exterior of the onigiri ensures each rice ball is evenly seasoned. The trick to a light and fluffy salmon onigiri is to squeeze it together just enough to allow it to hold its shape without compressing the rice and making it dense....

Simple and yet utterly irresistible, fried dough has to be one of the most inspired culinary innovations of all time. Whether it’s a light-as-air donut wrapped in a glistening maple glaze, or a crisp beignet piled high with a mountain of powdered sugar, when done properly, these caloric treats can be divinely good. But as exceptional as fried dough can be, it can just as easily go horribly wrong. Details like over mixing, low temperature and overworked oil can turn these tasty morsels into leaden grease filled pucks that reek of old oil....

Why this recipe works Chickpeas are not only a great source of protein, but they also contain a ton of umami producing amino acids, which makes this quick pasta taste like it’s been simmering for a long time. By undercooking the pasta and finishing it off in the sauce, the pasta absorbs the excess liquid from the sauce, thickening it up nicely without having to reduce it for a long time....

The vegetables In addition to the usual cabbage and carrots, I like adding a bit of kale to my coleslaw. This not only gives the slaw some vibrant green highlights, but it also adds a wonderful mustardy flavor, while giving the salad a boost in Vitamins A, C, and K. Although it may not seem like, it cabbage is made of about 93% water, which explains why coleslaw quickly turns into a watery mess by the time it’s served....

Why This Recipe Works? Using a few varieties of tomatoes captures the spectrum of tomato flavors and tastes. By adding basil at different times during the cooking process you’re able to infuse this pasta sauce with flavor while still getting the taste of fresh basil. The most important thing is to marry the pasta with the sauce and pasta water. This not only infuses the spaghetti with the flavors of the tomatoes, the starchy pasta thickens the sauce while emulsifying the olive oil with the juicy tomatoes....

Why This Recipe Works? When you make a sushi roll, you have a limited amount of space inside the roll to add fillings. Because this is assembled in a bowl, there’s no need for a sushi mat or other special equipment, and it also allows you to top the bowl with a lot more filling relative to the rice. Textural elements like crisp cucumbers and crunchy tobiko, as well as flavor accents like citrus zest and daikon sprouts, add more depth to this dish than the basic avocado/crab combination....

Inspired by chocolate truffles, which get their name from the knobby subterranean fungi from which they get their name, I created these decadent confections, which packs a triple dose of chocolate. In the center lies a sphere of chocolate ganache with a soft consistency that instantly melts in your warm mouth. Since the ganache is too soft to hold its shape at room temperature, this is where the mochi comes in....

There’s nothing better than a thick split pea soup, redolent of smoked ham and caramelized onions on a bleak winter day. But while the rich soup may warm your body and soul, most split pea soups look a bit like the inside of a soiled diaper. Nauseating metaphors aside, have you ever looked at a bowl of split pea soup and thought “Wow, that’s a pretty bowl of soup”? Split peas, are simply dried green peas that have had their outer membranes removed....