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If you take care of the prep in the morning, the dish comes together in about 10 minutes. This makes it a perfect weeknight meal, packed with enough protein for vegans and vegetarians, and flavorful enough to satisfy hardcore meat eaters. Why This Recipe Works? Draining the tofu firms up its texture while reducing the amount of excess water that could water down the teriyaki sauce. Seasoning the tofu with garlic and ginger adds loads of flavor to the bland protein....

Why This Recipe Works? Using very thinly sliced beef (about 1/16th inch thick) ensures the roll-ups stay tender and the scallions fully cook. Dusting the beef negimaki with potato starch creates a crust that helps the sauce adhere to the rolls. Reducing the teriyaki sauce with the negimaki allows the seasonings to permeate the roll-ups while creating a sticky glaze around them. Ingredients Beef - The key to making a flavorful and tender negimaki is to use thinly sliced meat (1/16th inch in thickness is perfect) cut into rectangles....

If I’m going to eat something called blueberry pancakes, I want a sweet indigo marble to burst into a pool of tart flavor with every bite. Sadly, most pancakes I’ve come across that proudly proclaim their contents, are a far cry from the berry spangled pancake of my dreams. Devoid of flavor and with giant hollows carved out by flaccid watery berries that interfere more than enhance. Boxed mixes are in some ways worse, with an over-the-top “blueberry” flavor that reminds me of the Hubba Bubba bubblegum I used to chew as a kid....

What is an Eton Mess It’s an odd name for sure, but the first half of the name comes from Eton College where the dish is thought to have originated, and the latter half is descriptive. With crumbled crisp meringue and strawberries held together with sweetened whipped cream, an Eton Mess isn’t the neatest looking dessert in the world, but what it lacks in symmetry, it more than makes up for in taste....

Although many people call this dish Baba Ghanoush (بابا غنوج‎), Mutabbal is a distinct Levantine meze. Baba Ghanoush is more like a salad; with roasted eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, walnuts mixed with lots of olive oil. Mutabbal, on the other hand, is a condiment made with roasted eggplant, tahina(tahini), lemon juice and garlic. Despite its deceptively plain beige appearance, and the samll number of ingredients, Mutabbal has a depth and balanced complexity that makes it one of the most popular mezes, along with tabbouleh, loubieh bi zeit, and hummus....

What is Sake? In Japan, sake means “liquor,” but to the rest of the world, it’s become synonymous with an alcoholic beverage brewed from rice. It’s known as nihonshu (日本酒) in Japan, and it’s made through the parallel fermentation of rice using koji and yeast. The koji breaks down the starch in the rice into simple sugars, which are turned into alcohol by yeast. Koji also contains enzymes that break down the protein in rice into amino acids....

Why This Recipe Works Parboiling fresh ramen noodles for a minute less than the package instructions ensures they stay nice and chewy. Using a large heavy bottomed pan ensures you have enough thermal mass to caramelize this ramen stir-fry. My homemade yakisoba sauce has just four basic ingredients, but it creates a marvelous umami-rich sauce with the right balance of salt, sweet, and sour tastes. Japanese Street Food These days, health regulations have all but obliterated outdoor food stalls, but yakisoba can still be found sizzling away in stalls everywhere from baseball stadiums to traditional matsuri (festivals) alongside other popular favorites like Okonomiyaki and Yakiudon....

The average American spends $3154 per year dining out, and since a restaurant meal costs three times as much as making a meal at home, a family of four could be saving $8000 a year by eating out less. According to a study by the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 92% of restaurant meals have too many calories, averaging 1205 calories, or over half the suggested calorie intake for a whole day!...

Japanese pickles are inherently salty as the process is not only intended to preserve the vegetables, Tsukemono are eaten as a condiment for plain rice. Given the long tradition of pickling vegetables as a method of preservation, there are hundreds of varieties of pickles in Japan with styles and ingredients specific to unique regions of Japan. Needless to say, there are enough varieties of Tsukemono to fill up a series of books, but in this post, I want to show you how to make three of the most common types of homemade pickles....

Why This Recipe Works? Using thinly sliced meat to wrap the rice ensures it cooks through all the way while ensuring the exterior doesn’t get chewy or tough. Ground sesame seeds and shiso mixed into the rice provide a nutty, refreshing flavor and textural contrasts that keep each bite interesting. Glazing the Nikumaki Onigiri with teriyaki sauce gives the rice balls a gloriously shiny sheet while imparting a savory sweet taste to the meat and the rice....

Most modern versions are made by either deep frying or pan-frying the eggplant. The former tends to get greasy, while the latter tends to leave the eggplant watery and mushy. In my recipe, I roast the eggplant in the oven before glazing it with the Dengaku Miso and popping it back into the oven to caramelize. Why This Recipe Works Coating the eggplant with some oil helps transfer the heat from the air in the oven into the eggplant, which gives it some nice even browning while making it tender and creamy all the way through....

Bell peppers are a fantastic way of adding flavor, sweetness and color to dish, but the simple act of roasting them amplifies their sweetness, umami and flavor elevating them from simply delicious to utterly magical. That’s because the Maillard reaction turns the reducing sugars and amino acids present in the peppers into entirely new flavor compounds. Along with caramelized onions and dashi, roasted red bell peppers are an essential part of my flavor arsenal that I always try and have on hand....

This is probably why ochazuke often shows up on Izakaya menus. Izakayas are the Japanese version of tapas bars with an eclectic menu of bar snacks and an equally long menu of drinks to go with them. Most places have a few versions of ochazuke that show up on the last page of the menu to close out a long night of eating and drinking. Why This Recipe Works? The best part of ochazuke is that it’s a quick fix, so don’t overthink it, and feel free to make substitutions with what you have....

The chicken doesn’t take long to fry since it’s cut into relatively small pieces, so be careful not to overdo it, or it will get tough and dry. I recommend using an instant-read thermometer. I use one called a Thermapen made by Thermoworks. After you’ve fried the chicken, it just gets tossed in a simple sauce packed with loads of lemon flavor, thanks to the addition of both lemon juice and zest, Honey balances out the tartness, while sake adds umami to the sauce....

Packing a Bento These days, there are so many styles of bento that there aren’t any hard and fast rules. That being said, here are three guidelines I like to follow to ensure my bentos are practical, balanced, and beautiful: How to Make Ginger Chicken Bento Proteins I try and limit the protein to about a quarter of the bento, and for this one, I’ve added some Ginger Chicken and Tamagoyaki....

Why This Recipe Works? Unlike most recipes, precisely measuring the ingredients for udon is critical. Due to variations in sizes in measuring cups (I go into more detail on this in my video), I highly recommend using a scale to measure everything. Gluten forms when gliadin and glutenin, two proteins found in wheat flour, form bonds to produce long elastic gluten chains. This is achieved by hydrating and agitating the flour, so the more you knead the dough, the more elastic it becomes....

Although Japan seems like an unlikely place for a sandwich to be invented, the Fruit Sandwich has a history dating back over 100 years. These days, it’s a popular snack and can be found everywhere from cafes to convenience stores all over Japan. History of the Fruit Sandwich The first claim is attributed to a fruit stand called Yaoiso, which was founded in 1869 in Kyoto. Although they didn’t start their cafe until 1972, the claim is that they were selling fruit sandwiches from their fruit stand long before they opened their cafe....

Seriously, that’s all there is to this recipe, so you can stop reading now and go make yourself some, or you can hear me out for some ideas on all the other desserts you can make using this technique. While it’s impossible to call a confection made with cream and sugar healthy, it’s certainly healthier than an equivalent custard that’s set using egg yolks. I used yuzu juice to set this posset because I love the fragrance, but any tart aromatic citrus such as key lime, calamansi, or even lemons will work beautifully....

1. Spicy Chicken Lettuce Cups Let’s face-it, Super Bowl Sunday is not a time to be on a diet. Can you really picture a bunch of Southie’s in a pub cheering on the Patriots while snacking on kale chips?… That’s why a lot of the stuff on this list is going to be fried, but I figured I’d kick things off with something that could almost be considered a salad. These Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps not only look fantastic topped with tangy pickled onions and cilantro, they taste even better!...