Its fair to say, I didn’t know much about Japanese cooking/recipes except what I saw from anime shows or movies. It always looks moist and steaming to perfection. All I could think of is how do they make this food look so good?? Shin would tell me the comfort foods he grew up with that his mom made for him and I was determined to learn more Japanese recipes when he moved in.
I started by first watching him cook the recipes he knew from his mom. I was surprised to learn they weren’t as complicated as I thought they would be. The only complicated part was finding the ingredients. I had no idea where to go. Shin had brought me to my first Asian market, and I was in awe of the variety of food available.
We loaded up with the pantry staples and fresh ingredients and went back home to start cooking his favorite dishes.
- Miso
- Soy sauce
- Fish oil
- Sesame oil
- Rice Vinegar
- Nori (Seaweed)
- Panko (bread crumbs)
- Mirin (sweet rice wine)
- Sake (Japanese Rice Wine)
- Dashi
- Udon Noodles
- Tsuyu (Soup Base)
- Tonkotsu
- Short-Grain Rice
- Potato Starch
- Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese Seven Spice)
- Curry Roux
- Pickled ginger
- Ginger
- Leeks
- Green Onions
- Tofu
- Daikon
- Various eggs, meat, and seafood
I first learned how to make miso soup, one of my favorite dishes when I go to a restaurant. I was surprised to learn how simple it is to make and how tasteful a batch it can be. I was instantly hooked and wanted to know more.
It has now been about 5 years since I started learning and I am proud to say we have incorporated more Japanese dishes into our lifestyle than I ever thought we could do (because of picky children lol). I even learned how to make Japanese curry from scratch (which is much better than the pre-packaged stuff!).
We love trying new dishes and sometimes they work out and other times they don’t. But do you really want to eat the same thing day in and day out for the rest of your life?
