Grilled Aburaage with Natto

It's a quick appetizer to make with abura-age (deep-fried tofu). Seasoned natto is used for the filling. It's good to add various ingredients, such as green onion, myoga, and karashi mustard in natto as you like. Yield: 2 servings Ingredients:

2 abura-age, blanched 2 small packages natto soy sauce finely chopped green onion (optional) myoga ginger, thinly sliced (optional) karashi mustard (optional)

Preparation: Cut abura-age in halves so that each piece has an open end. Put natto in a small bowl and stir well. Pour the sauce included in the natto package or desired amount of soy sauce over natto. Add optional toppings such as green onion, myoga ginger, and karashi mustard if you would like. Stir well. Open the abura-age pouch and stuff a spoonful of the filling inside. Close the pocket using a toothpick. Place stuffed abura-age pieces in a cooking tray or aluminium foil and cook on medium heat in the toaster oven until brown and crunchy. Remove toothpicks and serve on a plate.

Kenchinjiru
Kenchinjiru is a clear soup made with lots of vegetable and tofu. It's good to use various kinds of mushrooms and potatoes. Yield: 4 servings Ingredients:

4 inches gobo (burdock), scrape skin off and thinly shaved into thin strips 2oz. carrot, peeled and cut into thin quarter-rounds 1/4 lb daikon radish, peeled and cut into thin quarter-rounds 1 medium potato, peeled and cut into bite size pieces 1/2 chikuwa (fish cake), sliced into thin rounds *optional 1/2 block or 1/2 lb cotton tofu 4 inches negi, chopped 4 cups dashi 2 tsp sesame oil 2 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp salt

Preparation: Soak gobo strips in water for about 5 minutes and drain. Heat sesame oil in a deep pot and saute daikon, gobo, carrot, potato, and chikuwa on medium heat for a minute. Add dashi soup stock in the pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low and skim off any foam or impurities that rise to the surface. Simmer until vegetables are softened. Season the soup with soy sauce and salt. Break tofu into bite size pieces and put in the soup. Further, add negi and simmer until heated through. Stop the heat.

Spaghetti Naporitan
It's one of "yoshoku" dishes which are Japanized Western foods. As it has a sweet taste, add some tabasco sauce if you would like. Ingredients:

7 oz. spaghetti 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced 1/2 small onion, thinly sliced 1/4 lb sausage or ham, sliced 1/3 cup ketchup 2 tsp butter 2 tsp vegetable oil salt and pepper to season

Preparation: Put about 8 cups of water in a large pot and add 2 Tbsp of salt. Bring to a boil on high heat and cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in a large skillet and stir-fry onion, bell pepper, and sausage on medium heat until softened. Season with salt and pepper. Add drained spaghetti in the skillet and stir-fry with other ingredients. Add ketchup and stir-fry the spaghetti. Mix butter in and stop the heat. *Makes 2 servings

Eggplants Dengaku
Fried eggplants are topped with sweet miso sauce. Yield: 4 servings Ingredients:

4 small eggplants or 2 large eggplants, about 1 lb, cut in in half lengthwise 1 Tbsp vegetable oil 3 Tbsp red miso 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar 1 Tbsp mirin 2 Tbsp dashi soup stock 1 Tbsp sake 1 Tbsp white sesame seeds

Preparation: 1. Make many incisions on the surface of eggplants. 2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet and fry the eggplants covered on medium heat until softened. 3. Mix dashi, sake, mirin, sugar, and miso in a sauce pan. Simmer it on low heat, stirring constantly until thicken. 4. Place fried eggplants on plates and top with the sweet miso sauce. 5. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Beef Sukiyaki
Sukiyaki is a popular one-pot meal which is usually cooked at the table as you eat. The word "yaki" means "sautee" or "grill" in Japanese. The word is used because meat is sauteed in the hot skillet. The main ingredient in sukiyaki is usually beef which is thinly sliced. Meat slices and ingredients are simmered in soy sauce based soup. In different regions of Japan, sukiyaki is cooked differently. Yield: 4 servings Ingredients:

1 lb thinly sliced beef, cut into bite-size pieces 1 package shirataki noodles (made from yam cakes) or cellophane noodles, washed and drained, cut into 3 inch lengths 8 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed 1 enoki mushroom, trimmed 1 negi or leek, washed and sliced into 2 inch lengths 1/2 Chinese cabbage, washed and cut into 2 inch wide pieces 1 yaki-dofu (grilled tofu), cut into bite-size pieces 1 shungiku (chrysanthemum greens), washed and cut into 2 inch lengths *if available For sukiyaki sauce: 1/3 cup soy sauce / 3 Tbsp sake / 5 Tbsp sugar / 3/4 cup water For dipping: 4 pasteurized eggs *optional

Preparation: Arrange ingredients on a large plate and place the plate on the table. Mix soy sauce, sake, sugar, and water to make sukiyaki sauce. Set an electric pan or a skillet on the table. *After this point, cooking is done at the table as you eat. Heat a little oil in the pan. Fry some beef slices, then pour sukiyaki sauce in the pan. Add other ingredients when the sauce starts to boil. Simmer until all ingredients are softened. It's ready to eat. Dip the cooked sukiyaki into the raw, beaten eggs if you would like. As the liquid is reduced, add more sukiyaki sauce or hot water.

Deep-fried Mackerel
This dish is called saba tatsuta-age. It's a great appetizer to serve with beer or sake. Ingredients:

2 fillets mackerel, bone removed 2 Tbsp soy sauce 1 Tbsp sake 2 tsp grated ginger *katakuriko (potato starch) or corn starch for coating *vegetable oil for frying

Preparation: Cut mackerel into about one inch thick pieces. Mix soy sauce, sake, and ginger in a bowl and marinate mackerel for about 15 minutes. Dry the mackerel with paper towels and cover with katakuriko or corn starch. Heat enough oil for deep-frying in a deep pot to 340 degrees F. Deep-fry mackerel until cooked through and browned.

Simmered Sour Chicken

12 chicken drumsticks 4 boiled eggs, peeled 1 inch fresh ginger root, sliced thinly 2/3 cup rice vinegar 2/3 cup soy sauce 1/3 cup sugar 3/4 cup water

Preparation: Put water, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and ginger slices in a large pan. Bring to a boil on high heat. Turn down the heat to low and put chicken drumsticks and boiled eggs in the soup. Place a sheet of aluminium foil or a drop lid on the ingredients and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Stuffed Green Bell Peppers

8-10 small green bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed 10 oz ground pork 1/2 onion, finely chopped 1 egg, beaten 1/4 cup panko breadcrumb *salt and pepper to season *flour to dust 1 Tbsp vegetable oil 3 Tbsp ketchup 3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Preparation: 1. Put meat, chopped onion, egg, and panko in a large bowl and knead by hand. 2. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. 3. Lightly dust the inside of the green bell pepper pieces. 4. Stuff green bell peppers with meat mixture. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat. 5. Place stuffed peppers meat side down in the skillet. Cover the skillet and cook for a few minutes on medium-low heat. 6. Turn peppers over and cover the skillet. 7. Cook stuffed peppers for a few more minutes until done. 8. Remove peppers and place on a plate. 9. Add ketchup and Worcestershire sauce in the skillet. Mix quickly over low heat to make sauce. 10. Pour the sauce over stuffed green bell peppers.

These are daifuku cakes with strawberry and anko fillings. Yield: Makes 6 pieces Ingredients:

1 cup shiratama-ko (glutinous rice flour) 1/4 cup sugar 2/3 cup water For filling 1/3 cup water & 1/2 cup sugar & 1/4 cup dried anko powder, or 1/2 cup premade anko (sweet red bean paste) 6 strawberries katakuriko potato starch or corn starch for dusting

Preparation: Heat 1/3 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar in a pan. Add 1/4 cup of anko powder in the pan and stir well. Set aside. Wash strawberries and remove the calyxes. Wrap a strawberry with about a spoonful of anko and rounds to make a ball. Make 6 balls. Put shiratamako in a heat-resistant bowl. Mix 2/3 cup of water and 1/4 cup of sugar in a small bowl. Pour into shiratamako, stirring well. Put the bowl in microwave and heat the dough for about two minutes. Stir the dough. Heat the dough in microwave until the dough inflates. Stir the mochi quickly. Dust a flat pan with some katakuri-ko starch. Also, dust hands with some katakuri-ko. Remove the hot mochi from the bowl to the pan by hands. The mochi is hot and sticky, so be careful not to burn your hands. Dust hands with more katakuri-ko starch and divide the mochi into 6 pieces by hands. Make 6 flat and round mochi. Put a piece of strawberry and anko filling on a mochi piece and wrap it by stretching mochi. Rounds the daifuku. Repeat the process to make more pieces.

Umeshu
It's made by soaking unripe ume (Japanese apricots or plums) in sugar and alcohol drinks. Ingredients:

2 1/4 lb unripe ume 2 lb rock sugar (adjust the amount of sugar based on your preference) 7 1/2 cups shochu for umeshu (clear distilled spirit which contains 35 % alcohol), or vodka

Preparation: Wash ume and gently remove the black stems, using a bamboo stick. Dry ume with clean towel. Wash and sterilize a large glass jar and dry well. Place ume in the jar. Put rock sugar over the ume plums. Pour shochu over ume. Seal the jar and store it in a dark, cool, and dry place. Umeshu will be ready for drinking in a couple of months. But, it's best to let it mature at least one year.