Agedashi-tofu - Fried tofu

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Ingredients:
1/2 tofu (momen or hard-type)
minced green onion
1 tsp. grated Japanese radish mixed with powdered red pepper
1 tsp. cornstarch
oil for deep-frying,
1 tsp. each of mirin and soy sauce,
4 tbsp dashi stock.

Directions:
(1)Quarter tofu and drain well.
(2)Cover tofu with cornstarch and fry in oil at medium heat until golden brown.
(3)Place tofu on plate and top with boiling-hot(A)sauce. Garnish with green onion and grated radish with red pepper.

Miso Soup

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Ingredients:
1/2 tofu
60 grams wakame
4 cups soup stock
60 grams miso paste.

Directions:
(1)Cut tofu into small cubes (1cm)and wakame into 2cm squares. (2)Bring soup stock to a boil in a pot. Dissolve miso paste in the stock. Add tofu cubes and wakame. Heatsoup to a slight boil. Remove from heat and pour into soup bowls.

Eggplant Miso Soup

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Yield: 1 servings

Ingredients:
2 tb Miso
2 Scallions; chopped
1 qt Hot water
1/2 c Tofu; cubed
1 Carrot; chopped
1 c Eggplant; julienned

Directions:
In boiling wash, add miso. Mash to dissolve. Add carrots, scallions, tofu and eggplant. Cook until veggies are tender.

Shrimp, Oyster, Mushrooms and Peas in Wasabi

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4 appetizer or 2 main course servings

Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
4 teaspoons wasabi powder (horseradish powder)*
2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons hon-dashi (Japanese bonito-type soup stock granules)*
1 cup sake
8 Tablespoons (1 stick of butter)
4 teaspoons minced garlic
3/4 teaspoons coarsely cracked pepper
6 ounces oyster mushrooms, sliced
16 sugar snap peas, stringed
20 uncooked medium shrimp, peeled deveined
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Directions:
Combine first 4 ingredients in small bowl; whisk to blend. Set mixture aside. Bring sake to boil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Ignite with match and boil until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Add 6 tablespoons butter, minced garlic and pepper to sake and stir until buttermelts. Add wasabi mixture to skillet and boil until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 3 minutes. Set sauce aside.
Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms and sugar snap peasand saute 1 minute. Add shrimp and sliced garlic and saute 2 minutes. Add sauce and simmer until shrimp are cooked through and sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 minute longer. Transfer to plates and serve.

To make the Dashi-stock:
First, immerse kombu (sea tangle) into water.
Place water on low heat and remove the kombu before the water starts to boil.
Add bonito shavings then turn the heat off immediately and strain with a sieve to remove the shavings.

Traditional Yakitori

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Serves 4

Ingredients:
The sauce>
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup mirin (sweetened cooking sake)
1/2 cup sake
1/2 cup soy sauce

Directions:
Mix ingredients over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to one cup. (About 10 to 15 min.) Set aside.

Ingredients:
12 ounces of boned, skinless chicken
8 ounces of chicken livers
cold water
4 medium dried chinese black mushrooms, soaked in hot water util soft
2 medium green bell peppers
1 medium leek
16 to 20 skewers
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions:
Soak the bambo skewers in cold water while you cut up the ingredients.
Cut the chicken into squares and the liver into squares and place the livers into the cold water and cover. Let stand 5 min. then drain and pat dry.

Remove the mushroom stems from the water and cut each cap into halves. Then cut each green pepper into 1-inch squares. Cut the leeks into 1- inch legnths.

Thread on the pieces of food on the skewers in alternating order, then place on a hot grill and baste with the sauce. Cook for about 3 to 4 min. Do not overcook or the chicken will be dry. Serve with the lemon wedges.

Tuna Tataki

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Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 Tuna steaks
Black peppercorns, coarsely cracked
Dipping Sauce:
1/2 cup Peanut oil
1 ounce Sesame oil
2 ounces Soy sauce
1/2 ounce Garlic -- grated
1/2 ounce Ginger -- grated
5 spice powder to taste

Directions:
Roll tuna in cracked black pepper then sear it in a very hot cast iron pan without oil. let cool slighly, then slice thinly. Serve with dipping sauce.
Sauce: 1/2 cup peanut oil, 1 oz. sesame oil, 2 oz. soy sauce, 1/2 oz grated garlic, 1/2 oz grated ginger, 5 spice powder to taste. Slice tuna very thin, serve with sauce down and garnish with pickled ginger. A great appetizer.

Shabu-shabu

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Shabu-shabu means "swish-swish," referring to the swishing action when you cook a very thin slice of beef in hot water.

On a portable range, place a medium-sized pot (1/2 gallon should do). Place a couple of slices of kombu (a sort of kelp) and cover with cold water. Gently bring the water to a boil and remove the kombu just before it actually starts to boil. When the water is boiling very, very gently, you're set.

On your table you should have: (for 4 people)


Ingredients:
1 lb very thinly sliced beef (sirloin), preferably grain-fed. Beer-fed Kobe beef is the best. I MEAN VERY THIN (less than 1/16 inch)
8 shiitake mushrooms
1/2 lb enoki mushrooms
1/2 lb shimeji mushrooms
1/2 lb shirataki
1 lb chinese cabbage
1/2 lb watercress, to substitute for spring chrysanthemum leaves
1 lb tofu, cut in 1 in. cubes, pressed and drained
any other ingredients you want to use
Dipping sauce:
In a small bowl, you should have soy sauce and lemon juice 2:1, as a dipping sauce.

Directions:
Simply take one of the items, swish it around in the hot water for from a few seconds for beef to a few minutes for vegetables. Serve with hot steamed rice.

Japanese Oden

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Ingredients:
1 thick piece of fried bean curd
2 fried fish cakes(satsuma-age)
2 white fish cakes(hanpen)
2 chikuwa (fish paste roll)
1 konnnyaku
4 sardine dumplings(tsumire)
4 boiled eggs
1/4 Japanese radish
20cm kombu kelp
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp each of soysauce and salt

Directions:
(1)Wipe kombu and immerse in lukewarm water.
(2)Cut fried bean curd into four pieces. Halve sastuma-age, hanpen, and chikuwa and pour hot water over all of them.
(3)Cut radish in rounds 2cm thick. Quarter konnyaku and boil.
(4)Add *** and ingredients in (2), (3),sardine dumplings, and boiled eggs to kelp stock.

Nikujaga

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Ingredients:
6 potatoes
150 grams sliced beef
1 and 1/2 onions
1 and 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups water
8 tbsp each sugar and soy sauce

Directions:
(1)Peel potatoes, cut into six pieces, and immerse in water.
(2)Slice onions (hangetsu-giri) Cut beef into bite-size pieces.
(3)Heat vegetable oil in pan. Stir-fry beef. When beef is thoroughly brown, add onions and potatoes.
(4)Add 2 cups water and half the seasonings. Turn down heat when pot starts bubbling. Skim off foam. Add the remaining seasonings, depending on how much broth has boiled off.

Tempura

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Ingredients:
8 prawns(shrimp)
4 slices sweet potato
2 eggplant
1 egg
4 beefsteak plant (shiso)
4 shiitake mushrooms
1 cup tempura flour
1 cup ice-cold water
grated Japanese radish
ginger
oil for deep-frying
1 cup soup stock***
1/4 cup each of soy sauce and mirin.

Directions:
(1)Peel prawns remove veins, and cut off tail tips. Make slashes in 4 places on prawns undersides to prevent curling.
(2)Peel sweet potato and cut into 5mm round slices.
(3)Cut eggplant in half and make four or five cuts lengthwise with the tip of a knife.
(4)Cut tiny slash on top of beefsteak plant leaves.
(5)Mix egg and ice-cold water to make one cup. Mix in flour lightly.
(6)Dip prawn and vegetable slices into flour mixture, deep-fry prawns in oil at 180 degrees(celsius) and vegetables at 165 degrees. (Before putting the ingredients into oil, drop some flour first to see the oil attained the heat)
(7)Put *** in pan to heat the tentsuyu (tempura sauce).
(8)Serve with grated Japanese radish and ginger as condiments.