Instead of being light and airy, mine were dense, tough, and more cake-like. I kicked myself because I know better than to deviate from directions on a first try. I was frustrated and disappointed because after tasting one, the rest went straight into the garbage. I’ll spare you my disastrous attempt and pass on the instructions as they were sent to me. With my confidence shaken, I’ll need some time to recover before giving these a fair shot. You’re smarter than I am and for you, I’m positive these will be everything my mom says they were!

My aunt, who lives in Japan, made this after hearing my mom rave about it but quickly decided it was not worth the effort. Apparently in Japan, tofu donuts are not so novel and all donut shops carry them!

1 pkg (150g) Morinaga Hot Cake Mix
150g med. firm (momen) tofu
2 tsp sugar
oil for deep frying (new oil is better—I used brown rice oil)

Mash tofu with your fingers or pass the tofu through a sieve and into a medium bowl. Add the sugar and cake mix to the tofu and quickly mix well with a rubber spatula. It may look dry at first, but after mixing it’ll be fine.

Shape the dough as you like. I shaped them into balls, but you can also make ring donuts and donut holes. Heat oil to 300 to 320 degrees and deep fry donuts until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate or baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar or dip in chocolate and serve.

And really, I don’t know what I’ve been afraid of because anything baking in the oven will seduce you with the scents that fill the kitchen, even before you take your first chewy bite.

The small proportions make this very manageable and no special equipment is needed. Perfect for a first-time breadmaker! Granted, there is some kneading involved, but the dough is fairly firm and doesn’t make a huge mess. Actually, kneading reminds me of my days studying ceramics and I love the way you can feel the elasticity of the dough change. Doing this convinced me that I don’t need a fancy mixer to handle my dough. I like the old-fashioned way just fine.

The flavor of the matcha is subtle when you eat them hot out of the oven. But it becomes a little more pronounced once they’ve had a chance to cool, with just a hint of sweetness.

Matcha Rolls
Adapted from New Tastes in Green Tea
Makes 8 rolls

2/3 cup milk
2 Tbsp. butter
1 oz. sugar
1/4 oz. (1 packet) dry yeast
7 oz. bread flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. matcha
2 Tbsp. toasted black sesame seeds

Gently warm the milk in a small pan over a low heat. Add butter and sugar, and stir until the butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to body temperature.

Add the dry yeast to the pan and stir. Set aside for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and matcha. Slowly pour in the milk and yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. Once incorporated, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and has some elasticity. Shape the dough into a ball, cover lightly with a kitchen towel, and let it rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes.

When the dough roughly triples in size, divide it into 8 portions and shape into small rolls. Cover with towel again and let rise for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 360 degrees.

Place the rolls on a baking sheet and let them rise again for 30 minutes.

Using your finger, wet the top of the rolls with water and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Bake for 12–15 minutes.

The filling is made with pork belly, which I bought thinly sliced at the Japanese grocery store, then chopped into small bits at home. It’s mixed with green onions, fresh ginger juice, pepper, tien mien jiang, shoyu, sake, and sesame oil. This is weird to say about raw meat, but as I was mixing the ingredients, the aroma was delicious!

After browning and steaming for a few minutes, a mixture of warm water and katakuriko (potato starch) is poured in to create a light and crispy crust.

Fried Gyoza
Makes 4 servings (about 36 pieces)
Adapted from ぜひ覚えたいおかず

3/4 lb. thinly sliced pork belly, chopped
5 stalks green onions, white and green parts chopped
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1 tsp. ginger juice (I grate the ginger, then squeeze the juice out)
1 Tbsp. sake
1 1/2 Tbsp. shoyu
1 1/2 Tbsp. tien mien jiang
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 package gyoza wrappers
canola oil
1 Tbsp. katakuriko (potato starch)

In a medium bowl, combine the pork, ground pepper, ginger juice, sake, shoyu, tien mien jiang, and sesame oil. Mix with chopsticks or a fork. Add the green onions and mix until just incorporated.

Take one gyoza wrapper and place about a teaspoonful of filling in the center. Gently pat the filling down and roughly shape into a rectangle across the center of the wrapper. Dab your finger in a small bowl of water and dot the top of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half, align the edges, and pinch. The dot of water creates a seal. Set aside gyoza in a plate or baking sheet and repeat until you use up the filling. You should have extra wrappers leftover, which I usually put in a ziplock and freeze for later use.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over a high flame. Make sure the oil is evenly distributed and add 12 pieces of gyoza, in 2 rows of 6. Fry until the bottoms are lightly browned. Add 1/8 cup of water and immediately cover, reduce to medium heat, and steam for 2–3 minutes.

Meanwhile, dissolve the katakuriko in 1/2 cup warm water. Remove the cover from the pan and pour 1/3 of the katakuriko mixture around the edges of the gyoza. Be sure to stir the katakuriko and water again before you pour because the starch sinks to the bottom quickly. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and check occasionally to see if the water has boiled off and the katakuriko becomes dry around the edges.

Uncover, increase the heat to high, and fry until the edges are brown and crispy. Repeat with remaining gyoza. Serve with shoyu, vinegar, and ra-yu for dipping.

You can also place the sheet of uncooked gyoza in the freezer (making sure they are not touching each other) and transfer to a ziploc once they are frozen. To cook, just place the frozen gyoza in the hot pan directly and cook as directed above.