It’s important to buy the thick udon noodles because it’ll stand up to the rich curry. Think of it like you would pasta—thin noodles would call for a light sauce and thick noodles would call for a robust, hearty sauce. Same logic. I always buy the dried noodles when making the typical udon, but get the fresh noodles for this. My friend Christy happened to mention her favorite frozen udon brand and that’s what I used here. If you can find it, use Sanukiya Udon (distributed by Shirakiku). It’s chewy and has a great firmness and isn’t soft or mushy.

Tomato Keema Curry Udon
トマトキーマカレーうどん
Adapted from オレンジページ2010年1月7日
Makes 2 servings

1 Tbsp canola oil
½ onion, slice into 4 sections crosswise, then thinly slice lengthwise
1 garlic clove, grated finely (with a microplane grater)
1/3 piece ginger, grated
2 tomatoes, 2 center-sliced sections (1 cm thick) and the rest diced
150 g ground beef
1 pack savory chicken broth, dissolved in 600 ml boiling water (you could also use a bouillon cube)
1/2 package curry roux (I used S&B brand’s Torokeru Curry)
2 packages frozen udon noodles
1 stalk green onion (optional)

Heat oil in a medium pot over medium-high. Once it begins to shimmer, add the onion. Cook for 6 to 7 mins, stirring frequently. Measure 100 ml water and set aside. When the onion starts to brown, add 1/5 of the water. Continue to stir and cook until the liquid is gone and add 1/5 more water. Repeat until with the remaining water. Once the onion turns a golden brown color, add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant.

Add the diced tomato with juices and stir. Cook until the tomato breaks down and thickens, about 5 mins. Add the ground beef and break up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Once no longer pink, add the soup. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for 3 mins.

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.

Turn off the heat to the pot with the onions, tomato, and beef. Add the curry and let sit for a couple minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon, making sure the curry has completely dissolved into the pot. Turn the heat back on to medium. Bring to a boil, then cook for 3 mins to thicken.

In a small frying pan over high heat, cook the 2 tomato slices (without oil) until browned around the edges, about 2 mins each.

Once the large pot comes to a boil, add the frozen udon and cook according to package instructions. Drain well. Divide among 2 large bowls, ladle the curry over the noodles. Top with tomato and green onions, if using.

What I love about this recipe is the addition of katakuriko (potato starch) at the end to thicken the sauce—perfect for spooning over hot rice. If daikon is not available in your area, try using a different kind of radish.

I also want to thank everyone who has purchased the recipe booklet to benefit the victims of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster! I was surprised to find out I have readers in Canada, Australia, and the UK. I still have a few left, so will keep them up on my Etsy shop until they all sell. A special thanks to Mary, The Food Librarian for mentioning it on her blog. If you haven’t visited her site yet, please do. She is amazing and my personal blogger role model!

Braised Daikon with Beef | 大根とひき肉のとろみ炒め
Adapted from ラクラクおかずレシピ（2001年冬）
Makes 4 servings

1 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 clove garlic, minced
1 green onion, chopped with light and dark green parts separated
1/2 large daikon, cut into quarters lengthwise, then into 1.5 inch pieces
4 Tbsp. sake
1 Tbsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. shoyu
pinch ground white pepper
1 Tbsp. katakuriko (potato starch)
2 tsp. sesame oil

In a wok or large pan with lid, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and break up into pieces as it cooks. When the meat is no longer pink, add the garlic, white parts of the green onion, and daikon. Stir well to make sure the daikon is coated in oil. Next, add the sake and a scant 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes over low heat.

Add sugar, shoyu, and white pepper and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover again, reduce heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes more. Meanwhile dissolve the katakuriko in 2 Tbsp. of water.

Drizzle the katakuriko mixture to the daikon and quickly stir until the sauce will thickens. Turn off the heat, add the sesame oil, toss, top with green onions and serve.

But reading about Sukiyaki Don in Harumi Kurihara’s Your Japanese Kitchen 1, I was surprised how quickly and easily this comes together. The eating experience is different of course, but the recipe is great for a fast but hearty and satisfying one-bowl meal.

I love the bitterness of shungiku (garland chrysanthemum) in hot pots and dishes like this sukiyaki. The market didn’t carry it, so I had to make due with napa cabbage and chard. If you find it, use it and you’ll see how great it tastes alongside a piece of sweet meat. I know people have a strong dislike for beni shoga, but if you use it in moderation, I think it punctuates the dish nicely, making the flavors more layered. Also, I cooked this in two batches because it didn’t all fit in my 12″ skillet.

Sukiyaki Don (Sukiyaki on Rice)
Adapted from Your Japanese Kitchen
Makes 4 servings

canola oil
200 g. thinly sliced beef
2 Japanese leeks (I used 2 small American leeks)
200 g. konnyaku noodles
1 package grilled tofu
1 package enoki
1/3 bunch shungiku (I used 1/4 napa cabbage and a couple of leaves of chard)
100 ml mirin
100 ml sake
100 ml shoyu
2 Tbsp. sugar
4 eggs
beni shoga

Bring a small pot of water to boil. Meanwhile, cut leeks into 1/2 inch pieces diagonally. Drain the tofu and cut into 8 pieces. Cut the shungiku (or napa cabbage and chard) into bite-sized pieces. When the water comes to a boil, blanch the konnyaku noodles and drain. When the noodles are cooled, cut into bite-sized pieces.

Make the sauce by combining the mirin, sake, shoyu, and sugar in a bowl and whisk.

In a large skillet, over medium heat, add a small amount of oil and fry the leeks (and the thick parts of the napa cabbage, if using), and beef until browned. Add the noodles, tofu, and enoki (and leafy parts of the napa cabbage and chard, if using). Immediately pour the sauce mixture over the entire pan and let simmer for a couple of minutes. Turn pieces of tofu and other ingredients, lower the heat, cover and continue to simmer until the vegetables are cooked, about 5 minutes. In the sukiyaki pot, add the shungiku and cook until heated through. In a separate pot, poach the eggs.

Put rice in a serving bowl and top with sukiyaki, poached egg, and garnish with shoga.

I say this surprisingly because the recipe was relatively simple. Slices of pork loin (I used kurobuta from the Japanese market) goes in a quick 5 minute marinade, gets a coat of katakuriko (potato starch), then pan fried and cooked in a shoyu, mirin, and sugar. Then it’s topped on a bowl of rice sprinkled with slivers of shiso and nori. Done! It’s that easy.

The katakuriko creates this amazing gooey coating that absorbs the salty-sweet sauce. The chewy pork, the sticky rich sauce, a hint of ginger from the marinade, and the pungent shiso (I don’t know what it is about shiso, but damn! It elevates any dish) are simple ingredients transformed into a satisfying mouthful. A mouthful of umami.

You must make this.

Also, a word about the word kuwayaki. Kuwa means hoe and yaki means broiled, pan fried, baked, etc. (as in teriyaki, yakiniku, yakisoba, yaki imo). According to my mom, this method of cooking was traditionally used by farmers because they would use the flat part of the hoe as a pan for cooking.

Kuwayaki Pork Donburi
Adapted from ぜひ覚えたいおかず
Makes 2 servings

5.5 oz. pork loin (I bought pork loin for tonkatsu and sliced it half so it wasn’t as thick)
3-4 Tbsp. katakuriko (potato starch)
2 Tbsp. canola oil
3 shiso leaves, chiffonade
1/4 sheet toasted nori, cut with kitchen scissors into thin strips
rice

For the marinade
1 Tbsp. shoyu
1/2 Tbsp. sake
1 tsp. fresh ginger juice

For the sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp. shoyu
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. mirin
1 Tbsp. water

Combine the marinade ingredients in a plate or shallow bowl and add the pork. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Put the katakuriko in a large plate. When the pork has finished marinating, drain the excess marinade and dip the pork into the plate of katakuriko. Make sure it’s evenly coated, then shake off any excess.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and fry the pork so both sides turn a golden brown. If doing this in batches, be sure to add enough oil with each batch so the pork sizzles. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and add to the pork. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Assemble the donburi with hot rice on the bottom, add the shiso and nori, and top with the pork.

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.

This recipe is from one of those community cookbooks from the Hawaii Soto Mission in Oahu. I’ve had several recipes tagged, but haven’t found motivation to cook from it until now. There aren’t any photos, which is a little fact I’ll have to overlook if I’m to scarf down yummy Hawaiian food like this.

Shoyu Chicken
Adapted from Hawaii Soto Mission Cookbook
Makes about 12 servings

5 lbs. chicken thighs
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup sugar
1 cup shoyu
3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. dry mustard

In a small pot, combine tomato sauce, sugar, shoyu, rice vinegar, and dry mustard and bring to a boil. Place the chicken thighs in a large pot and pour the sauce over the thighs. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 1 hour, partially covering with a lid.

I pulled this recipe from a Japanese cookbook by Kentarō, who I kind of see as a Japanese Jamie Oliver. He’s young, hip and uses contemporary ingredients and methods for his dishes. This particular book has a lot of Chinese, Korean, and Italian influence and is printed on nice uncoated stock. (The designer in me loves uncoated stock for luscious food photography. I know it shouldn’t matter, but one thing I detest in a cookbook are glossy pages. Eww!) Ahem… sorry. What I meant to say is happy cooking!

Miso Eggplant with Beef
Adapted from ケンタロウのおかずの王様
Makes 2 servings

3.5 oz ground beef
3 Japanese eggplants, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly
1 green onion, cut to 1/2 inch sections
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 square inch of fresh ginger, minced
2 Tbsp. sake
1 Tbsp. miso
1/2 Tbsp. mirin
1/2 tsp. shoyu
3-4 Tbsp. canola oil
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
salt, to taste

Heat the canola oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Add the eggplant and turn the heat to high. When the eggplant absorbs the oil and becomes soft, transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Turn the heat to low and quickly wipe the pan with a paper towel to clean. Add the sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and green onions and cook until fragrant. Turn the heat to high and add the ground beef. Season with salt and cook until the beef is no longer pink. Once cooked, add the eggplant, mix, and add the sake, miso, mirin, and shoyu. Stir until incorporated and serve.

My love for this recipe are the textures—soft, melty eggplant, chewy pork and… crunchy cucumber. Yes! Through the heat, the cucumber maintained it’s characteristic crunch. The flavors had just the right balance of salty and sweet with the nice aroma of sesame—a perfect companion to a rounded bowl of steamed rice.

The cucumber and eggplant get sliced, sprinkled with salt, and are set aside for 5 minutes. This softens the vegetables and releases some of their liquid. The only thing I would do differently is trim the fat on the pork (the original recipe calls for sliced beef). The recipe calls for quite a lot of sesame oil, so a leaner meat would have been just right. I went easy on the heat, so add more red pepper flakes if you want to spice it up.

Spicy Pork and Vegetable Stir-fry
Adapted from おつまみになるおかず
Makes 4 servings

Marinade
2 Tbsp. shoyu
2 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. chopped green onions
2 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 tsp. grated garlic

7 oz. sliced beef or pork (I used pork sliced for sukiyaki)
3 Japanese eggplants
2 Japanese cucumbers (or 1/2 an English cucumber)
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil
Scant 1 Tbsp. shoyu (preferably low-sodium)
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. sesame
2 tsp. sake

Combine the ingredients of the marinade and mix well. Add the sliced meat and let sit for 10 minutes.

Thinly slice the eggplant (a little less than a 1/4 inch thick). The thick part of the the eggplant can be sliced lengthwise first, then sliced thinly into half moons. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp. of salt, toss to coat, then let sit for about 5 minutes. Similarly, slice the cucumber, sprinkle 1/2 tsp. of salt, and let sit for 5 minutes.

Dump the eggplant in a thin cloth towel (like a flour sack) and gently squeeze the moisture and lightly pat to dry. Rinse the cucumber and like the eggplant, dry with a towel.

In a wok or a large pan, heat the sesame oil and cook the meat over high heat. Once the meat changes color, add the eggplant and cucumber and stir.

Once the vegetables soften, add the red pepper flakes, shoyu, sugar, and sake. Mix and sprinkle sesame seeds. Serve with rice.

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