Just curious. I seem to have something different every month as a favourite, but at the moment I'm hooked on a simple 洋食 item: オムライス. It was something I kept meaning to try, then when it was featured on Buzzer Beat I decided to prepare some via a recipe at Just Hungry. Delicious!

One thing I want to try is takoyaki (especially the パン version). Tako is my favourite nigirizushi topping (how is that commonly written in Japanese? タコの握り?).

お茶漬け (おちゃづけ) - rice with green tea poured over it. Pretty simple, but great - especially when it's cold or you're not feeling great.

I have tried takoyaki once - it was okay, but not anything particularly special. Then again, maybe I just had a bad batch.

お好み焼き all the way.... although I'm not a big fish person so I usually skip the seafood mix kind... and leave the katsuobushi off the top... Kimchi is probably my favorite.
I've also taken a liking to もんじゃ焼き as of late.

Tamise Wrote:お茶漬け (おちゃづけ) - rice with green tea poured over it. Pretty simple, but great - especially when it's cold or you're not feeling great.

Yum! And it's so quick too, if you pick up the little seasoning packets. I like the ume flavored ones...

The recipes I cook the most tend to be Japanized versions of continental Asian food. I make 麻婆豆腐 and キムチチャーハン quite a lot because they are so easy if you know what you're doing. Japanese people are always amazed that I can make 麻婆豆腐 from scratch because almost no one knows how to make it (they just goto restaurants for it or add meat & tofu to an instant sauce envelope).

Today I made 肉じゃが.

精進料理

肉肉肉

Must be hard to be a vegetarian in Japan, since if it's not meat then it's fish, and if it's not fish then it's probably flavored with dashi, which is fish.

shabu shabu

Probably Yakisoba I guess.

I'm quite fond of とんかつ and 狐饂飩

Jarvik7 Wrote:肉肉肉

Must be hard to be a vegetarian in Japan, since if it's not meat then it's fish, and if it's not fish then it's probably flavored with dashi, which is fish.

It's just as bad if you really, really, REALLY hate fish (like me).


I'm going to offend everyone by saying that I actually don't like Japanese cuisine that much, but I really like their non-alcoholic beverages. I wish I could remember the name of the manufacturer, but there was one company that made this sort of smoothie-like juice out of lychee... I dream about it, even now, years later.

Now I'm hungry. Any good recipes for these dishes that you use/have used (i.e. your personal favs rather than general sites)? I've made some of them before, but always looking for new recipes. ;p Most of mine are the ones that turn up on the first page of Google, when I don't get them from Just Hungry.

How to Make Bento (Japanese Boxed Lunch)

Quick and easy and well explained.

Transparent_Aluminium Wrote:How to Make Bento (Japanese Boxed Lunch)

Quick and easy and well explained.

Thanks, though I just edited my comment a couple minutes prior to yours to highlight that I'm looking for personal favs--is this video one that you've used/modified to satisfaction? I ask because while I've made tonnes of meals via recipes I've found online, I'm fond of the idea of 'swapping recipes', even if it's in the form of digital curation with the linker's personal touch.

Edit: I'm going to have to try that オムライス recipe I found via the cookingwithdog (haha) channel, thanks for the link. I don't use YouTube videos nearly enough, some surprising tips that I picked up tacitly, visually, rather than explicitly. Well, I guess it was explicit, if you count Francis' voice-over.

Udon with oden, without a doubt...

納豆！
seriously, I used to hate it and dreaded dishes after my wife consumed the sticky mess. however, several years back I got used to it and now can't stay out of it. definitely near the top if not on top, since it an easy meal with rice.

Okonomiyaki <3

mirina Wrote:there was one company that made this sort of smoothie-like juice out of lychee... I dream about it, even now, years later.

Calpico? They sell tons of those yogurt type drinks at the asian grocery store near my house (99 Ranch) but I think Calpico is the only Japanese brand. I actually prefer mixing it with equal amounts of milk.

ポッキー!!!

I'm pescetarian. I love miso soup, wakame salad, nori, sushi, tempura, and udon.

I also love Japanese green tea, especially 玄米茶.

@nest0r: The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen by Eric Gower has some really good Japanese-inspired fusion dishes. I really liked Mint-Cilantro Udon with Fresh Ginger and Meyer Lemon.

bodhisamaya Wrote:

Jarvik7 Wrote:肉肉肉

Must be hard to be a vegetarian in Japan, since if it's not meat then it's fish, and if it's not fish then it's probably flavored with dashi, which is fish.

If you eat out, it is tough. I don't eat out much though. I just drink and eat pastries if I go out with friends.
Tofu is much cheaper in Japan. I pay 33円 for a block of tofu and 15円 for udon at the 業務スーパー down the road. A block of tofu in Hawaii would cost me $2. I buy vegetables frozen for about 100円 per bag. Fruit in season is $3 per bucket. Though fresh fruit for free straight from the tree was a definite perk of living in Hawaii.

I'm a bit disappointed, bodhi. Somehow, I was expecting you to make some kind of erotic food comment. ;p

しゃぶしゃぶ of course. I also recommend REALLY expensive 焼肉 restaurants... I went to one place where it cost about 一万円 per capita, but it was amazing.

Any type of 鍋物.

Could you at least eat the meal while naked? You have a reputation to maintain.

So you don't appreciate the erotic qualities of the salted, cured meats? Tsk tsk.

BTW I keep confusing Tampopo, Eat Drink Man Woman, and In the Realm of the Senses. Probably a bad sign.

I love food so I can't really say that I have a favorite.

Someone asked for personal recipes so I'll leave one of my winter ones that I eat all the time: 湯豆腐　yu doufu. Serves 3 or so. Sorry for the bad directions, I just guess each time.

Ingredients:
One block of tofu, whatever type of firmness you like, but I like the soft kind
half a 白ネギ　(I don't know what its called in english)
three shitake mushrooms 椎茸
白菜　chinese cabbage (as much as or as little as you want, I like a lot so I'm full)
a small sheet of 昆布 konbu for the soup flavoring (you find these dried near the miso and bullion cubes)
cooking 酒　or regular sake. either works.
water
ポン酢 ponzu. (condiment)

Directions

Put the konbu and about 3 cups of water and about half a cup of sake in a pot and turn the heat on. Cut the 白菜 into small squares (about twice the size of a matchbook) and put those into the pot. Cut the 白ネギ so that once piece is about 2 inches big. Throw those in. Get the 椎茸　cut off the stems and those those in. Next cut the tofu into squares at the size you like to eat and then throw those in. Bring to boil. After it boils bring it down to a simmer and cook for like 3 minutes. While its cooking, get a small bowl and put the ponzu sauce in it. Turn off the heat after 3 min. and bring the pot o the table. Use a ladle with holes to scoop the food up and put it in the bowl with the ponzu sauce. Serve with side bowl of white rice. Eat. Enjoy.