Ingen no Gomaae

Japanese: Green beans and sesame salad. This recipe is similar to the spinach sesame salad I posted yesterday, and is a fine alternative to spinach, if that’s not your thing. I love the texture of green beans: so crunchy and fun to eat!

Yield: 2 servings

Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb green beans (ingen)

Spices

• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp ground sesame seeds

Preparation

1. Trim the ends of the green beans and cut into 3″ pieces
2. Boil green beans for 5 minutes (until soft)
3. Strain and set aside/li>
4. Mix sugar, soy sauce, and ground sesame in a bowl, then combine with green beans and mix
5. Spinkle with whole sesame seeds
6. Serve!

Simple Hourensou Salad (Spinach Salad)

Hourensou is the Japanese word for spinach. This recipe is very simple, but it is my favorite way to enjoy this healthy vegetable. Popeye is a very famous cartoon in Japan. When I was a kid, my mom used to tell me to eat more spinach to be strong like Popeye.

Yield: 2 servings

Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 bundle of spinach
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 pinch of katsuobushi

Preparation

1. Add spinach leaves to boiling water, and cook for 2 minutes
2. Remove, strain, and pat dry on paper towels. Cut into 2″ pieces
3. Put cooked spinach on a plate and sprinkle with katsuobushi, then add soy sauce

Hourensou no Ohitashi

“Hourensou” is the Japanese word for spinach. This is a quick, healthy side dish or appetizer. The dashi gives it a unique Japanese flavor. Enjoy!

Yield: 2 servings

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of spinach (hourensou)

Spices

• 3/4 cup Dashi soup or 3/4 cup hot water mixed with 1 tsp hon-dashi (soup stock powder)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• One pinch of katsuobushi

Preparation

1. Boil spinach for 3 minutes (until slightly wilted)
2. Submerge in cold water then wring out with a paper towel
3. Chop spinach into 2″ pieces
4. Mix dashi soup and soy sauce in a bowl
5. Add spinach and refrigerate for 10 minutes
6. Transfer the spinach to a serving dish, discard the liquid, and top with katsuobushi

Nanohana no Ohitashi

The nanohana plant is entirely edible, and the plant it is also the source of healthy Canola oil. Nanohana is a springtime flower, and in some areas of Japan you can find fields of the flower formed into mazes so visitors can wander through the blossoms and enjoy their beauty. Nanohana bloom just before sakura here in Japan, so they are kind of a prelude to spring, even though they are beautiful in their own right.

Yield: 2 servings

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 oz nanohana (not blooming)
• 1 cup dashi soup (or 1 cup water with 1 tsp hon-dashi)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Preparation

1. Boil nanohana for 2 minutes then submerge in cold water
2. Strain and blot with a paper towel to remove any excess water
3. Chop nanohana into 2″ pieces
4. Mix dashi and soy sauce in a bowl and marinate nanohana for 15 minutes (this is called “ohitashi”)
5. Remove nanohana and serve as a side dish or light snack!

Steamed Rice (Regular and Sushi)

For those of you who do not have a rice maker, this recipe will show you have how to make Japanese steamed rice in a saucepan.

Yield: 4 small bowls of rice

Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients (regular rice)

• 2 cups japanese rice
• 2 1/2cup water

Ingredients (sushi rice)

• 2 cups japanese rice (very important for sushi rice!)
• 2 1/4cup water

Preparation

1. Wash rice thoroughly, until the water is clear
2. Put rice in a saucepan pan, add water, cover with lid (do not remove the cover while it’s cooking, ever) and boil over high heat
3. After the rice begins to boil (you can tell if the cover is jiggling) turn the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes
4. Without removing the cover, turn off the heat and let the rice steam for 10 minutes
5. That’s it! If you’re making sushi rice, head on over to my sushi recipe and follow the directions to complete the rice.

Mitarashi Dango

Mitarashi Dango is a Japanese sweet with mochi (rice cake) and thick, sweet sauce. It is originally from my hometown, Kyoto, but you can find it everywhere in Japan?even convenience stores. It is very good with hot tea.

Yield: 2 servings

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/4 lb dango powder (glutinous rice flour)

Tools

• Bamboo skewers

Spices

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tsp katakuriko

Preparation

1. Mix dango powder with 1/3 cup of warm water until it forms the shape of a ball
2. Roll it out and cut it into 15 pieces (see pic)
3. Make 15 small balls (dango)
4. Boil dango in a sauce pan for 2 minutes then set them aside. Discard water.
5. Put the sauce in the pan (soy sauce, sugar and mirin) and heat
6. Mix katakuriko with 1 tbsp water and add to sauce thicken
7. Skewer dango on a bamboo stick or put them on a dish and drizzle sauce on top

Cucumber Sesame Salad

Kyuuri is the Japanese word for cucumber, and goma is sesame. Japanese cucumbers are much thin and shorter than American cucumbers, and the taste little different, but you can use either. If you do not like skin or seeds, please remove them before adding salt.

Yield: 4 servings

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb cucumber (cut into 1/4″ slices)
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds (ground)

Spices

• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Preparation

1. Massage salt into cucumber slices and chill in refrigerator for 10 minutes.
2. Remove from fridge and drain water from the bowl
3. Add sesame oil, soy sauce and sesame seeds, mix and put it back the fridge for 3 minutes, or until you are ready to eat