Cooking Plain Rice

Ingredients:
* 2 cups raw Japanese-style rice (Kome)
* 2 1/2 cups water

How to Cook:
1. Put the rice in a bowl and wash it with cold water.
2. Repeat washing until the water becomes clear.
3. Drain the rice in a colander and set aside.
4. Place the rice in a pan or rice cooker and add water.
5. The amount of water used is just a little more than the amount of rice.
6. Let the rice soak in the water at least 30 min. One hour is ideal.
7. *If you are cooking the rice in a pan, cover the pan with a lid and bring to a boil with hight heat.
8. Turn the heat down very low and cook about 15-20 min. until the water is almost
gone.
9. Remove the pan from the heat and let it steam for 10-15 min before serving.
*If you are using an electric rice cooker, you don't have to worry about adjusting the heat.
You still need to let the cooked rice steam before you open the lid.
** Makes 4 servings.

Fried Rice Japanese

Ingredients:
* 2 cups cooked Japanese rice (*left over rice is the best)
* 1/4 cup chopped onion
* 1/4 cup chopped carrot
* 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
* 1/3 cup diced ham
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 tsp garlic salt
* 1 tsp chicken bouillon
* 2 tbsp soy sauce
* 2 tsp vegetable oil

How to Cook:
1. Put a wok or a pan on high heat.
2. Add oil to the pan.
3. Wisk the eggs in a small bowl.
4. Put the eggs in the heated pan and scramble very quickly.
5. Stop the heat and remove the scrambled eggs from the pan into a dish.
6. Put the pan on high heat and add more oil.
7. Saute vegetables and ham until soft.
8. Add garlic salt and chicken bouillon.
9. Add rice and stir well.
10. Add the scrambled egg that was cooked earlier to the rice mixture and mix together.
11. Turn the heat down to low, add soy sauce and stir quickly.
12. Stop the heat right away and serve.
*Makes 2 servings

Tempura Shrimp

Ingredients:
12 large shrimps
1 egg
1 cup ice water
1 cup all purpose flour
Vegetable oil for frying

How to Cook:
-Peel shrimp and make a couple incisions on the stomach side so that it stays straight.
-Beat an egg in a bowl.
-Add ice water in the bowl.
-Add flour in the bowl and mix lightly.
-Heat oil to 350 F degree in a deep pan.
-Pick shrimp up by the tail and dip the body part in the batter.
-Fry it until brown.

Makes 4 servings
-Be sure to use very cold water.
-Do not overmix the batter.

Basic Tempura Batter

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 cup ice water
1 cup all purpose flour

How to Cook:
-Beat an egg in a bowl.
-Add ice water in the bowl.
-Add flour in the bowl and mix lightly.

Makes 4 servings
-Be sure to use very cold water.
-Do not overmix the batter.

Tentsuyu

Tentsuyu (tempura dipping sauce)

Ingredients:
2 cup dashi soup stock
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar

How to Cook:
-Mix all ingredients in a pan.
-Put the pan on high heat and bring the sauce to a boil.
-Cool the sauce.

Yakisoba

Ingredients:
3 packages yakisoba noodles
1 carrot
1/4 of a small cabbage
1/4 pound pork
1/3 cup yakisoba sauce
*or seasoning packages which come with yakisoba noodles
Beni-shoga (red ginger)
Ao-nori (green seaweed)

How to Cook:
1. Cut the cabbage, carrot, and pork into bite sizes.
2. Saute cabbage, carrot, and pork in a large frying pan.
3. Add yakisoba noodles in the pan.
4. Put 1/2 cup of water in the pan and cover it with a lid.
5. Take the lid off and add yakisoba seasoning mix or yakisoba sauce.
6. Stir the noodles well and fry them for a few minutes.
7. Sprinkle aonori, and beni-shoga over the noodles before serving.

Makes 4 servings

Oyako Donburi

serves 4
1/2 lb raw chicken cut from bone (1 large breast)
5 eggs
flour
1 c water
3 dried mushrooms
1/4 c sugar
1/3 c Japanese-type soy sauce
2 scallions, cut diagonally or one onion, sliced
2 c chopped fresh spinach

1. Cut chicken into small pieces. Beat in a bowl the eggs. Dust chicken pieces with flour, dip in beaten egg (reserve extra), and fry on both sides in hot oil until brown.
2. Combine in saucepan the water and mushrooms. Simmer 10 minutes, remove mushrooms, and cut fine.
3. Drain any excess oil from skillet. Add to skillet the mushrooms and liquid, sugar and soy.
4. Simmer 15 minutes. Add scallions. Simmer 10 more minutes. Add spinach.
5. While spinach is still bright green, add reserved beaten eggs to skillet and cover. Cook briefly, just until set. Ladle over individual rice servings in bowls and top with chopped parsley.

Shumai

Also known as gyoza.

24 wonton skins
300 g lean ground beef
2 tbsp fresh grated ginger root
2 tbsp finely chopped green onion
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
1½ tbsp sesame oil
2½ tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp green peas

Mix ginger root, onion, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and corn starch and add the mix to the lean ground beef. Stir and mix well until the mixture becomes sticky. Divide into 22- 24 fillings and place on the center of the wonton skins. Forn the wonton skins into "bowls" with flat bottoms. Place a geen pea on the center of the filling. Steam 12-14 minutes over high heat.

The skins may also be seald in shaped into "half moons". Deep-fry in oil (180°C) until golden.

TONKATSU - DEEP FRIED PORK FILLETS

Pork:
6 Pork escalopes, around .5mm thick and weighing 130-150g each
120g plain flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
200g dried breadcrumbs
oil for deep frying

To Serve:
shredded cabbage
boiled rice
Hot English Mustard or Japanese Mustard
(prepackaged hot English mustard)
Tonkatsu sauce or mixture of 50/50
Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce

1. Using a mallet or meat tenderiser flatten out the pork fillets evenly.
2. Season the flour with salt and pepper in a bowl.
3. Place the beaten eggs and breadcrumbs on separate plates or bowls.
4. Coat the pork in the flour then eggs and finely the breadcrumbs shaking off any excess crumbs.
5. Set aside until ready to cook.
6. Heat some oil in a deep fryer or wok to 180-190E C.
7. Cook 1 or 2 fillets at a time in the hot oil for around 5 minutes until they are golden brown.
8. Remove them from the heat and drain them on kitchen paper and keep warm while you cook the remaining fillets.
9. Place a bed of cabbage on each plate.
11. Slice the pork fillets into 6-8 slices and place them on the cabbage.
12. Accompany each serving of pork with a bowl of rice, mustard and Tonkatsu sauce or a mixture of Worcestershire sauce.

JAPANESE PASTA

Makes: 6 Servings

1 lb Spaghetti or Linguine, uncooked
12-16oz flank steak, cut into thin strips
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 red bell pepper, halved and sliced
2 carrots, sliced into ¼ inch coins
2 bunches scallions, sliced

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions; drain.
2. In a non-stick skillet, saute the flank steak over high heat.
3. If it begins to stick, add a little soy sauce, one tablespoon at a time.
4. When the steak is cooked through, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the soy sauce, red bell pepper, carrots and scallions.
5. Increase heat to medium-high and cook 3 minutes.
6. Toss with pasta and serve.

JAPANESE SWEET RICE DUMPLINGS

Makes: 9 servings

3 cups water
1 ½ cups sweet brown rice, uncooked
1 pinch sea salt
3/4 raisins
3/4 tsp cinnamon
2 ½ cups walnuts, shelled

1. Bring water to boil in 2 quart saucepan.
2. Add rice and salt, cover and reduce heat to medium.
3. Cook for one hour (or until rice is tender).
4. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Mix half the raisins and half the cinnamon into half of the rice and process mixture thoroughly through a grain mill. Or you can place mixture in wooden bowl and pound until paste forms.
7. Repeat with the remaining rice, raisins and cinnamon.
8. Place walnuts on a baking sheet and roast in oven and let cool.
9. Finely chop walnuts.
10. Measure rice into 2½ tbsp portions.
11. Shape dumplings with moistened hands.
12. Roll each dumpling in walnuts to coat. Serve immediately