Dining with the Chef

In this two-part special, our host Yu Hayami is off to visit the cities of Aizuwakamatsu and Iwaki, in Fukushima Prefecture, and she'll be sharing the joys of Fukushima's food with us. In this first episode, we'll be exploring Aizuwakamatsu, an old capital city that gave rise to Japan's samurai culture. Our trip starts with iconic sights like Tsuruga Castle and the old-fashioned townscape of Nanokamachi Street, and we'll be taking a close look at the traditional techniques and traditional culture of wagashi sweets and Aizu Lacquerware. Finally, we'll be visiting an old ryokan inn in Aizu-Higashiyama Onsen, originally opened in 1873 and registered as a tangible cultural property, where we'll learn how to prepare kozuyu, a traditional local dish.

In this two-part special, our host Yu Hayami is off to visit the cities of Aizuwakamatsu and Iwaki, in Fukushima Prefecture, and she'll be sharing the joys of Fukushima's food with us. In this second episode, we'll be heading to Iwaki City, which was severely damaged by 2011's Great East Japan Earthquake. In Iwaki City, we'll be visiting some of the people working on new efforts to help Fukushima recover. We'll be making pot-au-feu stew as a collaboration between our Chef and the farmers who survived the disaster, using locally grown ingredients like taro root and daikon radish. Finally, dessert will be crème brûlée, made with apples grown here in Fukushima. We hope you'll also try making these delicious recipes!

In this episode, we'll be making ten don, or tempura rice bowls, a popular dish in Japan. We'll be using shrimp, corn, and other colorful ingredients, and Chef Rika will share her secret technique to easily make crunchy, delicious tempura. For our side dish, we'll be making chrysanthemum greens seasoned with vinegar — the perfect match for ten don! The mild bitterness of the chrysanthemum greens goes wonderfully with the flavor of the vinegar, for a deliciously refreshing side dish.

In this episode, we'll be cooking with sake — it's more than just a drink! Steaming salmon and asari clams with sake gives those foods the savory umami flavor of the sake, for a dish with a delicious depth. We'll also be making a dessert with sake: Chef Rika's own original recipe for Castella sponge cake, featuring the light, fragrant aroma of sake, and coarse sugar to provide a crunchy accent.

In this two-week special, Chef Rika is visiting the cities of Nobeoka and Miyazaki, in Miyazaki Prefecture, to explore the delicious foods that Miyazaki Prefecture has to offer. In this first episode, we'll be visiting Nobeoka, which has been compared to Spain's Basque Country for the broad variety of delicious ingredients available there, from the sea, mountains, and rivers. Nobeoka is also home to a chef who strives to develop a unique new style of Japanese cuisine that can be found nowhere else in the country: Zenbei Yoshida. Chef Rika will be visiting his restaurant to see how he works with his ingredients, carefully ensuring that their natural flavors fully shine through. Come join us, along with Chef Yoshida and the people in the area who provide his ingredients, who all work to show their love for Nobeoka through incredible food.

In this two-week special, Chef Rika is visiting the cities of Nobeoka and Miyazaki, in Miyazaki Prefecture, to explore the delicious foods that Miyazaki Prefecture has to offer. In this second episode, we'll be learning about cattle farmer Muneharu Ozaki's unique efforts to take on beef farming in Miyazaki. We'll be meeting Ozaki and taking an up-close look at his research to produce meat with the type of marbling. Chef Rika will also teach us her take on shabu-shabu hot pot with thinly sliced beef.

Our theme this episode is simmering. We'll be simmering yellowtail with sake lees, giving it the mild, sweet fragrance of sake — sure to whet the appetite! Sake lees, or sake-kasu, are the solids that remain after the liquid sake is pressed out of the fermented rice, and dishes made by simmering ingredients with sake lees are known as kasu-ni. The koji mold used to ferment the rice is still present in the sake lees, making the yellowtail tender and incredibly flavorful. To season it, we'll be adding miso, which goes especially well with sake lees, bringing it all together to make a delicious dish, perfect for warming the body in the cold of winter. For our side dish, we'll be making grilled nagaimo yam with ponzu: nagaimo yam is another ingredient that is at its best during winter, and we'll be grilling it to enjoy its crisp texture, and serving it with refreshing ponzu. Both of these dishes are great with sake, too!

In this episode, we'll be making a Teishoku meal: a traditional style of Japanese meal featuring rice, miso soup, and main and side dishes that are collectively known as Okazu, all served together as a single course. These meals can be beautiful to look at, and feature well-balanced nutrition. For our main Okazu, we'll be preparing pork spare ribs: with this easy recipe, anyone can make deliciously tender spare ribs at home. Our side dish will be refreshing marinated turnip, and we'll be adding cabbage and egg to our miso soup to make it particularly hearty and satisfying. Join us, and learn some of Chef Rika's great easy recipes!

Our theme this episode is grilling. We'll be making chicken miso gratin, for a Japanese take on Western-style ingredients: stir-fried chicken and boiled potatoes, covered with béchamel sauce seasoned with miso, then heated in the toaster oven until browned and delicious. The secrets to this dish's rich flavor are kombu kelp dashi, full of savory umami flavor, and miso — and they go great with béchamel sauce! For our side dish, we'll be making spicy simmered konnyaku and lotus root. These two characteristic Japanese ingredients are stir-fried and seasoned with a soy sauce-based sauce, for a great combination of the chewy texture of the konnyaku and the crunchiness of the lotus root. Adding red chili pepper helps give them a delicious bit of heat as an accent, for a side that goes great with drinks, too!

Our theme this episode is frying. We'll be making a traditional Japanese dish called kuwayaki: pan-fried chicken with a sweet and savory sauce made with soy sauce, mirin, and sake. The sweet and savory combination of soy sauce and mirin is an iconic Japanese flavor today; we'll be marinating chicken and frying it to juicy perfection, adding the sauce to coat as we fry. We'll also be making beautiful, delicious shrimp rice. The pink of the sakura shrimp and the green of the Japanese herb mitsuba come together for a wonderful springtime feel, as well as a great combination of textures and flavors. Join us and enjoy a meal that feels like spring is here!

In this episode, Chef Rika will be preparing her special dry curry rice, made by stir-frying curry and rice together in a frying pan. Alongside the spices, she'll also be adding her secret ingredients: sushi vinegar and soy sauce. The dry curry rice is served topped with an omelet, for a wonderfully mild flavor when eaten together. Chef Rika will also be making two side dishes: pickled cauliflower, and spinach and tomato soup. Both of these are simple to make, for an easy way to add more healthy vegetables to any meal.

Our theme this episode is frying. We'll be making hambaagu with plenty of beef, served with grated daikon radish, for a delicious favorite of kids and adults alike! The hambaagu are made with bread crumbs, eggs, and other ingredients to make them juicy and flavorful, while the grated daikon radish helps give these hearty hambaagu a nicely light, clean aftertaste. We'll also teach you the secrets of how to prepare hambaagu that are tender enough to cut with chopsticks. For our side dish, we'll be making miso soup with a Western-style twist: bacon and celery! Miso soup works surprisingly well with nearly anything — the rich flavor of the bacon is an especially good match for miso. The soup makes a delicious side dish for our hambaagu, for a perfect pairing.

In this episode, Chef Rika will be making nori bento, a beloved home-cooked comfort food. Rice is covered with bonito flakes and sprinkled with soy sauce, then topped with a layer of torn nori seaweed, then covered with another thin layer of rice, to make a beautifully many-layered result. On top of the rice and nori seaweed, we'll be adding two quick and easy old-fashioned bento staples: grilled salmon and tamagoyaki rolled omelet. We'll also be preparing kenchin soup with plenty of delicious vegetables. With granulated dashi, this soup is quick and easy to make!

Our theme this episode is deep-frying. We'll be making tempura, an iconic Japanese dish, using ingredients that come into season in spring and early summer. The keys to great tempura are a light, crispy batter, and using fresh ingredients. The great flavors of the ingredients are emphasized by deep-frying them in batter, for a delicious result. We'll also be making aka-dashi red miso soup with shijimi clams, which goes wonderfully with tempura. The shijimi clams give the soup a great flavor along with the red miso, for the perfect palate cleanser after eating tempura. We hope you'll join us and learn how to make tempura, usually found only at specialty restaurants, at home!

In this episode, we'll be focusing on tuna, a widely beloved fish. Our main dish is rolled sushi filled with tuna and bell pepper, with two side dishes. The first of these is tuna mille-feuille: tuna, avocado, and okra served layered in a cocktail glass, for a dish that's as beautiful as it is delicious. Our other side dish is seared tuna served as a salad, with a chopped onion dressing to give it a fabulous aroma and satisfying texture. We'll also share advice on how to thaw frozen fish, to keep it as delicious as possible. These delicious tuna recipes make for fun and beautiful party food!

This episode's theme is thickening sauces. We'll be making light, tender meatballs, deep-fried to crunchy perfection, and serving them in a thickened sweet and sour sauce. The sauce is made with dashi for a rich Japanese-style flavor, seasoned for a combination of savory, sweet, and sour that people of all ages will love. The clear, shiny sauce adds a beautifully special feel, and with the bright colors of the red, yellow, and green bell pepper, this dish is sure to whet the appetite! For our side dish, we'll be making green peas with eggs, a dish that combines the rich flavor of dashi with light, tender eggs, for a wonderfully delicate result. With the green of the peas and the yellow of the eggs, along with the three colors of bell pepper, these colorful dishes are perfect for early summer in Japan.

In this episode, we'll be taking a look at donburi rice bowls, a traditional Japanese fast food, great for all sorts of situations! First, we'll be making a hearty rice bowl topped with seafood kakiage, a type of mixed tempura. We'll share tips to help you easily fry it perfectly at home. Our second rice bowl is a healthy twist on chicken rice, made with chicken and cucumber — ideal for a light meal or a late-night snack! We'll be topping our third and final rice bowl with a combination of egg and onion, for a pleasant balance of sweet and savory that makes a great finish to a meal. It's easy enough to prepare that even beginners should have no trouble! Join us and learn how to make these beautiful and unique rice bowls at home, for three delicious quick and easy meal options!

Our theme this episode is deep-frying. Chef Saito's hometown of Osaka is famous for the casual favorite kushi-katsu, and we'll be making a beautiful twist on these fried skewers: crisp naganegi long onion and juicy tuna, skewered, breaded, and deep-fried to a crunch, and served with two deliciously addictive dipping sauces! We'll also be preparing two kinds of onigiri rice balls with ingredients from the Kansai region of western Japan, too. In addition to triangular onigiri coated with delightful little bubu-arare rice crackers from Kyoto, we'll also be making cylindrical onigiri topped with nara-zuke, a pickled vegetable. Join us for a delicious taste of the Kansai region!

In this episode, we'll be preparing three of Chef Rika's specialties made with ginger, perfect for the summer heat! Our first dish is a salad made with ginger and cucumber — we'll learn about useful knife techniques, as we prepare a refreshing dish that takes advantage of crisp uncooked ginger. Our second dish is fried oysters with a ginger seasoning, coated with a crunchy breading to seal in the flavor. Last, we'll be making sui-gyoza boiled dumplings filled with a mixture of pork and shrimp seasoned with grated ginger, and topped with Rika's sesame sauce, made with plenty of finely chopped ginger. These three simple recipes offer easy ways to master different uses for ginger!

In this episode, we'll be making a lunch platter featuring a Japanese twist on the quintessential fast food, the hamburger. For the buns, we'll be using grilled onigiri, a beloved Japanese comfort food, with chicken teriyaki as the filling. Teriyaki sauce is easy to prepare, making this a great dish for Japanese cooking beginners. Instead of French fries, we'll be deep-frying thin slices of burdock root and carrot to make simple chips as a side dish, full of the great natural flavor of these vegetables. Finally, we'll be serving the meal with sake mixed with soda water, for a clean, refreshing flavor to go along with this uniquely Japanese meal!

Our theme this episode is grilling. We'll be grilling naganegi long onion with sesame oil: a simple recipe with a fragrant and surprisingly sweet result. Grilling the naganegi in a traditional Nambu cast-iron skillet, and serving it directly from the skillet at the table, makes for a main dish that's as quick and easy as it is delicious! We'll also be preparing namafu dengaku, featuring the uniquely addictive chewy texture of yomogi-flavored namafu, topped with plenty of two different sauces made with red and white miso. Both of these dishes may use just a few simple ingredients, but the delicious results are sure to whet the appetite!

Our theme this episode is marinating. After trying chicken nanban in its home region of Miyazaki Prefecture, Chef Saito fell in love with this dish. Chicken is coated and deep-fried, then placed in sweet-and-sour nanban sauce for the coating to soak up, and served with a rich tartar sauce, for a delicious combination of flavors and textures. For our side dish, we'll be making boiled eggplant, served with ginger and soy sauce. Chef Saito will teach techniques for how to cut eggplant and how to keep the color of its skin beautiful, for a simple side dish with an elegant feel.

Our theme this episode is grinding. Our main dish is stuffed shiitake mushrooms with teriyaki glaze: we'll be stuffing shiitake mushroom caps with a ground shrimp filling, then shaping them into balls. These charming stuffed mushrooms are then fried and coated with a glossy teriyaki sauce, for a delicious dish that's certain to whet the appetite. For our side dish, we'll be making suri-nagashi, a smooth Japanese-style soup, with ground kabocha squash. By adding the same dashi stock in two different ways, and with a few little tricks, the result is a deliciously rich and mellow soup.

In this episode, we'll be focusing on miso, an iconic fermented seasoning from Japan. In addition to being a health food with great nutritional value, it's also simply delicious with a wide variety of ingredients — especially vegetables! We'll be learning about two ways to use miso: in an all-purpose miso dressing, and in miso ramen, a widely beloved favorite. Rika's miso ramen is topped with plenty of vegetables, for a delicious and healthy meal. Don't miss this great opportunity to learn easy ways to use this versatile condiment, and make your home cooking even better!

Mt. Fuji has long been a popular destination for visitors from overseas. The area around the foot of the mountain deserves a closer look, as well, for its rich natural features and outstanding food culture. For this two-part installment of Cook Around Japan, our host Yu Hayami will be visiting Yamanashi and Shizuoka, the prefectures that border Mt. Fuji. In this first episode, we'll be visiting Yamanashi, the heart of the Japanese wine industry, which has come to be known for world-class wine in recent years. We'll learn about the history and evolution of Japanese wine culture, including a trip to a unique temple that makes wine, for an exclusive look at shojin-ryori Buddhist cuisine that pairs well with wine. If you're a wine lover, you won't want to miss this episode!

Mt. Fuji has long been a popular destination for visitors from overseas. The area around the foot of the mountain deserves a closer look, as well, for its rich natural features and outstanding food culture. For this two-part installment of Cook Around Japan, our host Yu Hayami will be visiting Yamanashi and Shizuoka, the prefectures that border Mt. Fuji. In this second episode, we'll be visiting Shizuoka's Suruga Bay, one of Japan's preeminent fishing destinations, to enjoy the area's incredible seafood. We'll try Shizuoka oden featuring hanpen fish cake made with fresh horse mackerel and sardines, as well as a famous local chef's luxurious twist on agedashi nasu (Deep-fried Eggplant) that shines a spotlight on delicious dashi made with bonito flakes, a key part of Japanese cuisine. Don't miss this great look at outstanding local seafood dishes!

Our theme this episode is decorating. We'll be making temari sushi, a charming bite-sized style of sushi with beautiful toppings, said to have originated in Kyoto. The colors red and white are considered auspicious in Japan, so this sushi is topped with salmon and scallops, to make a dish perfect for serving at a house party! Our side dish is oyster mizore-jiru soup, a warm dish that's especially good for the colder months. This soup is made with grated daikon radish for a look evocative of snow, and topped with yuzu citrus to give this elegant dish a bright yellow accent and a refreshing aroma. Chef Saito will also share some of the delicate presentation techniques used in Japanese cuisine.

Our theme this episode is seasoning. We'll be making a stir-fry, a home-cooked dish popular for its casual simplicity, and add a seasoning made with miso to give it a deliciously sophisticated flavor. Chef Saito will share his own unique seasoning blend, too: by mixing miso with other distinctively Japanese seasonings, you too can bring out the best of ingredients' flavors and give dishes a satisfying depth! For our side dish, we'll be cooking rice with sweet potato, an ingredient commonly eaten throughout Japan in autumn and winter. We'll also learn about how to use a versatile Japanese seasoning that has long been beloved as a drink, to help enhance the sweetness of other ingredients.

In this episode, we'll be making beautiful chirashi sushi. This dish is perfect for winter, which is a great season for parties: not only is chirashi sushi healthy and delicious, it's also incredibly picturesque and great for sharing on social media! This sushi features toppings in five different colors, arranged in straight lines, for a striking appearance that will make you want to show this dish off! For our side dish, we're preparing chawan-mushi savory custard, a popular side for sushi, served topped with a gorgeous thickened ankake sauce made with crab and naganegi long onion. This meal is a great way to learn about the careful techniques used in Japanese cuisine, including how the rice is cooked, how the ingredients are prepared, and advice for cooking eggs. And the result makes for a spectacular dish to serve at your next party!

In our Cook Around Japan series, we visit different parts of the country and explore their local foods. For this two-part installment, we're visiting Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. This first episode focuses on Kesennuma Port, where the resilient townspeople have rebuilt the area after countless disasters over the years. One of our regular chefs, Rika Yukimasa, will be visiting this port town, and learning about the simple yet sophisticated techniques used by local chefs to serve freshly caught bonito tuna, kichiji rockfish, Pacific saury, and more.

Our chef Rika Yukimasa visits Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture in northeast Japan to meet a sake brewer, and an oyster farmer whose work has achieved worldwide recognition. Today's recipes: 1) Kesennuma Fisherman's Oysters 2) Rika's Oyster and Scallop Tempura.

In this episode of Authentic Japanese Cooking, professional chef and Japanese cuisine expert Tatsuo Saito will be teaching us about the fascinating essence of Japanese cooking. Recipes: 1) chikuzen-ni (simmered chicken and root vegetables), 2) octopus rice. We hope that this look at Japan's food culture will inspire you to try these authentic dishes at home!