12 Of The Best (Deceptively Easy) Japanese Recipes To Make At Home

Japanese restaurants are popping up left, right and centre. We can’t get enough of sashimi, gyoza and ramen. But, there’s plenty more to the innovative cuisine than soba noodles and dumplings and you needn’t feel intimidated to try it at home.

Stock up on miso paste, soy sauce, rice vinegar and mirin to master recipes packed with umami flavour. Discover how to make Japanese gems such as teriyaki chicken and miso-glazed aubergine in your own kitchen.

Here’s our top 12 Japanese recipes to make at home.

Chicken Katsu Curry

Wagamama

The ultimate Japanese comfort food, katsu curries warrant taking centre stage. Coat the crispy fried cutlet of chicken with flaky Japanese panko and douse in an onion, ginger, turmeric, coconut sauce. Cook it.

Sukiyaki

The Kitchn

Warm the cockles with Sukiyaki, a one-pot dish that contains beef, negi (a Japanese leek), konnyaku noodles, soy sauce, sugar and mirin. Cooked and served in a shallow cast-iron pot, this sweet and savoury broth is comforting. Cook it.

Japanese Pancakes

The Kitchn

Impossibly fluffy, these soufflé-like Japanese pancakes flood social media. Typically served at breakfast spots in Japan, the extra-light, vanilla-scented pancakes are cooked in ring moulds to increase their ‘fluff’. Cook it.

Japanese Ramen Noodle Soup

BBC Good Food

Craving something comforting yet light? This nourishing Japanese noodle soup uses chicken, noodles, spinach sweetcorn and eggs. Top it all off with sugar or soy sauce to make it as sweet or salty as you like. Cook it.

Quick Sushi Bowl

BBC Good Food

Hard-pressed for time? This speedy sushi bowl contains salmon, sushi rice, carrot cut into ribbons, sliced radish and pickled red cabbage. Drizzle with soy sauce and sesame seeds. Cook it.

Goma-Ae Japanese Greens

BBC Good Food

Perfect the art of Japanese greens by tossing spinach and green beans in a dressing of soy, miso, mirin and sesame seeds. Top with gomashio (salted sesame seeds) which you can buy online. Cook it.

Teriyaki Chicken Bowl

The Heirloom Pantry

Think rich, sticky, sweet and savoury Teriyaki chicken. It’s always a crowd pleaser and this recipe takes ten minutes to prepare, half an hour to cook the rice and chicken and a few minutes to put together. Salivating? Cook it.

Miso-Glazed Aubergine

Waitrose

Halve the aubergines and score in a criss-cross pattern, then fry. Put the white miso in a bowl with the mirin, sugar, sake and ginger to later spoon over the cooked aubergine. Grill and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and spring onions. Cook it.

Five-minute Itsu Gyoza Miso Soup

Itsu

Too easy, you may say. This is our kind of cheat recipe. Stock up on Itsu frozen gyoza and miso’easy traditional soups. Cook the gyoza, steam the pak choi and throw in the miso sachet and boiling water to the bowl. Couldn’t be simpler. Cook it.

Prawn Edamame And Spring Onion Omelette

Sainsbury’s

A speedy supper for one, this Japanese-style king prawn omelette is fried in sesame oil, with a splash of soy sauce and a handful of edamame beans. Beats ham and cheese. Cook it.

Ant and Dec’s Japanese Feast

Jamie Oliver

Special mention must go to these three simple sashimi recipes that make a great introduction to preparing Japanese cuisine at home. Cook it.

Chicken Yakitori

Wagamama

Yakitori means grilled, skewered and shared as a snack on the streets of Japan. Treat these barbequed chicken thigh kebabs, drizzled with the sugary and soy yakitori sauce as a starter, casual snack or served with rice as a main course. Cook it.

By Annabel Jack
June 2023