Cooking is my passion. I just love the challenge of something new to cook. I am Australian but since I married my Japanese husband and moved to Japan permanently I have been trying to master the culinary art of Japanese cooking. Japanese cuisine reaches far beyond raw fish and sushi. All though modern Japanese food (especially take away, restaurants and the very popular instant microwave meals) includes a lot of deep fried food and large portions of meat traditional home cooked meals have small portions of a large variety of seafood, tofu and vegetable; and of course there is the ever present bowl of rice. If I have been getting too creative with my cooking(ie. I’m in need of a rice vacation) and shaking it up a bit with bread, pasta, brown rice or cous cous, it doesn’t take long before my husband says ‘White rice please’. So I started to wonder just how healthy a bowl of white rice is, I’ve heard other foreigners is Japan complain that it’s not healthy to eat all that white rice. So I did a little research and from the data I’ve seen so far It’s no where near as bad as I thought. On the Glycemic index the koshihikari strain of rice, the one eaten in Japan daily was almost the only white rice to rate as well as or even better than brown rice. No wonder whenever I start behaving myself and cooking like a Japanese housewife, rice three times a day, I feel full and don’t need to snack. So I’m going to challenge my self to stick to it for a while, I’ll post any healthy recipes I come across that taste great. Or if there is anything you want to know about Japanese cooking or life in Japan please ask.

I have several Japanese cook books (in English) and lots of cooking magazines (in Japanese) but my favourite resource by far is a Japanese website I got from a healthy eating brochure I found in a hospital waiting room http://www.daiichisankyo.co.jp/ehr/ unfortunately it’s only in Japanese. But I now know enough to navigate my way around and figure out a recipe, I am certainly not fluent though so I find the videos on the site a great help.

I picked up this gem of a tip the other day.

Chicken for a salad

1. Arrange a skinless chicken breast on a microwaveable plate (I cut mine in half to help speed up cooking and half a chicken breast is the original serving size in the recipe) pour over 2 table spoons of water or sake and sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired ( I used water and no salt)
2. Peel and slice some fresh ginger and lay it on top of the chicken. Chop a spring onion or the tops of leeks into 10 centimeter lengths (I think that’s 2 and a half inches?)
3. Rap with cling wrap and microwave for 2-3 minutes and check to see if it is cooked through if not another 1-2 mins (I do have a powerful microwave, so adjust appropriately)
4. Allow to cool slightly then use some forks of chopsticks to shred the chicken.
5. Arrange the chicken on a platter with salad and lightly sprinkle with your choice of low oil dressing.

Before I made it I was worried it would dry out, but it was very juicy and scented with the ginger and onions. I guess it’s essentially like steaming it quickly so I guess you could wrap it in foil and do it in a steamer or in the oven instead.

The original recipe was a salad made of lots of shredded cucumber and lightly blanched bean shoots. I had neither of those on hand at the time so I lightly blanched some asparagus and carrot sticks then cooled them with ice water before draining and arranging with the chicken. I was going to use a prepared dressing but the plate the chicken was cooked on had collected a delicious stock so I mixed that with some yuzu miso, it’s a locally made citrus flavoured miso paste the warmed it in the microwave to make a quick dressing. The original recipe does include a dressing I’ll try it out and let you know if I like it. The chicken would be just as great in sandwiches or a pasta dish.
http://www.ehealthyrecipe.com/recipe-webapp/IpnSgRcpServ.php?menuCd=05414 Click on the orange box to watch the video

Hi Melissa,

Thanks for the recipe.  It sounds wonderful. 

I checked out the website.  It was pretty cool to see Japanese except there were a lot of ??????????????? for where my computer (or browser or something) could not translate.

I’m cooking eggplant for dinner tonight I have some nice ones I got from a farmers roadside stall. Not sure what else yet, I’ll post that tomorrow.

Thanks, Melissa!

That microwave technique for chicken breast sounds so easy and delicious!  I’m definitely going to have to try that. 

Melissa

That chicken sounds yummy just as is.  I think I’ll try that for dinner tonight.  So Easy!!!.

焼きなす　- Yakinasu Japanese grilled Eggplant.

Yah-key-nah-su

Yaki means to grill and nasu is eggplant

Long thin eggplants are good for this recipe as they cook through much more easily.
Wash and remove the leafy calyx from around the stalk with a knife, don’t worry too much it is removed before serving.
Make several cuts in the skin the length of the egg plant.
Grill under a broiler or on a BBQ ( I use a Japanese stove top mesh grill)
Once the skin is black and charred plunge into ice water, then peel of the skin.
Pat dry with paper towel, remove the stalk and slice into bite sized chunks.
Arrange in a small bowl and dress with soy diluted with dashi (fish stock) I use that but you could try some other stock or even lemon juice to taste.
Next I scatter with katsuo (bonnito - dried fish flakes) which takes some getting used to (how hubby likes it) but I really like it topped with a little minced ginger and finely sliced spring onions, a sprinkle of sesame seeds would be nice too.

It has a smokey, sweet flavour. I don’t use a recipe as such, but here is a link to a video (in Japanese) just click on the orange box to view.
http://www.ehealthyrecipe.com/recipe-webapp/IpnSgRcpServ.php?menuCd=08313

I think I’m going to have to add a few Japanese ingredients to my grocery list!  Thanks for the eggplant recipe, Melissa.  It sounds very good to me! 

Melissa,

Thanks for posting the photos and for the link (and the instructions on what to click).

melissa9232 - 15 July 2007 12:02 AM

So I started to wonder just how healthy a bowl of white rice is, I’ve heard other foreigners is Japan complain that it’s not healthy to eat all that white rice. So I did a little research and from the data I’ve seen so far It’s no where near as bad as I thought. On the Glycemic index the koshihikari strain of rice, the one eaten in Japan daily was almost the only white rice to rate as well as or even better than brown rice. No wonder whenever I start behaving myself and cooking like a Japanese housewife, rice three times a day, I feel full and don’t need to snack. So I’m going to challenge my self to stick to it for a while, I’ll post any healthy recipes I come across that taste great. Or if there is anything you want to know about Japanese cooking or life in Japan please ask.

Well I’m Asian & practically grew up with steamed white rice 2 out of the 3 meals per day, and practically every day of the week too!  It’s still a staple in my mother’s diet… albeit with some Western influences… and variety.  When I moved out, my parent’s gift to me was a rice cooker - each of my siblings got one too!  I laugh about it now but it’s one thing that I don’t think I can live without.  Rice doesn’t taste the same if it’s not cook in a rice cooker… & I totally refuse to eat the ‘minute rice’ ... I guess I’ve been spoiled rice-wise…

I’m curious how you are doing?  Are you still eating rice on a consistent basis?  How is that working out for you?