Nasu Nibitashi is braised eggplants cooked in Dashi with Soy Sauce and ginger. It is a very popular side dish but may be hard to find at restaurants outside Japan even though the ingredients for the dish are pretty simple. Nasu Nibitashi can be eaten either at room temperature or cold. It is great chilled during a hot summer.
Soboro is ground meat cooked with seasonings such as Soy Sauce and sugar. You stir the meat as you cook it, breaking it up to form small pieces or pebbles, giving Soboro its typical appearance and texture. Soboro made from chicken is the most typical dish, but you can also use pork or some kinds of fish to make it.
Pork Shabu Shabu Salad is a perfect dish for a hot summer dinner. It is easy to cook with a minimal amount of cooking time using heat, and you can cook ahead earlier in the day when it’s not so hot.
Shabu Shabu is a Japanese hot pot dish (Nabemono), with paper-thin sliced beef. It is cooked at the dinner table using a portable gas stove and we eat it as we cook. For this dish though we used sliced pork, and made it into cold salad. If you prefer, you may use sliced beef too. You can also add or replace different vegetables such as Daikon sprouts, lettuce, and cucumber.
Hamburger Steak is a very popular western style dish in Japan, and it is often made at home or served at many restaurants. While regular hamburger steak is made from ground pork and beef, Tofu Hamburger Steak is made from a mixture of Tofu and ground meat. Although Tofu Hamburger Steak has fewer calories and a little softer texture, it tastes meaty enough for meat lovers.
Mugicha is a Japanese summer cold tea made from roasted barely. It has a very fragrant taste from roasting, almost like coffee. Because Mugicha is a no-caffeine tea, it’s been loved by everyone from the young to the old. It is the most popular drink of all time during summer in Japan.
Iced Matcha Latte is a cold milk drink with Matcha green tea powder and sweetener. It’s not really a latte since there is no espresso in it. But, it has became very popular since a big coffee shop chain put it on their menu.
Hiyashiame is a sweet ginger drink that is popular mainly in the Kansai (western) area in Japan. The spicy taste from ginger helps overcome brutal summer heat fatigue. A common sight during summer is a cold drink machine in the front of a tea shop or candy shop with Hiyashiame. It is also well known as a summer festival drink sold by street vendors. For many Japanese, Hiyashiame is a special flavor that is part of summer. If you are tired of sodas and lemonade, try this authentic Japanese summer drink.
Amashoku is old-fashioned Japanese sweet bread. It is not yeast bread but more like a simple baked pastry between a cake and a cookie. Amashoku is very easy to make with easy-to-find ingredients. It is a perfect everyday snack.
Kakiage is a kind of Tempura dish with a variety of chopped vegetables and seafood. This deep-fried round food has a much more casual feeling than Tempura you may know, but it is as delicious as Tempura.
Tempura is one of the most famous Japanese foods outside Japan. It is battered and deep fried seafood and vegetables. Tempura can be as formal as you want it to be at very expensive Tempura specialty restaurants in Japan. Kakiage, on the other hand, is made from thinly-cut or chopped vegetables and small pieces of seafood mixed with Tempura batter and deep-fried. It is a great dish to use up left over vegetables hiding in the corner of the fridge.
Umeshu, or plum wine, is a popular sweet drink inside and outside Japan. This tasty drink is a great aperitif and also wonderful as a dessert wine after dinner. It’s often served chilled, over ice, or mixed with soda water.