Roasted Kabocha with Soy Maple Butter is an easy and delicious way to eat Kabocha squash, also known as Japanese pumpkin. Kabocha is cut into bite sized pieces and coated with melted butter mixed with maple syrup, olive oil, and soy sauce. There are so many ways to cook Kabocha (see all of our Kabocha recipes here), but this is one of my favorites, and it’s probably the easiest!
Simmered Potatoes and Tuna is a flavorful dish where potatoes and canned tuna are gently cooked in a sweet soy broth. The broth, reduced to a rich sauce consistency, beautifully coats the potatoes, enhancing their taste. To allow the umami of the tuna and seasonings to meld with the vegetables, it’s best to let the dish cool before serving. It’s incredibly easy to make and budget-friendly, yet it’s still a delightful side dish for any meal. Hope you enjoy it!
Smacked Cucumber Salad is a refreshing side dish that takes no time to prepare. Similar to the Cucumber with Sesame Seeds recipe, we smack the cucumber with a rolling pin before tossing with the dressing. In this recipe, some crushed red pepper flakes and grated ginger are added for a kick. You can adjust the spiciness to your liking. This is a quick and easy side dish to serve with any Japanese dishes.
This simple salad is made with fuyu persimmon and small radish which are both in season during fall through winter. Known as the national fruit of Japan, persimmons have been loved by the people of Japan for over a thousand years. Persimmons are naturally sweet, and they can be eaten firm or soft after being ripened. For this salad, it’s best to use persimmons that are ripe but still firm.
Simmered Sweet Potato and Apple is a perfect fall side dish when Satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potato) is in season. Japanese sweet potato and apple are simmered in a simple syrup with a bit of lemon juice. It is easy to make with only 4 ingredients.
Pan Fried Onion with Butter and Soy Sauce is a simple and delicious side dish you can make with a few ingredients. Onion, preferably a sweet onion, is sliced into medallions, pan fried with olive oil, and seasoned with butter and soy sauce.
Ninjin Shirishiri (人参しりしり) is pan-fried julienned carrot with scrambled egg. It is originally a popular local dish from Okinawa, a very southern island in Japan. But Ninjin Shirishiri now is spread all over the country and became a side dish many people eat for meals and Bento lunch boxes.
Furofuki Daikon is thick-cut Daikon radish cooked in Dashi broth and served with seasoned Miso sauce poured on top. When Daikon is cooked in boiling hot broth, it gets very hot, much more than some other ingredients, because of its high water content. Furofuki Daikon is a traditional Japanese winter dish from old times to warm you up, and it is not a coincidence that Daikon is in season and at peak flavor in cold months there.