Stir Fry – Japanese Cooking 101

Abura Zomen (Stir-fried Somen Noodle) Recipe

JapaneseCooking101 September 10, 2022

Abura Zomen (油そうめん) is Somen noodles stir-fried with meat and vegetables. It is a Japanese southern island regional food, but there are no hard-to-get ingredients or difficult steps in the recipe. This easy-to-make but tasty noodle dish will appeal to a lot of people from the young to the old.

Abura Zomen is originally from the southern Amami islands of Kagoshima, Kyushu. The name means “Oil Somen noodle,” but it’s not greasy at all. It uses a not insignificant amount of water, or Dashi stock if you prefer, in the process of making fried noodles, so it may really be more braising than stir-frying. The water and oil emulsify along the way, and it becomes like a thin sauce for the noodles.

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Bihun (fried rice vermicelli) Recipe

JapaneseCooking101 March 10, 2019

Bihun is fried rice vermicelli with meat and vegetables. It is very much a home cooked dish in Japan, not something you can get at restaurants. Although rice vermicelli is not originally part of Japanese cuisine nor used in much other than Bihun, this fried Bihun has become one of the ordinary dishes that people often eat, like Yakisoba.

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Yakiudon Recipe (Stir-Fried Udon)

JapaneseCooking101 March 6, 2014

Yakiudon is stir-fried Udon noodles with meat and vegetables. It is so easy and quick to make that it is more home cooking rather than restaurant food. Even though Yakiudon isn’t fancy Japanese food, with a lot of vegetables and meat, it is still a very good thing for you to eat. Perfect lunch or a great alternative to a fast food dinner.

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Stir Fry Vegetables Recipe

JapaneseCooking101 October 30, 2013

Stir Fry Vegetables, called Yasai Itame in Japanese, is a common home cooking dish. Nobody really use recipes to make Yasai Itame. You just look in the refrigerator and search for what vegetables to use up. Yes, Yasai Itame is left-over vegetable mishmash or hodgepodge food (a lot of the time anyway).

There is a different type of Yasai Itame in Japan, which is served at Chinese restaurants. There are more Chinese seasonings like oyster sauce and other flavorings in it. That is very good too, but it is a bit more elaborate than what we eat everyday. Here we’d like to recreate a very typical home cooking version.

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