5 Best Japanese Recipes - Hone Your Japanese Food Cooking Skills While You #StayHome

Nationwide Food Stayhome 2020.04.28
Don't let your coronavirus quarantine get too boring and stressful - learn some new Japanese recipes with all that time at home.

Learn to Cook During the Quarantine - Japanese-Style

Anyone out there who's been trying their best to commit to social distancing and flattening the curve for COVID-19 is probably going a little stir crazy by this point, with so much time self-isolating at home. But we've also seen how the unique situation we're in has inspired serious creativity, or at least a little productivity, in so many out there. So, if you're both bored and also missing all the delicious restaurant food you can't go out and eat right now, it's the perfect time to check out some very popular recipes for some fun Japanese dishes.

These recipes are all from Cookpad, quite possibly Japan's most popular recipe site with 3.27 million recipes (and, actually, a less-substantial English version as well). While the recipes are all originally in Japanese, I think the ones I've picked out are fairly easy to understand with just a little bit of google translate!
  • Recipe ① Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き)
    Recipe ① Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き)

    Simple ☆ Wheat Flour & Dashi Okonomiyaki


    You can certainly get some amazing okonomiyaki at restaurants around Japan, especially in Osaka or Hiroshima where the two main varieties originate. But much of the charm of okonomiyaki is how incredibly easy it is to make at home. There are plenty of native Osaka residents who can't recommend a good okonomiyaki restaurant, because the best okonomiyaki in town is the stuff their mom makes on the dining room table. So try it yourself! You know this is a good recipe when you see it's been reviewed over 3,000 times, and the many photos speak for themselves.

  • Recipe ② Fluffy Souffle Pancakes (ふわふわパンケーキ)
    Recipe ② Fluffy Souffle Pancakes (ふわふわパンケーキ)

    Fluffy Pancakes ♡ In the Style of Shiawase no Pancake ♪


    Sure, we've quickly strayed from the traditional Japanese kitchen, but these uniquely fluffy pancakes are so different from pancake house flapjacks, they're essentially a brand new Japanese food. As referenced in the recipe's title, a number of chains (including Shiawase no Pancake) have cropped up all over Japan in recent years all specializing in one thing with a few different names: fluffy pancakes, souffle pancakes, Japanese pancakes. The uniquely jiggly, airy insides are a whole new world of pancake texture. See if you can replicate it in your own kitchen!

  • Recipe ③ Omurice (オムライス)
    Recipe ③ Omurice (オムライス)

    ✳︎Simple, Fluffy✳︎ Omurice


    A total mix of western and Japanese cooking, the sweet ketchup rice surrounded by fluffy omelet that is omurice is a long-standing favorite of kids in Japan, and often a popular find by visiting travelers. If you can learn to wrap a mound of flavored rice just so with your fresh, fluffy omelet, and then decorate it with a cute ketchupy design, you'll never have to travel to Japan just to get your omurice fix.

  • Recipe ④ Tempura (天ぷら)
    Recipe ④ Tempura (天ぷら)

    Crispy Crunchy Tempura
     

    If you know you love Japanese food, you probably know and love the crispy deep-fried veggies and seafood of tempura. Historically, the dish actually comes from the Portuguese, whose early contact with the closed-off island country of Japan actually had a huge influence on the evolving culture. Nowadays we know it as Japanese food, and it might just surprise you how easy it is to make. This recipe is even a little unique thanks to its use of Japanese mayonnaise (not a standard ingredient).

  • Recipe ⑤ Chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し)
    Recipe ⑤ Chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し)

    Direct from the Sushi Shop ✩ Easy ✩ Chawanmushi
     

    Unless you've tried it while eating in Japan, it's all too possible that you've never heard of chawanmushi before. It's certainly a very different culinary experience from most of the Japanese food you commonly see outside of Japan. But this warm, custardy, savory egg dish deserves a chance in the spotlight. It's flavored like a dashi soup full of umami, but with a firm silken texture and enough flavor to remind you it's centered around eggs. Try it on a chilly night when you want something to warm you from the inside!

What Are You Making?

Thinking about making one of these recipes now? Planning to make some other Japanese food? Or perhaps you've got a secret resource for the best Japanese recipes around? Let us know! On twitter, instagram, and facebook.
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