Japanese Recipes

Cooking Japanese recipes doesn’t come naturally to me, especially since Japanese food includes mostly meat and fish.  I never paid attention to this cuisine because I had a whole bunch of preconceived notions about it.

“Why waste my time and energy on food that I can’t eat anyway.”

That’s what I used to say and think!

I didn’t realize how limited my thinking was until a friend brought over some Agebitashi.  It’s a blend of vegetables like eggplant, bell peppers, squash and lotus root.  They were flavored with an unique vinegar marinade.

That’s the day my eyes opened and that changed my entire perspective on Japanese food.  I was completely taken aback by how amazing the flavors were in it and that it was totally vegetarian.

Ever since that day, I have made recipes that are so uniquely Japanese.  I am always trying different recipes and ingredients that are famously found in Japanese cooking.

My favorite ingredient to use is Japanese eggplant.  They are the long, slender eggplant that are much better than regular eggplants because they are less seedy and much easier to cook with.

As for spices, there is nothing better than Shichi-mi tōgarashi AKA Japanese Seven Spices.  This spice is made up of ingredients like sesame seeds and noori flakes.

I use this seven spices in so many everyday recipes.  It surprises me that I would use a Japanese spice just as much as  I use Indian spices,  lol.  Do a quick stir fry of broccoli and add season it with that spice!  You will fall in love with broccoli!