Tororo Soba is a Soba noodle dish with gooey grated Nagaimo

Tororo Soba is a Soba noodle dish with gooey grated Nagaimo.  It could be hot or cold although the recipe here is a cold version. Zaru Soba is the very basic and most popular soba dish, but Tororo Soba is also found on the menu at any Soba restaurant in Japan.  Cold Tororo Soba is a great dish during summer for Nagaimo’s rich nutrition and coolness of Soba when you don’t have much appetite from heat outside.

Soba is a popular Japanese food in the US, and dried Soba noodles can be found at most supermarkets here.  One of the reasons why Soba is popular here is because Soba is much healthier than other noodles made from refined flours.  Soba has fewer calories and more nutrients such as Vitamin B, various minerals, and fiber.  Another reason is that Soba doesn’t contain any gluten.  Recent interest in gluten free diets may also be contributing to the popularity of Soba noodles.

Nagaimo is one of a very few potatoes that can be eaten raw.  It is slimey when the skin is peeled, and it has a crispy texture when it is eaten cut; however, it has totally a different texture when grated.  It is gooey and slimey, and you may not like the mouth feel at first if you’re not use to that kind of vegetables.  Nagaimo contains a lot of nutrients such as potassium, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that helps digestion too. All in all, Tororo Soba is very good for you on top of being tasty.

Tororo Soba is often topped with a quail egg; however, it can be hard to find quail eggs here in the US.  We used a regular egg yolk here. Even though using organic eggs, there is a risk to eat raw eggs.  If you’re worried, just omit yolks from the recipe.

If you’re too hot to eat anything in summer, Tororo Soba is a quick and easy and nutritious food to make.  Try it!

Tororo Soba Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients :

150-200g dried Soba

5 Shiso leaves or 2 green onions

300g Nagaimo

2 egg yolks

Mentsuyu

Wasabi

Instructions :

Cook dried Soba according to the package. Rinse under running water and strain well.

While cooking Soba, slice Shiso leaves thin and finely. Grate Nagaimo with fine grater. Separate egg yolks and whites.

Place cooked Soba in a deep bowl, add grated Nagaimo, a yolk, and Shiso. Pour Mentsuyu (diluted by the equal amount of water).

 Add a little Wasabi if you like.

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Eggplant and ground beef are a great taste combination

Eggplant and ground beef are a great taste combination.  They are good in meat sauce for pasta, and wonderful in curry too!  Eggplant gets very tender and becomes a nice melt-in-your-mouth texture.  Well-browned beef gives a tasty flavor to the sauce.

Using ground beef, you don’t have to cook this curry as long.  It is very easy and quick, but has the same great taste as our regular curry. Perfect for everyday dinner!

If you would like to know more about how to make curry, please watch our Curry and Rice video.

Eggplant and Ground Beef Curry

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 5-6 servings

Ingredients :

1 tsp oil

1 tsp ginger, minced

1 tsp garlic, minced

1lb ground beef

1 onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped (optional)

1 large egg plant (or 4-5 Japanese eggplants), 1" cubed

4 cups water

4 oz curry sauce mix (120g)

Optional Seasonings :

1 Tbsp ketchup

1 Tbsp Worcester sauce

1 Tbsp apricot jam

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp curry powder

Steamed Rice

Instructions :

Heat oil, ginger, and garlic in a large pot. Add meat and cook until browned, then add onion (and carrot if using) and cook until soft. Finally add cubed eggplant and stir.

Add water to the pot. After it boils, skim any fat, and reduce heat to medium low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and add curry sauce mix. Stir well so the pieces of the mix dissolve.

If you'd like to use the optional seasonings above, now add the ketchup, Worcester sauce, apricot jam, and soy sauce. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes (cook longer if you'd like it thicker).

If you'd like to add the optional curry powder, stir it in just before serving.

Serve the curry poured over rice.

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Mabo Tofu is so popular that it is found at all Chinese restaurants in Japan

Mabo Tofu (or Mapo Tofu) is one of the very popular Chinese dishes in Japan.  Tofu in a garlicky, spicy meat sauce is vey tasty, and it goes very well with Steamed Rice.  That may be the reason why Japanese people love the dish so much. 

Mabo Tofu is so popular that it is found at all Chinese restaurants in Japan, but it is also a staple dinner entree at home.  Some people make it from scratch, but a lot of others buy instant sauce packets from the supermarket.  With the instant sauce, you only need to add Tofu.  It is not only easy to use the instant sauce, but also you don’t need to keep Chinese seasonings around in the kitchen, which may not be used too often.  Even though it is instant, the flavor is surprisingly not bad at all.  So why make it at home?  That’s because you could make it from ingredients of a Japanese pantry!  And many people don’t know that.  The main seasoning for Mabo Tofu is Miso.  Real Mabo Tofu uses fermented black bean paste; however, you can substitute with red Miso or just regular Miso like we did here.  Another important ingredient is chili paste.  We used Takanotsume dried chili pepper instead. You can adjust the amount of chili depending on how hot you want the dish to be.  If you are making for your family with kids, use just a couple of them, but if you want it hot, use as much as you like. Besides, it is quick and easy, and delicious!  So why not make it at home?

We have to warn you, though we may already have above, that this is not authentic Chinese Mabo Tofu and not quite the same as what you would find in a Chinese restaurant in the US (or China!).  This is a kind of Mabo Tofu that Japanese people enjoy at home.  Japanese Mabo Tofu has evolved to become its own dish, like Ramen and Gyoza did.  If you never tried Japanese Mabo Tofu, try this, and you will like it!

Mabo Tofu

Ingredients

1 block Tofu (about 400g)

3 green onions

1 Tbsp oil

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger, minced

Japanese dried red pepper, remove seeds and cut thinly

1/2 lb (225g) ground pork

1 Tbsp sesame oil

Seasonings

2 Tbsp Miso

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp Sake

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp Katakuriko or cornstarch

1 cup (240ml) water

Instructions

Cut Tofu into 1" cubes. Slice green onions thinly. Set aside.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients for the seasonings until Miso dissolves. Set aside.

Heat oil in a wok at medium heat, add garlic, ginger, and red pepper, and stir. Add ground pork and cook until browned. Add the seasonings and let it boil. Add cut Tofu and stir gently.

When Tofu is cooked through, stir in green onions and sesame oil.

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Dashimaki Tamago is rolled pan fried eggs just like Tamagoyaki (rolled omelette)

Dashimaki Tamago is rolled pan fried eggs just like Tamagoyaki (rolled omelette).  The cooking and rolling technique to make Dashimaki is exactly the same as Tamagoyaki, but the ingredients and flavor are a little different.  Like Tamagoyaki, it is another staple dish for breakfast and Bento lunch boxes.

The main difference between Tamagoyaki and Dashimaki is that, as you may suspect from the name, Dashimaki has Dashi mixed with the eggs.  Dashimaki Tamago is moister because of the extra liquid, and so it has a softer texture.  The flavor is also a little milder for the same reason.   One other difference is that often people will shape Dashimaki with a sushi mat.  Wrap the rolled egg up in the mat and let it cool. After the egg has cooled, unwrap the map and you’ll get nice lines on the surface of egg.  Other than that, it is purely up to your taste whether you make Tamagoyaki or Dashimaki.  They are pretty much interchangeable, so choose whichever you like.

It can be harder to roll Dashimaki because of the extra moisture. The egg mixture tends to stick to the pan more, so it is a good idea to oil the pan often during cooking.

If you’ve never had Dashimaki (or Tamagoyaki), try it (or both) and find out your favorite!

Dashimaki Tamago Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 2-3 servings

Ingredients :

4 eggs

1/4 cup Dashi or Ichiban Dashi (60ml)

1 tsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp Mirin

oil for pan

Instructions :

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.

Heat a pan at medium high temperature and add oil. (A rectangular Tamagoyaki pan is best, but a round pan can work as well.)

Pour a thin layer of egg mixture in the pan, tilting to cover the bottom of the pan. After the thin egg has set a little, gently roll into a log. Start to roll when the bottom of the egg has set and there is still liquid on top. If you let the egg cook too much, it will not stick as you roll the log. Now you have a log at one end of the pan. Pour some more egg mixture to again cover the bottom of the pan, with the roll of egg at the end. After the new layer has set, roll the log back onto the the cooked thin egg and roll to the other end of the pan. (You can also keep rolling in one direction by sliding the rolled egg back to the same end of the pan before adding more egg.)

Repeat adding egg to the pan and rolling until the egg mixture is used up.

Remove the egg log from the pan onto a sushi mat, roll up lightly, and let it cool for 10 minutes.

Unwrap the sushi mat and slice the log into 1/2" thick pieces. You should see a wavy pattern along the edge of the cross section of the egg from the mat.

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Nabeyaki Udon

Nabeyaki Udon is an Udon soup dish that is cooked and served in an individual clay pot.  It is this signature clay pot (nabe) that gives this dish its name – Nabeyaki.

Nabeyaki Udon is a very popular dish at a lot of Udon restaurants in Japan, but a lot of places only serve it during winter.  Udon and soup cooked in a clay pot with a lid is super hot, and it is a perfect dish when it’s cold outside.  If you have individual sized clay pots, it is really easy to make at home too.  These small clay pots can be used directly on the stove; however, you can use any small or personal size pots you have.  If you don’t have small pots at all, don’t worry, just cook in a regular one and eat out of a small bowl.

Toppings for Nabeyaki Udon are usually vegetables like boiled spinach, carrots, Shiitake mushrooms, and so on, along with eggs, shrimp and Kamaboko fish cakes.  Shrimp can also be cooked as tempura before you add to the soup.  However, as we always say, you can improvise and use any vegetables and other things you like.

It is quite easy to make this dish, and it’s very warm and tasty.  Make it for dinner on cold night, and your family will love it!

Nabeyaki Udon Recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients :

1 packages frozen Udon (use frozen or thawed)

2 cups Dashi (960ml)

1/8-1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp Mirin

1 Tbsp Sake

1/4 bunch spinach

1/8 large carrot

2 Shiitake mushrooms

2 slices Kamaboko fishcake

green onions

1/2 chicken thigh

2 shrimps

1 eggs

shichimi (hot pepper powder)

Instructions :

Boil spinach, cool in running water, and squeeze out water. Cut into about 2" length pieces and set aside.

 Peel and slice the carrot into 1/2" rounds. Cut out with a flower shaped cookie cutter if you like. 

Cut out the top of the mushrooms to make a star design. Slice Kamaboko fish cake into 1/2" thick pieces. Cut green onions thinly.

 Cut chicken thigh into bite size pieces.

Heat Dashi to a boil in a clay pot. Add salt, soy sauce, Mirin and Sake to Dashi, and stir.

Add chicken and Udon to the soup, and then spinach, carrot, mushrooms, fishcake, shrimps, and eggs, and cook at medium heat for 5 minutes covered. 

Skim fat and other particles from the surface of the soup if there are any. Put in green onions, cover, and turn off the heat right away.

Serve immediately.

 Sprinkle shichimi on top if you like.

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