Healthy eating in Tokyo
Christopher Pellegrini reports on the capital’s healthy food options.
Foodie’s paradise, Tokyo, is claimed by many to have the most eateries per capita of all the cities in the world. True or not, finding something that is both healthy and easily accessible can pose a dilemma, especially if you’re not comfortable with the all-Japanese intricacies of information gatekeepers such as the excellent restaurant ranking website, Tabelog. Far too many people find themselves restricted to an onigiri, a jelly squeeze-bag, and a plastic bottle of green tea when they’re looking for a low-cal meal.
In order to provide you with some of Tokyo’s more heart and waist-friendly dining options, we talked with Justin Berti, a yoga instructor, fitness trainer and health nut who for years has scoured this fair city for dining options that jive with his strict diet and that he can recommend to his clients.
Soba: a standby for vegetarian visitors.
Supermarkets
Sometimes it can be a real bear to find healthy food options at the supermarket nearest your train station. Everything seems to be over processed and packaged. The following supermarkets are chains but carry a decent selection of imported items and health-conscious options.
Natural House has 25 locations in and around Tokyo.
F&F has 11 shops in Tokyo with another five in Kanagawa.
Seijo Ishii doesn’t have an English website, but they do have dozens of locations around Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures.
Berti recommends the bentos at Natural House and F&F, and he mentions Seijo Ishii because it has plenty of “fresh salads and healthy options.”
Restaurants/Cafés
Restaurants often have menu items that look like they might be vegetarian friendly, but don’t think that you can always get an informed answer from your server. There’s fish and beef in almost everything (including potato chips!), and you’d be foolish to assume that the folks preparing your dinner accept the same definition of vegetarianism that you do (vegetarians don’t eat fish?!).
The following are some healthy dining options that have at least a little something that’s safe for vegetarians.
Nouka no Daidokoro is a good option for vegetarians as they offer some 100% vegetable course meal options. This chain of earthy restaurants added two new Tokyo locations within the past 12 months and has a salad bar that is not to be missed.
Nataraj is a small vegetarian Indian restaurant chain that has a few options in Tokyo and they occasionally have evening entertainment options such as belly dance shows.
Little Heaven near Otsuka station is a full-fledged vegan restaurant with somewhat limited hours. Dinner is served 6-9PM every day, and lunch is available Tues to Fri from 11:30AM-2PM.
Shamaim is an Israeli restaurant between Ekoda station (Seibu-Ikebukuro line) and Shin-Ekoda station (Oedo line) and is a good source for hummus and falafel west of the Yamanote loop.
Eat More Greens in Azabu Juban bills itself as a vegetable café and bakery modeled after those found in downtown New York City.
Earth Café Ohana in Sangenjaya caters to vegans and vegetarians and tries to use organic ingredients whenever possible.
Crayon House is a vegetarian-friendly restaurant across from Brown Rice Café (scroll down) that also has a veggie shop in the basement. Be sure to specify that you want food with no meat or fish if that’s your prerogative, they’ll understand.
Bio Café in Shibuya claims a menu with organic options.
Loving Hut recently started selling vegan bentos in the basement of Matsuzaka Department Store in Ginza.
Soup Stock Tokyo has more than 30 locations in Tokyo that feature a revolving menu of low-cal soups and a curry or two. They usually have a vegetarian-looking option on the menu, and you can generally get straight answers about the actual ingredients (hint: ask about lard) which is great for people with allergy concerns as well. Soup Stock Tokyo is essentially a fast food chain, perfect for those times when you only have 20-30 minutes to get a meal in, but it should never be grouped with the ubiquitous burger joints and beef bowl shops of this city.
Saishoku Kenbi Okubo is on a back street between JR Okubo and Shin-Okubo stations and features a vegetarian-friendly and affordable lunch buffet. Closed Tuesdays.
Tenya has shops all across downtown Tokyo and specializes in tempura. This chain can be very helpful for vegetarians who need a quick and cheap bite to eat. The yasai-don is always on the menu, and there are occasionally seasonal variants that get featured as well.
Chaya Macrobiotic has three upscale Tokyo locations and features a menu flush with organic produce and other vegetarian-friendly fare.
Brown Rice Café/Deli in Omotesando adheres to a Whole Foods prep style and specializes in soy, veggies, and of course brown rice. They have a couple of 1,700 yen set meals and a detox juice for 800 yen that purportedly is good for liver overuse control.
Convenience Stores
Konbini are generally not known for selling products that are waist-friendly. However, Berti feels that one chain stands above the rest:
Natural Lawson opened its first shop just over ten years ago, and now there are more than 70 in downtown Tokyo.
“They usually have nuts and dried fruit without added salt. The quality is much better. They also have sweet potato snacks, better fruit cup selections, and a healthier selection of teas–stuff you can’t find in regular convenience stores.”
One of Berti’s biggest pet peeves is the price tags on everything. Even though organic is popular in Tokyo, it can be incredibly hard to find. And when you do find it, you’ll notice that much of it is imported, so “you spend half your rent on an 80% cocoa chocolate bar and almond butter.”
He saves money by ordering from iherb.com, and invites people to freely use his discount code, JUS847, to save five dollars on their first purchase. He also recommends checking out the “Vegan in Tokyo” Facebook group for those that seek strategy tips on finding true vegan fare.
Those who avoid animal products in their food will also be interested in this Google map that details many of the vegetarian and vegan dining establishments available across Japan. The Japan Veg Guide is another resource worth checking out.
So as you can see, there are several health-conscious options available for the vegetarians, flexitarians, weight watchers and pavement pounders among us. Hopefully this short guide has given you a few new ideas for when you’re tracking down your next meal in Tokyo.
Justin Berti is a yoga and fitness instructor at FAB ACADEMY.
An earlier version of this article was originally published by Tokyo Weekender. Special thanks to Adam Gyenes, Mayu Imada and Neill Harper for their valuable input.
Out and about: Ama-san in Osatsu
The ladies of Mie offer the freshest catch in town
What makes the pursuit of fantastic and original cuisine so enticing is that it’s inseparable from the unique culture in which it was conceived. In an era where nearly everything that we dine upon is primly packed, shipped, and plainly arranged to follow the path of least resistance to the consumer, somewhere in the recesses of our consciousness we’re aware that what our palate is experiencing is no mere accident. Someone, somewhere was in a position to conjure up a flavor or a dish because it made sense given a situation and resources and people cross cities, states, provinces, mountains, nations, and oceans with their sights set on tasting “the real thing”.
Two ama-san in Ōsatsu, Mie prefecture.
For many, one early morning excursion to the Tsukiji fish market followed by a sushi breakfast in the charmingly rustic shitamachi is an authentic enough experience of Japan’s culinary obsession with the treasures of the sea.
However, for the inquisitive and adventurous, I can point to about 1,000 women in Mie who can further satisfy your appetite.
To this day, in the small fishing village of Ōsatsu in the southern port of Toba City, Mie prefecture, nearly 1,000 fully active and hard-working ama-san (海女さん – literally “sea woman”) forage for the ocean’s offerings the old-fashioned way – by diving for them, leaving the air supply at home.
While the distinctive white garb and physically demanding practice have history in some other isolated regions of Japan, as well as in Korea, Toba City (including Ōsatsu) is the home to nearly half of the roughly 2,000 active Japanese ama-san – a significant figure in a city with a population of approximately 20,000. Put simply, 1 out of every 20 people in the city (roughly one out of every 10 women!) spends a good 2 hours in the frigid ocean waters most mornings foraging the key constituents of the local diet. The a.m. session was for a long time followed by a bit of rest in the ama-koya, or “ama hut”, with a second outing, once rejuvenated. Nowadays, dives are limited to just one in the morning, partially for safety reasons, but primarily because there are other options for the working woman today. Indeed, most of the ladies pursue other activities in the daytime. Somewhat unique for a fishing village, there’s a reasonable spread of rice paddies which allow for local farming in conjunction with the diving.
An ama-koya, or “ama hut”.
The other reason for the more “relaxed pace” may well be the fact that most ama-san are in their 60s and 70s, with the oldest active divers in their mid-80s. A handful of up-and-comers are in their early to mid-20s, though. While certain scenes in Ōsatsu may feel frozen in time, these hard-working ladies on the front line are combating the same social issues as the rest of the nation. One can easily forgive them for limiting their active duty to a “mere” morning dive. That said, with the village gradually making its way into the public eye, and with a surprising number of young women now actively seeking to succeed their mothers and grandmothers in the trade (the opposite of the trend we’re seeing in Japan’s struggling farming industry), it’s entirely possible that the vitality of a new generation of ama-san may bring about an entirely new image and lifestyle for women and the local fishing industry.
Don’t expect these ladies to don diving gear anytime soon, though. While “protecting tradition” and suppressing certain costs associated with gearing up may be the obvious reasons, the major factor is more simple: balance. The natural limitation placed on the divers in these conditions places a natural limit on just how much can be caught on any given day during any given season. It’s this balance that has sustained the city and the culture for generations, and the people of Toba see it as the key to continued sustainability for generations to come.
What does this have to do with your insatiable appetite? Well, where there’s a congregation of individuals partaking in a unique and impressive, but largely extinct cultural practice, you’ll also often find open arms welcoming the curious traveler – particularly when there’s food involved! So it is in the ama-san village of Ōsatsu, currently making the push for recognition as a ‘Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity‘.
Inside the ama-hut designed for tourists
Although a significant step up in terms of comfort compared to the real thing, a special ama-koya has been constructed specifically for those adventurous individuals who wish to dine only on the freshest morning catch, consisting of freshly grilled sazae, a form of conch or “sea snail”, abalone, as well as the occasional ise-ebi (a member of the lobster family).
It should be noted, however, that while it’s common for clams, scallops, and squid to also appear on the menu, these can’t be classified as part of the “ama-san catch”, as these are left alone by the brave divers. In fact, the primary target for ama-san is seaweed and sea grasses, including ise-hijiki, wakame, as well as awame, a particular variety of kelp which can only be found in local waters, typically only used in local Mie and Kyoto dishes. The varieties of local kelp and seaweed are most commonly prepared boiled or stewed with combinations of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin, often becoming part of soups.
The experience as a whole is most certainly one worth seeking out, as a comforting veil of both vitality and mystery seems to hang low over the waterfront village. Although technically a tourist attraction, the ama-koya offers a chance to get one step closer to the cuisine of local waters than you’ll find just about anywhere else, and the its location far down the oceanfront jetty will conjure a sense of discovery in even the veteran explorer. It’s worth noting that the real ama-koya are not open to the public – the coals burning there are used primarily as a heat source for the small enclosure rather than for preparing meals.
In Japan, quality seafood is never hard to find, but those with curious taste buds and who long to know just where their meal is from would struggle to do better, even in Tsukiji, making the ama-koya dining experience one you’d have a tough time duplicating just about anywhere.
Special thanks to Asami Murata for the photos and wealth of additional information.
Recipe: Tori no tatsutaage (deep fried chicken coated with starch)
Do you know your tatsutaage from your karaage?
Karaage is the deep fried chicken dish familiar to anyone who’s visited a Japanese izakaya. The chicken is coated in an egg based batter and then fried in vegetable oil.
Tatsutaage, on the other hand, is chicken, pork or fish are marinated and then coated with starch.
Here, we’re double frying chicken marinated in a mixture of soy, sake and ginger.
Serve with mayonnaise, ponzu or (our favorite) Thai sweet chili sauce.
Tori no tatsutaage
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 500 – 600 g chicken thigh
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 1 tablespoon of sake
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 10 g of ginger
- 6 – 7 tablespoons of potato starch (or corn starch)
Method
Take the chicken from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room
temperature.
Next, cut away any fat or gristle. Place the chicken on a tray and sprinkle salt over the pieces. Again, leave it for 20 minutes. Wipe away any remaining moisture with a paper towel.
Prepare to marinate the chicken by peeling and grating the ginger. Now cut the chicken into 5 cm square pieces. Put them into a bowl and marinate for 30 minutes to an hour in a mixture of the sake, soy sauce and ginger.
If you haven’t already, fill a deep fryer with enough vegetable oil to cover the chicken (5 – 7 centimeters ought to be enough). Heat to 170 degrees centigrade.
Evenly distribute the starch on a tray. Coat each piece of chicken before gently dropping it into the oil. Take care to shake off any excess starch before dropping the chicken into the oil. It’s also worth noting that the chicken should be coated in starch right before frying.
Deep fry each piece for 2 – 3 minutes, then remove them from the oil and allow them to rest for a further 2 – 3 minutes. In order to maintain the temperature of the oil, it’s best not to fry all the pieces at once.
Now it’s time to fry the chicken a second time. Do so for 3 – 4 minutes, or until the chicken becomes brown. Keep a close eye on the bubbles erupting from the chicken as it fries – they will become smaller when the chicken is ready to remove from the oil. Before you take the chicken out of the deep fryer, turn the heat up so that the outside of the chicken becomes crispy and you can easily drain the oil.
Once the oil has drained away, serve with your choice of condiment.
Recipe: Seafood oyakodon
A seafood version of the classic Japanese rice bowl
Oyakodon (‘parent and child rice bowl’) is a Japanese lunch time favorite. Made with chicken and egg on a bed of rice, it has a sweet soy flavor.
This version uses salmon instead of chicken and salmon roe in place of an egg.
Salted salmon is easy to come by in Japan, but if you’re having trouble finding it, sprinkle salt onto fresh salmon.
Seafood oyakodon
Ingredients (serves 2 people)
- 2 bowls of cooked rice
- 200 g salted salmon
- 40 g ikura marinated in soy sauce
- 20 g radish sprouts
- 10 sheets of shiso (green perilla)
- Half a sheet of nori (dried laver)
- 2 tea spoons of sesame seeds
Method
Grill the salmon and break it into flakes. Carefully roast the sesame seeds on a low heat. Cut the radish sprouts 2 cm wide and roll the shiso and slice into 1 mm thin strips.
Cut the nori into pieces 3 – 5 cm wide, then place these in a stack and cut into 1 – 2 mm strips with scissors.
Scoop rice into a bowl and sprinkle sesame seeds over its surface. Lay the salmon flakes on the center, then decorate the area around the salmon with the radish sprouts.
Place the thinly sliced shiso on the salmon flakes and then add the ikura over the shiso.
Finally, sprinkle the strips of nori over the ikura as artfully as possible to garnish the dish.
Recipe: Tori to renkon tsukune (chicken and lotus root meatballs, teriyaki style)
Liven up your next bento with these chicken and lotus root meatballs
Tsukune are meatballs, usually made from either chicken or pork. They make a delicious meal, or an excellent addition to a bento (Japanese luchbox).
Here, we’re adding a twist to usual recipe by adding renkon (lotus root). The grated lotus root softens the meatball mix, while the other – roughly chopped – half of the vegetable provides some texture.
If you prepare this for a bento, garnish with shichimi (assorted spices) instead of asatsuki. The more adventurous can even use leftovers as filling for teriyaki meatball sandwiches (just add lettuce and mayonnaise!)
Chicken and lotus root meatballs
Ingredients (serves 3 – 4)
- 300 g of chicken mince
- 150 g of lotus root
- 1 egg
- 10 g of ginger (1 clove)
- 50 g green onion
- 1 teaspoon of sake
- 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon of potato starch
- 2 tablespoons of sake
- 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons of mirin
- 1 tablespoon of white sesame seeds
- 3 – 4 tablespoons of chopped asatsuki chives
Method
Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to a bowl containing roughly 2 cups of water. Peal the lotus root and place it in the water for ten minutes to whiten it and take out any bitterness.
Take the lotus root out of the bowl and remove any moisture with the paper towels. Chop half (75 g) of the lotus root roughly into pieces 1 – 5 mm square. Grate the other half of the lotus root.
Finely chop the ginger and green onion. Take a bowl and mix the chicken, ginger, onion, lotus root, sake, soy, egg and potato starch until sticky.
Pour 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into a frying pan and warm it on a low heat. Moisten your hands with water and shape the batter into balls, then sauté with the lid on the pan. One one side becomes brown, turn them over. Sauté both sides for 5 – 6 minutes in total on a low heat. Repeat the process until you finish the mixture.
Next, prepare the teriyaki sauce. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Once you have finished cooking the meatballs, turn the heat to medium and pour the sauce into the frying pan. When it comes to the boil, turn the heat to low and dunk the meatballs into the sauce – 1 minute for each side.
Boil the sauce down until it thickens. Plate the meatballs and pour the remaining sauce over them. Garnish with a pinch of sesame seeds and chopped asatsuki chives.
Recipe: Grilled mushroom wafu salad
Shiitake, maitake, shimeji. The perfect ingredients for an autumn-inspired salad
In Japan, mushrooms are considered the flavor of autumn. This easy to prepare salad is seasoned with salt and citrus to emphasize their complex flavor.
Here I used three types of mushrooms common in Japan – shiitake, maitake and shimeji. If you are struggling in your search for maitake or shimeji, experiment with other varieties. Portobello mushrooms, for example, aren’t common in Japan, but should work equally well in this recipe.
Grilled mushrooms wafu salad
Ingredients (serves 2)
100 g of shiitake mushrooms
100 g of maitake mushrooms
100 g of shimeji mushrooms
1 sheet of deep fried tofu pouch
1-2 of citrus juice (kabosu or sudachi are ideal, but you can use limes, lemons, etc.)
1 pinch of salt
Method
Clean the mushrooms with a brush. Next, cut away the stems of the shiitake mushrooms.
Cut away the roots of maitake and the shimeji. Divide them into a little bunches for grilling.
Next, grill the deep fried tofu pouch in a toaster or on a grill until it becomes brown and crispy on the outside, then slice into strips 4 – 5 centimeters in length and 1 centimeter wide.
Now grill the mushrooms for 3 – 4 minutes on a medium to high heat. Once cooked, slice the shiitake into bite-sized pieces and roughly mix the mushrooms with the deep fried tofu pouches.
Plate the mushrooms and season with a pinch of salt. Serve with a slice or two of a citrus fruit such as kabosu.
Recipe: Kabocha no korokke (pumpkin croquette)
As the mercury drops, stay warm with these tasty pumpkin croquettes.
Almost every Japanese department store has a food hall located below ground. These depachika offer a huge range of food from across Japan as well as overseas. Whether you’re looking for Japanese sweets, French cheese or Chinese dumplings, the depachika has it all. Some of the most popular food halls in Tokyo are below Shinjuku’s Takashimaya and Isetan department store. I’m also a frequent visitor to Tokyu Foodshow beneath Shibuya station.
Croquettes – made with everything from potato to crab – are a depachika favorite. They’re usually presented on trays and you make your selection with a pair of tongs, placing them in a plastic container. This recipe uses kabocha (pumpkin), but with a bit of experimentation, you’ll find you’ll be able to use it for many of the other flavors you come across in your department store wanderings.
Note that the pumpkin paste should be cooled before you shape the croquettes – they handle more easily after brief refrigeration.
Pumpkin croquettes
Ingredients (serves 3 – 4)
- 500 – 600 g pumpkin (400 g after removing seeds and skin)
- 50 g onion
- 30 – 50 ml milk
- 1 tablespoon of fresh cream
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- A pinch of black pepper
- 2 tablespoons of corn (canned corn is fine)
- 1 egg
- 3 – 4 tablespoons of flour
- 2 cups of bread crumbs
- Vegetable oil for frying
Method
Remove the pumpkin seeds and cut it into 3 – 4 cm squares before peeling away the skin. Place the pumpkin in a pre-warmed steamer and warm it on a medium heat. Once the water is warm, place the pealed pumpkin into the basket and cook for 15 – 20 minutes, so that they become soft. Use a skewer to check if the are cooked all the way through.
Mash the pumpkin with a fork.
Place the pumpkin in a heatproof bowl and mash thoroughly with a fork. Add the milk and fresh cream then mix carefully. Place a frying pan containing a teaspoon of vegetable oil on a medium heat. Chop the onion into 5 mm squares and saute them for 2 – 3 minutes. Once transparent, add to the bowl containing the pumpkin.
Now warm the bowl in a microwave for 3 – 4 minutes to remove moisture. While the pumpkin is still warm, add 1 teaspoon of salt and a pinch of black pepper. Mix well. Add 2 tablespoons of corn and mix roughly. Now allow the pumpkin to cool.
Prepare 3 trays, each containing:
- beaten egg
- flour
- bread crumbs
Moisten your hand with a little vegetable oil. Take roughly 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin filling and shape it into a ball. Repeat until you’ve used all the filling.
Coat each of them with flour, beaten egg and bread crumbs (in that order).
Pour the vegetable oil into a deep frying pan (3 – 4 cm deep) and warm to 170 degrees. Carefully place the croquettes into the oil, turning them over occasionally.
When the croquettes turn light brown, use a metal spoon to retrieve them and drain on a tray.
Serve them on a plate with tonkatsu sauce.
Recipe: Piman no butabaramaki (peppers wrapped in pork)
A simple hors d’oeuvre that’s bound to disappear quickly.
Cocktail parties are a rarity in Japan. When entertaining family or friends, most Japanese elect to host the event at a local izakaya rather than in their own houses or apartments – there simply isn’t enough space at home. When Japanese do have people over, the numbers are usually small and the meal something relatively simple and easy to share – nabe (hotpot) or gyoza (Chinese dumplings) are particularly popular.
Red and green peppers wrapped in pork
If you have the space for a larger number of guests, however, this dish of red and green peppers wrapped in pork makes for the perfect finger food. The citrus of the ponzu cuts through any oiliness in the pork, and the still-crispy vegetables add a crunchy texture to each mouthful.
They also make an excellent side dish and can be combined with other otsumami to make a delicious izakaya-style meal. Better, they don’t have to be served right away – the pepper and pork rolls can be served either hot or after they have cooled down.
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 50 g of green pepper
- 50 g of red pepper
- 100 g of thinly sliced pork belly
- 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons of ponzu
- 1 tablespoon of yuzukosho
Method
First, cut off the top and bottom of the green and red peppers. Next, cut into halves and remove the seeds. Slice them into strips 5 mm thick.
Put them into a bowl of cold water and rinse them for 2-3 minutes and drain (when you prepare salads or other vegetable dishes, you should put the vegetables – especially leaf vegetables – into a bowl of cold water to enliven them).
Remove the water with a paper towel, then divide into 6 portions. The green peppers and the red peppers should be mixed almost half and half.
Place a thinly sliced pork belly on a cutting board, then sprinkle a pinch of salt. Place one portion of the peppers in the center and roll them. Repeat another 5 times.
Pour the vegetable oil into a frying pan and warm it on a low heat. Once the pan has heated up, lay down the pork rolls so that the ‘seam’ (where the end of the pork meets the rest of the roll) is face down – think of the nori around sushi rolls. As the side of the roll cooks, it will bind itself to the rest of the pork.
Turn the heat up to medium and sauté that side for 2-3 minutes till it becomes brown and perfectly bonded, then sauté the rest of the roll so it is cooked evenly.
Place the rolls on to a dish with a pinch of yuzukosho on a top of each. Pour 2 tablespoons of ponzu gently from side over the finished dish and serve.
Recipe: Satsumaimo no nimono (sweet potato with pork belly and ginger sauce)
‘Tis harvest season, and what better way to welcome autumn than with satsumaimo?
Satsumaimo (sweet potatoes) have a pink skin and a creamy texture similar to yams. They’re a popular ingredient in Japanese cooking, particularly during the autumn months.
Here, the sweet potato is cooked with pork and ginger. I recommend you serve this together with other dishes and share it out at the dining table.
Sweet potato with pork belly and ginger sauce
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 300 – 350 g sweet potato
- 70 g thinly sliced pork belly
- 10 – 15 g (or 1 clove) ginger
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon sake
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 150 ml water
Method
Wash the sweet potato and slice into 1.5 cm thick pieces. Place in a bowl of water for 20 – 30 minutes to remove any astringency.
Soak the potato in a bowl for 20 - 30 minutes.
Peel the ginger and slice thinly.
Pour 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into a large pot on a low heat and and sauté the ginger. Once it begins to smell, add the thinly sliced pork belly and turn the heat up to medium. Braise the pork so that the fat begins to coat the base of the pot.
Now strain the sweet potato and use a paper towel to take off any excess water. Add the potato to the pot.
Mix with the pork so that the potato is fully coated by the oil. Sauté for approximately 5 minutes. Don’T worry if at this stage the potatoes look oily – that will change when the next set of ingredients are added.
Next, add the sugar, sake, soy sauce and water (in that order). The sauce should now almost cover the ingredients.
1. Cut to match the shape of the bowl.
2. Cut off the the end of the wedge.
3. A finished otoshibuta.
4. Cover the potato with the otoshibuta.
Place an otoshibuta (a drop lid made from paper – see the photos to the left) over the ingredients and simmer on a low to medium heat for 15 – 20 minutes.
If the sweet potato is soft (use a skewer) the dish is ready. At this point, sauce should be left at the bottom of the pot. When serving, be sure to pour some of the sauce over the ingredients.
Recipe: Wafu pasta with yuzukosho sauce
A delicious meat-free pasta
This dish is easy to prepare and is vegetarian-friendly.
The key to success is making sure that the eggplant is washed in salt water prior to cooking, so as to prevent it from absorbing all of the oil. Be sure to squeeze the salt water out, though.
As yuzukosho has a strong flavor, start by adding only a teaspoon – you can always add more later.
For more about yuzukosho, listen to Episode 8 of the Japan Eats Podcast, where the Japanese condiment is discussed in detail.
Wafu pasta with yuzukosho sauce
Ingredients (serves 2 people)
- 160 g of bavette (or spaghetti)
- 200 g of eggplant
- 100 g of shimeji mushrooms
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 4 tablespoons of sake
- 4 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon of yuzukosho
- 10 g butter
- 5 – 6 sheets of shiso to garnish
Method
Pour 200 ml of cold water into a bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon of salt. Remove the top of the eggplant and then cut it in half lengthwise. Cut each half into six more pieces. Put the slices into a bowl of saltwater for 5 minutes to remove any bitterness.
Pour two liters of cold water into a large saucepan and place it on the gas table. Once it has come to the boil, add 20 g of salt and the pasta.
Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the frying pan and add finely chopped garlic. Place the pan on a low heat and sauté slowly until they’re lightly browned.
Remove the salt water from the eggplant by squeezing each slice softly. Add to the pan and sauté until they too become brown. Again, use a low heat.
Once the eggplant is ready, add the shimeji mushrooms. Cook for another minute.
Pour 4 tablespoons of sake into the pan, then cook on a low heat to burn off the alcohol.
Add 2 tablespoons of boiling water from the pot in which you’re cooking the pasta. In addition, add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce to the inner surface of the pan, and add 1 teaspoon of yuzukosho and turn off the heat. Mix thoroughly.
Drain the pasta and then add to the pan. Combine with the sauce.
Add 10 g of butter, and again mix well.
Finally, wash the shiso and remove the water with a paper towel. Roll the leaves together and slice thinly. Serve with the shiso as garnish.
