Japanese Food 101

The best part of this simple tofu salad is the miso dressing. You can even omit the tofu and simply toss some lettuce, tomatoes and thinly sliced cucumber in the miso instead!

Instead of buying firm tofu, why not try making it yourself? This is called tezukuri momen-dofu.

Oden is assorted fish cakes stewed in broth. It is a popular dish for the colder months, when the steam rising from the broth and the hot fish cakes warm you. It’s also often served at izakaya (Japanese style pubs) eaten while gulping down some sake or beer.

Tonkatsu Sousu is the dipping sauce served with Japanese style breaded and deep fried meat and seafood. It differs from tempura dipping sauce in that it is sweeter and thicker.

Miso shiru, or fermented soy bean soup, is made from niban dashi and miso paste.

Teriyaki no tare is a versatile sauce for fish, meat and vegetables.

Ponzu is a rice vinegar and yuzu (citron) dressing. If you can’t find yuzu, you can replace it with lemon. The flavour won’t be the same, but it’s better than nothing!

Tempura is a style of breading and deep frying for vegetables and seafood. Serve with tempura dipping sauce, called tentsuyu in Japanese. You can pour it into a small dipping bowl, piping hot, when you serve tempura.

Japanese soup broths are generally similar in flavour. All use ichiban dashi.