Vegetarian Japanese recipes

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Gomoku mameSimmered mixed beans

Gomoku mame, "five-ingredient beans", is a pot of soybeans simmered with kombu, carrot, burdock, konnyaku and shiitake that grandmothers across Japan make on a Sunday and keep in the fridge for a week of small side dishes and bento, and it is often part of the New Year spread too. Every piece is cut to the size of a bean, so each spoonful has a little of everything, sweet, savoury and full of protein. This is vegetarian, with no bonito. A portion is about 150 kcal. Using cooked soybeans makes it a 45-minute dish; from dried, soak 150 g overnight and boil for 1 hour first. The usual mistake is cutting the vegetables in large chunks; they should be the size of the beans. Chef's tip: let it cool in its broth; the beans soak up the flavour as the temperature drops.

45 min

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Tororo gohanMountain yam over barley rice

Tororo gohan is the speciality of Mariko-juku in Shizuoka, a post town on the old Tokaido road where travellers have stopped for bowls of it for four centuries, and it is now a simple, nourishing lunch all over Japan. Raw nagaimo (Chinese yam) is grated into a frothy, slippery purée, thinned with cool seasoned dashi and poured over hot barley rice, then topped with spring onion and nori. It sounds strange and tastes clean and comforting. This version uses vegetarian kombu dashi. A portion is about 330 kcal. Many people add a raw egg yolk: use a pasteurised egg if you do, especially for anyone pregnant, very young, older or with a weakened immune system. The common mistake is letting the dashi go in hot, which cooks the yam and loses its fluffiness; it must be cool. Chef's tip: grate the yam on the fine side of a grater, or the rough side of a suribachi bowl, and wear gloves; the raw sap can make skin itch.

20 min

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Kiriboshi daikon no nimonoSimmered dried daikon

Kiriboshi daikon, radish cut into thin strips and dried in the winter sun, is a pantry staple in Miyazaki, where most of it is made, and in homes all over Japan; simmered with carrot and thin fried tofu it becomes a brown, sweet-savoury side that fills bento boxes and the small plates of a home dinner. The dried strips have a deeper, sweeter flavour than fresh daikon and a pleasant chew. This vegetarian version uses kombu-shiitake dashi. A portion is about 95 kcal. The common mistake is soaking the dried daikon for too long; 10–15 minutes is enough, or it goes limp and loses its sweetness. Chef's tip: keep the soaking water and use a little of it in the broth; it is full of flavour.

30 min

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Yaki atsuageGrilled thick fried tofu

Atsuage, thick blocks of tofu deep-fried on the outside and soft and white within, sit in every supermarket chiller in Japan, and grilling them until crisp is one of the fastest dinners there is: an izakaya favourite in Tokyo and an easy dish at home when there is nothing else in. The block is grilled until the skin crackles, cut into cubes and topped with grated ginger, spring onion and a few drops of soy. A portion is about 190 kcal. The common mistake is grilling it in oil; atsuage is already fried, so a dry pan is all it needs. Chef's tip: pour boiling water over the block and pat it dry before grilling; it removes stale oil and the skin crisps up much better.

15 min

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ZosuiRice and vegetable soup

In Japan, zosui is what happens to the last of the hotpot broth: when the nabe is nearly finished, leftover rice goes into the pot with beaten egg, and everyone shares the soft, savoury porridge at the end. It is also the light dish made at home for upset stomachs and cold nights, using any rice from the cooker. This version uses kombu-shiitake dashi, mushrooms and greens. Eggs are an allergen. A portion is about 260 kcal. The common mistake is stirring the rice too much, which turns it gluey like okayu; zosui should be loose, with separate grains in clear broth. Chef's tip: rinse the cooked rice briefly in a sieve before adding it; it washes off surface starch and keeps the broth clear.

20 min

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UnohanaSimmered okara with vegetables

Okara, the soft white pulp left after making soy milk and tofu, is sold for pennies in Kyoto tofu shops, and grandmothers turn it into unohana, named after the white deutzia flowers that bloom in early summer: the pulp is simmered with carrot, shiitake, fried tofu, konnyaku and spring onion in sweet soy dashi until moist and fluffy. It is a side dish for rice and a classic of frugal, high-fibre home cooking. Many homes add a little chicken; this version is vegetarian, with kombu-shiitake dashi. A portion is about 140 kcal. The most common mistake is cooking it dry and crumbly; it should be moist enough to hold together when pressed with chopsticks, so don't skimp on the broth. Chef's tip: dry-fry the okara in the pan for a few minutes first; it loses its beany smell and absorbs the seasoning better.

35 min

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Yasai itameVegetable stir-fry

Yasai itame is the dish on every teishoku menu in Tokyo's cheap lunch counters and the default weeknight vegetable in Japanese homes: cabbage, bean sprouts, carrot, peppers and onion tossed fast over a high flame with salt, pepper and a splash of soy until glossy and still crunchy. Many homes add a few slices of pork; this is the vegetable-only version, with shiitake for savouriness. Eat it with rice and miso soup. A portion is about 110 kcal. The most common mistake is crowding a cool pan, which stews the vegetables in their own water; get the pan very hot and cook in two batches if your pan is small. Chef's tip: add the bean sprouts last and cook them for only 30 seconds; they should still snap.

16 min

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Nanakusa-gayuSeven-herb rice porridge

On the morning of 7 January, after days of rich New Year food, families all over Japan eat a bowl of nanakusa-gayu, rice porridge with seven young spring herbs, to rest the stomach and wish for good health in the year ahead. Supermarkets sell little packs of the seven herbs (seri, nazuna, gogyo, hakobera, hotokenoza, suzuna and suzushiro), but turnip, radish and their tops with watercress and spinach make a good stand-in. The porridge is plain, soft and seasoned only with salt. A portion is about 130 kcal. The most common mistake is adding the greens too early, which turns them grey and bitter; add them in the last minute. Chef's tip: don't stir the rice while it simmers; stirring breaks the grains and makes the porridge sticky instead of soft and clean.

50 min

Japanese Snacks & Starters

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GanmodokiTofu and vegetable fritters

The name means 'mock goose', a hint that these fritters were invented by Buddhist monks who wanted something rich and satisfying without meat; in Kyoto they are called hiryōzu. Firm tofu is pressed, mashed with grated yam, carrot, hijiki and sesame, then fried into golden discs that are crisp outside and soft and springy within. Eat them hot with ginger and soy, or simmer them in oden or sweet dashi on cold days. The common mistake is not pressing the tofu enough; wet tofu makes fritters that split and spit in the oil. Chef's tip: a little grated Japanese mountain yam (nagaimo) binds the mix without egg and makes it fluffier; potato starch alone gives a denser fritter.

45 min

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Kinpira goboBurdock and carrot stir-fry

Open almost any home-packed bento in Tokyo or Osaka and there is a small heap of kinpira tucked into a corner: burdock root and carrot cut into matchsticks, fried in sesame oil, then cooked down with soy, mirin and a little chilli until glossy and almost dry. It is earthy, sweet-salty and crunchy, and it keeps for four days in the fridge, which is exactly why mothers make a big pan on Sunday. The mirin and sake both contain alcohol; the ingredient notes give alcohol-free swaps. The most common mistake is soaking the cut burdock for too long, which washes away its flavour; five minutes in water is plenty. Chef's tip: leave a little skin on the burdock by scrubbing with the back of a knife rather than peeling, because most of the aroma sits just under it.

27 min

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Nasu dengakuMiso-glazed aubergine

Dengaku began in Kyoto as tofu on skewers brushed with miso and grilled at temple festivals; today the aubergine version is a favourite izakaya plate across Japan, best in late summer when Japanese aubergines are at their sweetest. The halves are scored, cooked until the flesh is custard-soft, then spread with a glossy sweet miso and grilled until it bubbles and blisters. The mirin and sake contain alcohol but simmer away in the glaze; the notes give alcohol-free swaps. The usual mistake is grilling the miso before the aubergine is fully soft: it burns while the inside stays spongy. Chef's tip: score the cut side in a deep criss-cross, almost to the skin, so the heat and the glaze both get right in.

32 min

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InarizushiTofu pouch sushi

Named after the Inari shrines, whose fox messengers are said to love fried tofu, inarizushi are sold by the dozen in Tokyo department-store food halls and packed for school sports days, picnics and long train rides. Thin aburaage pouches are simmered in a sweet soy broth, then filled with vinegared rice and sesame, giving a juicy, sweet-salty bite. Mirin contains alcohol; see the note for an alcohol-free swap. The common mistake is squeezing the pouches dry after simmering; leave them moist so they stay juicy, but drain them enough that they don't drip. Chef's tip: roll a chopstick firmly over each sheet before cutting it, which loosens the layers so the pouch opens without tearing.

70 min

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Yaki nasuGrilled aubergine

Summer evenings in Japanese homes and izakaya often bring a plate of yaki nasu: whole aubergines blackened over a flame until the skin is burnt and the inside collapses into smoky, silky strands. Peeled while hot, they are served chilled or warm with grated ginger, soy and spring onion. The classic topping is bonito flakes; this vegetarian version uses toasted sesame and a kombu–shiitake dashi in the dressing instead. The common mistake is pulling the aubergine off the flame too early, leaving a firm, bitter centre; it should feel completely floppy. Chef's tip: plunge the charred aubergines into iced water for a few seconds only, which makes them easy to peel without washing away the smoky flavour.

25 min

Japanese Snacks & Starters

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Goma dofuSesame tofu

Despite its name, goma dofu contains no soybeans: it is a pale, wobbly block of ground sesame and water, set with kudzu starch, and it is the signature dish of the temple lodgings on Mount Kōya in Wakayama, served at breakfast and at the start of shojin ryori meals. It has a bouncy, almost mochi-like texture and a deep, toasty sesame flavour, eaten with a dab of wasabi and soy. The common mistake is stopping the stirring too soon: it must be beaten hard over the heat for a full 15 minutes, or it sets soft and pasty instead of springy. Chef's tip: use pure white sesame paste (neri goma) rather than tahini if you can; it is more roasted and gives a richer, creamier flavour.

30 min

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Koya dofu no nimonoSimmered freeze-dried tofu

Kōya-dōfu takes its name from Mount Kōya, where monks discovered that tofu left out in the winter frost dried into light, spongy blocks that would keep for months. Rehydrated and simmered in sweet dashi, it soaks up broth like a sponge, so every bite releases a mouthful of savoury-sweet liquid. It is a regular in bento boxes, osechi and temple meals across Japan. Mirin contains alcohol but simmers away; see the note for an alcohol-free swap. The common mistake is boiling it hard, which makes it crumble; keep the pan at a lazy simmer. Chef's tip: after soaking, press each block between your palms in fresh water until the water runs clear, or it tastes faintly of the packet.

35 min

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Shojin dashiKombu and shiitake stock

Zen temples in Kyoto and Kamakura build their whole cuisine on this stock: kombu kelp and dried shiitake soaked in cold water until the liquid turns golden and deeply savoury, with no bonito at all. It is the vegan dashi for miso soup, simmered vegetables, noodle broths and dipping sauces, and every vegetarian Japanese recipe on this site can use it. The common mistake is boiling the kombu, which releases slime and bitterness; it should never go beyond a gentle simmer, and taking it out just before boiling gives the cleanest flavour. Chef's tip: soak overnight in the fridge (mizudashi) for the best, roundest flavour with no effort, then keep the softened shiitake for a simmered dish.

20 min

Japanese Basics

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Kabocha no nimonoSimmered Japanese pumpkin

In Japanese homes kabocha nimono is autumn and winter comfort, and it is traditionally eaten on the winter solstice (tōji) for good health; the wedges also travel well in a lunchbox. The dense, chestnut-sweet pumpkin is simmered skin-side down in a little dashi with sugar, mirin and soy until a skewer slides in, and the flesh turns fluffy while the dark green skin holds the shape. This version uses kombu–shiitake dashi so it is fully vegan; mirin contains alcohol and the note gives a swap. The usual mistake is stirring: it breaks the pumpkin into mash, so just shake the pan. Chef's tip: trim the sharp edges of each wedge (mentori) with a peeler so they don't crumble into the broth.

28 min

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ShiraaeVegetables in tofu dressing

Shiraae, 'white dressing', is one of the oldest dishes of Japanese temple cooking and still a gentle home side today, especially in the Kyoto area: blanched spinach, carrot and konnyaku folded into a creamy paste of tofu, ground sesame and a touch of white miso. It tastes mild, nutty and lightly sweet, rather like a Japanese answer to a dip-dressed salad. The common mistake is leaving the vegetables wet, which turns the dressing grey and runny; squeeze them well and dress just before serving. Chef's tip: for the silkiest dressing, grind the toasted sesame in a suribachi (or mortar) until it starts to turn oily, then mash the tofu straight into it.

28 min

Japanese Salads

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Kenchin jiruRoot vegetable and tofu soup

This hearty, clear soup is said to have been created at Kenchō-ji, the great Zen temple in Kamakura, where monks fried scraps of root vegetables and crumbled tofu in sesame oil before simmering them, so nothing was wasted. Today it is a winter staple in Kanto homes, especially in Ibaraki and Kanagawa: soft daikon, carrot, burdock, taro and konnyaku in a soy-seasoned kombu broth, nutty with sesame. A spoon of sake goes in at the end and simmers off; the note gives an alcohol-free swap. The common mistake is skipping the frying stage; it is the sesame oil that gives kenchin its richness. Chef's tip: tear the konnyaku and tofu with your hands instead of cutting, so the rough surfaces catch more broth.

40 min

Japanese Soups

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Japanese potato salad

Every konbini, school lunch tray and izakaya menu in Japan seems to have its own potato salad, a Western-born dish the Japanese have made entirely theirs. The potatoes are half-mashed so the salad is creamy with chunks, then folded with salted cucumber, carrot, onion and a rich, slightly tangy Japanese-style mayonnaise; it is often served as a side to tonkatsu or packed in a bento. Japanese mayonnaise is made with egg yolk, so this contains egg. The common mistake is mixing in the mayonnaise while the potatoes are hot, which makes it oily and gluey; season with vinegar while hot, then cool before the mayo goes in. Chef's tip: salt the cucumber and onion and squeeze them hard, so they stay crisp and don't water down the salad.

30 min

Japanese Salads

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Yamitsuki cabbageSesame cabbage salad

Yamitsuki means 'addictive', and this bowl of raw cabbage is what many Tokyo yakitori bars put down free the moment you sit, to nibble while the grill heats up. The leaves are torn rather than cut, tossed with sesame oil, garlic, salt and a little stock powder or soy, and finished with crumbled nori and sesame: crunchy, salty and hard to stop eating. The common mistake is dressing it too early; after ten minutes the salt draws out water and it goes limp. Chef's tip: tear the cabbage with your hands into bite-size pieces, because the ragged edges hold far more dressing than a knife-cut slice.

5 min

Japanese Salads

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Hijiki no nimonoSimmered hijiki seaweed

This is the quiet, dark heap of seaweed that turns up next to rice in set lunches all over Japan, and it is a staple of home bento boxes because it tastes just as good cold. Tiny black hijiki strands are simmered with carrot, thin fried tofu (aburaage) and soybeans in a sweet soy broth until the liquid is nearly gone. It is savoury, faintly of the sea and rich in fibre. Mirin contains alcohol; the note gives an alcohol-free swap, and this version uses fish-free kombu–shiitake dashi. A common mistake is skipping the rinse after soaking: dried hijiki carries sand, so swish it in fresh water twice. Because hijiki can hold inorganic arsenic, soak it well, discard the soaking water and eat it as a small side rather than daily in large amounts. Chef's tip: pour boiling water over the aburaage first to remove excess frying oil, so it soaks up the broth.

45 min

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KurikintonSweet potato and chestnut mash

Kurikinton means 'chestnut golden mound', and its bright yellow colour is meant to look like piled gold, which is why it sits in the osechi box at New Year as a wish for wealth. Smooth, sweet mashed sweet potato is folded around whole candied chestnuts, giving a dessert-like side that children love. The traditional yellow comes from dried gardenia pods cooked with the potato. The common mistake is mashing the potatoes without sieving them, which leaves fibres; pushing them through a sieve while hot gives the silky, glossy finish. Chef's tip: peel the sweet potatoes thickly, cutting away the layer just under the skin, as that is where the grey colour and stringiness sit.

45 min

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Gari (pickled sushi ginger)

Sushi counters from Tokyo's Tsukiji outer market to neighbourhood conveyor-belt bars set a heap of gari by every plate, a palate-cleanser eaten between pieces of fish. The best is made in early summer, when young ginger with thin, pink-tipped skin appears in Japanese and Asian greengrocers; its blush turns the pickle naturally pale pink in the vinegar, with no colouring. It takes 20 minutes and keeps for months. The usual mistake is slicing too thick: gari should be almost see-through, so use a mandoline or vegetable peeler. Chef's tip: blanch the slices for just 30 seconds; any longer and the ginger loses its crunch.

20 min

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Asazuke (overnight cucumber and cabbage pickle)Quick cucumber and cabbage pickle

Asazuke means shallow pickle, and it is the quick, fresh pickle that Japanese home cooks make the night before, tucked in a plastic bag in the fridge door and served with breakfast rice and miso soup. Cucumber and cabbage are rubbed with salt and pressed with kombu, a few slivers of chilli and yuzu or lemon peel, so they stay crunchy, juicy and only gently seasoned. It takes 15 minutes to make. The common mistake is not squeezing out the liquid before serving, which leaves the pickle watery and salty. Chef's tip: rub the salt in firmly with your hands for a full minute; bruising the vegetables a little is what lets them season through in a few hours.

15 min

Japanese Snacks & Starters

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Wafu kinoko pasta (Japanese mushroom spaghetti)

Wafu means Japanese-style, and this buttery soy-sauce spaghetti grew up in Tokyo's small pasta cafés in the post-war years, when cooks began dressing Italian noodles with the flavours of home. Today it is a weeknight standard in flats all over Japan: shimeji, shiitake and enoki browned in butter with garlic, glossed with soy sauce and a splash of pasta water, then showered with shredded nori. It is meat-free and ready in about 20 minutes. The mistake to avoid is crowding wet mushrooms into a cool pan; they stew grey instead of browning, so get the pan hot and leave them alone. Chef's tip: add the soy sauce around the edge of the hot pan rather than onto the pasta so it sizzles and turns nutty before you toss.

20 min

Japanese Pasta & Noodles

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Melon panCookie-crust sweet bun

Melon pan takes its name from its looks, not its taste: a soft sweet bun baked under a sugary cookie crust scored into a criss-cross pattern like a cantaloupe rind. Japanese bakeries and school canteens sell it everywhere, and around Kobe and Hiroshima the same bun is often called sunrise. It is best on the day it is baked, when the crust still crackles against the fluffy inside. The common mistake is warm, soft cookie dough, which sticks to your hands and slides off the bun in the oven; keep it well chilled and work quickly. Chef's tip: roll the cookie dough between two sheets of baking paper so you can lift it neatly onto each bun.

75 min

Japanese Baking

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Korokke (Japanese potato croquettes)

On Tokyo's covered shopping streets, from Togoshi Ginza to Sunamachi, butcher and deli counters fry korokke all afternoon and sell them in paper sleeves to children on their way home from school. This vegetarian version keeps the soft, slightly sweet filling of buttery mashed potato with onion and carrot, wrapped in a jagged panko crust that shatters when you bite it. Eat them hot with a drizzle of thick sweet-savoury sauce and a pile of shredded cabbage, or tuck one cold into a bento. The usual mistake is a wet mash: steam-dry the potatoes well and let the filling cool completely, or the croquettes split open in the oil. Chef's tip: chill the shaped, crumbed croquettes for 30 minutes before frying so the coating sets firm.

60 min

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KuromameSweet black soybeans

No osechi box, the lacquered stack of cold dishes Japanese families share over the first three days of January, is complete without kuromame: plump black soybeans simmered so slowly in syrup that they stay whole, wrinkle-free and shining like jet. The word 'mame' also means hard work and good health, so eating them wishes for a diligent year. They are soft, sweet and gently savoury, with a deep bean flavour. The common mistake is letting the beans touch the air while cooking, which wrinkles their skins; keep them submerged under a drop-lid the whole time and top up with water. Chef's tip: soak the dry beans directly in the hot seasoned syrup overnight rather than in plain water, which seasons them from the inside and keeps the skins smooth.

250 min

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Umeboshi (salted dried ume plums)Salted pickled plums

In the ume orchards of Minabe, in Wakayama's old Kishu province, families salt the June harvest of ripe yellow ume in crocks and then spread them on bamboo mats under the hottest days of late July, the doyo-boshi, before the plums go back into their brine. The result is wrinkled, intensely salty-sour fruit, the classic filling for onigiri and the red sun in the middle of a lunchbox of rice. This is a once-a-year project spread over about two months; the active work is about two hours. Do not cut the salt: below about 15 % of the fruit's weight the plums go mouldy, which is the most common failure at home. Chef's tip: use only fully ripe, yellow, fragrant ume; hard green ones turn tough and bitter.

120 min

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YokanRed bean jelly

Yōkan is one of Japan's oldest sweets, brought by Zen monks and refined in Edo-period Tokyo into dense, dark blocks that were carried by samurai and are still given as gifts in long wooden boxes. Red bean paste, sugar and agar are cooked down until thick and set into a smooth, firm jelly that slices cleanly, served in thin pieces with bitter green tea. The common mistake is undercooking the agar: it must boil for two full minutes or the yōkan won't set firmly. Chef's tip: cook the paste until a trail drawn across the bottom of the pan holds for a second before closing, which gives the classic firm, glossy neri yōkan.

25 min

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Ichigo daifukuStrawberry mochi

Ichigo daifuku appeared in Tokyo sweet shops in the 1980s and quickly became the treat everyone queues for from January to April, when Japanese strawberries are at their best. A whole berry is wrapped in smooth sweet bean paste, then in a thin skin of soft, stretchy mochi, so you get juicy fruit, earthy sweetness and a pillowy chew in one bite. Mochi is very sticky: cut it into small pieces for young children and older people, and make sure they chew well and eat sitting down. The common mistake is wrapping a damp strawberry, which makes the bean paste slide and the mochi split; dry the berries completely. Chef's tip: microwave the mochi dough in short bursts and stir hard between them, until it turns translucent and elastic, rather than in one long blast.

36 min

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OhagiSweet red bean rice balls

Ohagi are made twice a year, at the spring and autumn equinoxes (higan), when Japanese families visit ancestors' graves and leave these rice balls as offerings; in spring they are called botamochi. Sticky rice is cooked and only half-pounded, so you can still see the grains, then shaped into ovals and coated in chunky red bean paste, roasted soybean flour (kinako) or black sesame. Mochi is very sticky: cut it into small pieces for young children and older people, and make sure they chew well and eat sitting down. The common mistake is pounding the rice smooth like mochi; ohagi should keep a rustic, grainy texture. Chef's tip: wet your hands and squeeze out cling film between shaping, so the rice never sticks.

70 min

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Kashiwa mochiOak leaf rice cakes

On 5 May, Children's Day, families in Tokyo and across eastern Japan eat kashiwa mochi: soft, flat rice cakes folded over sweet bean paste and wrapped in an oak leaf. Oak trees keep their old leaves until new ones bud, so the leaf stands for a family line carrying on. The leaf isn't eaten; it adds a faint woody scent and keeps the mochi moist. Mochi is very sticky: cut it into small pieces for young children and older people, and make sure they chew well and eat sitting down. The common mistake is steaming the dough too briefly, which leaves it pasty; steam until it turns slightly translucent, then knead. Chef's tip: dried oak leaves from Japanese grocers need a 10-minute simmer and a rinse before use; if you can't find them, wrap in cherry or bamboo leaves or baking paper.

55 min

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Takuan (pickled daikon)

Each autumn in the farmhouses of Miyazaki and Kanagawa, whole daikon are strung up under the eaves to dry in the wind before being packed into barrels of rice bran, and the bright yellow, crunchy slices that come out weeks later sit beside almost every bowl of rice in Japan. Homemade takuan is milder and sweeter than shop-bought, with a gentle ferment and no artificial colour; persimmon peel and a little turmeric give the golden tone. The active work is about two hours, but the radish needs 5–10 days of drying and 3–4 weeks in the bran. The common mistake is underdrying: the daikon must bend into a U without snapping, or it will turn watery and soft. Chef's tip: keep the tub somewhere cool (below 15 °C) and press it with a heavy weight, so the brine rises over the radishes within a few days.

120 min

Japanese Breakfast & Brunch

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Shokupan (Japanese milk bread)

Shokupan is the everyday sandwich loaf of Japan, sold by the half loaf at bakeries from Sapporo to Fukuoka and toasted in thick slabs for breakfast with butter and jam. Its feathery, pull-apart crumb comes from a cooked flour paste (yudane-style) that lets the dough hold more water, so the bread stays soft for days. You need a 900 g loaf tin and a few hours of mostly waiting. The usual mistake is slicing it while hot, which squashes the delicate crumb into gummy layers; let it cool fully. Chef's tip: roll each piece of dough into a tight spiral before it goes into the tin, which gives the tall, even rise and those stringy, tearable layers.

75 min

Japanese Baking

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Natto gohan (natto on rice)

Mito, the capital of Ibaraki Prefecture, is Japan's natto town, but this sticky, pungent breakfast is eaten in homes all over eastern Japan, usually before work with miso soup and a pickle. The fermented soybeans are beaten until they form long silky strings, seasoned, and spooned over steaming rice; they are packed with plant protein. Most packs come with a little sauce sachet that contains bonito fish stock, so for a vegan bowl leave it out and season with soy sauce as here. The common mistake is pouring in the sauce before you stir: whip the beans first, or they never get properly frothy. Chef's tip: stir about 50 times until the strings turn white and fluffy, then season and stir 10 more.

5 min

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Nukazuke (rice-bran pickles)

Before refrigerators, almost every Japanese kitchen kept a nukadoko, a crock of salted, fermenting rice bran that someone stirred by hand every morning, and families in Kyoto and Kyushu still pass theirs down for decades. Cucumbers, carrots, daikon or aubergine buried overnight come out crisp, sour and deeply savoury, a little like a gentle sauerkraut. Starting a bed takes about an hour of work and a week of 'feeding' with scraps before it pickles well. The most common mistake is forgetting to stir: left alone, the surface grows yeast and the bed starts to smell sharp and off. Chef's tip: stir from the bottom up once a day with clean hands, and if the bed gets watery, soak up the liquid with a clean cloth rather than pouring it away.

60 min

Japanese Breakfast & Brunch

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Tamago sando (Japanese egg salad sandwich)

Every Japanese convenience store fridge holds a row of tamago sando, and Tokyo coffee shops (kissaten) have served them with morning coffee for decades. The filling is egg salad made rich with Japanese-style mayonnaise and a little milk, spread thickly between crustless slices of soft milk bread and cut into neat rectangles. Make them for a picnic, a lunchbox or a lazy breakfast. The usual mistake is overboiling the eggs: past 10 minutes the yolks go dry with a grey ring, and the salad loses its soft, sunny colour. Chef's tip: chop the whites finely but mash the yolks into the mayonnaise first, so the filling is creamy with little bouncy flecks of white.

20 min

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KakigoriShaved ice

Kakigori is Japan's great summer cooler, sold under a flag printed with the character 氷 (ice) at festival stalls and seaside huts and turned into an art in Tokyo dessert cafés, where queues form in July and August. Ice is shaved into soft, snow-like flakes that melt on the tongue, then soaked in fruit syrup, matcha syrup or sweetened condensed milk. Contains dairy if you use condensed milk. The common mistake is using ice straight from the freezer: very cold ice shatters into crunchy shards, so let the block soften for 10 minutes first. Chef's tip: build it in two layers, pouring syrup over the half-full bowl and then again on top, so it is flavoured all the way through.

15 min

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OshirukoSweet red bean soup

On snowy days in northern and eastern Japan, and especially after kagami-biraki on 11 January, when the New Year offering of mochi is broken up, families warm up with a bowl of oshiruko: azuki beans simmered into a sweet, thick soup with a puffed, toasted rice cake bobbing in it. In Kansai a chunky version is called zenzai. Mochi is very sticky: cut it into small pieces for young children and older people, and make sure they chew well and eat sitting down. The common mistake is adding all the sugar at the start, which stops the beans softening; sweeten only once they are tender. Chef's tip: a pinch of salt at the end makes the sweetness taste rounder and the bean flavour deeper.

95 min

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Fukujinzuke (seven-vegetable curry relish)

Named after the Seven Lucky Gods, fukujinzuke was first sold by a pickle shop in Tokyo's Ueno in the 1880s and soon became the crunchy red-brown relish spooned beside every plate of Japanese curry rice. Seven chopped vegetables, here daikon, aubergine, lotus root, cucumber, carrot, shiitake and ginger, are salted and pressed, then soaked in a hot sweet soy and mirin syrup. Mirin is a sweet rice wine; it is boiled in the syrup so the alcohol mostly cooks off, and you can swap it for extra sugar and water. The common mistake is skipping the squeezing: wet vegetables dilute the syrup and the relish turns soft. Chef's tip: pour the hot syrup over, drain it back into the pan, boil and pour again; doing this twice keeps the vegetables crisp but fully seasoned.

40 min

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Mitarashi dangoSoy-glazed rice dumplings

Mitarashi dango are said to come from Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto, where they were sold at the midsummer purification festival; today they are the snack of shrine fairs, flower-viewing picnics and station kiosks all over Japan. Chewy little rice-flour balls are threaded on skewers, toasted until speckled, and coated in a translucent, sweet-salty soy glaze that tastes a little like caramel. Mochi is very sticky: cut it into small pieces for young children and older people, and make sure they chew well and eat sitting down. The common mistake is a runny glaze: it must simmer until it turns clear and thick, or it slides off. Chef's tip: mix silken tofu into the rice flour instead of some of the water; the dumplings stay soft for hours instead of hardening as they cool.

30 min

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AnmitsuAgar jelly with red bean

Anmitsu became a craze in Tokyo's Ginza and Asakusa tea rooms in the 1930s and is still the classic summer order in kanmidokoro, the sweet cafés of old Tokyo. Clear, firm cubes of agar jelly are piled into a bowl with seasonal fruit, a scoop of sweet bean paste and boiled red peas, then drenched in dark, smoky kuromitsu syrup. The common mistake is using gelatin, which melts; agar jelly stays firm and refreshing at room temperature. Chef's tip: make the kuromitsu with Okinawan kokuto black sugar if you can; it gives a deep, almost liquorice-like flavour that muscovado only gets close to.

30 min

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Su-renkonPickled lotus root

Lotus root is full of holes you can see straight through, so in Japan it stands for a clear view of the year ahead, and these crunchy, snow-white slices of sweet-vinegared lotus are a fixture of osechi boxes on New Year's Day. Often cut into flower shapes, they taste bright and lightly sweet with a satisfying crispness. The common mistake is boiling the slices for too long: more than 2 minutes and they turn starchy instead of crunchy. Chef's tip: add a splash of vinegar to the boiling water as well as to the pickle, which keeps the lotus root brilliantly white.

20 min

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Taiyaki

Taiyaki were first sold in 1909 at a Tokyo street stall that still exists in Azabu-Jūban, shaped like sea bream because the fish was a luxury eaten at celebrations. Today vendors at winter festivals and shopping streets across Japan press batter into fish-shaped iron moulds, fill them with sweet bean paste and turn them out golden and crisp-edged. Contains egg, milk and wheat. You need a taiyaki pan. The common mistake is overfilling, which makes the bean paste burst through the seams and burn; keep the filling a finger's width from the edges. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 30 minutes so the gluten relaxes, which gives a thinner, crisper shell.

55 min

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Purin (Japanese custard pudding)Caramel custard pudding

Old-fashioned Tokyo kissaten pride themselves on purin that stands up on the plate: a firm, slightly bouncy custard under a dark, bittersweet caramel, served in a glass dish with a long spoon. It is a favourite dessert for children and nostalgic adults alike, and it keeps for two days in the fridge. The mistake that ruins it is too much heat; a hot oven or rolling boil makes the custard puff and fill with tiny holes (called su), so bake it gently in a water bath. Chef's tip: take the caramel darker than you think, to a deep mahogany, because its bitterness is what balances the sweet custard.

60 min