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Tataki goboSesame burdock salad

In Kansai homes around Osaka and Kyoto, osechi always includes tataki gobo: burdock root boiled, then beaten with a rolling pin so it splits open, and dressed in a thick ground-sesame vinegar. The long, deep-rooted burdock stands for a family that is settled and lasting. The pounding gives rough, fibrous edges that soak up the nutty, tangy dressing, so each bite is earthy, sweet and sharp. The common mistake is overcooking the burdock until soft; it should still be pleasantly firm before you pound it. Chef's tip: dress the burdock while it is still warm, when the fibres open up and drink in the sesame vinegar.

25 min

Japanese Sides

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Ebi fry (Japanese breaded prawns with tartare)Breaded fried prawns

In Nagoya, ebi fry is a point of local pride, served in long, straight prawns that stick out over the edge of the plate, but it is on the menu of every family restaurant and bento shop in Japan. Large prawns are scored so they stay straight, coated in panko and fried until crunchy, then served with a chunky tartare of boiled egg, onion and pickles. The common mistake is skipping the scoring; the prawns curl tight in the hot oil and the coating cracks. Prawns are done when they turn pink and opaque all the way through, usually in under 3 minutes. Use fresh or thawed raw prawns that smell of the sea; throw out any that smell of ammonia. Chef's tip: press each prawn flat on the board after scoring until you feel a slight click; that stops it curling.

35 min

Japanese Fish

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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

Japanese Desserts

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Gyudon (beef and onion rice bowl)

Gyudon fuels Japan's commuters: at 24-hour counters near every big station from Tokyo to Osaka, a bowl of rice topped with soft onions and wafer-thin beef in sweet soy broth arrives in under a minute. At home it takes about 20. Sake and mirin go into the broth and simmer away, so very little alcohol is left; swap them for water and a little sugar if you prefer. The usual mistake is boiling the beef hard and long, which makes thin slices tough and grey; simmer the onion first, then add the beef only until it changes colour. Chef's tip: pile on pink pickled ginger (beni shoga) and a raw or soft-poached egg yolk for the full counter experience; use a soft-poached egg for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system.

20 min

Japanese Meat

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Tamago kake gohan (raw egg on rice)

Students, salarymen and farmers across Japan eat tamago kake gohan, TKG for short, as a two-minute breakfast, and the egg-farm towns of Okayama and Shimane even hold festivals for it. A raw egg is beaten into piping-hot rice with soy sauce until it turns glossy and almost custardy, like a soft risotto. In Japan eggs are graded for eating raw; elsewhere, use only pasteurised eggs or eggs with a recognised safety stamp, very fresh and kept cold. This dish is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. The common mistake is using lukewarm rice, which leaves the egg slippery and raw-tasting; the rice must be steaming hot. Chef's tip: mix the white into the rice first until fluffy, then drop the yolk on top and break it at the table.

3 min

Japanese Breakfast & Brunch

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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

Japanese Desserts

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Sakura mochiCherry leaf rice cakes

When the cherry trees bloom in late March, every wagashi shop in Japan fills its window with sakura mochi. In the Kansai region around Osaka and Kyoto they are made from coarse dōmyōji-ko, steamed and crushed glutinous rice, tinted soft pink and wrapped around bean paste, then tucked into a salted cherry leaf that perfumes it with an almond-like, floral scent; Tokyo's version is a thin pink crêpe instead. 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 not soaking the salted leaves, so the mochi tastes too salty; rinse and soak them for 15 minutes. Chef's tip: the leaf is edible, and eating it with the mochi gives the sweet-salty balance the dish is famous for.

50 min

Japanese Desserts

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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

Japanese Sides

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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

Japanese Chutneys & Dips

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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

Japanese Chutneys & Dips

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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

Japanese Desserts

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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

Japanese Desserts

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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

Japanese Desserts

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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 Chutneys & Dips

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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

Japanese Desserts

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Kohaku namasuPickled daikon and carrot salad

Red and white are Japan's colours of celebration, and this crisp, sweet-sour salad of fine daikon and carrot shreds is the cleanser of the New Year osechi box, eaten between richer dishes from 1 to 3 January. Salting the vegetables first softens them into pliable threads that still crunch, before they soak in rice vinegar, sugar and a little yuzu. The common mistake is skipping the squeeze after salting, which leaves the salad watery and bland. Chef's tip: cut the daikon along the length of the root, not across it, so the shreds stay crisp instead of going limp.

20 min

Japanese Salads

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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

Japanese Sides

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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

Japanese Desserts

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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

Japanese Desserts

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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

Japanese Chutneys & Dips

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Chikuzenni (Fukuoka simmered chicken and root vegetables)

Chikuzen is the old name for the Fukuoka area of northern Kyushu, where this sweet-savoury simmer of chicken and root vegetables is called gameni and turns up at every family gathering; across Japan it is packed into the New Year osechi boxes and eaten cold. The chicken and vegetables are first stir-fried in oil, then simmered in dashi with soy, sugar, sake and mirin until the liquid reduces to a glaze. The sake and mirin simmer for 20 minutes, so the alcohol cooks off; use water and extra sugar for an alcohol-free version. The common mistake is stirring too much, which breaks the taro and lotus root into mush; shake the pan instead. Chef's tip: let it cool in the pot; the vegetables soak up flavour as it cools, so it is even better the next day.

50 min

Japanese Chicken

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Kaisendon (seafood rice bowl)

At the morning markets of Hakodate and Sapporo, and in harbour towns all along Japan's coast, kaisendon is breakfast: a bowl of sushi rice heaped with raw salmon, tuna, scallops and glistening salmon roe, eaten with wasabi and a drizzle of soy. At home, buy only fish sold as sushi- or sashimi-grade that has been previously frozen (freezing kills parasites), keep it cold and eat it the day you buy it. Raw fish is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system; for them, sear the salmon and tuna all over and cook through, and use cooked prawns. The common mistake is piling cold fish onto hot rice, which warms the fish and makes the rice gluey; cool the rice to body temperature first. Chef's tip: slice the fish across the grain in one long pull of a very sharp knife, not a sawing motion.

50 min

Japanese Fish

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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

Japanese Desserts

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Tendon (tempura rice bowl)

In Tokyo's old shitamachi districts, Asakusa above all, tendon shops have been serving bowls of rice crowned with prawn and vegetable tempura since the Edo period, the batter soaked just enough in a dark, sweet soy sauce to go half crisp, half soft. It is a hearty lunch, and a great way to make tempura at home without having to serve it piece by piece. The tare uses mirin, boiled for a few minutes so the alcohol mostly cooks off; use sugar and water instead for an alcohol-free version. The common mistake is over-mixing the batter: stir with chopsticks only a few times, leaving lumps, and keep it ice-cold so the coating stays lacy and light. Chef's tip: dip each piece in the warm sauce for just a second before laying it on the rice.

45 min

Japanese Fish

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