Japanese cooking ideas at home in the U.S.

Japanese dishes, known in the motherland as washoku, can be conveniently made at a reasonable cost at your home in the U.S. Take it from me, if I can find the proper ingredients to satisfy my Japanese wife in Middle America, it can be done. Here is a listing of recent dishes made in our home since the turn of the year.

1. Name of dish: Okonomiyaki
Where the dish is prominent in Japan: Osaka and Hiroshima
About the dish in the picture: Being a half Yankee whose mother hails from Wisconsin, I grew up on cheese. What is added to the dish in the top picture are slices of American cheese with sprinkles of red ginger, aka shoga.

Okonomiyaki with American cheese

Okonomiyaki with shoga, QP mayonaise and Otafuku sauce. Otafuku is the maker of sauces that resemble a thick Worcestershire sauce in the U.S.

2. & 3. Name of dish(es): Gyoza, aka "Potstickers" (oval shaped) and Shumai (smaller round shape) with Wakame Soup

Where the dish is prominent in Japan: Gyoza, shumai and wakame soup are popular dishes throughout Japan. Gyoza is wildly popular in Tochigi Prefecture. In the U.S., gyoza and shumai can be found and just about any grocery outlet in the U.S.

About the dish in the picture: Gyoza, pictured in the far left, is an import to Japan from China. The dipping sauce, just to the right of the dish consist of soy sauce, vinegar and Rayou (Chinese chili oil). Shumai, a steamed Chinese pork dumpling, is pictured just right of center. The dipping sauce for this dish, can be soy sauce with a dab of karashi-flavored mustard. To wash it down, wakame soup, a clear soup of sea vegetable native to the coasts of Japan, is an easy fix however, tough to find in Middle America. The pack that is added to hot water was sent to us from Japan. Lastly, to compliment this dish, steamed broccoli with QP mayonaise is on the side. At high noon in this picture, between my wife's elbows, is a bowl of steamed rice.

Clockwise: Potstickers, broccoli, steamed rice, shumai, wakame soup with dipping sauces

4. Name of dish: Japanese Cheese Hamburg Steak over shredded cabbage
Where the dish is prominent in Japan: Throughout Japan
About the dish in the picture: This import to Japan from Europe is modified with the German immigrant from Wisconsin side of me coming out with a slice of provolone cheese melted on top. Just as in Japan, this dish is drizzled with the drippings from the cooked beef which are caramelized in red wine, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. The recommended Worcestershire sauce is the Bulldog brand found at any Japanese grocery outlet.

Like the famous Japanese dish, tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet), the dish on the far left is prepared the same way.

Japanese cheese hamburg steak with shredded cabbage (left) and steamed rice and garden salad (right)

5. Name of dish: Tekka-don
Where the dish is prominent in Japan: Throughout Japan
About the dish in the picture: Similar to chirashi zushi, tekka-don is raw fish on top of thinly sliced seaweed and white rice flavored in vinegar. The difference between chirashi zushi and tekka-don is chirashi zushi is rice dressed with vinegar and topped with egg and various seafood whereas tekka-don is tuna only. To the left of the dish is a small glass of beer. These sorts of glasses are popular in Japanese pubs (izakayas) throughout Japan. Just behind the glass, is a bottle of Icehouse, an American beer with a Japanese taste. A group of Japanese businessmen working at my wife's company swear by this beer as being close to a Japanese beer in terms of taste. At the bottom left corner is a dipping dish of wasabi and soy sauce. The intent is to dip the chunks of tuna with a portion of rice into the dipping sauce then into your mouth without dropping it.

Tekka-don

The south paw that I am, a piece of tuna is behind a chunk of sushi rice with shreds of seaweed (nori). Please note the left portion of the bowl where I poured soy sauce over the rice. I cheated since dipping what I have on the sticks then dipped and eaten is more than I can handle. 私は白人です。しょうがない。

6. Name of dish: Yakisoba
Where the dish is prominent in Japan: Throughout Japan
About the dish in the picture: Yakisoba, an import to Japan from China, literally means "fried noodles". This dish is topped with shoga as previously mentioned in okonomiyaki and can be topped with QP mayonaise and Bulldog sauce seen in the top left of this picture. American military installations throughout Southeast Asia have this dish in heavy rotation due to its popularity among officers and crew.

Yakisoba

Conclusion: Four of the six dishes made in our home located in Middle America at a reasonable price are Japanese dishes with origins outside of Japan. In particular, the Japanese dish, Tekka-don contains the key ingredient of raw fish which washoku is known for. The two pictures added for Tekka-don were taken on different occasions thus the difference in appearance. The top picture is pinkish whereas the bottom picture is reddish. The color difference is due to coming from difference parts of a tuna or a different tuna altogether.

I realize that dishes such as yakisoba and ramen (not pictured) are in question as to where they come from. Japanese in northern Japan claim it originates from their neck of the woods. The same could be said by some about yakisoba but it is to my understanding that items such as gyoza and shumai are from China but adopted by the Japanese as their own dish.

While these imports to Japan do not originate from Japan, they are just and authentic in terms of Japanese cuisine, meaning Japanese diets are made of these dishes. In any given week, the average Japanese person will eat one or more of the dishes listed above.

Lastly, these dishes' ingredients and their preparation took place on a budget in Middle America. I was fortunate that my wife is Japanese and knows how to make these dishes as they ought to be. "How a Japanese dish ought to be" is key since most Japanese eateries throughout Middle America are ran by Asians other than Japanese, Americans that have never been to Japan or Hispanics. The few Japanese eateries that are ran by Japanese in Middle America often are supported by the Japanese expatriates in the community and a guy like me, but this is few and far between. Even a guy like me will have to cut corners such as pouring soy sauce over the sushi rice since dipping it is more trouble than it is worth.

For more information such as a recipe and where to source your ingredients in the U.S., please let me know.