Today we’re heading to Japan—a country where cooking has been elevated to an art form, and every dish reflects a philosophy of harmony, seasonality, and respect for the ingredient. We’ll make three iconic Japanese dishes that will win you over with their refined simplicity and depth of flavor.
Tender, paper-thin slices of beef simmered in a sweet-savory sauce made with soy sauce, mirin, and dashi, laid over a bed of fluffy Japanese rice. The dish wraps you in a gentle umami richness, while caramelized onion adds sweetness and a silky texture. This is Japanese “fast food,” ready in 30 minutes—but it tastes restaurant-worthy.
Ingredients (serves 2):
• Beef (thinly sliced, such as for shabu-shabu or stroganina) — 300 g
• Short-grain rice (Japanese rice or Arborio) — 300 g
• Large onion — 1
• Soy sauce — 3 tbsp.
• Mirin (sweet rice wine) — 3 tbsp.
• Sake (or dry white wine) — 2 tbsp.
• Sugar — 1 tbsp.
• Water — 150 ml
• Dashi granules (or 1/2 tsp. fish stock powder) — 1 tsp.
• Fresh ginger — a 2 cm piece (optional)
• Chicken eggs — 2 (optional, for serving)
• Green onions — 2 stalks (for serving)
Instructions:
Step 1. Prepare the rice.
Rinse the rice in cold water 4–5 times, until the water is nearly clear. Add water at a 1:1.2 ratio (300 g rice to 360 ml water). Let stand for 30 minutes. Cook in a pot with a tight-fitting lid: bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to the lowest setting, and cook for 12 minutes. Remove from the heat without lifting the lid and let steam for another 10 minutes. The finished rice should be fluffy but slightly sticky, each grain glossy and holding its shape.
Step 2. Slice the ingredients.
Peel the onion and slice it into 3–4 mm half-rings. Peel and finely grate the ginger. If the beef is not already thinly sliced, freeze it for 30 minutes, then cut across the grain into 2 mm slices. Slice the green onions diagonally into 5 mm rounds.
Step 3. Make the sauce.
In a deep skillet or saucepan, combine the water, soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and dashi granules. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely. The sauce should be smooth and fragrant, with a distinct sweet-savory aroma.
Step 4. Simmer the onion.
Add the sliced onion and grated ginger to the boiling sauce. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5–6 minutes, until the onion turns translucent and soft but still retains a little bite. It should settle slightly and soak up the sauce.
Step 5. Cook the beef.
Arrange the beef slices over the onion in a single layer without stirring. Let the meat turn pale underneath—about 1 minute—then carefully flip the pieces. Simmer over medium heat for another 3–4 minutes. The beef should change color completely, turning tender brown while staying soft and juicy. Don’t overcook it—the beef should practically melt in your mouth.
Step 6. Add the egg (optional).
Lightly beat the eggs with a fork—not until fully uniform; the whites and yolks should still show in separate ribbons. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the meat in a thin spiral stream. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat for 1–2 minutes. The egg should set underneath while remaining semi-liquid and creamy on top.
Step 7. Assemble and serve.
Divide the hot rice among deep bowls (donburi). Carefully spoon the beef, onion, and sauce over the top, distributing everything evenly. Drizzle with the remaining sauce from the skillet. Garnish with green onion rounds. Add a pinch of pickled ginger on the side, if desired. Serve immediately, while the rice is soaking up the fragrant sauce.
💡 Fact: Gyudon is Japan’s most popular “fast food.” Restaurant chains Yoshinoya and Sukiya sell millions of servings every day. Yoshinoya has served gyudon since 1899, and this very dish helped the company survive the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923—a simple recipe made it possible to feed victims quickly.
A silky, weightless steamed egg custard served in an elegant cup, with surprises inside—pieces of chicken, mushrooms, and shrimp. It tastes like the most delicate, barely salty custard, with a deep umami flavor from dashi broth. The texture is so smooth that it literally melts on the tongue, requiring no chewing at all.
Ingredients (serves 4):
• Large chicken eggs — 3
• Dashi broth (or 400 ml water + 1 tsp. dashi granules) — 400 ml
• Soy sauce (light, if available) — 1 tsp.
• Mirin — 1 tsp.
• Salt — 1/4 tsp.
• Chicken fillet — 80 g
• Peeled shrimp — 4 (medium)
• Fresh shiitake mushrooms (or button mushrooms) — 4
• Green onions — 2 stalks
• Sake (or dry white wine) — 1 tsp. (for marinating the chicken)
Instructions:
Step 1. Prepare the dashi broth.
If using granules: bring 400 ml water to a boil, remove from the heat, add the dashi granules, and stir until fully dissolved. Let the broth cool completely to room temperature. This is critical—hot broth will curdle the eggs. The finished broth should be clear and golden, with a light fish aroma.
Step 2. Prepare the filling.
Cut the chicken fillet into 1×1 cm cubes and marinate in 1 tsp. sake and a pinch of salt for 10 minutes. Peel the shrimp, remove the vein, rinse, and pat dry with a paper towel. Wipe the shiitake mushrooms with a damp cloth, remove the stems, and slice the caps into 3 mm pieces. Slice the green onions into thin 2 mm rounds.
Step 3. Make the egg mixture.
In a bowl, gently beat the eggs with chopsticks or a fork, taking care NOT to create foam—the motions should be horizontal and cutting, not whipping. Add the cooled dashi broth, soy sauce, mirin, and salt. Stir until smooth. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve 2 times—this is the key to a perfectly smooth texture, free of bubbles and strands of egg white. The finished mixture should be completely even, with no foam on the surface.
Step 4. Assemble the cups.
Take 4 heatproof cups or bowls with a capacity of 200–250 ml. Place 2–3 chicken cubes, 1 shrimp, and several mushroom slices in the bottom of each. Carefully pour in the egg mixture, filling the cups to 80%—leave room, as the custard will rise slightly. If air bubbles appear on the surface, remove them with the tip of a toothpick or lightly pass a kitchen torch over them.
Step 5. Steam.
Prepare a steamer: pour water into a wide pot and bring it to a vigorous boil. Cover each cup tightly with foil—this will prevent condensation from getting inside. Place the cups in the steamer. The crucial moment: immediately reduce the heat to low. Steam over LOW heat for 12–15 minutes. Strong steam will create bubbles and holes in the custard—the texture will be ruined. Leave the steamer lid slightly ajar—prop it open with a chopstick—so the temperature does not exceed 85–90°C.
Step 6. Check for doneness.
Remove the foil from one cup and carefully tilt it—the surface should be smooth, glossy, and wobble slightly like jelly. Insert a toothpick into the center: clear liquid should rise from the hole, not cloudy liquid. If the liquid is cloudy, cook for another 2–3 minutes. The center of the custard should be barely set, trembling lightly when shaken.
Step 7. Serve.
Carefully remove the cups from the steamer. Take off the foil. Garnish each portion with a pinch of green onion rounds, arranging them in the center. If desired, add 2–3 drops of soy sauce to the surface. Serve immediately on a saucer with a small spoon. Chawanmushi is eaten warm—the custard should be just above body temperature, enveloping and tender.
💡 Fact: Chawanmushi is the only Japanese dish traditionally eaten with a spoon rather than chopsticks. Its name literally translates as “steamed tea cup” (chawan means tea cup, mushi means steam). The dish appeared in 18th-century Nagasaki, where Japanese cooks adapted a Chinese steaming technique and created something entirely unique.
Soft, springy-chewy rice balls with a tender mochi shell and sweet red bean paste (anko) inside. On the outside—they’re dusted with starch, smooth and snow-white. Their flavor is delicately sweet, with a unique chewy texture unlike anything in the European confectionery tradition. This is one of Japan’s most recognizable desserts.
Ingredients (makes 8–10):
For the anko paste:
• Adzuki beans (or small red beans) — 200 g
• Sugar — 150 g
• Salt — 1 pinch
• Water — 800 ml (for cooking)
For the mochi shell:
• Glutinous rice flour (mochiko / glutinous rice flour / shiratamako) — 150 g
• Sugar — 50 g
• Water — 200 ml
• Cornstarch (or potato starch) — for dusting, 50 g
Instructions:
Step 1. Cook the beans (start the day before or 2–3 hours ahead).
Soak the adzuki beans in cold water overnight—or for at least 4 hours. Drain, transfer to a pot, and cover with fresh water so that it rises 5 cm above the beans. Bring to a boil, then drain off the first water—this removes bitterness. Add 800 ml fresh water and cook over low heat for 1–1.5 hours, until the beans are so soft that they can easily be crushed between your fingers.
Step 2. Make the anko paste.
Drain off any excess water, leaving the beans slightly moist. Add the sugar in 3 additions, stirring each time and letting the sugar dissolve. Add a pinch of salt—it will enhance the sweetness. Mash the beans with a potato masher or spatula into a coarse paste—for tsubu-an, with pieces intact—or blend for a smooth texture—koshi-an. Place over low heat and, stirring constantly with a spatula, cook off the moisture for 10–15 minutes. The paste is ready when it holds its shape on the spatula and does not spread. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface, and cool completely.
Step 3. Shape the filling.
Roll the cooled anko paste into 8–10 balls, about 20–25 g each. Place them on a parchment-lined plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cold filling makes assembly easier—it won’t stick or lose its shape.
Step 4. Make the mochi dough (microwave method).
In a heatproof bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour and sugar. Gradually pour in the water, whisking until completely smooth—there should be no lumps. Cover the bowl with a plate or pierced plastic wrap. Microwave for 2 minutes at 800 W. Remove and stir vigorously with a damp spatula—the dough will begin to turn translucent. Return to the microwave for another 1.5 minutes. Stir again. The dough should become completely translucent, extremely sticky, and elastic, stretching into long strands.
Step 5. Alternative—steam it.
If you don’t have a microwave: pour the mixture into a heatproof dish lined with damp cheesecloth. Steam for 20 minutes, stirring every 7 minutes. The sign of doneness is the same—translucence and intense stretchiness.
Step 6. Shape the mochi.
Generously dust your work surface with cornstarch. Turn the hot mochi dough out onto the starch. Dust the top with starch and coat your hands with it as well—the dough is incredibly sticky. Roll or stretch the dough by hand into a 5 mm-thick sheet. Cut into 8–10 squares—roughly 8×8 cm—or pinch off pieces weighing 30–35 g.
Step 7. Assemble the daifuku.
Place a mochi square on your palm—your palm should be dusted with starch. Put a ball of cold anko paste in the center. Lift the edges of the mochi up, pinch them together at the top, twist, and tuck the seam inside. Turn it seam-side down and gently roll it into a smooth ball between your palms. The surface should be smooth and crack-free, the seam invisible. Lightly roll the finished daifuku in starch and place on parchment.
Step 8. Serve and store.
Serve daifuku at room temperature on the same day—mochi is best during the first 4–6 hours, while the shell is still soft and chewy. Arrange on a beautiful plate and lightly dust with starch. Serve with green tea—its bitterness perfectly balances the sweetness of the anko. Do not store in the refrigerator—mochi will harden and lose its signature texture.
💡 Fact: Daifuku literally translates as “great fortune” (大福). These sweets appeared in the 18th century and were originally called “hara buto mochi”—“belly-stuffing mochi”—because they were much larger than modern ones. Over time, the name changed to something more poetic. Mochi is so popular in Japan that every year, sadly, several people die after choking on its chewy texture—which is why Japanese media remind people every New Year about the rules for eating mochi safely: take small bites and chew thoroughly.