Foodlympics: 5 Healthy Japanese Dishes You Can Make at Home

The host of the 2020 Summer Olympics, Japan, is renowned the world over for its tea ceremonies and its delicious food. Its traditional cuisine primarily includes dishes made from rice and miso soup and uses seasonal ingredients. Japanese food is  healthy and quickly boosts your energy levels. Popular Japanese dishes like rice balls with okaka, salmon, and umeboshi fillings are both nutrient-rich and delicious. Another good thing about Japanese cuisine is that cooking a whole meal usually takes less than 30 minutes. Most recipes are easy to prepare and use the same combination of ingredients. So, for people who are whole-heartedly following the 2020 Summer Olympics, we have curated a list of five healthy and mouth-watering Japanese cuisine-inspired dishes that you can conveniently make at home while staying glued to your TV screens. Here you go!

Yaki Onigiri

Made from white rice, yaki onigiri features triangular- or oval-shaped rice balls with fillings of salted salmon or simmered kombu. The Japanese dish is traditionally grilled over charcoal and carries a hint of smoky flavour. Preparing it is not very challenging as the delicacy uses commonly found ingredients like Japanese short grain rice, sea salt, neutral-flavoured vegetable oil, and soy sauce.

Recipe:

To make the dish, first of all, cook rice in a cooker or a pot. Afterwards, let it cool down a bit, so you can hold it in your hands. Next, wet your hands and put some salt on it. Then, take about half a scoop of rice in your palms and form balls in a triangular or onigiri shape. Once you have made the rice balls, lightly oil an iron cast skillet and put it on medium heat. Now, grill the onigiri balls until they turn light brown. When they are toasted, brush all the sides with sauce. Your dish is now ready to be served!

Yaki Udon

Prepared using thick and chewy white udon noodles, yaki udon tastes heavenly and is very much liked by kids. The stir-fried dish uses onion, cabbage, chicken, shrimp, mushrooms and almost all kinds of protein and vegetables you possibly have at home. For seasoning and toppings, you can add black pepper, mentsuyu (noodle soup base), soy sauce, dried bonito flakes, and red ginger to the Japanese dish.

Recipe:

In the first step, boil and cook udon noodles in a large pot. Next, slice onion, cabbage, carrots, and mushrooms. Get the chicken or seafood, whatever you are using, and chop it too. Now, get a frying pan and heat some oil in it. Put the chicken in the pan and let it cook. Afterwards, add onion, cabbage, carrots, and whatever other veggies you can find in your fridge and stir fry them. Add noodles, black pepper, mentsuyu, and soy sauce and mix them together with tongs. While serving it, use bonito flakes and green onion and garnish it with red pickled ginger.

Vegan Miso Soup

For days when you are not feeling particularly hungry, the vegan miso soup made using kombu dashi is a perfect dish. Its authentic Japanese version is filled with tofu and wakame. Vegetarians need not worry, as two out of five types of dashi are non-veg and can be prepared using edible kelp.

Recipe:

To prepare the Japanese dish, gather the following ingredients: kombu, wakame seaweed, green onion, silken tofu, and miso. Next, take kombu and put it in water for an hour or so. Now, transfer it along with the water to a big pot and let it boil until you see bubbles. In the next step, remove kombu and turn off the stove. Afterwards, rehydrate the dried wakame seeds in water for 5 minutes and slice green onion. Take the miso, add it to a ladleful of pre-heated water, and let it dissolve completely. Mix the ladleful of water with the remaining boiling liquid and add to it small cubes of tofu. Now, reheat it until it boils and serve!

Japanese-style Pasta

To pasta lovers, the Japanese-style pasta with shrimp and asparagus will taste incredible. It can be made using gluten-free pasta and soy sauce and prepared in 30 minutes. For preparing the Japanese dish, you need asparagus, shrimp, black pepper, olive oil, unsalted butter, dried red chilli pepper, dashi, soy sauce, pasta, red peppers, and loads of veggies.

Recipe:

First of all, put water in a stockpot to boil on gas, and meanwhile, cut red onion, asparagus, and garlic into small pieces. Next, sprinkle a little kosher salt and black pepper on the shrimp. Add some salt to the boiling water and cook the noodles for one minute less than what is mentioned on the packet. Afterwards, in a skillet, heat olive oil and cook shrimps until they turn light brown. Remember to cook both sides. Now, remove the shrimps from the skillet and add some butter to the utensil. Add red onion, garlic, asparagus, and chilli pepper and sauté them. Lastly, add shrimp back to the skillet along with dashi, soy sauce, and boiled noodles. And, your dish is ready!

Soba Noodle Salad

This easy-to-make Japanese dish uses soba noodles, green onion, cilantro, and sesame seeds to bring simple yet bright flavours. The noodles are low in fat and made from buckwheat. Its recipe is spicy and refreshing. And, it makes for a good delicious meal if you are craving an authentic Japanese lunch.

Recipe:

For preparing the dressing, get vegetable oil, sesame oil, and crushed red peppers in a small saucepan. Now, add oil, whisk the ingredients together and heat the mix for some time. Further, add honey and soy sauce and mix them until they get dissolved. Now, boil water and cook soba noodles, and afterwards, drain and rinse them in cold water. Next, chop green onion and cilantro and combine them with noodles, dressing and sesame seeds. Lastly, toss them well and your Japanese dish is now ready!

As the world says goodbye to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on August 8th, why not start your love affair with Japanese cuisine with these easy-to-prepare dishes? So say "itadakimasu" and dig in!