Japaneasy: Classic and Modern Japanese Recipes to (Actually) Cook at Home

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Tokyo is pizza country. Though it might not appear to be the case at first glance, Tokyoites have embraced pizza in much the same way New Yorkers have, devouring everything from the finest authentic Italian-style pie all the way down to the cheapest, dirtiest slice. Pizza in Tokyo ranges from Domino's-esque mass-produced delivery stuff up to some of the most carefully crafted 'za you'll ever encounter, and the world (including, sometimes grudgingly, the Italians) have taken notice. This is because Tokyo pizzaiolos haven't just perfected their craft; they've taken it a step further, imbuing it with a distinctly Japanese ethos, flavour and identity. For example, at Pizza Studio Tamaki in Higashi-Azabu, chef Tsubasa Tamaki uses Japanese cedar chips to infuse his pizzas with a delicate but evocative whiff of peppery smoke. At Serinkan in Kamimeguro, chef Susumu Kakinuma has pioneered pizzacraft using only Japanese ingredients. And at Savoy in Azabu Juban, they've gone full fusion and put tuna sashimi, mayo and sweetcorn on a pizza.

Tomatoes: Maybe this one's obvious, but unless the tomatoes are really firm, they fall apart in the fryer. Mushrooms: Medium-sized mushrooms, such as shiitake, chestnut (cremini) or oyster, can be cooked with basically no preparation. You will probably have to destem shiitake as they tend to be tough, but otherwise they're good to go. Enoki or shimeji are also lovely - they should be broken up into small clusters, still attached at the bottom. If you're using eringi, they should be cut into very thin slices, as they can often be tough even when fully cooked. Okra: Okra done as tempura is as addictive as chips. Cut them in half lengthways to maximise crunch. Hungry for recipes guaranteed to feed the family? Channel your frustrations and unique creative skills into something as delicious as Japanese food! Award-winning chef Tim Anderson is here to save the day - he has carefully selected the following three recipes from across his range of Japanese cookbooks to share with you that are not only fun to make but easy to make for however few or many people you're cooking for. Take it away, Tim! Gyoza Broccoli and friends: If you're using normal broccoli, break it into florets that are a little bigger than bite-size; if they're too big, they may still be raw and tough in the middle. Or, you can just use tenderstem or purple sprouting broccoli, which are the perfect size and shape as they are. Cauliflower works well, too, and I especially like romanesco.Glossing is for large passages of text. Note that choosing the glossing dictionary will automatically select this method, and using this method automatically selects the glossing dictionary.

Tempura is one of the greatest ways to cook vegetables in the world, and that goes for pretty much any vegetable. I mean, deep-frying in batter is always a good idea, but I think it's especially nice with fresh veg - the veg itself is essentially steamed, softening but retaining its flavour, with the light crunch of the batter adding the perfect textural complement. You can tempura-fry just about anything, so instead of putting specific vegetables in the recipe, I've just provided a few different types of vegetables and how to best prepare them for the tempura treatment. General Ingredients

This ramen recipe is from MasterChef champion Tim Anderson. Tim believes cooking Japanese food is a lot easier than people think and he’s written a book, Japaneasy, to prove it! Tim also talks about his time spent living in Japan, how he conquered MasterChef and why it's possible to make the best ever ramen in less than an hour... If a request to a certain has not resolved the promise object within the time specified here, japaneasy will query a different mirror. WWWJDIC mirrors occasionally go down (at the time of this writing, the Austrailia mirror is down), but it's very infrequent that all five are down at the same time. Roll the dough out into two chubby logs, about 3cm (1 1/4 in) in diameter. Wrap each log in cling film (plastic wrap) and leave to rest in the fridge for 30-60 minutes. Unwrap the dough and sprinkle a little more cornflour on your work surface, then cut each log into pieces about 1cm (1/2 in) across - you should get about 20 pieces out of each log. If you leave it undefined, Japaneasy will default to a "common word" search, which searches both Japanese and English keys and only queries the most common words in EDICT. This often shows the most pertinent words for a search.

Spring onions (Scallions): These always seem like such a good idea, but really they don't soften enough during frying to bite through - I always end up pulling the entire onion out of the batter, leaving behind a hollow tempura sheath. How to tell if they're cooked through: give them a little prod on their tops. If they feel firm, they're cooked. And if you've made really beautifully thin wrappers, then you may be able to actually see through them; the meat will go from pink to pale grey when it's cooked). Let the remaining water evaporate from the pan to ensure crispy bottoms. When they're done, carefully lift them from the pan with a spatula, or turn them out directly onto a big, flat plate. Serve with a little bit of soy sauce, vinegar and perhaps (definitely!) chilli oil for dippin'. Courgettes (Zucchini): Unless you cut them very thinly and fry them for a very long time, they just have too much water in them - water that continues to seep out after frying, ultimately making the batter from soggy from within. Bell) Peppers: The best peppers for tempura are Padrons, or the similar (but very hard to find) Japanese shishito - just drop them in batter and fry, no need to prep. But ordinary sweet peppers work well, too, cut into chunks or rings. Fold the sealed side over itself 3-5 times to form an attractive parcel (NOTE: gyoza need not be attractive to be delicious!).Word is the default setting and just does a word search, meaning you should only input items you think are words. Heat the oil to 170-180°C (340-350°F). If you don't have a thermometer, simply drip a few drops of the batter into the oil to test it: if the batter sinks, it's too cold; if the batter immediately floats and sizzles, it's too hot. What you want is for the batter to sink just below the surface of the oil, then rise up and start to sizzle. This is your character encoding. Default value is "UTF-8". You can also select "Shift-JIS", "EUC", "ISO-2022-JP", "ASCII", or "UCS". Believe it or not, Japanese cuisine, in general, is actually quite vegan-friendly, and many dishes can be made vegan with just a simple substitution or two. You can enjoy the same big, bold, salty-sweet-spicy-rich-umami recipes of modern Japanese soul food without so much as glancing down the meat and dairy aisles. And best of all, it’s super-easy to make!

For the filling, mix the minced pork, leek, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper with your hands until everything is well incorporated. That's it. To Assemble and CookOh, and by the way: in Japan it is against the law to enjoy gyoza without beer. That's how well they go together. Oil, for deep-frying (about 1.5l/50 fl oz/6. cups, but possibly a little more if you're using a very wide pan). Pour your oil into a big, deep pan - it should be very wide, to accommodate a lot of ingredients, but also deep so the oil doesn't overflow. The oil should be at least 7.5cm (3 in) deep, but it should also come up to no higher than 7.5cm (3 in) below the rim of the pan, to be safe. Set over a medium heat while you make the batter.