Nicholas Rose - Japanese Home Cooking: Stay-At-Home Japanese Recipes Everyone Can Make

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 15 mins

This classic Fried Rice recipe with ham, egg, and green onion is a delicious one-pan meal that you can whip up under 20 minutes. It's bursting with flavor and perfect for a weeknight meal.

Servings: 1

INGREDIENTS

2 rice bowls cooked Japanese short-grain rice (Ideally a day old, See blog post)

2 slices ham

1 green onion/scallion

1 large egg

2 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc) (divided)

tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt) ( tsp if using table salt)

white pepper powder (a must have for my fried rice!)

2 tsp soy sauce (I use Kikkoman Gluten Free Tamari Soy Sauce)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preparation

1. Gather all the ingredients.
2. To prepare steamed rice, microwave your one-day-old rice thats kept in the refrigerator until room temperature or warm. If you do not have one-day-old rice, then you can cook the rice, spread it out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and leave it out on the counter without cover for 1-2 hours. This will remove moisture in the rice.
3. Cut the white part of the green onion into rounds and the green part diagonally, dividing the white and green parts.
4. Cut the ham into inch square pieces.
5. Crack and whisk the egg in a bowl.

Cooking

1. Make sure all the ingredients are ready to go. Heat the wok (or the large frying pan) on medium high heat. Once its hot, add 1 Tbsp oil and swirl around to make sure all sides of the work (frying pan) are coated with oil. Add the beaten egg and mix around so that fluffy egg will be created.
2. While some parts of the egg are still a little bit runny (not all the way cooked), transfer to a plate. We do not want to overcook the egg at this stage.
3. Add 1 Tbsp oil and start cooking ham and white parts of the chopped green onion. Stir fry and coat well with oil.
4. Add the room temp/warm rice into the wok (frying pan). Separate the rice with a spatula, without damaging the rice. Dont make it mushy by pressing down, but fluff out the rice so it is coated with oil and gets nice wok char.
5. Add the cooked egg back in the wok and break into smaller pieces while you combine with the rice. If some of the rice sticks to the wok, dont worry (it happens when the oil was not enough) as you can scrape it off easily and creates nice char taste).
6. Season with salt and white pepper. You can add more later after adding soy sauce, if not enough.
7. Add the soy sauce. The key action here is to toss the fried rice in the wok and make it fluffy instead of a big mess of fried rice sitting at the bottom of the wok.
8. Add green parts of the chopped green onion. And after tossing a few more times, transfer to a plate.
9. Fried rice at Chinese restaurants in Japan is often served in a dome shape. If you like to serve it this way, fill the fried rice in a rice bowl, pat down lightly to compact and invert onto a plate.
10. Sprinkle green onion on top, and serve!

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Zosui is a comforting Japanese rice soup cooked in a savory dashi broth with vegetables, eggs, mushrooms, and sometimes meat or seafood. It's a nourishing meal that helps refuel your energy. With pantry ready ingredients, you can easily make it in no time!

Servings: 2

INGREDIENTS

For Broth

3 cups dashi (I use 3 cups water + 1 dashi packet)

2 tsp soy sauce (I used Usukuchi (Light Color Soy Sauce))

tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)

For Zosui

6 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs (170 g, 6 oz)

1 inch carrot (40 g, 1.4 oz)

2 shiitake mushrooms (80 g, 2.8 oz)

2 green onions/scallions

1 rice bowls cooked Japanese short-grain rice (200 g, 7 oz; 1 Rice Cooker Cup (180 ml / 150 g) yields 330 g of cooked rice, which is about 2 bowls of rice (150 g per bowl))

1 large egg

tsp toasted white sesame seeds

tsp white pepper powder

INSTRUCTIONS

Gather all the ingredients.

To Prepare the Dashi

1. In a large pot (I used a donabe), add dashi broth. If you are making dashi from scratch, heres the direction (https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-dashi/). In this recipe, I show you how to make dashi using a dashi packet. Add water and a dashi packet in the donabe.
2. Cover the lid and slowly bring water to boil on low heat. After a few minutes, open the lid and shake the bag to release more flavors.
3. Close the lid and continue to heat the broth. Once boiling, cook for 3 minutes and discard the dashi packet. Keep the lid closed and set aside.

To Prepare the Ingredients

1. Remove the excess fat from the chicken and cut it into small bite-sized pieces.
2. Discard the tough stem of shiitake mushrooms and thinly slice the caps.
3. Cut the carrot into quarters lengthwise and thinly slice them.
4. Cut the green onions into thin pieces and put them in a small bowl. We use them as a garnish at the end.
5. If youre using cold cooked rice, put it in a fine-mesh sieve and rinse the rice under running water to remove excess starch. Shake and drain well. If youre using freshly made rice, you can skip this process.

To Cook Zosui

1. In a hot dashi broth, add the chicken.
2. Close the lid and bring it to boil on medium-low heat. Once boiling, skim the scum and foam on the surface.
3. Add the carrot and cook covered until tender, about 4-5 minutes.
4. Once the carrot is tender, add soy sauce and salt to the broth.
5. Add the shiitake mushrooms and well-drained cooked rice. Cover to cook for 10 minutes.
6. Beat the egg in a bowl.
7. Slowly drizzle a small amount of the beaten egg over the soup surface, which will create a fluffy texture.
8. Add some of the green onion and sesame seeds. Sprinkle white pepper powder at the end.
9. Cover with the lid and bring the pot to the table to serve into individual bowls.

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 30 mins

A favorite at Izakaya restaurants, Yaki Onigiri are Japanese grilled rice balls covered in savory soy sauce. With a crispy crust on the outside and soft sticky rice on the inside, these rice balls are simply irresistible and easy to make at home!

Servings: 6 grilled rice balls

INGREDIENTS

2 rice cooker cups uncooked Japanese short-grain rice (360ml; 1 rice cooker cup (180ml) of uncooked rice will make 3 rice balls.)