Dining with the Chef Season 7

Our theme for this episode is marinating. Saikyo-zuke is a marinating technique that uses a base of white miso from Kyoto, to slowly marinate meat or fish before grilling it. We'll be sharing some tips on how to make this fragrant and delicious dish at home. We'll be marinating Spanish mackerel, a fish that comes into season in spring, to make a dish with the sort of flavor you'll usually only find at a high-end Japanese restaurant. For our side dish, we'll be making sake-steamed clams and spring cabbage. Enjoy the tender, juicy spring cabbage, cooked with soup full of the rich flavor of asari clams.

Our theme this episode is grilling. Yakitori grilled chicken is a popular dish commonly served at izakaya pubs and restaurants that specialize in yakitori. We'll be serving it as a topping on a bowl of rice, for a casual and filling way to enjoy yakitori. A key part of our recipe is seasoning the thigh meat with yakitori sauce, and seasoning the breast meat with just salt, then finishing each with a different spice. The textures of the naganegi long onion seasoned with the yakitori sauce and the salted shishito peppers provide a delicious accent, as well. For our side dish, we'll be making rapini with mustard miso dressing. Using mayonnaise as the secret ingredient helps to mellow out the sharp spiciness of the mustard, while adding depth to the flavor. Enjoy a meal that feels like spring in Japan!

In this episode, we'll be making chicken sukiyaki, a unique twist on a traditional Japanese dish. The norm in Japan is to use thinly sliced, richly marbled beef for sukiyaki, but it's perfectly fine to use chicken for it, too, if you can't get your hands on that type of beef. Cooking it at the table, in the traditional way, makes the meal more fun. For dessert, we'll be making ice cream with sesame sauce — the perfect way to enjoy the rich aroma of sesame seeds.

Our theme this episode is blanching. Sashimi is a popular Japanese dish best known as fresh seafood, sliced and served raw with soy sauce. In this episode, though, we'll be serving blanched sashimi on a bed of shira-ae sauce made of tofu, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and more, to dip and enjoy. For our side dish, we'll be making bamboo shoots with powdered bonito. When shaved into flakes, dried bonito is a crucial ingredient in the dashi stock at the heart of Japanese cuisine. We’ll also be using powdered bonito, sprinkling it on at the end to provide even more of its delicious flavor.

In this episode, we'll be making one of modern Japan's most famous dishes: ramen! Chef Rika's ramen recipe features a light, clean soup made with pork back ribs for great flavor and seasoned with soy sauce. The pork back ribs aren't just for making the soup: we'll also be serving meat from the ribs on top of tofu, with deliciously tart ponzu, for a great appetizer.

Our theme for this episode is simmering. Okara is a byproduct of making tofu, an iconic Japanese ingredient. We'll be using okara and plenty of dashi, simmered together to make the popular dish unohana-ni. By adding richly flavorful ingredients to the bland okara, we can make a healthy and delicious side that goes perfectly with rice. We'll also be making roasted teriyaki chicken wings — a quick and easy dish to prepare while the unohana-ni simmers!

In this episode, we'll be making a rather unusual dish: roast beef sushi. Chef Rika will be preparing roast beef with her own unique method. The juicy fat from the meat goes perfectly with the tartness of the sushi rice! We'll also be making easy gari pickled ginger, by simply marinating it in vinegar, and using that gari and colorful vegetables to make chirashi sushi.

In this episode, we'll be making Napolitan, a Japanese spaghetti dish flavored with tomato ketchup. Chef Rika will be sharing her own original recipe: the secret ingredient is douban-jiang, a spicy chili bean paste that goes perfectly with the sweetness of tomato ketchup! We'll also be introducing Japanese-style gratin, another popular comfort food in Japan.

Our theme for this episode is marinating. We'll be marinating pork in miso, one of the most iconic Japanese cuisine ingredients, then sautéing it. Chef Saito will be sharing the secret ingredient he adds to his miso marinade, in order to bring out the depth in its flavor. We'll also be marinating green beans in a richly flavorful soup made with sesame seeds, vinegar, and dashi, for a light and tasty side dish.

In this episode, we'll be going on a trip with Chef Yuri Nomura, who has played active roles in various food events in Japan and overseas and has made appearances in magazines and on TV. Chef Yuri's destination is Kamiyama Town, Tokushima Prefecture, a town surrounded by mountains, which has long flourished through its forestry industry. In recent years, the town has seen increasing numbers of new residents, and the new efforts of these youthful residents, both in food and in fields like IT, have earned this region worldwide attention of late. Chef Yuri will be visiting a friend, Taichi Manabe, who is the originator of these projects to contribute to the region, as well as farmers who have worked with Taichi to hand down and develop their farming lifestyles and traditions. During her visit, Chef Yuri will talk with Taichi and these local farmers about issues that the town faces in the present and future, while trying some traditional local dishes

Alongside the dashi made from bonito flakes and kombu kelp, there is another dashi beloved by the people of Japan: iriko dashi, made from iriko, or dried baby sardines. In this episode, we're following Chef Yuri Nomura on her travels in Kagawa Prefecture as she learns more about iriko dashi, visiting people who make delicious iriko. Kagawa is famous for udon noodles, and there are udon noodle shops in Kagawa that make their soup with dashi made using only the finest iriko. We'll visit the fishers and processing plant to discover the secrets behind this clear yet rich and flavorful dashi broth and find out how to pre-treat the baby sardines to avoid any "fishy" off flavors, for delicious rice cooked with plenty of iriko — a local favorite! We'll also learn about a great blend of iriko and nuts that goes perfectly with drinks, and which makes a great first step into working with iriko!

Our theme this episode is grilling. Tuna is very popular served as sashimi, but it's also delicious cooked — we'll be making goko-yaki, seared rare tuna with plenty of sesame seeds, and named for its "five aroma" sauce. The sauce is made with five ingredients — myoga ginger bud, shiso, natto, and more — with refreshing flavors that make this a perfect dish for summer. For our side dish, we'll be cooking green bell peppers, a summer vegetable, and seasoning them with umeboshi pickled plums and nori seaweed, for a deliciously Japanese flavor and aroma.

Our theme this episode is deep frying. Our main ingredient is satoimo (Japanese taro), most commonly associated with simmered dishes in Japan. We'll be making fritters that combine taro with tender chicken and crisp green beans, using a batter made with egg and umeboshi pickled plums to bring them together, with a beautifully autumnal color. We'll teach you the tricks to keep them together with a lovely shape. For our side dish, we'll be preparing eggplant by deep-frying it, then briefly cooking it in a sauce made with dashi. Enjoy the contrast between the dark purple and the pale green, as well as delicious flavor full of the umami richness of dashi. These dishes make a great way to greet the coming of autumn in Japan!

In this episode, we'll be showing how to make two electric griddle dishes perfect for house parties. The first of these is okonomiyaki, a popular standard throughout Japan. We'll be mixing vegetables and mentaiko seasoned cod roe into the batter to make the Yukimasa family's okonomiyaki recipe, and we'll show you how to cook it up nice and fluffy. Our second dish is easy fried udon noodles with curry sauce — add curry powder to the same sauce recipe Chef Rika uses for her okonomiyaki, to make fragrant and flavorful fried udon noodles!

Our theme this episode is steam-frying. We'll be preparing a dish perfect to serve on special occasions: salmon is marinated in a soy-sauce-based marinade, then topped with colorful toppings like egg, tofu, mushrooms, and carrot. The various flavors come together to make this a luxurious dish that is as beautiful as it is delicious. For dessert, we'll be making warabi-mochi. Using warabi-ko bracken starch, we can make a deliciously chewy, wiggly dessert with a mild sweetness, and which goes perfectly with kinako toasted soybean powder and kuromitsu black sugar syrup.

In this episode, we'll be preparing five different salads, all made with sushi vinegar. First is namasu, traditionally eaten for celebrations like New Year's Day. We'll also be making potato salad with sansho pepper powder in the dressing, for a Japanese twist on this popular standard. In addition, we'll show you how to make pork shabu-shabu arugula salad, with briefly cooked thinly sliced pork on a bed of arugula; marinated smoked salmon salad, combining salmon with onion; and even simple smoothies. All of these recipes are quick and easy! The secret is sushi vinegar: if you have sushi vinegar, you can easily add it to other seasonings to make all sorts of delicious dressings. We hope you'll try experimenting with sushi vinegar at home!

Our theme this episode is simmering. We'll be making a shiny yuba-an sauce that is as beautiful as it is delicious, served on top of a bowl of rice mixed with ground chicken and egg. The sauce is made with lots of yuba, a traditional Japanese ingredient made from soybeans, mixed in to a sauce base made with plenty of flavorful dashi, for a truly elegant combination. For a side dish, we'll be making refreshing sweet, pickled cucumbers, topped with dried small sardines. We'll show you how you can make the pickling brine in the microwave, for a quick and easy side dish that can be prepared in just a few moments.

Our theme this episode is grilling. We’ll be using horse mackerel, a popular and commonly eaten fish in Japan, and we'll show the best way to grill it on a mesh grill. Of particular note is our chef’s unique sauce, made with sake and soy sauce: coating the fish with the sauce while grilling it results in light, tender, and wonderfully aromatic grilled fish. Adding sudachi citrus gives it a clean, refreshing tartness and aroma, too. For our side dish, we'll be making a home-cooked standard: miso soup with potato and onion, using dashi stock made with niboshi (dried small sardines). Niboshi dashi has a unique flavor distinct from the more common dashi made with bonito tuna and kombu kelp, and it goes particularly well in miso soup. Join us and learn how you too can master this popular Japanese cooking combination!

On this episode of Dining with the Chef, we’ll be focusing on Aichi, located halfway between Tokyo and Osaka. In particular, we’ll be making two dishes that are popular in Aichi’s capital, the castle town of Nagoya: tenmusu rice balls with tempura, and hitsumabushi, mixed rice served with soup or tea. Chef Rika will be showing us two different and delightful ways to combine tempura, a popular Japanese food, with onigiri rice balls. Chef Saito will teach us how to make hitsumabushi with kabayaki-style sardines — usually, this dish is made by mixing unagi eel kabayaki with rice, but Chef Saito’s version uses much more affordable sardines in place of the unagi eel, making it perfect to try at home. Don’t miss both chefs’ great presentation techniques, too!

In this episode, we’re focusing on ginger, a great way to warm the body as the weather gets colder. We’ll be preparing ginger pork salad, topped with a Japanese standard: fried pork coated with a sweet and savory ginger sauce. The salad is made with plenty of cabbage, too, making it great for digestion! We’ll also be making ginger rice. By adding scallops, we can get a mouth-wateringly fragrant and flavorful result, even without dashi. For our side dish, we’ll be making instant ginger soup — this simple recipe uses only convenient ingredients, and you won’t even need a pot! These three delicious ginger dishes make a great way to warm both the body and soul.

Our theme this episode is hot pots. In Japan, hot pots are beloved as a delicious way to warm up as winter gets colder. In this episode, we’ll be looking at one type: the “puka puka” meatball hot pot, featuring tsumire meatballs made of ground chicken, with a secret ingredient to make them deliciously light and tender. This hot pot is named for the charming way the meatballs float — “puka puka” is a Japanese word that refers to something gently floating or drifting. For our side dish, we’ll be making “pine needles” from tea soba noodles, with crunchy sweet potato cut into maple and ginkgo leaf shapes. The tea soba noodles are made with matcha green tea powder, to give them a beautiful green color that complements the sweet potato. Both the sweet potato and the tea soba noodles are fried, for a deliciously crunchy side dish that perfectly fits the season.

Our theme this episode is deep-frying. We'll be making crispy fried swordfish, served with a thick an sauce full of the rich flavor of dashi and plenty of vegetables. This hot, delicious dish is certain to warm both the body and soul in the cold of winter. We'll also be making mushroom rice with three kinds of mushrooms commonly eaten in Japan: shiitake, maitake, and eringi mushrooms. The mushrooms are cooked along with the rice — and we'll be adding the Chef's own original seasoning, made with dried shrimp, that makes any mixed rice dish even better!

In this episode, we’ll be making three uniquely Japanese sandwiches, made with Japanese ingredients, to be served like a multi-course meal. Our main sandwich features a menchi katsu ground meat cutlet: the crunchy fried panko breadcrumbs and the juicy pork go perfectly with bread. We’ll also be making a side sandwich with burdock root — a popular vegetable in Japan — and chicken, tossed with mayonnaise. For dessert, we have one more sandwich, filled with a combination of cream and a sweet bean paste made with azuki beans, an indispensable ingredient for Japanese sweets. We hope you’ll join us for these three convenient and delicious tastes of Japanese cuisine!

In this two-part special, our host Yu Hayami is off to visit the cities of Aizuwakamatsu and Iwaki, in Fukushima Prefecture, and she’ll be sharing the joys of Fukushima’s food with us. In this first episode, we’ll be exploring Aizuwakamatsu, an old capital city that gave rise to Japan’s samurai culture. Our trip starts with iconic sights like Tsuruga Castle and the old-fashioned townscape of Nanokamachi Street, and we’ll be taking a close look at the traditional techniques and traditional culture of wagashi sweets and Aizu Lacquerware. Finally, we’ll be visiting an old ryokan inn in Aizu-Higashiyama Onsen, originally opened in 1873 and registered as a tangible cultural property, where we’ll learn how to prepare kozuyu, a traditional local dish.

In this two-part special, our host Yu Hayami is off to visit the cities of Aizuwakamatsu and Iwaki, in Fukushima Prefecture, and she’ll be sharing the joys of Fukushima’s food with us. In this second episode, we'll be heading to Iwaki City, which was severely damaged by 2011's Great East Japan Earthquake. In Iwaki City, we’ll be visiting some of the people working on new efforts to help Fukushima recover. We’ll be making pot-au-feu stew as a collaboration between our Chef and the farmers who survived the disaster, using locally grown ingredients like taro root and daikon radish. Finally, dessert will be crème brûlée, made with apples grown here in Fukushima. We hope you'll also try making these delicious recipes!

In this episode, we’ll be making ten don, or tempura rice bowls, a popular dish in Japan. We’ll be using shrimp, corn, and other colorful ingredients, and Chef Rika will share her secret technique to easily make crunchy, delicious tempura. For our side dish, we'll be making chrysanthemum greens seasoned with vinegar — the perfect match for ten don! The mild bitterness of the chrysanthemum greens goes wonderfully with the flavor of the vinegar, for a deliciously refreshing side dish.

In this episode, we’ll be cooking with sake — it's more than just a drink! Steaming salmon and asari clams with sake gives those foods the savory umami flavor of the sake, for a dish with a delicious depth. We’ll also be making a dessert with sake: Chef Rika’s own original recipe for Castella sponge cake, featuring the light, fragrant aroma of sake, and coarse sugar to provide a crunchy accent.

In this two-week special, Chef Rika is visiting the cities of Nobeoka and Miyazaki, in Miyazaki Prefecture, to explore the delicious foods that Miyazaki Prefecture has to offer. In this first episode, we'll be visiting Nobeoka, which has been compared to Spain's Basque Country for the broad variety of delicious ingredients available there, from the sea, mountains, and rivers. Nobeoka is also home to a chef who strives to develop a unique new style of Japanese cuisine that can be found nowhere else in the country: Zenbei Yoshida. Chef Rika will be visiting his restaurant to see how he works with his ingredients, carefully ensuring that their natural flavors fully shine through. Come join us, along with Chef Yoshida and the people in the area who provide his ingredients, who all work to show their love for Nobeoka through incredible food.

In this two-week special, Chef Rika is visiting the cities of Nobeoka and Miyazaki, in Miyazaki Prefecture, to explore the delicious foods that Miyazaki Prefecture has to offer. In this second episode, we'll be learning about cattle farmer Muneharu Ozaki's unique efforts to take on beef farming in Miyazaki. We'll be meeting Ozaki and taking an up-close look at his research to produce meat with the type of marbling. Chef Rika will also teach us her take on shabu-shabu hot pot with thinly sliced beef.

Our theme this episode is simmering. We’ll be simmering yellowtail with sake lees, giving it the mild, sweet fragrance of sake — sure to whet the appetite! Sake lees, or sake-kasu, are the solids that remain after the liquid sake is pressed out of the fermented rice, and dishes made by simmering ingredients with sake lees are known as kasu-ni. The koji mold used to ferment the rice is still present in the sake lees, making the yellowtail tender and incredibly flavorful. To season it, we’ll be adding miso, which goes especially well with sake lees, bringing it all together to make a delicious dish, perfect for warming the body in the cold of winter. For our side dish, we’ll be making grilled nagaimo yam with ponzu: nagaimo yam is another ingredient that is at its best during winter, and we’ll be grilling it to enjoy its crisp texture and serving it with refreshing ponzu. Both of these dishes are great with sake, too!

In this episode, we’ll be making a teishoku meal: a traditional style of Japanese meal featuring rice, miso soup, and main and side dishes that are collectively known as okazu, all served together as a single course. These meals can be beautiful to look at and feature well-balanced nutrition. For our main okazu, we'll be preparing pork spareribs: with this easy recipe, anyone can make deliciously tender spareribs at home. Our side dish will be refreshing marinated turnip, and we’ll be adding cabbage and egg to our miso soup to make it particularly hearty and satisfying. Join us and learn some of Chef Rika’s great easy recipes!

Our theme this episode is grilling. We’ll be making chicken miso gratin, for a Japanese take on Western-style ingredients: stir-fried chicken and boiled potatoes, covered with béchamel sauce seasoned with miso, then heated in the toaster oven until browned and delicious. The secrets to this dish’s rich flavor are kombu kelp dashi, full of savory umami flavor, and miso — and they go great with béchamel sauce! For our side dish, we’ll be making spicy simmered konnyaku and lotus root. These two characteristic Japanese ingredients are stir-fried and seasoned with a soy sauce-based sauce, for a great combination of the chewy texture of the konnyaku and the crunchiness of the lotus root. Adding red chili pepper helps give them a delicious bit of heat as an accent, for a side that goes great with drinks, too!