Typical Japanese recipes which have a luster and the fragrant smell appealing to our appetite include spitchcocked eels and grilled chicken, yakitori. Specialized restaurants for those recipes usually have their own traditional sauce succeeded from generations. It is not too much to say the sauce has the most important effect upon its flavor.

The base of the sauce is a mixture of soy sauce and sugar, into which the fat of eels or chicken melt over the past years, creating their original flavor. Such sauce aged for years is the restaurant’s priceless property; therefore, it is believed that the sauce pot is the very first thing to carry out when fire or natural disaster occurs.

～ Spitchcock Eel ～

4 eels broiled without seasonings, 6 Tbs. soy sauce, 4 tbs. sugar, 2 tbs. mirin

DIRECTIONS:
1.Pour sugar and mirin in a pot. When boiled, add soy sauce. When boiled again, remove from the heat.
2.Place broiled eels in a frying pan and cook over low heat. Pour in 2 tablespoons of water and cook with a lid for about 5 minutes.
3.Pour the preserved seasoning ① in a pan and cook until it coats thoroughly around eels and glazed.
4.Place the glazed eels over a bowl of steamed rice. It makes tasty “Unadon.”

～ Pacific Saury Spitchcock-style ～

4 Pacific sauries, 4 tbs. plain flour, 4 tbs. oil, 2 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. mirin, 1 tbs. sugar
Japanese white radish as needed, Green leafy vegetables as needed

1.Cut off the head of Pacific saury, remove the guts, and fillet. Quickly wash the fillets and dry well with paper towels.
2.Coat the fillets with flour lightly. Spread oil in a heated frying pan and stir-fry both sides until brown.
3.Blend soy sauce, mirin, and sugar well. Pour in the pan and cook until juice is gone.
4.Place on a plate and garnish with grated Japanese white radish and boiled green vegetables.

～BBQ ～

500g pork, 500g chicken,
Adequate amount of green pepper, onion, carrot, and other vegetables to your taste
3 tbs. soy sauce, 8 tbs. sake, 3 tbs. sugar, 3 tbs. sesame oil

1.Blend soy sauce, sake, sugar, and sesame oil well. Marinate meat with the seasonings.
2.Cut vegetables into bite-sized pieces.
3.Heat a grill well and cook meat and vegetables.

Barbeque in Okinawa

In Okinawa, the sub-tropical island surrounded around beautiful beaches, people love to barbeque as it’s called “beach party.” It is possibly true to say that local people go to beach for having barbeque rather than for swimming. Most commercial beaches are usually facilitated with rental barbeque equipment and you can also order barbeque set at the same time. Barbeque set (equipment and ingredients) is also available at many meat shops in town and they often have a delivery service to the designated beach.

Starting from June when rainy season ends up to the early October is the barbeque season in Okinawa and beaches are full of people enjoying barbeque. Some people like to have barbeque at camping, parks (where approved only), or even at personal house garden. Having barbeque is not extraordinary activities among Okinawan people.

Considering the preparation of equipment and the amount of food, barbeque is usually set up as a big party for more than 10 guests. Generally, the average number of guests is 20 people. It is common for Okinawan people to have a barbeque at least once in a summer with family members, friends, co-workers, sports club team members, children’s friends, or as a class reunion. There may be some people who have beach parties every weekend during summer.

The beach party usually takes all-day. We usually start before noon and stay at the beach till the sun set. It is a very casual party so the guest will come and leave whenever they like. We would spend the day relaxed until the ingredients have all cooked and eaten. The barbeque set usually include different kinds of raw beef, pork, chicken, and sausage, yakisoba noodles, vegetables, and rice balls. They are already cut into appropriate size and ready to be cooked. Besides, each guest voluntarily brings one side dish, drink, desserts and snack, which make the party table quite rich.

Barbeque is such a fun leisure activity but one demerit is that the flavor can be monotonous. In order to avoid boredom, the best way is to have several kinds of sauce ready. In addition to the steak sauce or Yakiniku sauce from a store, please take great advantage of a variety of Teriyaki sauce introduced in this blog for a change. Teriyaki sauce will increase variations of party dishes for it makes good seafood entries.

When hearing Teriyaki, you may have a strong image of Teriyaki Chicken. But in Japan, Teriyaki is used for various ingredients. Even if the same Teriyaki sauce is used, the possible finished dishes are varied. I would like to introduce the traditional Teriyaki recipes, simple snack recipes with Teriyaki sauce and a special version of Teriyaki sauce added jam or fruits, which can make refined and opulent dishes best suitable for party entries.

～Sweet-and-Sour Chicken Wings ～

12 chicken wings, 4 tbs. soy sauce, 4 tbs. marmalade, 1 root ginger
1/2 bunch broccoli

1.Peel ginger and slice into thin strips.
2.Place chicken wings, soy sauce, marmalade, ginger strips, and 2 cups of water in a pot. Shimmer with a lid over medium heat for about 15 minutes.
3.Take off the lid, increase the heat, and cook until the juice becomes thicken.
4.Place on a plate and serve with boiled broccolis.

「Arranged Version」
～Spareribs with Orange Flavor ～

800g spareribs, 1 root ginger, 200ml orange juice, 2 tbs. marmalade, 2 tbs. tomato ketchup
2 tbs. soy sauce, 100ml water, 100g boiled black beans (sweet pot), 2 oranges

1.Peel ginger and slice into thin strips.
2.Except black beans, place all the ingredients into a pot and shimmer with a lid for 20 minutes. When juice evaporates, add some water. Add black beans and shimmer for another 10 minutes. For a finish, increase the heat and cook until the juice becomes thicken and glazed. Remove from the pot.
3.Place on a plate and garnish with an orange slice.

「Arranged Version」Teriyaki Sauce + Kiwi fruit
～Deep-fried Fish with Fresh Teriyaki Sauce ～

4 fish (horse mackerels in photo), a pinch of salt and pepper, 4 tbs. plain flour,
Oil for deep-frying
2 kiwi fruits, 3 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. sake, 1 tbs. sugar
Several leafy vegetables

1.Remove the scales and the guts from fish and wash quickly. Dry well with paper towels. Sprinkle salt and pepper.
2.Coat fish with four lightly. Remove the extra flour.
3.Ready oil at medium temperature (appx. 170-180℃). Deep-fry the fish until it completely cooked.
4.Peel kiwi fruits and grate.
5.Pour the grated kiwi fruits in a pan with sake and sugar. When boiled, add soy sauce and stir. Remove from the heat.
6.Just before eating, spoon the sauce over the deep-fried fish. Garnish with leafy vegetables.

～Whitefish (Octopus) Carpaccio ～

300g sashimi whitefish or octopus (octopus in photo), 1 onion, 1 tomato, 2 kiwi fruits
3 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. sake, 1/2 tbs. sugar

1.Slice whitefish (octopus) thinly. Slice onion thinly as well, soak in water for 10 minutes, and drain. Peel tomato, remove the seeds, and dice. Peel kiwi fruits and grate.
2.Pour the grated kiwi fruits in a pan with sake and sugar. When boiled, add soy sauce and stir. Remove from the heat to cool down.
3.Spread the onion slice on a plate, layer the whitefish and diced tomatoes on, and spoon the sauce over it.

[ SWEETS・SNACKS ]
～ Mitarashi dango (Dumplings coated with a soy sauce-and-sugar syrup) ～

200g rice flour for dumplings (shiratamako), 200g silk tofu (or 170cc water)
2 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. sugar, 1 tsp. starch

1.Add tofu (or water) to rice flour little by little and knead until evenly combined.
2.Shape the dumpling dough ① into small balls.
3.Boil the dumpling in hot water for about 3 minutes. Take them out in water and drain.
4.Pour in soy sauce, sugar, 100cc water in a sauce pan. When boiled, add starch water (dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water), and stir well. When boiled again, remove from the heat.
5.Spoon the sauce over dumplings.

～ Gohei mochi (Rice cake) ～

4 serves steamed rice, 2 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. sugar, 2 tbs. ground sesame seeds

1.Mix soy sauce, sugar, and ground sesame seeds well.
2.Mash steamed rice lightly with a masher or a rice scoop while hot. Wet hands and shape mashed rice into oval.
3.Use a grill or a heated frying pan. Spread oil a little and cook the shaped mashed rice until both sides turn brown.
4.Spread the sauce ① on all over the rice and toast.

～ Age Mochi (Deep-fried Rice cake) ～

4 mochi (rice cakes), 4 tbs. soy sauce, 3 tbs. sugar, 2 tbs. water

1.Dice mochi into 2cm squares. Blend soy sauce, sugar, and water and heat up to boil.
2.Heat up oil until medium temperature. Deep-fry diced mochi until they blow up. Drain oil and place on a plate. Spoon the sauce ① over it.

It was Kikkoman, a Japanese soy sauce manufacturer that took an initiative in selling soy sauce in the United States in 1957. Taking advantage of it, Teriyaki sauce also started to spread throughout the United States. However, people in the United States did not know how to use soy sauce in cooking, but they were also unfamiliar with Japanese food at all. The sale of soy sauce was far from success at first. Then, one salesman who was the Japanese descendent hit upon an idea from his mother’s homemade Japanese food and came upon a good way of cooking meat dishes with soy sauce-based, Teriyaki sauce. His Teriyaki recipes were introduced in cooking classes sponsored by Kikkoman and in small handbooks for promoting sales.

～ Teriyaki Fish Fillet ～

4 fish fillets, a pinch of salt, oil as needed, 2 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. sake, 1 tbs. sugar
4 turnips, a pinch of salt, 2 tbs. vinegar, 1 tbs. sugar

1.Sprinkle salt over fish fillets lightly and leave for 10 minutes. Dry the fillets with paper towel.
2.Spread oil on a heated frying pan, place ① and cook both sides until brown.
3.Mix soy sauce, sake, and sugar well and pour into a pan. Flip the fillets occasionally and cook until juice becomes thicken and glazed.
4.Peel turnips. Leaving 5mm of the bottom, slice finely vertically first and horizontally. Sprinkle salt and leave for a while. When the whole becomes soft, squeeze to drain and pour vinegar and sugar mixture over it.
5.Place the fish fillets and turnip pickles.

～ Teriyaki Scallop ～

12 scallop adductors, oil as needed, 2 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. sake, 1 tbs. sugar
1/2 bunch mizuna

1.Spread oil lightly on a heated frying pan. Place scallop adductors and cook both sides. Pour in seasonings and cook until glazed over low heat.
2.Place on a plate and garnish with boiled mizuna.

～ Teriyaki Squid ～

2 cuttlefish, 2 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. sake, 1 tbs. sugar

1.Pull out the guts from the squid body and cut off above the eyes. Check the center of the tentacles for the hard beak and discard. Cut off the thin edge of the tentacles.
2.Make a shallow cut by 1cm wide on the squid body.
3.Heat oil in a frying pan and stir-fry the squid until both sides become brown. When cooked, pour in reserved mixture of seasonings, soy sauce, sake, and sugar. Turn off the heat when the squid is coated overall with the sauce.

Gradually, Teriyaki became accepted into American eating style and it has established its status as it is now. In recent days, soy sauce consumed in the United States is mostly used for making Teriyaki recipes.

Teriyaki is now widely well-known all over the world. But while Japanese Teriyaki dishes have luster in common, what refers as TERIYAKI overseas is not quite the same; it’s usually marinated in Teriyaki sauce beforehand and broiled or the cooked dishes that has Teriyaki sauce on top.

Teriyaki is a popular cooking technique used in Japanese cuisine which uses a soy-sauce based sweet and thick sauce called “Teriyaki sauce.” Teriyaki sauce can develop various cooking methods such as to marinate ingredients and grill, to coat ingredients in layers while broiling, or to add in a pan directly and stir-fry. The sugar content in Teriyaki sauce adds a luster to ingredients when cooking with the sauce. Along with it, the savory smell of cooked soy sauce sharpens our appetite. Teriyaki sauce is worthwhile to keep at hand in every kitchen because its long lasting luster and the sauce coated around the ingredients do not lose its delicious flavor even if it cools off.

～ Teriyaki Chicken ～

2 (600g) chicken legs, 3 tbs. plain flour, 1/2 tbs. oil
3 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. sake (Japanese rice wine), 2 tbs. mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine), 1 tbs. sugar
1 bunch spinach

1.Poke chicken skin thoroughly with a fork.
2.Coat chicken with flour lightly and remove off the extra flour.
3.Heat oil in a frying pan and cook ②the chicken from the skin side over low heat with a lid for 5 minutes. Flip the chicken to cook the other side for another 5 minutes.
4.Remove the extra oil and slowly pour in the mixed seasonings. Flip the chicken several times to coat with the sauce thoroughly. When the chicken becomes glazed, remove from the heat.
5.Slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces and garnish with boiled spinach.

～ Teriyaki Tsukune (Minced Chicken Pattie) ～

300g ground chicken, 150g long onion (naganegi) or onion, 2 tbs. plain flour, 1 tbs.soy sauce
1 tbs. oil
2 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. sake (Japanese rice wine), 2 tbs. mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine), 1/2 tbs.sugar
4 egg yolks, 1 long onion (naganegi) or onion

1.Mince long onion.
2.Add the minced long onion, flour, soy sauce to ground chicken and knead thoroughly until the whole becomes smooth.
3.Divide ② the chicken patties into 12 pieces and shape into small ovals.
4.Heat oil in a frying pan. Place ③ and cook with a lid over low heat for about 5 minutes. Flip to cook the other side for another 5 minutes.
5.Pour in the seasonings and 2 tablespoons of water. Cook until glazed as flipping occasionally.
6.Place on a plate. Cut long onion finely into thin strips and garnish on top of Tsukune. Sprinkle Shichimi (blend of seven spices with hot pepper). Serve with an egg yolk as a dipping sauce, if desired.

～Teriyaki Hamburg Steak ～

300g ground beef (or mix of beef and pork), 150g onion, 3cm carrot, 1 egg, 1/2 cup panko (breadcrumbs), 4 tablespoons milk
A pinch of salt and pepper, 1 tbs. oil
3 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. sake, 2 tbs. mirin, 1 tbs. sugar
Several kinds of leafy vegetables

1.Mince onion and carrot. Heat oil in a frying pan and stir-fry minced onion and carrot until soften. Remove from the pan to cool down.
2.Add ①, an egg, and panko to ground beef. Pour milk over panko, sprinkle salt and pepper, and knead well until it becomes smooth. Divide into four portions and shape into ovals.
3.Heat oil in a frying pan and cook ② for 5 minutes. Flip to cook the other side. Pour 2 tablespoons of water, place a lid, and cook for another 5 minutes.
4.Pour in the seasonings and cook until glazed.
5.Place the Hamburg Steak on a plate and garnish with green salad.

～YAHATA MAKI ～

300g beef round slice, 1 carrot, 1/2 burdock, 1/2 tbs. oil
3 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. sugar,
Mizuna leaf

1.Scrape off burdock skin and cut into halves or quarters. Boil for about 5 minutes and drain. Peel and cut the carrot into almost the same sized pieces as the burdock sticks.
2.Lay beef slice on a cutting board, place 2 sticks of burdock and carrot each on the edge of beef near you. Roll up the beef firmly, away from you. Place the beef roll in a frying pan with seam side down.
3.In the same frying pan, pour the seasonings and water over the beef roll till it just covers. Lid the pan and shimmer it over low heat for about 20 minutes. If juices evaporate, add water little by little.
4.Cut into adequate sized portions and place on a plate. Garnish with boiled MIzuna.

～Sukiyaki ～

400g beef round slice, 1 tbs. oil
1 onion, 1 pack of shirataki, (noodles made from devil’s tongue yam), 2 long onions (naganegi), 1 bunch shungiku (Garland chresanthemum), 8 pieces shiitake mushrooms
1 seared firm tofu
6 tbs. soy sauce, 4 tbs. sugar, 4 tbs. sake
4 eggs

1.Cut onion into halves and slice 1cm wide pieces. Cut long onion diagonally into 1cm long. Cut shungiku into 10cm long. Cut off a hard stem of shiitake mushrooms. Cut tofu into bite-sized pieces. Boil shirataki and drain.
2.Heat oil in a wide, shallow steel-pan and stir-fry beef quickly. Add vegetables, sugar, sake, and soy sauce. When cooked, dip the ingredients into a beaten raw egg. Add tofu at an appropriate timing. When cooked, dip in a raw egg as well.

Because of the expansion of food globalization, rice consumption in Japan has been on the decrease. However, since rice is our staple food, every one of us feels comfortable when we have freshly cooked rice and miso soup. Naturally, since we eat it daily, our desire to have better rice grows.
From the standpoint of most Japanese people, delicious rice is as such: when cooked, every grain of rice looks glossy and plump and when consumed, slightly sweet and moderately sticky and elastic.

In the old days people used to put rice and water into a metal pot called hagama, cover it with a wooden lid and place the cooker on the furnace and cook it with a wood fire. A finely balanced heat control was necessary to produce delicious rice, so they didn’t leave the kitchen while cooking, and the room must have been filled with savory aroma of cooked rice.

After the post-war high-growth period, electric and gas rice cookers became widespread. Electric cookers, especially, have developed rapidly. It takes time and effort to make delicious rice, so home appliance manufacturers have studied the structures of the furnace and pot, developing appliances which operate on the same principles as the old method. Thanks to the electric rice cookers incorporating automatic timers and warmers, people are able to cook rice whenever they want, and eat hot rice any time.

In recent years, the trend of slow food and experience of blackout due to the 2011 earthquake have pushed us to utilize methods of cooking rice without depending on electricity. One of those methods is cooking rice using an earthen pot on the stove, while others love to use brand-name pots like Staub; all claim their method cooks rice better than electric cookers. I think those who adhere to having delicious rice tend to choose not to use an electric rice cooker.

Amongst the latest rice cookers, there is a unique one – an electric lunch box containing a rice cooker – useful for those who live alone. You just put the container with the rice and water on the electric heater, stack the other containers with dishes and miso soup on the rice container, then cover. During the cooking time of 40 minutes, the dishes and soup are heated as well as the rice, so when the rice is done, you have a complete hot meal! Freshly cooked meal is always the best.

Reported by Yukari Aoike, Sugahara Institute

Since antiquity, the Japanese have prayed for plentiful harvests of gokoku – five grains. Well, what are they? Five grains consist of rice, barley/wheat, soybean, and two species of millet. Since the beginning of agriculture, people throughout the world have cultivated various kinds of grains. In Japan, they have grown the above five grains for their staple food.

For Japanese people, rice has been the most important of the five, but in earlier years, the rest of the grains were also very important in their lives. For example, barley and wheat were second-most important grains. It is said that the cultivation of wheat has about a 10,000-year-old history, and the methods of growing wheat and barley were introduced to Japan during the Yayoi period. They were grown as aftercrops for rice and mainly used as livestock feed. It was not until the Edo period that common people were able to eat flour products such as udon and manju with the advancement of millstone technology.

The soybean, often referred to as “meat from the field” is one of the important protein sources for the Japanese. It is also an essential ingredient for traditional seasonings such as soy source and miso, so it is natural that soybean was counted as one of the five grains.

Small gramineous crops such as foxtail millet, millet, and Japanese barnyard millet are collectively known as “millet”. These crops grow faster in less fertile and dry areas with fewer insect pests compared to major grains. Therefore, people grew millet as substitute grains to consume in lean years and/or as feed for birds and livestock. Common people in the past rarely had a ball of 100% pure rice; they usually ate mixed rice with millet and barley to make up for shortage.

It is only recently, however, that nutrients contained in millet have come to be valued. Nowadays we love to eat polished “white rice” which is lacking vitamins and minerals found in unpolished rice. Maybe we need to eat rice keeping in mind how important it is for us to get “plentiful harvest of five grains.”

Reported by Yukari Aoike, Sugahara Institute