Mochi (Japanese: 餅)– Japanese rice cakes made from Japanese short-grain glutinous rice mochigome. The rice is pounded into a paste and formed into flat cakes of the desired shape.

In Japan, there is a traditional mochi making ceremony called mochitsuki.
Although mochi is eaten all year round, in Japan it is usually in high demand around the New Year. Mochi is called Moa-Chi (麻糬) in Taiwan.

Mochi is a multi-component food consisting of polysaccharides, lipids, proteins and water.

PREPARATION:

Traditionally, mochi is made from whole glutinous rice in a labor-intensive process. Below are the stages of preparing mochi in the traditional ceremony - “mochitsuki”:
1. Soak polished glutinous rice in water overnight. Then it is boiled.
2. Cooked rice is pounded with wooden hammers (kine) in a traditional mortar (usu). Usually two people are involved in this process, one pushes, the other stirs and wets the mochi. They must work in a constant rhythm, otherwise one of them may injure the other with the hammer.
3. The adhesive mass is then shaped into various shapes (usually spherical or cubic).

Mochi is made from flour or sweet rice (mochiko). Flour is mixed with water until a sticky, opaque white mass is obtained. Cook the mixture on the stove or in the microwave until it becomes elastic and slightly transparent.

CONFECTIONERY:

Many types of traditional Japanese sweets, wagashi and mochigashi, are made from mochi. For example, Daifuku() is a soft, round mochi with a sweet filling sweetened with red bean paste (an) or white bean paste (shiro an). Ichigo daifuku ( ) is a version of mochi with anko bean paste and strawberries.

() - small balls of ice cream wrapped in mochi.

In Japan, this product is produced by Lotte under the name Yukimi Daifuku.

Kashiwa Mochi() – mochi wrapped in kashiwa (oak) leaf.

Sakura Mochi() – pink rice cake with bean paste inside, wrapped in pickled sakura leaf.

SOUPS

Oshiruko or Ozenzai() – sweet adzuki bean soup with pieces of mochi. In winter, the Japanese often eat it to keep warm.

Chikara Udon (Chikara udon means “power of udon”) ( ) - soup with udon noodles, fried mochi flatbreads and various toppings.

Zōni() - Japanese New Year's soup with mochi flatbreads.

NEW YEAR'S DISHES

Kagami Mochi is a New Year's decoration that is traditionally broken and eaten during a ritual called "Kagami Biraki" (open mirror).

Zōni- soup containing rice cakes. It is eaten on New Year's Day. In addition to mochi cakes, Zoni soup includes vegetables (taro, carrots), waxwort and kamaboko.

() is traditionally prepared on New Year's Day, as eating this dish is believed to bring good luck. The mochi is fried over a fire or oven, then immersed in water, after which the flatbread is coated with sugar and kinako soy flour.

() is a traditional Japanese sweet that is usually eaten at the beginning of the year. Also served at the first tea ceremony of the new year. Hanabira mochi translates to “mochi flower petal” in Japanese. The dessert was prepared to mark special events at the imperial court at the beginning of the year.

OTHER VARIATIONS:

Dango() - Japanese dumplings made from mochiko rice flour.

() not real mochi. It is a jelly-like confection made from fern starch, coated with kinako soy flour and sugar. The sweet is popular in the summer.

() - mochi cakes made from kuzuko (kudzu root powder). Traditionally served chilled, drizzled with kuromitsu syrup and sprinkled with kinako soy flour.

() - balls that are usually made from glutinous rice. They are typically eaten during the higana period, spring and autumn.

Just recently a sweetness appeared Moffles- fried mochi waffles.

Step-by-step recipes for making rice cakes: classic, quick, boiled rice with breadcrumbs, dry yeast with rice, sweet rice cakes with yeast, with milk

2018-05-30 Irina Naumova

Grade
recipe

11386

Time
(min)

Portions
(persons)

In 100 grams of the finished dish

5 gr.

9 gr.

Carbohydrates

42 gr.

274 kcal.

Option 1: Rice cakes - classic recipe

The very idea of ​​rice cakes came to us from Japan, Korea and other eastern countries. Rice cakes can be used instead of bread, as a snack, various fillings are wrapped in them, and desserts are made. There are a lot of ideas for implementation in cooking. For the base, you can only use rice flour, rice and wheat in equal proportions, boiled or dry rice. We will prepare several varieties of rice cakes so that you can choose the one that suits you best.

Ingredients:

• 330 grams of rice flour;
• 200 ml water;
• egg;
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar;
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt;
• 2 teaspoons sunflower oil;
• 50 grams of oil, drained.

Step by step recipe for rice cakes

Take a large bowl and sift the rice flour into it. Add granulated sugar and salt - mix well.

Break the egg, pour water into it and whisk vigorously with a whisk. Then the resulting mixture is poured into the flour mixture and stirred.

Lubricate your hands with refined sunflower oil and knead the dough with your hands, until it reaches a soft texture. Then cover with a damp, clean cloth and leave for about twenty minutes.

Cut the dough into six pieces. Dust your work surface with a little flour and roll out the first piece of dough into a thin, thin cake. Prepare the remaining portions.

Place a frying pan of suitable size on the fire. Do not add oil; fry the rice cakes on a dry surface.

Since the products turned out to be very thin, fry until lightly browned on both sides.

When you place the rice cakes on a common plate, do not forget to grease them with butter.

Option 2: Quick Rice Cakes Recipe

This recipe is not only quick to prepare, but also because these rice cakes do not contain gluten and can be prepared for small children.

Ingredients:

• 5 table of water;
• 1 table spoons of oils;
• 2 table spoons of starch;
• a pinch of salt;
• 8 table spoons without a hill of rice flour;
• a handful of sesame seeds.

How to make rice cakes quickly

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and prepare a smooth, slightly sticky dough.

You can first combine the liquid ingredients, then the dry ones and stir everything with a spoon, then bring it together with your hands until smooth.

Cut the dough into equal parts and roll each into a ball with your hands. Using a rolling pin, we turn each of them into a thin cake.

Heat a dry frying pan. Sprinkle sesame seeds on each side of each flatbread and fry until lightly golden on both sides.

The heat should be high, use a frying pan with a thick bottom.

Lay out the prepared golden brown rice cakes and grease them with butter.

Note: You can use milk instead of water. Additionally, you can mix different seeds into the dough itself to suit your taste. You can use any starch: potato or corn at your discretion.

Option 3: Rice cakes made from boiled rice with breadcrumbs

Initially, we take dry rice and wheat flour as the base. Boil the rice until tender, and then knead the dough. Roll the flatbreads in breadcrumbs and fry them in a frying pan - a hearty and simple option.

Ingredients:

• 200 grams of wheat flour;
• a handful of breadcrumbs;
• 300 grams of rice;
• egg;
• salt to taste.

Step by step recipe

It is better to use round rice - we are preparing flatbreads, we do not need crumbling.

Rinse it in several waters until transparent, add water and boil until tender. You can salt the water immediately or salt the already boiled rice - as you like.

When the rice has cooled a little, beat in a chicken egg. You can add a little of your favorite seasoning for taste or do without it. Sift the flour and pour into the same container.

Stir with a spoon until smooth.

Use your hands to form thin flat cakes and roll them in breadcrumbs.

Heat a frying pan, add a little oil and fry the rice cakes until golden brown on each side.

To get rid of excess oil, place first on paper towels and then on a serving plate. It is appropriate to serve a salad of fresh vegetables with rice cakes prepared in this way.

Option 4: Dry yeast rice cakes with rice

If you've been cooking a meal or side dish with rice and you have some left over, make some delicious rice cakes. Add some dry yeast, wheat flour and water - the dough is ready! All that remains is to fry it in a frying pan and treat it to your family. By the way, you can fry them in a slow cooker - it will turn out even healthier.

Ingredients:

• 130 grams of millet flour;
• 1/2 tbsp boiled rice;
• 100 ml water;
• 3 tablespoons olive oil;
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt;
• 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast.

How to cook

Rice can be anything: round or long grain. Since it's already boiled, just transfer it to a large bowl.

Pour in wheat flour; you don’t have to sift it.

Pour in olive oil. If this is not the case, take sunflower oil, but always refined and odorless.

Add yeast. If you have seasonings, you can add some. For example, Provencal herbs or paprika.

Stir everything until smooth and start pouring water in a thin stream, while kneading the dough.

Gather the dough into a bun, cover with a damp, clean towel and leave in a warm place for half an hour.

So, the dough has rested and risen. Divide it into six servings.

Grease your work surface and roll out thin rice cakes with a rolling pin.

Now you can fry until lightly browned on each side in a dry frying pan without oil or in a multicooker bowl in the “Frying” mode.

The main thing is to turn over with a wide spatula, silicone or wooden, not iron.

Place the finished rice cakes in a stack, greasing them with butter. If you sprinkle each flatbread with a small amount of fresh chopped herbs, the taste will be simply amazing, and what an aroma!

Option 5: Sweet rice cakes with yeast

This is an adapted Indian sweet rice cakes recipe. The base is dry rice, which is soaked for a long time and then used to make flatbreads. We will also need a blender or food processor, or a powerful electric meat grinder.

Ingredients:

• 400 grams of rice;
• 75 grams of granulated sugar;
• 1 teaspoon salt;
• 1 teaspoon dry yeast;
• 25 ml warm water;
• water for dough - how much will be needed.

Step by step recipe

Wash the rice until transparent and fill with clean water. We will soak for about four hours. Then the water is drained - just drain the rice in a colander.

Mix the rice with granulated sugar and salt, then grind in a food processor, blender or electric meat grinder. At the same time, water is added to the mass in such an amount that the consistency of cream is obtained.

Note: If you made the mixture too thin, add rice or wheat flour to thicken the base a little.

Dissolve the yeast in 25 ml of warm water and pour into the rice mixture. Stir and leave warm for half an hour.

Now you can make beautiful rice cakes in molds. Place the dough to the middle of a wide, beautiful mold.

Cook in a double boiler for about ten minutes. Carefully remove the rice cakes from the mold and cool slightly. That's it, you can serve it to the table. These flatbreads can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two days. Although, most likely, they will all be eaten at once.

Option 6: Rice cakes with milk

Rice flour is sometimes difficult to find in the store, so we use wheat flour, dry rice and milk. Add yeast, eggs and oil and prepare delicious rice cakes.

Ingredients:

• 400 grams of rice;
• 400 grams of millet flour;
• 50 grams of butter; drain;
• 4 chicken eggs;
• 1.5 liters of milk;
• 50 g dry yeast;
• 2 pinches of salt;
• growing oil.

How to cook

It is better to take round rice. Cook a viscous porridge from it. How to do it? Boil a liter of milk and rinse the rice.

As soon as the milk boils, add salt, add rice and cook over low heat with the lid closed. Stir the porridge occasionally with a spoon.

Then we cool it.

Grind the rice porridge in a blender.

Dissolve yeast in half a liter of warm milk and pour the resulting mixture into crushed rice porridge.

Add wheat flour and mix well. Leave in a warm place for half an hour.

Break the eggs, separate the yolks. We put them in the rice dough and stir. Then add the separately beaten whites.

Again leave in a warm place for the same time.

Now we separate portions from the dough, form flat cakes and fry them in the same way as pancakes.

Fold in a stack and grease with butter.

I'll start this topic, maybe someone will continue it, otherwise I'm not an expert here

Here are the recipes from the book Nishi Katsuzou- "Japanese miracle - nutrition"

Japanese national cuisine contains a lot of ingredients, combining them into something completely unique and inimitable. The principles of healthy Japanese cooking have evolved over two millennia. And during this time, the diet of the islanders has undergone significant changes more than once. For example, with regard to animal products, the ban on meat was first proclaimed in the 8th century under the influence of Buddhism. And in the 9th-11th centuries, a real gastronomic boom took place in Japan, when the inhabitants of the archipelago added numerous intermediate snacks, cheerful long tea parties and superbly served delicacies to their two meals a day. In the 12th century, the samurai government again became pro-vegetarian. And the Japanese switched to a more ascetic, and at the same time, undoubtedly more useful and healthy diet. Buddhist vegetarian food, adopted from Chinese monks, became typical. It was then that the world-famous Japanese style of cooking and serving food was born - a wide variety of vegetarian dishes served in very small portions. Japanese cooking has borrowed something from the culinary art of other countries, reworking their recipes in its own way. Dutch and Portuguese dishes appeared before the islanders in a modified, oriental version. And travelers took back to their countries from distant mysterious islands, in addition to stories about amazing customs, geishas and typhoons, also recipes for preparing sauces, rice and poisonous fugu fish.
As for meat, it returned to the islands only in the second half of the 19th century. And yet the Japanese still prefer a table close to what their ancestors liked. And in the first place they put not steaks, but dishes from rice, fish and vegetables. They also favor noodles and buckwheat, despise salt and cannot do without soy sauce and seaweed. Without what is Japanese cuisine impossible? Without the so-called “main food”. Almost every Japanese has it on their table. It is consumed every day and more than once, as it is found both tasty and healthy.

Rice dishes
Rice is consumed by the Japanese at least three times a day and in considerable quantities. In many traditional Japanese dishes, rice remains the main ingredient. There are a great many recipes for cooking rice. It is prepared whole, with beans, with chestnuts, in the form of flatbreads, with vegetables and seaweed, with shrimp and even with tea. The national delicacies mochi (sweets), dangsho (flatbreads) and arare (crackers) are prepared from rice. Rice, according to Japanese beliefs, has a soul. It is no coincidence that in some particularly superstitious families, during the cooking of rice and during the subsequent meal, a statue of the rice saint is installed. And we can try, following the wise Japanese traditions, to simply treat rice and actions with it more carefully and with soul.

Whole rice
Rinse the rice thoroughly in cold water. Wash until the water runs clear. Then soak it. If it's summer, then let it be at least 30 minutes. If it is frosty winter weather outside, then at least 1 hour. In Japan, rice is always soaked before cooking. It will then require less cooking time and will become healthier.
When the rice swells, place it in a saucepan and add water in the following proportion: 1.25 cups of water per 1 cup of rice. Close the lid tightly and keep it until it boils over medium heat. After boiling, the heat must be increased for one minute. And then reduce and cook for 4-5 minutes over medium-low heat. After 5 minutes, reduce the heat a little more and cook the rice over even lower heat for another 10 minutes. If you do this exactly, then each grain will absorb water and become “fluffy”. During this procedure, all the water should evaporate. But the rice will cook correctly only if you do not remove the lid from it during cooking. Do not open the pan after the fire is turned off. The rice should stand covered for 10 minutes to properly “set” and “settle.”

Rice with red beans
1/2 cup small red beans. 3 cups of water, 3 cups of preferably glutinous rice, 1-2 tablespoons of dark sesame seeds and a little salt or soy sauce.
1st step.
Wash and dry the beans. Then cook it for 10 minutes without closing the lid. Remove and dry the beans, reserving the liquid.
2nd step.
Rinse the rice well, dry it, put it in a saucepan and add half the liquid in which the beans were cooked. You can also add water if necessary. Leave it like this for at least 4 hours at room temperature. If you decide to leave it overnight, then do so in the refrigerator. Place the semi-cooked beans and the liquid left over from cooking in the refrigerator.
3rd step.
Mix pre-drained rice and beans. Spread this mixture evenly on the rack of the steam pan, close the lid and cook for about 15 minutes. Then add 1/3 of the remaining liquid, close the lid again, and cook for a few minutes. And add 1/3 of the liquid two more times. In total, the steamed dish should be cooked for 40-45 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, wait a little and open the lid. Toss lightly colored rice and beans with a damp wooden spatula and sprinkle with a mixture of salt and sesame seeds, or replace the salt with soy sauce.
“Red rice” with beans can be served with fried fish, stewed mushrooms, chicken, and all kinds of salads.
This dish is good for the kidneys, spleen and pancreas.

Rice and peas
1 cup of fresh peas, 1.5 cups of rice, 1.75 cups of water, 1.5 tablespoons of dessert wine, 1-2 tablespoons of a mixture of dark sesame grains with coarse salt or 0.5-1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and soy sauce.
1st step.
Cook the peas for 1 minute in boiling salted water, drain, rinse the peas and pat dry. Rinse the rice, add the required amount of water and leave for 10 minutes.
2nd step.
Then add wine and cook the rice according to the above rules. But before increasing the heat, throw the prepared peas into the pan. Close the lid and cook for another fifteen minutes. Next, turn off the heat and simmer its contents in the pan for 10-15 minutes. After the dish has arrived, use a wooden spatula soaked in cold water to divide the rice and peas into portions. Pour soy sauce over each serving and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Rice with vegetables
1.5 cups rice, half a carrot, 2 slices abu-raage (this is deep-fried tofu), 1 small bamboo shoot or 1 gobo, half a piece of konya-ku. (The last components, if they are absent, can be replaced with other vegetables, for example, turnips, herbs, onions, increase the amount of carrots), 1.75 glasses of water, 1.5 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of dessert wine.
1st step.
Cook aburaage in boiling water to remove fat. Dry, cut into thin strips. Chop the konjac, boil it for 2 minutes and dry.
2nd step.
Wash and peel the gobo root, cut into strips, soak in cold water for 5 minutes, cover with a lid. Then dry. This removes the inherent bitterness from the gobo. If canned gobo or bamboo shoots are used, they must first be dried and thrown into boiling water to remove the taste of preservatives. After cutting, dry again.
3rd step.
Peel the carrots and chop as you would other vegetables. Place the washed and soaked rice in a pan with vegetables. Pour water, stir everything well. Add soy sauce and wine. Then cook as usual.
Vegetables can simply be mixed with boiled rice in a ratio of 5-10% boiled vegetables to the amount of rice. At the same time, it is important to observe the principle of harmony.

It is advisable that the vegetables in this dish be more yang for people with yin diseases and, conversely, for those who have yang diseases, add boiled yin vegetables. Yang vegetables include carrots, dandelion root, parsley, onions, turnips, and radishes. Yin vegetables include tomatoes, spinach, sorrel, cabbage, cauliflower, mushrooms, zucchini and bamboo shoots.

Rice with chestnuts
1.5 cups rice, 200 g chestnuts in syrup, 1.75 cups water, 1 teaspoon dessert wine, 0.5-1 teaspoon sesame seeds, 0.5-1 teaspoon soy sauce or salt.
1st step.
Remove chestnuts from syrup. Reserve 2 teaspoons of syrup for adding to the dish. Pat the chestnuts dry and cut in half. Boil in boiling salted water for 30-40 minutes. Dry.
2nd step.
After washing the rice, dry it thoroughly. Then, mixing it with water and the remaining syrup, cook it according to all the above rules. Add chestnuts to almost cooked rice. Try to open the lid only for a moment when adding chestnuts. Next, keep the pan on high heat for 20-30 seconds. Then remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes without opening the lid. Before serving, stir the rice and chestnuts with a wooden spatula. Sprinkle the rice with chestnuts already laid out on plates with sesame seeds and salt (or pour soy sauce instead of salt).

Rice with herbs and red caviar
3 cups of rice, 3 cups of hot water, 10 leaves of shiso - a special spicy herb, 2 teaspoons of salt and red caviar. (The shiso herb can be replaced with parsley, celery, dill, or even better, basil.)
1st step.
Cook the rice as usual, but add some salt first. Chop the shiso leaves and soak in water. Next, drain the weed in a colander and dry. Then add it to the cooked rice and mix well with a wooden spatula.
2nd step.
Take a fan-shaped rice mold and, after moistening it in water, put the rice mixed with the leaves in it. Tamp down well. Then place it on a slightly moistened wooden tray and place red caviar in the middle of the resulting figure.

Rice cakes
Mix boiled rice with finely chopped vegetables and onions. Pour some water there. Make small cakes. Fry them in vegetable oil.

Rice cutlets
Soak one hand in 5% salt solution and take two spoons of cooked rice into it. Press it with your other hand and shape the cutlets into a triangular shape. Sprinkle them with toasted sesame seeds. These cutlets can be eaten as is, or you can fry them in vegetable oil until crispy.

Rice cutlets with nori seaweed
Wrap the cutlets in fried nori. In Japan, this dish is usually consumed at picnics or during night vigils, on holidays of admiring the full moon.

Rice with salted three-year-old plums
One salted plum is rolled into each rice patty. This not only improves the taste, but also allows the dish to be better preserved even in the summer, when it is incredibly hot.

Rice rolled with nori seaweed
Lightly fry the seaweed or, if you don't have it, herbs such as celery. Place the seaweed on a plate, place a layer of rice about 2 cm thick on top, then add finely chopped vegetables and roll it all up. Then cut into strips 3-4 cm wide and serve.

Rice cream
Fry the rice until it turns slightly brown. Grind it up. Add water to the resulting rice flour in the ratio: 3 cups of water to 4 tablespoons of flour. Then boil this paste for 25 minutes. If necessary, add a little water at a time. Salt or soy sauce to taste.

Rice soup
Dilute the rice cream with water. Then add the bread croutons and chopped parsley.

Rice flour cutlets
Add a little water and salt to the rice flour to taste. Make cutlets. Fry them in vegetable oil.

Rice porridge with red beans
1/2 cup red beans, 2 cups cold water, 1/4 teaspoon salt or soy sauce, 1.5-2 cups boiled rice.
1st step. -
Boil water, add beans, reduce heat, but keep the water boiling all the time. Add more as needed to ensure the beans are covered at all times. Cook the porridge for 30-40 minutes. Dry the cooked beans.
2nd step.
Pour water into a large frying pan, add salt and rice, stir, bring to a boil over high heat. Then reduce the heat and cook the porridge for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Then mix the porridge with beans.

Rice porridge with neera herb
1 cup rice, 7 cups water, half a bunch of neera herb (or parsley), 2 eggs, a pinch of salt, soy sauce. For seasoning: 1/2 tablespoon sa-ke, 1/2 tablespoon seyu, 1/4 teaspoon salt. Additives can be a variety of things: pickled plums, coriander, siso.
1st step.
Place the rice in a large saucepan. Fill with water and bring to a boil over high heat without closing the lid. Reduce heat and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
2nd step.
Then pour the seasoning over the rice and mix well. Chop the neera herb or some more readily available green, put it in a saucepan, stir and keep on low heat until tender.
3rd step.
Pour in the beaten egg until it covers the entire porridge. Keep the pan on the heat until the egg is cooked. Remove from heat and immediately, without hesitation, serve the dish to the table. Sprinkle spices to taste on plates.

The main food of the Japanese, in addition to rice, includes buckwheat and millet, as well as noodles and vermicelli. In ancient times, when there was a strict division into castes, peasants growing rice were not allowed to consume it, since this product was intended for persons of a higher rank. And the food was fed by peasants and even lower-ranking merchants, boatmen and executioners of the mostly “plebeian” Greeks. And here are a few Japanese dishes from the “common”, but no less healthy rice, buckwheat and millet.

Dishes made from buckwheat and millet
Buckwheat porridge casserole
Place the boiled porridge in a saucepan and place it in the oven. When it becomes a little darker at the bottom, take it out and put it in plates.

Buckwheat flatbreads
Add stewed carrots and onions to the porridge, add a little flour and salt to taste. Mix and roll into flat cakes. Fry in vegetable oil.

Buckwheat "kaki"
Pour two and a half parts of water onto one part of buckwheat. Put it on fire. Stir until cooked. Serve kaki with soy sauce.

Buckwheat cream
Take 2 heaping tablespoons of buckwheat flour. Fry it in one teaspoon of vegetable oil. It should darken somewhat. Pour 1-2 cups of water into the toasted flour and boil until thick. Add salt or soy sauce to taste and eat with croutons.

Baked buckwheat
Fry onions, carrots, cauliflower in vegetable oil. Then boil it with a little water and add a little salt. Then place the vegetables in a flat pan and sprinkle buckwheat on top of the vegetables. This dish must be prepared in the oven.

Millet
Pour 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, a little salt and 4 parts water into one cup of millet. Place on low heat. When boiling, reduce the heat even less. Leave the porridge to simmer for a long time until it becomes tender and fluffy. You can serve millet with miso cream or vegetables. Millet can be used to make flatbreads.

Vegetarian table
Since ancient times, Japan has had traditional vegetarian dishes - shojin ryori. Buddhist monks did not eat meat and therefore mastered the art of preparing vegetarian dishes from vegetables, seaweed, nuts, bean curd and wild plants. In strict vegetarian cuisine, eggs are not even used, and when kneading the dough, sweet potatoes are used instead. There is virtually no waste in this kitchen. Even peeling carrots and radishes are salted, boiled and added to soup. This vegetarian food, prepared strictly according to Buddhist rules, must be eaten during the day, since it contains few seasonings that could become preservatives. A vegetable table can be either part of a regular non-vegetarian meal or a separate lunch. Here's an example of a typical vegetarian lunch.

Salad of zucchini, carrots, mushrooms and eggplants.
Spinach and tofu with seasoning.
A dish of onion with vinegar, cucumber, Japanese ginger and wheat gluten.
Miso soup with eggplant and mushrooms.
Pickles.
Rice with boiled soybeans.

Stewed eggplant (nasu no rikyuni)
300 g eggplant, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1/3 cup dashi base broth, 2.5-3 tablespoons miso (enzymatic bean paste), 2 tablespoons sugar, 1.5 tablespoons vodka, 2 teaspoons light sesame seeds .
Peel the eggplants, cut into cubes and simmer in vegetable oil over high heat, stirring until they become translucent. Pour in the dashi, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring. In a small frying pan, combine miso, sugar and vodka. Place the pan with the mixture on low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Pour the resulting sauce into the pan with the eggplants and cook for another 2 minutes. Toast sesame seeds. Before removing the pan with eggplants from the heat, pour half of the grains into it. Sprinkle the other part of the sesame seeds onto the dish before serving.

Boiled daikon radish (furofuki daikon)
500 g daikon, 3 tablespoons rice, 1 plate of seaweed.
For the sauce:
3-3.5 cups dashi (basic broth), 3 tablespoons light soy sauce, 2 tablespoons dessert wine, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt.
Peel the radish and cut into slices. At the same time, clean the edges so that the pieces do not fall apart during cooking: make a shallow cross-shaped cut on one side of each piece and place it on this side on the bottom of the pan so that the liquid is well absorbed. Pour water into the pan and add rice. Cook until the daikon is soft.
Place a plate of seaweed in a frying pan, place radish and rice on it and pour sauce over it. Cook over low heat until fully cooked, about 20 minutes.

Stewed radish with daikoi - 1 (daikon no itamen)
300 g daikon, 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 3/4 cup dashi base broth, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon vodka, 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce.
Peel the daikon and cut into slices. Place in a single layer in a frying pan and simmer over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Turn over and cook for another 1 minute. Add half a glass of dashi, sugar and vodka. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour in remaining dashi and soy sauce. Turn the radish pieces over and continue to simmer for 5 minutes with the lid closed. Turn over again and simmer for 3-4 minutes until all the liquid has evaporated. Serve hot.

Stewed radish with daikoi - 2 (kiriboshi daikon)
1 cup chopped daikon radish, 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil, 3/4 cup dashi base broth, 1.5 tablespoons sugar, 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons vodka.
Rinse the daikon and squeeze it out. Place in a small saucepan with warm water to cover the radishes. Boil. Remove from heat and leave for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and squeeze out. The radish should already be soft. Then fry the daikon in vegetable oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add dashi and seasonings. Stir thoroughly, reduce heat. Cover tightly with a lid and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about ten minutes, until almost all the liquid has evaporated.

Boiled Japanese pumpkin (kabotya no fukumeni)
600 g pumpkin.
For the sauce:
2/3 cup basic dashi broth, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons dessert wine, 1.5 tablespoons sugar, toasted sesame seeds.
Cut the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds. Cut into slices. Place in a large saucepan, add water and cook over medium heat for 25-30 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.
Mix everything for the sauce and put on fire. Let the sauce boil and add pumpkin to it. Reduce heat and simmer until the sauce has soaked the pumpkin pieces. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Soybean dishes

Soybeans with vegetables (gomoki mame ni)
3 cups cold water and 1/4 teaspoon salt for soaking mushrooms, 1/3 cup dried soybeans, 5-6 cups cold water, 2 large dried mushrooms, half a cup warm water with a pinch of sugar, 1/4 cup chopped carrots, plate seaweed, 1/4 cup mushroom soaking liquid, 1.5 cups dashi base broth, 2 tablespoons shoyu soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon dessert wine.
Mix 3 cups cold water with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a frying pan and heat until
so that the salt dissolves. Cool the water to room temperature and soak the soybeans in it for 8 hours. Next, remove the soybeans from the water and dry. Place soybeans in a frying pan and add several glasses of cold water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, skim off the foam, reduce heat and simmer for 1.5-2 hours until the beans are soft. Add water as needed. When the beans are ready, they must be thoroughly dried.
Soak the mushrooms in warm water with a pinch of sugar for 20 minutes. Then rinse, peel and cut. Peel and chop the carrots. Soak the seaweed, cut it into strips and then into small squares.
Pour mushroom water, dashi, soy sauce, and wine into a small frying pan. Put sugar there and put on fire. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add beans and vegetables. Cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes until almost all the liquid has evaporated. While cooking, constantly baste the beans and vegetables with the cooking liquid. (This dish can serve as a side dish for meat and fish dishes.)

Beans in syrup (mame to sato)
250 g peeled beans, 1 tablespoon salt.
For the syrup: 4 tablespoons of water, 45 g of sugar, a pinch of salt.
Make slits in the beans. Pour water into a saucepan, add salt, and soak the beans in this liquid for 30 minutes. Remove and remove the peel. Place salted water on the fire and bring to a boil. In a small frying pan, combine everything needed for the syrup and bring to a boil. When the sugar dissolves, remove from heat and cool. Place beans in a saucepan of boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Drain in a colander, rinse and place in syrup overnight.

Stewed okara (okara no irini)
450 g okara (soybean pulp), 2 eggs, 2/3 cup dashi base broth, 1/4 cup light soy sauce, 4 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon dessert wine, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 200 g cooked vegetables .
Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into a large, thick-bottomed saucepan and heat. Add okara and cook, stirring constantly. Place everything except the vegetables into the pan and mix well. Then add the vegetables and mix thoroughly again.

Vegetable dishes

Turnip clouds (kabura mushi)
3-4 white turnips, 4 shrimp, 1 egg white, a pinch of salt.
For the sauce:
1/2 cup dashi base broth, 1/4 teaspoon light soy sauce, pinch salt, 1/4 teaspoon vodka, 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch.
For decoration:
or 1 teaspoon of Japanese wasabi horseradish;
or 2-3 sprigs of mitsuba or coriander.
Clean and cut up the shrimp. Cut each into several pieces and place on plates. Peel and grate the turnips. Place the grated turnip mixture in a small linen bag and squeeze out half the liquid. You will get about a quarter cup of grated turnips. Beat the whites in a bowl with a pinch of salt and add the grated turnips. Mix well. Place this mixture into the shrimp in a heap. Then keep the plates in a steam bath for 10-15 minutes.
Sauce.
Pour soy sauce, vodka into the base broth, add salt.
Place on the fire for a few minutes. In a separate bowl, stir the cornstarch in cold water and add it to the broth. Cook the sauce over medium heat, stirring until it thickens. Pour it over the shrimp.
Garnish with wasabi horseradish or chopped herb sprigs.

Gobo burdock root stewed with carrots (kimpiri)
30-40 cm gobo burdock root, 1-2 small carrots, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon vodka, 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1-2 tablespoons light sesame seeds.
Peel the gobo, cut into pieces and soak for 5-10 minutes in cold water. Dry, peel and chop the carrots. Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the vegetables over high heat for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add vodka. Reduce heat, add sugar and cook for another minute. Add soy sauce and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes until all the liquid has evaporated and the vegetables have a golden hue. Place on a plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Soft boiled potatoes (jiagaimo no tosa fumi)
4 large potatoes.
For seasoning:
3 tablespoons light soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon vodka, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup katsuobushi (fish flakes).
Peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces. Place potatoes in boiling water and cook until tender. Drain the water and dry the potatoes over low heat. Mix everything for seasoning. Pour over the sauce.

Stewed vegetables (shojin age)
2 carrots, 12 small onions, 80 g green beans, 100 g green peas, 4 turnips, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon oil, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, pepper.
Peel and finely chop the carrots and onions. Cut the bean pods into pieces of approximately 3 cm. Peel the turnips and cut each into 4 or 6 pieces. Boil water in a large saucepan, add salt and carrots. Cook for a few minutes. Then add onions, beans, peas and cook some more. When the vegetables are almost ready, add the turnips and cook until tender. Drain the vegetables in a colander and dry. Drain the water from the pan, pour in the oil and put all the vegetables back in. Add parsley and simmer some more. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with finely chopped parsley.

Vegetables stewed in sweet broth (imani)
5 large dried mushrooms, 1 carrot, 2 small boiled bamboo shoots, 2/3 cup liquid in which the mushrooms were soaked, 1 teaspoon vodka, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon dessert wine, basic dashi broth. To the listed vegetables, if desired, you can also add gobo burdock root, chestnut and konjac.
Soak the mushrooms for 20 minutes in one glass of water with added sugar. Strain and reserve 2/3 cup
cana liquid. Wash the mushrooms and dry. Next, squeeze them out, peel and cut. Peel the carrots and cut into 8-9 pieces. Dry the bamboo shoots and cut into scallops. In a small skillet, combine dashi base stock, mushroom soaking liquid, and vodka. Boil. Add mushrooms, carrots, bamboo shoots to this mixture and reduce heat. Close the lid tightly. If this cannot be done, then the contents of the frying pan must be frequently watered with liquid. Boil for 3 minutes. Then add sugar and cook for another 7-8 minutes until more than half of the liquid remains. Add shoyu soy sauce. After 3-4 minutes, add dessert wine to the vegetables. Cook over high heat for 30-40 seconds, shaking the pan. Leave the vegetables in the pan to cool to room temperature.

Vegetable tempura (shojin age)
200 g lotus root, 4 dried mushrooms, 1 sweet potato, 1 potato, a quarter of Japanese pumpkin, 8 bean pods, 8 small or 2 large green peppers.
For the test:
1 egg, 1-1.25 cups cold water, 1.75 cups plain or tempura flour, vegetable oil.
For decoration: thinly sliced ​​onion, grated radish, aromatic sansho pepper, salt, sesame seeds.
Peel the lotus root, cut into slices, soak in a mixture of water and vinegar (1 tablespoon of vinegar and 2 cups of water) to prevent discoloration. Soak and chop the mushrooms. Cut sweet potatoes and potatoes into thin slices, pumpkin into half circles, green beans into halves. Mix the egg with water in a separate bowl and add flour there, after sifting it. Prepare the dough. Heat the oil. Dry all vegetables with a napkin. Dip
dry vegetables into the dough and fry in oil until they turn golden.

Vegetables in dough (okonomyaki)
1 cup chopped cabbage, 1 cup shredded carrots, 1 cup canned corn, 2 dried mushrooms, softened, steamed and sliced, 1 cup shrimp, 1/2 cup chopped pickled ginger, vegetable oil.
For the test:
3/4 cup wheat flour, 1/2 cup water, 1 egg.
For the sauce:
3 tablespoons basic dashi broth, 3 tablespoons dessert wine, 3 tablespoons shoyu soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, plate of seaweed.
Place everything prepared for frying into separate bowls. Prepare the dough. Take a pinch from each bowl, wrap in dough, shape into patties, and fry in vegetable oil until tender. Mix everything you need for the sauce and dip the pies in it while eating. They can also be eaten with grated daikon radish or dipped in a seasoning made from one teaspoon of shoyu soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Sprinkle the pies with grated seaweed.

Tofu with vegetables (ofu no shiraae)
400-450 g tofu (bean curd).
For the sauce:
1.5 tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of salt, half a tablespoon of vodka, 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce, 1 cucumber, 1 medium-sized carrot, optionally a piece of konnyaku.
Boil the tofu in plenty of water for 2-3 minutes. Squeeze well. Mix everything to combine
mustache Pour the resulting sauce over the tofu and mix everything thoroughly to obtain a homogeneous mass. Wash and cut the konnyaku into strips. Fry it for 2-3 minutes in a frying pan without oil. Let cool. Thinly slice the cucumber and carrots. Mix vegetables with tofu. Place konjac on top.

Tofu with kaziobushi (tosa tofu)
400-500 g well-pressed regular tofu (bean curd), 1 egg, flour.
For seasoning:
1.75 cups katsiobushi (fish flakes), 1/3 cup dark sesame seeds, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, soy sauce.
For decoration:
Chopped green onions, grated fresh ginger root.
Cut the tofu into cubes, sprinkle seasoning on both sides, roll in flour, dip in beaten egg and sprinkle more seasoning. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a frying pan and heat over medium heat. Add tofu and fry until golden brown on both sides. Place on a plate and garnish with green onions and grated ginger. Add shoyu soy sauce.

Chilled tofu (hiya-yakko)
170 g well-chilled tofu, horseradish shoots, tomato.
For seasoning:
chopped green onions, katsuobushi (fish flakes), sesame seeds, grated daikon radish, shoyu soy sauce.
Place the well-pressed tofu on a plate and sprinkle with seasoning. Garnish with tomato slices and horseradish shoots.

Vegetarian pies (gammodoki - 1)
300 g tofu, 1/4-1/3 cup chopped vegetables, 2-3 dried mushrooms, 1/4-1/2 teaspoon toasted black sesame seeds, a pinch of salt, 2-3 teaspoons grated yam or 2 teaspoons egg protein, vegetable oil.
Stewing sauce:
2 cups basic dashi broth or 2 cups mushrooms soaking liquid. You can use one glass of both. 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon vodka.
Squeeze the tofu well under heavy pressure (3-4 hours). Transfer to a linen bag and squeeze out lightly. Place in a bowl, add finely chopped vegetables and toasted sesame seeds. Mix. Add salt and mix again. Add yam or egg white and stir for 1-2 minutes. Lubricate your hands with vegetable oil. Make 12 pies from the resulting mass. Fry the pies over medium heat until they are golden brown.
Place the pies on a paper towel to remove excess fat. Mix everything for the sauce in a frying pan and bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves. Place the fried pies in the pan and reduce the heat until the sauce simmers slightly. Cook for 5-6 minutes until the sauce has reduced by half. The pies must be well soaked with it.

Vegetarian koloboki (gammodoki - 2)
1 kg well-pressed tofu, 100 g carrots, 2 dried mushrooms, 1 egg, 3 tablespoons toasted black sesame seeds, vegetable oil, corn starch.
For seasoning:
1 teaspoon vodka, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Place the drained tofu in a mixer and blend until smooth. Add seasoning ingredients and egg. Beat again. Peel and thinly slice the mushrooms and carrots. (Mushrooms must be soaked first.) Combine tofu with mushrooms and carrots. Sprinkle this mixture with sesame seeds and cornstarch. Beat again for 1 minute. Make koloboks from the resulting mass. Fry over high heat until golden brown.

Stewed bamboo shoots (takenoko no tosani)
400g ready-to-eat bamboo shoots, 1.5 cups dashi base broth, 2 tablespoons shoyu soy sauce, 1 tablespoon dessert wine, 1/2 cup katsuobushi.
Dry the bamboo shoots. Cut them into scallop-shaped pieces. In a frying pan, combine dashi, soy sauce and wine. Place the sprouts there and simmer over medium heat for 10-15 minutes until they become soft. The broth should almost completely evaporate during simmering. Sprinkle some of the katsuobushi over the sprouts. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool without removing the lid. Place on a dish and pour in the strained broth. Sprinkle remaining katsuobushi on top.

Boiled bamboo shoots (takenoko)
800 g bamboo shoots, 4-6 cups cold water, 1/3 cup rice bran, 1-2 pieces togarashi (hot red pepper).
Peel and rinse the sprouts. Cut the tops diagonally. Cut off the base and make a shallow cut. Place the sprouts in a frying pan and add water. Add rice bran and hot pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 45-50 minutes. Cool.

Green beans with sesame (saya ingen no goma ae)
250 g bean pods, 4 cups boiling water, 2 teaspoons salt.
For seasoning:
4 tablespoons dark sesame seeds, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce.
Pour 4 cups of water into a deep frying pan. Add 2 teaspoons of salt there. Add the pods and cook over high heat until tender. Rinse the beans under cold running water to restore color. Dry and chop the pods. Fry sesame seeds over medium heat. Grind in a mortar or coffee grinder. Mix with sugar and soy sauce. Place the prepared beans on a plate and pour in the seasoning.
Sweet and sour lotus root (subasu) 200 g fresh lotus root, 1.5 cups cold water, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1/2-3/4 cup amazu (sweet sauce).
Peel the lotus root, cut it into thin round slices, place immediately in acidified water (1.5-2 cups of cold water and 2-3 tablespoons of rice vinegar) for 5 minutes. Afterwards rinse with cold water.
Pour water into a ceramic bowl, add rice vinegar, bring to a boil. Place pieces of lotus root there and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then dry well and add at least
than 2 hours. Before serving, drain in a colander.

Mushrooms in “snow” sauce (nameko no mizoreae)
3/4 cup canned mushrooms, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1/4 cup peeled and grated daikon radish, 1/4-1/3 cup amazu (sweet sauce).
Boil the mushrooms in boiling water for one minute and drain in a colander. Pour soy sauce over the mushrooms and leave for 10 minutes. Place the grated radish in a small linen bag and squeeze lightly. Hold the daikon under running cold water for a few seconds and then squeeze again. Place the contents of the bag into a small bowl. Gradually add sweet Amazu sauce until the grated daikon takes on the appearance of half-melted snow. Remove the mushrooms from the soy sauce and pat dry.
When serving, place a mound of daikon on top of each plate with mushrooms. Serve chilled.

Mushrooms with boiled cabbage (yasai no fukumeni)
8 dried mushrooms, 1/2 head of cabbage.
Decoction liquid:
1/4 cup of water in which the mushrooms were soaked, 2/3 cup of dessert wine, 3.5 tablespoons of soy sauce.
Soak the mushrooms in warm water, cut into slices. Cut the cabbage into pieces. Pour the prepared broth into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook for 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Add cabbage and cook until soft.

Special dishes
Specialty foods in Japan include food of animal origin or dishes containing fish, seafood or meat. Of course, fish dishes have a greater national flavor. After all, the times are not so distant when the Japanese ate only animal food that they caught in the sea. And the islanders suffered from fainting and poisoning from meat brought from overseas. Zen Buddhism, widespread in Japan, forbade people to eat animal food, but above all this concerned meat. And, in the end, it turned out that a predominantly fish table is very good for health, since fish and seafood are much more beneficial for the body when compared with meat.

Sushi as a calling card of Japanese cuisine
But still, the hallmark of not only fish dishes, but all Japanese cuisine is nothing more than sushi (or sushi). These are rice balls prepared in a special way, and on top are all the variety of seafood, fish and vegetables. Previously, the name sushi-sushi was written with the hieroglyph for fish. And now the name of this dish is written in two Japanese characters. The first means “longevity” and “good wishes”, the second means “behavior style”. Sushi is usually served on special occasions - holidays, anniversaries and birthdays. The history of its preparation goes back 1300 years. Perhaps, as experts say, this dish appeared in connection with the way fish was stored in the old days. The caught sea life was placed in rows in barrels and filled with salted water. Fermentation continued for several weeks. And the fish was almost ready to eat. After some time they began to eat fish with rice. Time passed. Several centuries after someone suggested combining fermented fish with boiled rice, another step forward was taken. Soon, vinegar and sugar were added to the rice, and this gave the dish a piquant, sour taste. They decided to serve fish and seafood with this rice simply raw. That is, Japanese chefs excluded fermentation from the cooking process. After some time, the Japanese began to serve sushi in the form that is now considered traditional. The innovation spread with lightning speed. And then two styles of preparing new sushi appeared: the Kansai style and the Edo style. Today, the whole world knows sushi as a piece of fish fillet lying on a ball of rice.
Sushi can be prepared in 36 ways. These can be rice balls with tuna, shrimp, crucian carp, mackerel and crabs. And there can be koloboks with red caviar, scallop, octopus and cuttlefish.
In good establishments in Japan, sushi is served with fish that was caught on the same day, and not stored in the refrigerator. The Japanese attach great importance to the freshness of goods, quite rightly believing that such a product is not only tastier, but many times healthier. The dish may be served on bamboo leaves, and sometimes real leaves are replaced with plastic ones.
The entire variety of sushi can be divided into four types.
The first is nigirizushi - small rice balls, smeared with spicy wasabi horseradish, with slices of raw fish or any other seafood. For each nigirizushi, only as much rice is taken as can be eaten at one time, hence the name nigiri, which means “handful”. As a special delicacy, the Japanese love to eat it with their hands. Therefore, the rice ball is made elastic enough so that it does not accidentally crumble. Nigirizushi is served with soy sauce, pickled ginger and hot green tea.
The second type of sushi is makizushi, or norimaki sushi, a rice ball with filling, wrapped in dried nori seaweed leaves. At the same time, the rice ball is not at all simple. It has a pleasant surprise - a filling of fresh cucumber or a piece of tuna.
The third type of sushi is oshizushi, or hakozushi, - rice placed in a small wooden box, decorated with fish on top.
The fourth type of sushi is chirashizushi - rice placed on a dish and decorated with pieces of seafood, omelette and vegetables.
Each area of ​​Japan has its own rules and secrets of making sushi, and it takes a month or two to learn this art. And only real masters of their craft can work in Japanese “sucker shops”.

Healthy seafood
The Japanese really have a lot of fish. But there is also seafood. How do mollusks and shells coexist in the Japanese diet along with sacred rice? Seafood is held in high esteem here, especially since shell shells have long been perceived by the Japanese as a symbol of harmony and fidelity of loving spouses. And shell soup is still served here at wedding celebrations, as well as at girls' parties. This seems to emphasize loyalty to family values.
news In Japan, they love to make tempura from seafood - products fried in dough. It should be noted that tempura is not a Japanese invention, but an imported dish from Portugal and modified in its own way. The name of this dish comes from the Portuguese tempera, meaning "seasons". And the origin of this name is this: Portuguese missionaries were allowed to eat fish only on Fridays and well-fried ones. Now tempura is one of the most beloved dishes of the Japanese, many of whom do not even suspect that the dish has foreign roots. But it should be noted that the inhabitants of the archipelago, with their characteristic creative approach, complicated and decorated the dish with their culinary and artistic inventions. They fry not only fish in the dough, but also onions, eggplants, Japanese pumpkin, shrimp, mushrooms, green peppers and even ice cream. Tempura is eaten hot, dipped in a special sauce with finely grated radish.
So, the main Japanese fish dishes - sushi, tempura and sashimi - are very nutritious and healthy, light and do not contribute to the accumulation of harmful substances in the body. With this approach to protein nutrition, when there is a clear predominance of fish in the diet, the body can work much more smoothly without being loaded with unnecessary substances, which naturally affects both appearance and health.

How to cook sushi?
First of all, it must be said that rice for sushi (rice balls with something on top) is prepared in a strictly defined way.
Ingredients for sushi.
2.5 cups of boiled rice, 0.5 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar (for us it can be apple cider vinegar, but only natural). It must be made without chemical vinegar essence. It is natural apple cider vinegar that is very close in its beneficial properties to Japanese rice cider vinegar.
For 5 cups of rice, take 3.5 tablespoons of rice or apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1.5 teaspoons of salt.
For 10 cups of rice: 7 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon salt.
The rice is first cooked in the usual way. That is, it is first soaked, then filled with water so that for 1 glass of rice there are 1.25 glasses of water, and put on fire. After boiling, increase the heat and then reduce it and cook for 5 minutes on low heat and 10 minutes on lower heat. The lid never opens during cooking and for 10 minutes after it. The rice is cooked. Next, you need to transfer it to a wooden tub while it is still warm. This is done so that the wood of the tub absorbs excess moisture. Then add a little rice (apple) vinegar and sugar. All this is mixed with a wooden spatula using wave-like movements. At the same time, the rice is also fanned to cool it to room temperature. Next, the cooked rice is kept in a closed container.

Sushi with salmon
Components:
1.5 cups cooked sushi rice, 200-300 g thinly sliced ​​smoked salmon, 1/4 teaspoon wasabi horseradish, soy sauce.
1st step.
Make 15 rice balls. Wring each one out in a linen napkin and shape it into an oval shape.
form. Place each one on a large platter or tray, always covering it with a damp cloth so that the surface does not dry out while the others are being prepared.
2nd step.
Cut the salmon to the size of these balls, spread a small amount of horseradish on each piece. Then place pieces of salmon coated with horseradish on the rice balls. If you wish, you can add salt to the finished dish or sprinkle it with soy sauce.

Sushi with pickled herring
3 cups of rice specially prepared for sushi, fillets of three herrings, marinated in vinegar sauce and dried, half a medium-sized cucumber, 1 tablespoon of dark sesame seeds, a little freshly cut ginger.
Preparation.
Take a wooden rectangular box and fill it with half of the cooked rice. Level the surface. Place slices of thinly sliced ​​cucumber on top and sprinkle the whole thing with sesame seeds. Sprinkle with remaining rice and smooth again. Sprinkle with ginger and top with pickled herring, skin side up. Then cover it all with a wooden lid and press well. Then cut into equal pieces with a damp knife. Sushi is ready.

Shrimp sushi
2 cups sushi rice, 8 peeled and cooked shrimp, half a cucumber, 1 piece of seaweed, a pinch of wasabi horseradish and 1 tablespoon dark sesame seeds.
Preparation.
Line the bottom of the pan with foil. Place the shrimp, cut in half lengthwise, on it, skin side down. Place 1 cup rice on top. Then add the cucumber cut into lengthwise strips and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cover the seaweed with a plate. Place the remaining rice on top. Cover with foil and place under pressure. Leave for 1 hour. After the time has passed, place the sushi on a plate so that the shrimp are on top.

Sushi with crabs
2.5 cups cooked rice, 3 tablespoons chopped pickled pink ginger, 300 g crab meat, 3-4 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons light sesame seeds, 1 plate of seaweed, thin sweet omelette of 3-4 eggs, 20 slices sweet and sour lotus root "subasu", 7-8 stewed mushrooms, 1/4 cup chopped red ginger, 8-10 pea pods.
1st step.
Start by adding pink pickled ginger to the rice.
2nd step.
Sprinkle lemon juice over the crab meat and let sit for 5 minutes. Then squeeze and set aside a large piece. Put the rest into the rice.
3rd step.
Roast sesame seeds and add to rice. Fry and crumble the seaweed and also add to the rice. Mix everything.
4th step.
Place rice on a large plate. Cut the omelette into long strips and place on top. Place dried lotus root pieces on the omelette as well. Scatter the mushrooms cut into ribbons over the rice and place the remaining piece of crab meat on top. Sprinkle the resulting dish with ginger.
5th step.
Boil the pea pods for 1 minute in salted water. Cool, dry and cut diagonally. Place them on top of the resulting sushi before serving.

Edomaya sushi
2/3 cup sushi-cooked rice, 2 large shrimp, 20 g edible shellfish, 2 pieces of tuna, 40 g thin sweet omelette.
Preparation.
Peel and quickly scald the shrimp with salt water. First boil the clams for 1 minute in boiling water, then quickly peel, that is, remove the black skin and transparent membrane. Cut into lengthwise pieces. Cut the tuna diagonally. Next, dip your hands in water and vinegar (ratio 3:1). Take about 20 g of rice with your right hand and a piece of shellfish or tuna with your left. Lubricate a piece of sea life with Japanese horseradish “wasa-bi” with the finger of your right hand and cover it with a rice ball on top. Then turn the ball over with the fish facing up and press it well with the finger of your right hand, trying to give it an oval shape.

Sushi wrapped in seaweed
2 cups cooked rice, 4 plates of seaweed. For the filling: 8 thin ribbons of dried kampyo pumpkin, 1/2 cup dashi base stock, 2 tablespoons shoyu soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1.5 teaspoons dessert wine. For garnish: 1/4 cup red or pink ginger.
1st step.
Prepare a solution of water and vinegar in the following ratio: 1-1.5 glasses of cold water and 1-2 tablespoons of vinegar. Wet your hands in this solution and, having made 8 small balls of rice, cover them with a damp cloth.
2nd step.
Soak dried kampyo pumpkin in warm water for 10 minutes. Then place the pumpkin pieces into boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes. Rinse in cold water and dry.
3rd step.
In a small frying pan, add dashi base stock, soy sauce, wine and sugar. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add pumpkin slices. Then simmer for 15-20 minutes until all the liquid has almost evaporated. Remove from heat and cool.
4th step.
Roast the sesame seeds and place them in a separate bowl. Slice the cucumber diagonally and then lengthwise. Mix 1/4 teaspoon of Japanese wa-sabi mustard thoroughly with a few drops of cold water, cover and let stand for 5-6 minutes.
5th step.
Before making sushi, fry the seaweed. Cut each into 8 strips. The strip should be approximately 10-18 cm long. Place one strip of seaweed on the bamboo mat and one ball of rice on top so that it fills about 2/3 of its surface. Place 2 strips of stewed pumpkin in the middle and roll the mat tightly. Sushi is ready. Perform the same operation with all other koloboks.
The 2nd version of the same dish is prepared as follows.
Place the uncut seaweed slab, shiny side down. Place rice on top
and smooth it so that it does not reach 1 cm from the edge of the seaweed from which they begin to wrap the sushi, and 2 cm from the edge where they wrap it. Place all ingredients in the middle and roll tightly. Then cut the resulting roll into pieces, each time wetting the knife with water.

Seaweed funnels
2/3 cup sushi-grade rice, 2 plates of seaweed, 100 g of boiled, fermented natto soybeans, 4 leaves of shiso, a plant similar to our begonia, 2 tablespoons of finely chopped green onions, mustard, soy sauce. For the filling: 1st option - tuna and Japanese horseradish "wasabi", 2nd option - squid, light sesame seeds and horseradish, 3rd option - pickled Japanese daikon radish and light sesame grains, 4th option - cucumber, sesame seeds and Japanese horseradish.
Preparation.
Mix boiled, fermented soybeans with soy sauce and mustard. Cut the nori seaweed sheets in half. Place each one in the palm of your left hand. Place a little rice, a little shiso leaves, a little boiled fermented natto beans, and finely chopped onion on the seaweed. Place the filling on top and roll it up into a pound.

Features of food preparation
Food preparation is an important component of Japanese culinary tradition. After all, only if you properly clean and cut the fish and properly cut the vegetables can you prepare a truly Japanese dish.

Correct and quick cutting of fish
It is known that the Japanese commitment to fish has given rise to a huge variety of ways to cut it. And since the islanders eat fish only in its freshest form, and sometimes even alive, it is extremely important to be able to quickly cut and cook it. Before gutting, the Japanese washes the fish, removes the scales, and then rinses it well with cold water. If it is necessary to remove the head, place it with its belly towards itself, tail to the right. The knife is inserted under the pectoral fins and accurately makes an oblique cut. Then he quickly turns the fish over with its back to itself and removes the head completely, cuts the belly at the main fin and takes out the entrails. Then the fish is washed and thoroughly dried. The Japanese choose one or another method of cutting fish depending on the size and shape of the fish. In most cases, two fillet pieces are made. Of the large and flat fish - four. To cut into two pieces, the cook places the fish with its back to itself, tail to the left and runs the knife several times over the ridge, plunging it deeper into the meat until it is separated from the ridge. Turning the fish over also separates the second piece. The knife should not saw, but rather cut.
When cutting flat fish, such as flounder, into four pieces, do the following. Flounder or other flat fish is placed with the dark side up, carried with the tip of a knife to the middle and cut to the ridge. Having made a cut at the base of the tail, turn it over and easily separate two fillet pieces.
The Japanese love to roast whole fish on a spit. When roasting whole fish on a spit, it is extremely important to maintain its shape. The Japanese distinguish two sides of such fish: 1 - the correct, beautiful side, that is, the front side part, and 2 - the irregular side, on which cuts are made for gutting. To skewer the fish, place it on a cutting board with the “wrong” side facing up. The skewer is inserted carefully so as not to damage the beautiful side. The beautiful side of the fish is decorated with decorative cuts.

Roasted on fire
All foods that are cooked on a griddle, grilled or deep-fried are called "fire-fried" in Japanese. It is not surprising that the Japanese love to cook on the grill, because the dishes prepared in it are incredibly appetizing, have a seductive appearance, and what is also important is that the products for it do not require special preparation, and sauces and seasonings are served directly on the table. In the grill, everything is cooked quickly over high heat, and as a result, the beautiful side of the fish, if it is a fish dish, turns out crispy, while the inside remains soft and juicy, preserving the natural aroma of the product. The Japanese achieve even greater naturalism later, when decorating the fish on the table. Grilled and plated with vegetables in matching colors, it looks like it's in its element.

How to choose the right temperature
The taste and nutritional value of a dish largely depend on precisely selected temperature conditions. The Japanese are very careful about how hot the oil is and whether it is ready to start frying. What does a Japanese do when he pours vegetable oil into a frying pan? He is waiting for the moment when white stripes appear there. After a minute or two, he dips a wooden spoon into it and checks to see if it bubbles. If you fry something rolled in breadcrumbs, then do the following experiment. First, throw crumbs of crackers, soaked in a mixture of eggs and flour, into heated oil and carefully observe what happens next. If the crumbs become saturated with oil and sink to the bottom, then the heating temperature is insufficient. And if suddenly, when a drop hits, the oil hisses indignantly, and the crumbs instantly burn, then the temperature is too high. Ideally it should be the following. The butter should sizzle and the crumbs should remain on the surface in a light foam. But if something rolled in flour or starch is fried, the process of checking the temperature follows a completely different path. Throw a pinch of flour or starch into the oil. If the temperature is low, the flour will begin to move lazily across the surface of the oil. And if the temperature is too high, the oil will smoke, the flour will begin to foam and sizzle, burning along the edges of the pan. At the right temperature, the flour sizzles in the same place where it was thrown and does not burn. If you follow all the rules associated with choosing the right temperature regime, then it is more likely to prepare a healthy dish that is not burnt and retains its original, natural properties.
If something takes longer to cook, reduce the heat and add sauce. Cover the dish with a lid for a few minutes. Then open the dish and continue to fry until the liquid has evaporated. To preserve the aroma and taste, the prepared dish is constantly stirred during frying. In this case, the products are cut into equal pieces so that they are ready at the same time.
Sometimes a piece of dough is thrown in to determine the readiness of the oil and its temperature. At low temperatures it will sink to the bottom and stay there. And at high temperatures, it will hiss and darken, but it will be raw inside. At the right temperature, the batter will sink to the bottom, then rise to the surface and swell.

What is better to cook in: breadcrumbs, flour or dough?
How much oil should I use?
The taste of fried foods largely depends on how they are prepared: in breadcrumbs, in flour or in dough. It is also important what quantity and quality of oil is taken. For frying in a frying pan, they usually use vegetable oil, but in no case olive oil, since the Japanese consider it too European in taste. And to prepare dishes such as tempura, special mixtures of vegetable oils are used that do not become cloudy at high temperatures. To remove the smell from already used oil, several potato slices are fried in it, which at the same time absorbs a not very pleasant aroma and taste.

Dry frying
Frying without oil, or in other words, dry frying, is used mostly for frying seaweed and sesame seeds. Fry such products in a heavy frying pan for no more than one minute, shaking constantly.

Stewing and steaming. Preliminary preparation of products
After fried foods and raw fish, boiled and stewed dishes occupy a fairly large place in Japanese cuisine. Products intended for boiling or stewing require careful preliminary preparation. For example, the so-called base broth is prepared in advance, to which salt, sugar, sake, wine, and shoyu can be added.

All this gives Japanese stewed and boiled dishes such a unique soft taste. Each dish has its own special base broth. The Japanese pre-boil some of their vegetables to remove any bitter or pungent aftertaste. Others, which take a long time to prepare, are boiled in advance in a separate bowl and only then put into a pan with the main dish and continue to simmer or cook.

Basic ingredients: broths, sauces and rice vinegar
The Japanese are known for their ability to prepare basic broth for stews. This makes all of their stews and soups especially tasty and healthy.
A very striking and original feature of Japanese cooking is dashi broth, which serves as the basis for many dishes and soups. There are three main types of dashis. And they are all prepared on the basis of seaweed called “kombu”. The first option is the simplest - water and kombu. This primitive broth, containing no signs of fat, tastes like sea water. The second option is dashi broth with dried fish flakes - katsuobushi. Add fish flakes to the broth and leave for about ten minutes. In the third option, fish flakes are replaced with dried sardines. It turns out to be a whole symphony of smells and tastes. The seaweed gives the broth a sweet taste, and the flakes of katsuo-bushi or sardines add the smell of the sea. Before use, all types of broths must be filtered.
Various sauces and seasonings are used to prepare fish and poultry dishes. Teriyaki sauce is the most popular. Its purpose is to give dishes a golden brown color.
crust when fried. Rice vinegar is also used for many dishes. It is much softer than those used in European cuisine, lighter and sweeter. The closest thing to it among our products is apple cider vinegar. Rice vinegar is used to prepare two types of sweet amazu sauce and two types of ponzu sauce, egg sauce and others. A special delicacy in Japan is considered to be the favorite Japanese sauce made from sesame grains, which is also prepared with rice vinegar.

Vegetable cutting technique
Japanese chefs are famous for their ability to cut vegetables in such a way that they cook much faster (for example, cutting diagonally) and look much more beautiful than if they were chopped as needed. In Japan, there are more than ten basic cutting methods alone. In circles, diagonally, obliquely - this is how carrots are cut. Radish for stewing - in semicircles, halved lengthwise, and then into relatively thick pieces. Vegetables are used to make straws, wedges, rectangles and cubes. Cucumbers, carrots and radishes are sometimes cut into wide, long ribbons that are twisted like metal shavings. Then the resulting cucumber or carrot ribbon needs to be twisted tightly and thinly cut across so that small curls are obtained. And carrots are sometimes trimmed like a pencil, or finely chopped, like minced meat.

Amazing wooden lid
Do you know why the Japanese prefer to use pans with straight sides? The thing is that they like to cover them with flat round wooden lids. The lid should be 1.5-2 cm smaller than the diameter of the pan so that it can fit inside. Why do you need to put the lid in the pan? The fact is that when the lid is recessed, the food is tightly covered. And excess moisture evaporates, as is the case with a regular lid. When moisture settles on the lid of an ordinary saucepan, it turns out that it noticeably reduces the taste. In addition, use

Chimpeni or 술떡- sultok

Cooking recipe taken from Korean sources:

Rice flour (regular, NOT CHAPSALE!) - 3 cups (two hundred grams)
makgeolli - 70 ml
salt 1 - spoon (dessert)
sugar - 1 glass
water - 280 ml (plus, minus so that the dough is liquid)

Sift the flour twice, add salt, sugar, makgeolli, add water little by little, stirring the dough. Pour the finished dough into a deep bowl (preferably into a transparent container). Mark the level of the dough with a sticker on the outside to make it easier to track the rise of the dough. The dough should then double in size. Cover with a lid and place in a warm place. After about 4 hours, gently stir the dough and close again. After an hour, stir again and close again. After another hour, stir and leave open. Prepare dishes for steaming (you can use cake trays). Grease the trays with oil. Pour one third of the dough into each; on top you can put pine nuts, date pieces, black sesame seeds (as your imagination takes flight).

Important: pour cold water into the steamer (!), place the trays on the steamer sheets, close and put on low heat, after 15 minutes turn up the heat and steam for another 15 minutes. Then turn it off and do not open the lid for two minutes. Be sure to wrap the lid with a kitchen towel so that water from the lid does not get into the current.

2 recipe.
Compound:

400 gr. white rice
3 table. tablespoons white sugar (or to taste)
1 or 2 tsp. salt, or to taste
1 tsp. spoon of yeast (dissolve in advance in 25 ml of warm water)
Water to add to dough

How to cook:

1. Soak rice in a bowl for 4 hours (in cold weather up to 8 hours). Drain off all the water.

2. Using a high-powered grinder, grind all the rice along with the sugar and salt, using enough water to achieve the consistency of very thick cream. The trick is to start with less water and increase it gradually, step by step. If the mixture is too thick, you can add a little more water later if necessary. If, on the contrary, the mixture is too liquid, you need to thicken it by adding rice flour.

4. When the rice is ready for further manipulation, you need to prepare the molds by generously greasing them with vegetable oil.

5. Pour a little dough into the molds (you need to fill about a third of the dishes) and leave to rise a little.

6. Rice cakes are prepared directly in the molds, in a double boiler, for about 8-10 minutes. You can check readiness with a toothpick: pierce the flatbread with it; the dough should not stick to it.

7. Once the rice cakes are ready, carefully remove the pans and let them cool completely in the ice water bath. When the mold has cooled, simply turn it upside down and your culinary miracle will easily slide out.

First we need to steam the rice to make sticky rice as it is called in Thailand. Any short-grain rice is best suited for this, for example, I usually use Krasnodar rice. Long-grain and steamed rice are not suitable - in this case, the rice will not stick together and will be crumbly! There is no need to rinse the rice, otherwise it will lose the starch that we need to give the rice sticky properties.

Mix rice with water in a ratio of 1 to 2. (I took 300 ml rice for 600 ml water)
Wait until it boils, cover the lid, and boil the rice for exactly 5 minutes from the moment it starts boiling, stirring occasionally. Our goal is for the rice to absorb some moisture and soften. (in Thailand, for this purpose, rice is soaked in water for 12 hours, but it’s easier to boil it for 5 minutes and it will already be in the right condition for subsequent steaming)

Drain the water after 5 minutes of boiling. At this point, the rice should already look like porridge and not be crumbly.

Now we prepare a container for steaming rice in a multicooker. Since there are round holes in it that the rice will fall through, I cut a circle from a sieve and placed it in this container. (can be used multiple times)

Place rice in this container.
Set the program “Steam”, “Vegetables” for 40 minutes. In different multicookers, the name of the program and cooking time may be different. The longer the rice cooks, the stickier it will be, so see for yourself. 30 minutes is possible, but 40 is better.
Add a couple of pinches of salt, close the lid and turn on steaming. Below, under the rice, we have, of course, poured water, which will boil and process the rice with this hot steam. This is the essence of steaming foods.
After 20 minutes, turn the rice over and add salt again.

When the rice is ready, remove it from the multicooker, let it cool a little and lightly pour rice vinegar over it. It gives a special taste to rice. Rice can already be used in this form as a base for meat or fish dishes. Steamed rice is more delicious and healthier than regular rice, and you will definitely like it if you haven’t tried it yet!

But we will go further and will make even more delicious rice cakes from this rice, in order to use them as a side dish for soup instead of bread.
Take parchment paper. (sold in any store as baking paper) and some round molds (you can also buy them at the grocery store). We measure out the circles in the places where the rice will be located.

Pour rice into round molds. It’s best to do this about 20 minutes after removing the rice from the multicooker to allow the rice to cool and become even more sticky.

Now we grease the mugs where the rice will be placed with coconut oil (I use coconut oil, since frying with it is safer for health, but you can use regular oil) - 1 tablespoon of oil for 2 servings. I'll have 4 servings, so I spread 2 tablespoons of butter among all the mugs. Then sprinkle salt, black or red pepper, breadcrumbs (optional), paprika, curry or other seasoning on top.

Lightly spread this mixture with a spoon.

We place the molds with rice in the place where we have greased with oil and seasonings.

Remove the molds. As you can see in the photo, the rice did not crumble, which means the necessary stickiness has been achieved. If at this moment your rice crumbles, then stop frying and eat the rice as usual, since you won’t be able to fry rice cakes from crumbly rice.

Cover the top with the second side treated with oil and seasonings.

Now let's move on to frying in a frying pan. The pan must be dry, no need to add oil to it! Turn on the empty frying pan at maximum power and wait 2 minutes for it to heat up.
Place 4 rice cakes in the pan with parchment paper covering the rice on both sides.

Reduce power to slightly below maximum. My maximum setting is “9”, and I fry rice at “7”. After 5 minutes, carefully turn this entire package over to the other side, holding the paper and rice with your hands (don’t get burned, just handle the paper with your hands, without touching the hot frying pan!) and fry for another 5 minutes on the other side. That is, fry for 5 minutes on each side. Those who like a toasted crust can increase the power or cooking time, but do not overdo it, otherwise the crust may turn out too hard for the teeth.