I already introduced my family to Japanese food. I started making kosher sushi several years ago when I discovered that the local supermarket sold nori (the seaweed wrapping for sushi). I used smoked salmon and various vegetables.
Mine was ok, sometimes messy, but the majority looked fine.
I showed Leia what to do and she has taken over. Her sushi is tasty and beautiful. She had never eaten sushi except in our house, so this year for her birthday, I took her out for sushi.
When I started planning, I knew that sushi would be on the menu. I am not including the recipe since Leia has taken over and I am happy to eat what she prepares. She is very busy now with final tests at school and making sushi takes a lot of her time. After her finals, maybe she will share her techniques with me and I can add them here.
Although the supermarket where I shop has added a shelf with Oriental products, there were still several ingredients I could not find. I found the Cook's Thesaurus very helpful (http://www.foodsubs.com/)
Jewish Life and History
Today there are about 2000 Jews living in Japan. Several hundred live in Tokyo and a small number live in Kobe. There are also Jews who work in Japan and others who serve in the US army. There are two active synagogues, one in Tokyo and the other in Kobe. Chabad also has two centers in Tokyo.The first Jewish settler to arrive in Japan was Alexander Marks and his brother. They settled in Yokohama, which is near Tokoyo and by 1895 there were about 50 families in the community. A synagogue was dedicated in 1895. After the 1923 earthquake that destroyed most of Tokoyo, most of the community moved to Kobe.
In the 1880's, Jews fleeing from pogroms in Russia, settled in Nagaski. In 1894, the Beth Israel Synagogue was built. This community however, disintegrated with the Russo-Japanese war in 1904.
From 1900 to1950, Kobe was the largest Jewish community. Jews arrived from Russia, the Middle Jews ( Iraq and Syria) as well as from Central and Eastern Europe.
During World War II, although Japan was allied with the Germans, Japan was regarded as a safe refuge from the Holocaust. After World War II, most of the Jews left Japan and emigrated to Israel. Some who remained, married and assimilated into Japanese society.
For more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Japan
http://xenon.stanford.edu/~tamar/Kobe/Kobe.html
http://www.shavei.org/category/communities/other_communities/asia/jews-in-japan/?lang=en
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Japan.html
Food
Friday Night Dinner
Sushi
Salad
Miso Raman Soup
Terayaki Chicken
Squash Noodles
Prepared for 12.
Salad
Miso Raman Soup
Terayaki Chicken
Squash Noodles
Prepared for 12.
Salad
I used the vegetables that kept appearing in the other recipes. I did the same type of thing for the dressing.
- Vegetables: Mushrooms, celery, cucumbers, lettuce, bean sprouts and of course asparagus.
- Dressing: Sesame oil, salt, pepper, lemon, soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar.
Miso Raman Soup
Until summer, I like to include a soup on Friday night. My kids add soup nuts to every soup and they did to this one too. I forgot the eggs. According to the recipe, the soup included hard boiled eggs. It would probably have been good.My Miso Raman Soup Recipe
Since my supermarket does not carry miso, I checked Cook's Thesaurus and learned that miso is soy and that I could use a chicken broth with some soy sauce.Ingredients
- my miso broth
- I made the broth from the parts of the chicken I did not need for the other chicken recipes I was planning. In this case that left four wings and 2 breast bones with a little meat on them. I filled a big pot of water and added
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 1 onion
- corriandar
- salt and pepper
- 1 package squash noodles ( you can use any noodles), prepared before
- 3 cups sliced mushrooms, I used a couple of types that were available at the supermarket
- 3 carrots sliced
- 4 scallions sliced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger. I used a grater to make small pieces
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
Preparation
- Prepare broth.
- Add all ingredients except noodles. (When I heated the soup up before Shabbat, I added the already cooked squash noodles)
Chicken Terayaki
Easy to make and very tasty.
Original recipe http://www.food.com/recipe/teriyaki-chicken-drumsticks-teriyaki-190605
My Chicken Terayaki Recipe
Ingredients
- 19 chicken thighs
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- canola oil for browning chicken
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
Preparation
- Brown chicken in a large pot. (Of course I couldn't brown 19 pieces of chicken in one pot. So I did a few at a time then set them aside.)
- Remove chicken and leave any oil
- Prepare sauce in the same pot (soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and ginger)
- Bring sauce to a boil and add some of the chicken (as much as will fit in your pot)
- Lower hear and simmer 20 - 30 minutes
- Remove chicken and place in a pan, ready for warming on Shabbat
Shabbat Lunch
Cucumber SaladAspargus Gemono
Peanuts-ae
Artichoke heart salad
Mixed Salad
Sukiyaki
Pan Fried Chicken Ysukune
Simmered Sour Chicken Legs
Japanese Curry Chicken
Rice Noodles
Prepared for 17
Cucumber Salad
Easy to make salad that I prepared right before lunch.- 6 cucumbers sliced
- Rice vinegar
- Sesame oil
- Lemon juice
- Soy sauce
- Small amount of brown sugar
- Black sesame seeds
Asparagus Aemono
When I saw how many asparagus there were from the meshek (http://www.facebook.com/MeshekMuslow), I did a search for recipes that included asparagus. Fortunately asparagus grow in Japan. My version of the salad was not as I expected. I tried substituting wasabi for mustard and I thought it would be spicy but it wasn't.Original recipe: http://www.applepiepatispate.com/vegetable/asparagus-the-japanese-way/
My Asparagus Aemono Recipe
Ingredients
- Asparagus(steamed before and refrigerated)
- Wasabi powder mixed with water
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Salt to taste
Peanuts-ae Recipe
This is a spinach salad and I planned to have the ingredients ready and prepare this quickly before lunch. The spinach I had prepared on Thursday was wilted and mushy. So I added some green beans I had left over from the Japanese chicken curry recipe.
Original recipe: http://gaijinfarmer.com/2011/02/26/recipes/japanese-vegetable-recipe-easy-healthy-2/
My Peanuts-ae Recipe
Ingredients
- Spinach
- Green Beans
- Soy Sauce
- Olive Oil
Preparation
Sprinkle peanuts on top.Artichoke Heart Salad
Since I had so many artichokes from the meshek, I had to figure out how to use them. I searched and I could not find any recipes for artichokes. Maybe they do not grow in Japan. So I steamed them, cut the hearts out, added some other vegetables, and flavored them with some of the spices I had already used in other recipes.Ingredients
- Artichoke hearts
- Bean sprouts
- Mushrooms
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Rice vinegar
- Fresh garlic
- Fresh ginger
- Salt and pepper
Sukiyaki
This was one of the last things I prepared on Thursday night and I was tired. I made a very quick version of this recipe. The meat I used was not very tender but otherwise it was good.Original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/sukiyaki-recipe/index.html
My Sukiyaki Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 cup soup from the broth
- 2 medium onions sliced
- 1 cup bamboo shoots
- 4 stalks celery
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 bunch green onions cut into pieces
- Steak meat cut into cubes
- Canola oil for browning
Preparation
- Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, and broth.
- In a large soup pot, brown meat and set aside.
- Add other vegetables to oil and start to cook.
- Return meat and add sauce.
- Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until the meat is done.
Pan Fried Chicken Ysukune
I actually followed the recipe. I sprinkled black sesame at the end to give it an riental look.Pan Fried Chicken Ysukame |
Original recipe: http://japanesefood.about.com/od/chickenturkey/r/tsukunerecipe.htm
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp fresh ginger juice
- 2 Tbsp katakuriko / corn starch ( I used corn starch)
- 2 tsp vegetable oil for frying
Preparation
- Put ground chicken, egg yolk, salt, soy sauce, fresh ginger juice, and katakuriko starch in a large bowl.
- Mix well and make oval meat balls.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet.
- Fry meat balls on medium heat for a couple minutes.
- Turn them over and cover with a lid. Turn the heat to low.
- Fry until cooked through.
- Remove tsukune from the pan and drain on paper towels.
Simmered Sour Chicken Legs
This must have been good. I did not even get to taste this. I used 19 legs and 6 eggs and absolutely nothing was left.
Simmered Sour Chiken Legs |
Original recipe: http://japanesefood.about.com/od/chickenturkey/r/sourchicken.htm
My Simmered Sour Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 19 chicken drumsticks
- 6 boiled eggs, peeled
- 1 inch fresh ginger root, sliced thinly
- 2/3 cup rice vinegar
- 2/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water
Preparation
- Put water, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and ginger slices in a large pan.
- Bring to a boil on high heat.
- Turn down the heat to low and put chicken drumsticks and boiled eggs in the soup.
- Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Japanese Curry Chicken
My Japanese Curry Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- Pieces of chicken: I used breast meat. I took this from the chicken that I used for the soup. I also bought 1/2 kilo of chicken schwarma pieces. This way I had some dark and some light meat.
- Vegetable oil for browning chicken
- 2 gloves garlic grated
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 package tofu cut into small pieces
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 cups frozen green beans defrosted
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tbsp curry powder
Preparation
- Brown chicken pieces and remove.
- Saute onion, garlic, and ginger.
- Return chicken to pot and add broth and tofu.
- Simmer about 20 minutes.
- Add green beans and simmer a few more minutes.
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