Easy Japanese Food Recipes

Anyone familiar with Japanese cuisine will find the term washoku familiar. Used as a common expression to describe traditional Japanese cooking or food, washoku is internationally acclaimed for being healthy yet delicious and has been proudly recognized by UNESCO as an item of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Snapshot of Japanese cuisine

Each Japanese meal traditionally comes with a bowl of soup, three sides and a bowl of rice – all made from fresh and premium ingredients for a complete wholesome meal. Emphasizing variety and balance, this one-soup-three-dishes combination is otherwise known as ichiju-sansai (ichi is one and ju refers to soup while san means three and sai refers to dishes).

All Japanese recipes follow a “rules of five” approach, often referred to as Gomi Goshoku Goho:

1.       Five colors (goshoku) – white, black, red, green and yellow

2.       Five methods (goho) – raw food, grilling, steaming, boiling and frying

3.       Five flavors (gomi) – sweet, spicy, salty, sour and bitter

Sometimes, two other “fives” are added to the above – five senses and five suitabilities – to elevate the sensory experience of Japanese cuisine and one’s attitude towards the food cooked and served.

Learn how to cook Japanese food with easy recipes

Common Japanese delights range from sushi and yakitori to udon and soba, but the natives will tell you that the perfect home-cooked meals should always be ichiju-sansai. Well, whether you want the classic serving of Japanese gastronomy or prefer to be more flexible in your kitchen, you let the chef in you decide.

If you want to learn how to cook Japanese food at home, you can do so with our easy-to-follow food recipes. Be sure to explore Japanese cooking techniques across various Asian cuisines with our fusion recipes too! There is always joy in sharing between the culinary worlds – what would be a better way than experimenting with these delicacies at home?

Browse our Japanese food recipes below and start preparing home-cooked meals for your family and friends!

Do check out our Korean, Thai and Vietnamese recipes as well.