Here in San Francisco, I'm lucky enough to have a Japanese market. Every 29th of this month, thin sliced meat is 20 percent off. We buy 5 to 7 packs of meat and freeze them all. What to do with thin sliced beef? Sukiyaki style stew!

For those of you who don't know, sukiyaki is a savory, sweet meat dish. It is usually cooked with a bunch of vegetables, but since I was lazy tonight, I only used meat.

Every Japanese house hold has their own taste of Sukiyaki. Some like it with a very strong salty taste, some like it weaker. People in Kansai like it bold where as Kanto like it more bland. I love it the Kansai style, so keep that in mind!

All you need is:

• Thin sliced beef (half a pound)

Sauce

• Japanese soy sauce (2-3 tbsp)
• Sugar (1-2 tbsp)
• Mirin (1 tbsp)
• Sake (1 tbsp)
• Dashi stock (1/2 cup)
• Optionally, add all different kinds of veggies, egg and tofu as you wish! (e.g. Cabbage, green onion)

Steps:

1. Cook the thin sliced beef quickly and pour in the sauce and simmer. That's it! 

Belos is my Lekue Steamer. Scroll to read more! 

I also experimented with a Lekue (Steamer) to make a similar dish with udon! Even more simple. Simply throw in all these ingredients and put it in the microwave! 

All you need for this Lekue Steamer Recipe is:

• How ever much meat you want (I put in 4 slices of thin sliced beef)
• 1 pack of Udon (I used frozen)
• 1 egg
• (Optional) Veggies 
  
• Sauce: Half the ingredients for the sauce above. 

Steps:

1. Lay the Udon, veggies and meat into the Lekue steamer. Pour in the sauce.
2. 5 min in the microwave for Power level 6 (or ~600 watts)
3. Crack in the egg after step 2. Using a fork, puncture the egg and heat for 2 min.

Instant noodles don't have to look "cheap".

Add delicious toppings to make it a proper, healthy, satisfying meal!

• Boiled eggs
• Stirfried veggies
• Seaweed
• Meat

Time taken: 5 - 10 minutes
Approximately 300 kcal per serving

About This Dish:
I head over to my freezer when I find myself hungry and in need of a substantial and healthy Japanese meal at home. Why? Because I usually have a stash of udon hidden in my freezer! Yaki-Udon (Fried Udon) is one of Japan's most popular noodles, udon, stir fried with a bunch of vegetables and optionally meat. This recipe adds a delicious taste to the dish by adding a little bit of sesame oil and Japanese soy sauce! Be creative in your additions and you might end up with an amazing dish for lunch! My mom actually used to make this for me for breakfast. Good old days :) 


While you're at it, why not check out my other udon recipe as well? 

What You Need:
(Makes 2 servings)

• 1 package of udon noodles (I use frozen ones)
• (Optional) Vegetables of your choice (I use onion, cabbage, red pepper, mushrooms, carrots...)
• (Optional) Meat of your choice (I often use thin sliced pork)
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 - 2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Cook the udon noodles as instructed on package (I usually throw in the vegetables in the last few minute or so to boil together with the noodles)
2. Heat a pan on MEDIUM heat and throw in the noodles, vegetables and meat (if you have it). Season with soy sauce, salt and pepper. 
3. At the end, season with sesame oil and serve! 

I have recently started to buy whole grain pasta after reading numerous nutrition blogs. Pasta is my to-go-dish; I often make it when I'm lazy to make anything else. So what do I do when I'm craving for something Japanese and some pasta? Make "Shoyu pasta"! It's so easy and most of all, you can just dump in any left over veggies or meats into it. This time, I put in 1/2 red onion, mushrooms and green onions. It's quick, easy and delicious. 

Ingredients
(Used about 300g of dried pasta)

Approximately 260kcal per serving, considering that 1 cup of cooked pasta is 1 serving

• 300g pasta
• (Optional) Vegetables of your choice
• (Optional) Meat of your choice
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
• Garlic (I put in about 1-2 tsp chopped garlic)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Steps

1. Start cooking the pasta.
2. In a separate pan, heat the garlic with olive oil. Then, throw in the vegetables/meat and heat until cooked. Add the soy sauce and let it heat. I also put in a couple tablespoons of the water from the boiling pasta to add to the sauce.
3. Once the pasta is done, throw it in the pan with the sauce and mix!
4. I usually sprinkle some cheese on top, mmm!

Number of steps:  4 super easy steps
Time taken: 5 minutes

About This Dish:
My father is originally from Ise city which is located in Mie prefecture. There, Ise Udon is extremely popular. Everywhere you go, you'll see signs and little local diners serving this dish. Tourists love it too. Real Ise Udon is served with udon which is extremely thick (yeap, thicker than the usual udon); since this recipe aims for simple, easy and homemade, I use frozen packaged udon sold at Asian markets. 

What is also important is the so called "black broth".  It's so concentrated that the broth does not cover the whole bowl up like you see in regular udon dishes. It stays in the bottom and you stir/mix as you enjoy the meal. For garnish, most restaurants just sprinkle some green onion. It's as simple as that.  Since this recipe is very simple and easy, compared to the real Ise Udon, it's much less work and may taste a little different, but it's close enough and great to enjoy given the fact that it only takes 5 minutes to make! 

What You Need:
(Makes 2 servings)

• 4 tbsp Japanese soy sauce 
• 1 tbsp Japanese sake
• 2 - 3 tbsp mirin
• 1 - 2 tsp sugar
• 1/3 cup dashi stock (~90ml)
• Green onion for garnish
• Udon for two