Many tourists come to Japan for the food like sushi, ramen, and maybe a Wagyu beef steak dinner.

But guess what many of them end up falling in love with?

Tamago Sando from the konbini!

Soft, fluffy shokupan filled with creamy egg salad. It doesn’t look particularly fancy, and the ingredients couldn’t be simpler.

So soft, so creamy and so good!

Today, let me show you how to make it just like Konbini!

Tamago Sando

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients

• 2 slices shokupan (Japanese fluffy bread)

• 2 large eggs

• 2 tablespoons Japanese mayonnaise

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon sugar

• Pepper, to taste

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Start With Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

I prefer not to use fresh eggs for hard-boiling because slightly older eggs which lose a little bit of moisture in the egg and creates a gap between egg and shell, when it cooked. These are much easier to peel.

Carefully put eggs into boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes, turn off the heat and leave in hot water for 5 minutes to finish cooking.

Once they’re cooked, transfer them to ice water.

Let them cool completely before peeling.

The Extra Step (but acutually a short cut!) That Makes It So Creamy

Here’s where I do something a little different.

Instead of simply mashing the whole boiled egg together, I separate the yolks from the whites.

Then pass the yolks through a fine sieve.

You could certainly mash them with a fork, but pushing them through a sieve gives the yolks an incredibly fine texture, and it’s actually a short cut! It takes less than a minute.

This is one of the secrets to that silky, creamy Tamago Sando filling.

Mix the sieved yolks with the mayonnaise, salt, sugar.

Don’t worry about the sugar. We’re not trying to make the sandwich sweet. That small amount simply rounds out the flavors.

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Do You Need Kewpie Mayonnaise?

I normally use Kewpie mayonnaise.

Someone asks me whether Japanese mayonnaise is essential.

My answer is: No.

But please use a mayonnaise you have in your friedge.

I’ve even used American light mayonnaise, and I like that too!

Cooking at home should work with what you have.

Don’t Mash Everything Together

Now, finely chop the egg whites.

The yolk mixture is smooth and silky, while the little pieces of egg white give the sandwich texture.

Fold the chopped whites gently into the creamy yolk mixture.

Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

That’s your filling.

Couldn’t be simpler!

And Then There’s the Shokupan…

The other half of a great Tamago Sando is the bread.

Japanese shokupan is wonderfully soft and fluffy, with a fine, moist crumb.

For Tamago Sando, that softness matters.

Because you want the bread and filling to almost melt together when you take a bite.

If you can’t find Japanese shokupan where you live, simply choose the softest, fluffiest white sandwich bread you can find.

Spread the egg filling generously from edge to edge.

Gently press so you don’t crush the bread.

Trim the crust and cut the sandwich that familiar Japanese convenience-store appearance.

Creamy Tamago Sando Recipe

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By the way, keep the crust to make your homemade Panko!

And, you can bring to school or office as your Bento!

The Simplest ingredients + care makes great Tamago Sando.

I think Tamago Sando represents something important about Japanese everyday cooking.

Good Japanese food doesn’t always require unusual ingredients or complicated techniques.

Sometimes it’s about paying close attention to texture, proportion, and balance.

That’s also very much the philosophy behind my upcoming cookbook, Effortless Japanese Cooking.

Have you tried Tamago Sando in Japan?

And if you have, I want to know: 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, or Lawson—which one is your favorite?

Let me know in the comments!

With love,

—Akino

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Including 100 recipes + Bonus Online contents + Companion Videos！

Thank you to everyone who joined my recent livestream! More than 4,000 people joined me, and I loved seeing so much enthusiasm for homemade Japanese bento. 🍱

One thing I really wanted to show, making bento is easier than you think!

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Includes how to construct bento

When you see a beautiful Japanese bento with several different foods, you might imagine someone waking up early to cook five or six dishes from scratch. But that’s not how we do it. The secret is preparing a little ahead, cooking simply, and knowing how to put everything together.

For our bento, we made just a few simple things:

・Karaage, Tamagoyaki, Carrot kinpira, Green bell pepper, and Rice.

Nothing complicated, but put together, you get a colorful, satisfying lunch!

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Omurice is one of Japan’s most beloved yoshoku dishes—Western-inspired food that developed into something very Japanese.

And as someone from the egg planet, it has always been one of my favorites!

There is something irresistible about ketchup-flavored chicken rice wrapped in a soft, golden omelet.

But for me, there is one more thing that makes it especially delicious:

Plenty of sauce!

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My Favorite Omurice Restaurant

There is an omurice restaurant that I really love.

The flagship location is always crowded, so I usually have to wait in line. But I found another branch that is only accessible by car, and actually, I prefer going there.

https://www.hokkyokusei.online/horie?srsltid=AfmBOopHijcr50OcJ7sV1DIPoyeYV6OmWtTzFNsLpu4agrjXejp86JPl

It has the atmosphere of a good old-fashioned Japanese coffee shop—a kissaten.

It feels nostalgic and relaxed. I can sit down, slow down, and enjoy my omurice without feeling rushed.

And what I especially love about their omurice is the generous amount of sauce they serve over the fluffy egg.

Every bite makes me happy!

That restaurant inspired the way I make omurice at home.

Why I Make a Sauce

Of course, the simplest way to finish omurice is just to drizzle ketchup on top.

Like this, nothing wrong with that!

But I find that ketchup on ketchup can sometimes make the flavor a little one-note, since the rice is already seasoned with ketchup.

So I make a simple sauce with chicken broth, ketchup, and just a little starch, just like my favorite omurice shop!

Omurice Looks Difficult—but It Doesn’t Have to Be

When you see a beautifully shaped omurice at a restaurant, you might think:

It’s intimidating.

But you can do it with my method!

And my number-one recommendation is surprisingly simple:

Use a small nonstick frying pan.

It makes the egg much easier to control, fold, and shape.

And don’t worry if your first omurice isn’t perfectly shaped.

I’ll show you my little rescue trick at the end!

Japanese Omurice

Serves 2

Ketchup Rice

• ½ medium onion (about 3.5 oz / 100 g)

• 4–5 button mushrooms

• 5 oz (150 g) boneless, skinless chicken thigh

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 tsp chicken soup granules, with or without herbs

• ½ tsp salt, or to taste

• ¼ tsp black pepper

• 3 tbsp ketchup

• 10 oz (300 g) warm cooked rice

Omelet — Per Serving

• 3 large eggs

• ¼ tsp salt

• 1 tbsp whole milk

• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Make each omelet separately.

Omurice Sauce

• 1 cup (240 ml) chicken broth
  or 1 tsp chicken soup granules dissolved in 1 cup hot water

• 1 tsp sugar

• ¼ tsp salt, or to taste

• 3 tbsp ketchup

• 2 tsp potato starch or 4 tsp cornstarch

Optional Garnish

• Pickled ginger (gari)

Let’s Make Omurice!

1. Start With the Sauce

Combine the chicken broth, sugar, salt, ketchup, and starch in a small saucepan before turning on the heat.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.

Once it comes to a boil and becomes glossy, simmer for about 30 seconds.

Remove from the heat and keep warm.

You want a sauce that flows easily but is thick enough to cling gently to the omelet.

2. Make the Ketchup Rice

Mince the onion, thinly slice the mushrooms, and cut the chicken into small bite-sized pieces.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and sauté the onion until translucent.

Add the mushrooms and chicken and cook for about 3–4 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Now add the chicken soup granules, salt, pepper, and ketchup.

Here’s an important little step: cook the ketchup before adding the rice.

Cooking it briefly reduces some of its sharp acidity and concentrates the flavor.

Once it smells fragrant, add the warm rice.

Break up any clumps and stir-fry until every grain is evenly coated.

Your ketchup rice is ready!

3. Make the Fluffy Omelet

For each serving, beat 3 eggs with the salt and milk.

For an especially smooth omelet, pass the mixture through a sieve.

Heat a small nonstick frying pan over medium heat.

Here’s my trick for checking the temperature:

Dip your spatula into the egg mixture and touch it to the pan.

If the egg sets immediately, the pan is ready.

If it browns too quickly, the pan is too hot. Place the pan briefly on a damp towel to bring the temperature down.

Add the butter and oil.

Why both?

Butter = flavor.
Oil = helps prevent burning.

Together, they help give you a beautiful golden omelet.

Pour in the egg mixture and immediately stir from the outside toward the center.

When the eggs are about half-set but still slightly runny, stop stirring.

4. Add the Rice and Shape

Place half of the ketchup rice in the center of the egg.

Tilt the pan and gently fold the omelet over the rice.

Don’t worry about making it perfect in the pan.

Flip it onto your serving plate.

And if the shape isn’t quite what you imagined?

Here’s the rescue trick!

Cover the omurice with a paper towel and gently tuck the edges underneath with your hands.

You can quickly turn an imperfect omelet into that classic rugby-ball shape.

Nobody needs to know what it looked like five seconds ago!

5. Sauce Generously!

Finally, spoon that warm, silky sauce generously over the omelet.

Add some pickled ginger on the side if you like.

Then cut into it and enjoy that combination of fluffy egg, savory chicken rice, and silky sauce.

Japanese Omurice Recipe

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So good!

This Is What “Effortless” Means to Me

Omurice is a good example of what I mean by effortless Japanese cooking.

“Effortless” doesn’t mean that everything has to be instant or that technique doesn’t matter.

It means knowing the small techniques that make cooking easier and cook with more confident.

This recipe is also featured in my upcoming cookbook, Effortless Japanese Cooking, along with more of the Japanese home-style recipes I make in my own kitchen.

Try this—and let me know how your omurice turns out! 🍳❤️

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Juicy, vegetable-packed Japanese gyoza with a crispy bottom.

I’ll show you all my little tricks from making thousands of them over the years.

It’s the middle of summer here in Japan, and it is HOT!

Usually at this time of year, I want something cool and refreshing—cold noodles, salads, chilled tofu...

But after eating light food for a while, sometimes I suddenly crave something richer and more satisfying.

And that’s when Gyoza is SO good!

Crispy on the bottom.
Juicy inside.
Lots of vegetables.
And that powerful aroma of garlic, ginger, chives, and sesame oil.

It really wakes up your appetite!

And apparently, I’m not the only one who loves gyoza.

I recently made these during my YouTube livestream, and nearly 2,000 people joined me live!

I didn’t expect gyoza to be THIS popular! 🥟✨

My Long Relationship with Gyoza

I have a very special relationship with gyoza.

For more than 15 years, I created gyoza recipes for a food company.

Every month, I developed about three to five different kinds.

Over the years, I changed the ingredients, tested different ratios, experimented with seasonings, and made batch after batch.

But I kept coming back to this basic balance.

And I came to think:

Gyoza is like the universe!

I know that sounds a little dramatic for a dumpling! 😂

But think about it.

You have the meat, vegetables, aromatics, seasoning, and wrapper.

Then everything cooks together inside this tiny sealed package.

As the gyoza steam in the bubbling pan, the cabbage releases its sweetness and moisture, the pork releases richness and umami, and the garlic, ginger, chives, sesame oil, and seasonings all come together.

And because everything is wrapped inside, all that deliciousness stays right there.

That is the beauty of gyoza!

The Secret? Much More Cabbage Than Pork

Ingredients

• 300 g (10 oz) cabbage

• 100 g (3.5 oz) ground pork (the fattier, the better)

• 20 g (about 1 oz) garlic chives or scallions

• 1 clove garlic

• 10 g ginger

Seasonings

• 1 teaspoon chicken soup powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• A little white pepper

Others

• About 30 gyoza wrappers

Flour Water

• 3 teaspoons all-purpose flour + 1 cup (240 ml) water

Now, look at that ratio.

300 grams of cabbage and only 100 grams of pork.

You might be surprised by how little meat there is in the filling.

People sometimes think of gyoza as a meat dish, but I think gyoza is actually a wonderful way to eat lots of vegetables.

The pork gives richness and umami, but the cabbage is really the star.

Ready to make them?
Below, I’m sharing the exact techniques I’ve learned from years of making gyoza—including how I season the filling, my 30-second wrapping trick, and how I get that crispy bottom every time. 🥟

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Hello from Nara, Japan!

It’s too hot outside, so I decided to stay at home and make something cold and refreshing!

That’s exactly why I made Vegan Matcha Kanten Jelly with Shiratama Dango and Sweet Azuki Bean Paste.

It has everything I love about a Japanese summer dessert: the gentle bitterness of matcha, soft and refreshing kanten jelly, chewy shiratama, and a little sweetness from azuki. Put everything together in a glass bowl, and you’ll feel like you’re in a Japanese sweets shop.

Kanten vs. Gelatin

Many people outside Japan are more familiar with gelatin.

Gelatin is made from animal-derived collagen and creates a soft, bouncy texture. Kanten, also known as agar-agar, is made from seaweed and is completely plant-based.

The texture is different, too. Kanten has a cleaner bite and naturally sets more firmly than gelatin. That means the amount you use really matters.

For this dessert, I use much less kanten than in a regular recipe to create a soft, almost melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Another interesting difference is how they set. Gelatin generally needs refrigeration, while kanten begins to set as it cools and can become firm at room temperature. That makes kanten especially convenient during summer. But of course, chill it before serving!

Here is a summary of the differences between gelatin and kanten.

Gelatin

• Sets when chilled, generally below about 15°C / 59°F

• Needs to be kept refrigerated

• Soft and bouncy

• Delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture

• Animal-derived

Kanten (Agar-Agar)

• Starts setting at around 30–40°C / 86–104°F

• Can set and stay firm at room temperature

• Firmer texture

• Clean, crisp bite

• Plant-based, made from seaweed

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  ---

Making the Matcha Kanten

The ingredients are very simple: matcha, granulated sugar, kanten powder, and water.

You don’t have to sift the matcha before mixing it with the sugar. When they are well combined, the lumps disappear. This step helps the matcha dissolve more evenly when it goes into the liquid.

Ingredients

2–3 servings: 1 container (14 cm × 10 cm)

Vegan Matcha Jelly

• 1 g (1/4 teaspoon) kanten (agar-agar)

• 3 g (1 teaspoon) matcha powder

• 30 g (3 tablespoons) granulated sugar

• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) water

1. Add the kanten powder to the water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil while stirring. Once boiling, simmer for about one minute.

※ This step is important. Kanten needs to be properly heated and dissolved in order to set correctly.

1. Add the prepared matcha and sugar mixture and stir until fully dissolved.

2. Wet the inside of the container before pouring in the mixture so the kanten will release more easily later. Pour the mixture gently over a spatula as you transfer it to the container. This helps prevent splashing.

Let it cool to room temperature, then refrigerate it or chill it in an ice bath until the shiratama is ready.

Soft, Chewy Shiratama

To upgrade your matcha jelly, let’s make shiratama dango.

Shiratamako is a type of glutinous rice flour used to make these small, chewy dumplings. Mochiko can also be used, although the texture is a little different.

Shiratama Dango (Mochi Dumplings)

• 1/4 cup shiratamako or mochiko

• 1/5 cup water ※ Adjust the amount as needed

1. Add the water gradually, mixing and checking the texture as you go. You want a soft dough with a consistency similar to play dough.

2. Here’s an easy trick for making evenly sized shiratama: roll the dough into a cylinder first, then cut it into 8 equal portions before rolling each piece into a ball.

3. Drop the shiratama into boiling water. They’ll sink at first, then float to the surface as they cook. Once they float, cook them for about one more minute, then transfer them to cold water.

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The Finishing Touch: Azuki

Once the kanten is chilled, cut it into bite-size pieces and place them in a glass bowl.

Add the shiratama and finish with a spoonful of sweet red bean paste.

Mine is homemade and only lightly sweetened, but store-bought azuki paste works perfectly well. If yours is quite sweet, just use a smaller amount.

The slight bitterness of matcha, the sweetness of azuki, the clean texture of kanten, and the chewiness of shiratama create an irresistible combination!

Vegan Matcha Jelly Recipe

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Storage Tip

Enjoy this dessert on the same day you make it.

Because this matcha jelly uses only a small amount of kanten to create a softer texture, it may start to release some moisture after it is cut into cubes.

Shiratama is also best eaten fresh. It tends to become firm and lose its soft, chewy texture when refrigerated.

For the best texture, assemble and enjoy the dessert the same day.

And Yes, I Made a Mistake Live

Japan also uses an imperial era calendar connected to the current Emperor. In that calendar, 2026 is Reiwa 8, which made this livestream very special because it was August 8—a special 8-8-8 day.

But during the livestream, I accidentally mixed the kanten with the matcha, instead of mixing it with the sugar!

I’ve never done that before!

And of course, I did it while nearly 1,000 people were watching. No way!

It was supposed to be a perfect 8-8-8 special livestream, but it somehow went in the opposite direction!

This reminds me a Japanese saying:

若い頃の苦労は買ってでもせよ

It roughly means that struggles and mistakes can become valuable experiences, even painful experiences can be worth “paying for.”

Well, apparently we never become too old to keep buying a few mistakes. 😂

Thankfully, the dessert still turned out beautifully, as always.

And maybe that is one of the things I enjoy about cooking live: it isn’t perfectly polished like my YouTube videos. Things happen. You adjust. Just keep going.

And then you smile with something delicious at the end!

Enjoy your vegan matcha jelly, chewy shiratama, sweet azuki bean paste, and Japanese sweets shop vibes, right in your own kitchen!

With love,

Akino

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That event inspired me to recreate the same cool and festive feeling at home—without needing a bamboo water slide!

Inspired by the event, I hosted a somen livestream featuring two dipping sauces and a colorful selection of toppings.

A Special Somen from Nara

For this somen party, I used noodles from Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten.

These noodles are made primarily with wheat flour, as somen usually is, but they also contain a small amount of kudzu starch. The kudzu gives the noodles an extraordinarily smooth and bouncy texture.

This combination also feels beautifully connected to Nara because somen is said to have originated here, and kudzu is another famous product of this region.

The Most Important Part: Cooking Somen Properly

First, bring plenty of water to a rolling boil. Check the cooking time on the package because it can range from approximately one to three minutes, depending on the thickness of the noodles.

For two servings, use three bundles, or about 150 grams (6 ounces), depending on how hungry you are.

However, the weight of each bundle varies by brand, so check the package and adjust the amount to suit your appetite.

Remove all the paper bands from the bundles before you begin cooking. Otherwise, it may take too long to remove them, and the first noodles you add could become overcooked.

Add the noodles to the boiling water and gently separate them with chopsticks.

Keep the water actively boiling. Lowering the heat too much can cause the noodles to cook unevenly. Somen can boil over quickly, so keep a cup of cold water nearby. When the foam begins to rise, add a small splash of cold water to calm it down.

As soon as the noodles are cooked, drain them and cover them with water.

At first, the noodles will still be extremely hot, so do not touch them immediately. Pour away the first water, add fresh water, and then gently wash the noodles with your hands.

This step is essential.

Wash the noodles and change the water several times until they no longer feel slippery. This removes excess starch from the surface and keeps the somen smooth, clean, and separate rather than sticky.

Finally, chill the noodles thoroughly in ice water.

The result should be cold, smooth, and pleasantly bouncy.

Classic Homemade Mentsuyu

The first dipping sauce is a simple homemade mentsuyu.

Ingredients for 2 Servings

• 1 cup water

• 1/4 cup soy sauce

• 1/4 cup mirin

• A generous handful of katsuobushi, or dried bonito flakes, about 10 grams (0.3 ounces)

Add the water, soy sauce, and mirin to a small saucepan and bring the mixture to a gentle boil.

Add the katsuobushi and simmer for about one minute. Turn off the heat and allow the bonito flakes to steep before straining.

Katsuobushi gives the sauce a deep, savory flavor, but what I notice most is the aftertaste. It leaves a delicate, lingering umami that powdered dashi cannot completely reproduce.

That said, bottled mentsuyu or dashi powder is perfectly fine when you need a quicker option.

Chill the sauce in the refrigerator, or add a few ice cubes when serving.

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Creamy Walnut Dipping Sauce

The second sauce was inspired by one of the unique dipping sauces served at the shop. It immediately captured my heart.

We tend to use white sesame seeds in Japanese cooking, but walnuts have an even richer, nuttier, and creamier flavor. I simply could not resist recreating it at home!

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons toasted walnuts

• 4 to 5 tablespoons classic mentsuyu

Grind the toasted walnuts in a suribachi, or Japanese mortar, until they become fine and slightly paste-like.

Add the mentsuyu a little at a time, mixing until the sauce reaches your preferred consistency.

A regular mortar and pestle will also work. You can even chop the walnuts very finely with a knife and stir them into the sauce.

The result is a beautiful contrast to the classic mentsuyu: richer and rounder, but still refreshing enough for cold summer noodles.

Choosing the Toppings

One of the most enjoyable things about a somen bar is that everyone can create their own combination.

For this version, I prepared:

• Thinly shredded cucumber

• Sliced okra

• Chopped green onion

• Grated ginger

• Thin omelet strips

• Shredded nori

• Tomatoes

• Shiso leaves or myoga ginger, when available

The shape of the toppings matters more than you might expect.

Because somen is thin and long, the toppings should also be cut thinly so they are easy to pick up and eat together with the noodles.

For example, cucumber rounds may look pretty, but finely shredded cucumber blends much more naturally with somen. It gives each bite a crisp, refreshing texture without overpowering the delicate noodles.

Raw okra is also wonderful here. After rubbing it gently with salt to remove the fine hairs, rinse it and slice it into thin rounds.

It has more crunch and a slightly wild, fresh flavor compared with boiled okra. Its naturally sticky texture also works beautifully with cold noodles.

Ginger adds a refreshing sharpness, while shiso and myoga bring the unmistakable aroma of a Japanese summer.

My Favorite Topping: Thin Omelet

I am a big egg eater, and I love adding eggs to many dishes. For somen noodles, thin omelet strips are the perfect companion and a good way to add protein.

Ingredients

• 1 egg

• A pinch of salt

• 1/2 teaspoon potato starch or cornstarch

• 1 teaspoon water

Beat the egg thoroughly with a pinch of salt.

Mix the potato starch with the water, then add it to the egg.

The potato starch makes the omelet slightly elastic, so it is easier to slice into delicate ribbons without tearing.

Pour a thin layer of the egg mixture into a lightly greased frying pan. Cook until the surface is dry, flip it briefly, and then remove it from the pan.

Once cooled, fold or roll the omelet and slice it into fine strips.

The bright yellow ribbons make the entire dish feel colorful and festive.

Creating the Nagashi Somen Feeling at Home

You do not need a bamboo flume to enjoy the spirit of nagashi somen.

I filled a wooden sushi tub with ice and water and added the chilled noodles. You could also use a large bowl, serving tray, or any container that can hold plenty of cold water and ice.

Then I arranged all the colorful toppings around the noodles and served the two dipping sauces on the side.

It became a small Japanese summer noodle party right in my kitchen!

Summer Somen Bar Recipe

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A Taste of Japanese Summer

The classic mentsuyu is clean, savory, and deeply refreshing.

The walnut sauce is richer, creamier, and gently sweet from the nuts.

Both sauces complement the smooth, cold noodles in completely different ways.

Somen noodles are a summer lunch staple in Japan. I remember eating them almost every day with the same mentsuyu dipping sauce.

Honestly, sometimes I became a little bored with them.

But now that I am older, I have discovered so many new ways to enjoy somen!

Stay cool, and I hope you will bring a little taste of Japanese summer into your own home.

with Love,

Akino

Have you ever tried Japanese vegan dashi?

Kombu dashi has a mellow, oceanic flavor with gentle umami. Dried shiitake dashi has a deep, earthy, and robust flavor. The aroma of these dashi somehow feels nostalgic to us, and they are an essential part of Japanese cooking.

Vegan dashi is not just an alternative to classic dashi. It has been part of Japanese cooking for centuries.

Rooted in shojin ryori, the Zen Buddhist temple cuisine of Japan, vegan dashi is made entirely from plant-based ingredients such as kombu and dried shiitake mushrooms. These simple ingredients are naturally rich in umami, creating a stock that is deep, satisfying, and full of character.

And vegan dashi is not only for vegans and vegetarians.

Sometimes katsuobushi dashi can be too bold for a dish, while vegan dashi allows delicate vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, and seasonal ingredients to shine without overpowering their natural flavors.

I particularly love using kombu dashi to make simmered daikon. I can’t resist the way the natural sweetness of the daikon melts together with the gentle umami of the kombu. It is such a simple combination, but the flavor is pure comfort!

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Below, I’ll show you two essential versions, delicate kombu dashi and deeper kombu-shiitake dashi, along with my favorite way to turn the leftover ingredients into tsukudani, so nothing goes to waste.

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Hi, everyone! It’s Japan’s eel-eating day!

The correct name is Doyō no Ushi no Hi. It refers to a Day of the Ox in the traditional Japanese calendar, during the seasonal period before autumn.

Unagi is a special treat for many of us, so this day gives us a good excuse to enjoy it! Even if we usually try to be careful with money, Doyō no Ushi no Hi gives us the perfect excuse to enjoy rather expensive unagi, recharge our bodies, and survive the summer heat!

Because it is a little costly, we want to make the most of it. (¥1,980/ $12)

So today, I want to share a simple way to make supermarket unagi soft, fluffy, and smoky—just like the unagi you would enjoy at a fancy restaurant.

But don’t worry—it is surprisingly easy to do!

First, make the unagi sauce

Add ½ cup mirin to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Let it boil briefly to cook off some of the alcohol.

Add 3 tablespoons of sugar. You can add a little more if you prefer a sweeter sauce.

I use granulated sugar because it gives the sauce a clean sweetness, but you can use your favorite kind of sugar.

Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then add ½ cup soy sauce.

Reduce the heat to low and cook for a few minutes, until the sauce has reduced slightly. Be careful not to reduce it too much—it will continue to thicken as it cools.

Rinse off the original sauce

This step may feel a little unusual, but it makes a big difference.

Gently rinse the sauce off the supermarket unagi. The original sauce can burn very quickly when the eel is grilled, so removing it allows us to heat the unagi properly and add fresh sauce later.

Rinse until the surface no longer feels slippery, then carefully pat it dry with a paper towel.

Handle it gently because the eel can break easily.

Steam it with sake

Cut the unagi into pieces that will fit comfortably in your pan.

Place it in a frying pan and drizzle over about 1 tablespoon of sake. Cover the pan and heat gently until the unagi becomes hot and begins to puff up.

The sake creates steam inside the pan, which brings moisture back into the eel and makes the flesh soft and fluffy.

Grill until bubbling

Carefully transfer the unagi to a grill or toaster oven

Grill until the surface begins to bubble slightly. Turn it over carefully and grill the other side as well.

Traditional unagi is often cooked over charcoal, which gives it a wonderful smoky aroma. Grilling it at home helps recreate some of that toasted, caramelized flavor.

Turn the unagi back over and brush it generously with the homemade sauce.

Grill it again for a short time, just until the sauce is glossy and bubbling. Watch it closely because the sugar in the sauce can burn quickly.

Serve over steaming-hot rice

Fill a bowl with freshly cooked rice and drizzle over as much sauce as you like.

Place the grilled unagi on top and finish with a little sanshō pepper. Sanshō is optional, but its fresh, citrusy heat balances the richness of the eel beautifully.

Serve it with your favorite Japanese pickles.

The result is soft and melt-in-your-mouth inside, with a beautifully browned, smoky, and caramelized surface.

It is rich, comforting, and exactly the kind of meal that makes you feel ready to face the summer heat.

Happy Doyō no Ushi no Hi!

Supermarket Unagi Recipe

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Dashi is Umami itself.

Made from just kombu and katsuobushi, it looks almost too simple. But take just one sip, and the flavor continues long after the dashi is gone. The umami lingers in your mouth, the aroma rises through the nose, and it leaves a comfortable satisfaction. It seeps into our cells; I can feel that! I love that moment, and I never get bored. That’s the magic of Dashi.

This is what I love about classic dashi. It does not overpower any ingredients; instead, it brings them together, making everything taste better and more complete.

In Japan’s finest ryotei kitchens, chefs devote extraordinary care to making one bowl of dashi. At home, we do not need to make it with that same level of care but with good ingredients and a few simple techniques, beautiful dashi is completely doable in an everyday kitchen.

This recipe begins with ichiban dashi, or “first dashi,” (left) the most delicate and refined stock made from kombu and katsuobushi. It is the dashi I reach for when the broth itself is the star—for ozoni, clear soups, soba, or udon.

And because I never want to waste good ingredients, that is called “Mottainai“ spirit, our version of sustainability, I will also show you how to make niban dashi, (right) a second stock using the same kombu and katsuobushi. It is a little stronger and less delicate, but perfect for miso soup, simmered dishes, and everyday cooking.

Once you experience the lingering taste of freshly made dashi, you begin to understand why it sits at the heart of Japanese cooking—to me, Dashi is Umami itself.

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Ingredients

Ichiban Dashi (First Dashi) (yields about 4½ cups / 1000–1080 ml)

• 2 pieces kombu (about 0.3 oz / 10 g total), each roughly 2×4 inches

• 2 handfuls katsuobushi (about 1 oz / 30 g)

• 5 cups water (soft water preferred)

Niban Dashi (Secondary Dashi) (yields about 300 ml)

• Leftover kombu and katsuobushi from the Ichiban Dashi above

• 2 cups water (480 ml)

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It’s soooo hot here in Japan!

And it’s not just the heat—the humidity makes it even worse.

Some people love summer, but honestly, it’s not my favorite season.lol

On days like these, I want to stay as cool as possible. I avoid using heat whenever I can, and I definitely don’t want to spend hours standing over the stove. But I still want food that feels fresh, satisfying, and full of flavor.

Still, there are certain dishes that can only be fully enjoyed in summer. They are refreshing, colorful, and made for days when the heat seems endless💦

That’s why I created this Effortless Japanese Summer Meal Plan: five light and refreshing menus that can be enjoyed for lunch or dinner.

I wanted to take some of the stress out of summer cooking while still sharing meals that feel nourishing, colorful, and distinctly Japanese.

From vibrant Hiyashi Chuka and refreshing Hiyajiru to Zaru Soba, Shio-Momi Vegetable Donburi, and a playful Summer Festival Night, each menu captures a different side of summer in Japan.

You don’t have to follow the plan in order. Simply choose the meal that suits your mood, your schedule, and the ingredients available to you.

Summer vegetables such as cucumber, eggplant, tomato, and corn are especially refreshing at this time of year. Eating them makes me feel cooled and revived from the inside out—and that may be the best part of summer cooking!

I hope these meals bring a little Japanese summer atmosphere to your table, wherever you are in the world.

Inside this meal plan

Paid subscribers will receive:

• Five complete Japanese summer menus

• All recipes and preparation instructions

• A combined shopping list

• Ingredient substitutions

• A downloadable printable PDF

Let’s begin with Meal 1: Hiyashi Chuka.

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One of my favorite Japanese summer traditions doesn’t require turning on the stove.

Because it’s too hot to cook!

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The technique is called Shio-Momi (塩もみ), which literally means “salt massage.” It sounds unusual at first, but it’s one of the simplest methods in Japanese home cooking. By gently massaging sliced vegetables with about 1% salt, they release excess moisture, become more flavorful, and develop a completely different texture.

It’s one of those everyday kitchen techniques that Japanese families have quietly passed down for generations.

After sharing my spring Shio-Momi recipe earlier this year, many readers asked if I make it in other seasons. The answer is yes. Summer may actually be my favorite time for it.

During my recent trip to a Japanese supermarket, I picked up some of my favorite summer vegetables: turnips, celery, bell peppers, zucchini, and eggplant. Each one responds a little differently to Shio-Momi, and that’s part of the fun.

My Favorite: Raw Zucchini

If you’ve never eaten zucchini raw, you’re not alone.

Most people only think of grilling, roasting, or sautéing it. But when it’s sliced paper-thin and prepared with Shio-Momi, zucchini becomes something entirely different.

It’s crisp at first, then smooth and silky as you chew. The mild flavor becomes slightly sweeter, and the texture is surprisingly refreshing.

On a hot summer day, I honestly prefer it this way.

Every Vegetable Changes

Bell peppers become sweeter while keeping a pleasant crunch.

Celery loses some of its sharp bite and develops a cleaner, fresher flavor.

Turnips stay crisp but become juicier and more delicate.

Eggplant needs a little extra care. After slicing, I soak it in lightly salted water for about 30 minutes before preparing it. This keeps the color bright and softens its natural bitterness. I also like adding a little shredded young ginger because the flavors complement each other beautifully.

The result is a colorful platter that’s refreshing enough to serve on its own, alongside grilled fish, or as part of a simple summer meal.

Does It Taste Salty?

This is probably the question I hear most often.

Although the vegetables are prepared with salt, much of it leaves together with the liquid released during the process. After squeezing the vegetables, the final dish tastes fresh rather than salty.

If you prefer an even lighter flavor, you can quickly rinse the vegetables after squeezing them.

My Favorite Way to Eat It

One of my favorite summer lunches couldn’t be simpler.

I fill a bowl with warm brown rice, pile the Shio-Momi vegetables on top, add a soft onsen egg, and mix everything together. You can do it with Somen noodles, too!

It’s colorful, refreshing, satisfying, and requires almost no cooking.

Sometimes the simplest meals are the ones I look forward to the most.

I hope you will give this recipe a try!

“Where do you buy all of your ingredients for your YouTube videos and cookbooks?”

The answer is surprisingly ordinary.

A supermarket!

Not a specialty shop.

Not a farmers’ market.

Just the neighborhood supermarket where I shop every week—one with a wonderful selection of fresh, seasonal produce at affordable prices.

Fresh Tuna Akami/ Chutoro (medium-fat)/ Otoro (fatty)

I'm a supermarket nerd.

To be honest, I love visiting supermarkets whenever I travel.

Some people head straight for famous landmarks...

I head for the local grocery store! 😊

I still remember wandering through a supermarket in Penang, discovering fruits, spices, and ingredients I’d never seen before. It was so much fun!

And my all-time favorite?

Zabar’s in New York.

(Well... of course! 😄)

One of my favorite travel memories. I made this smoked salmon bagel with ingredients from Zabar's in New York. Delicious food always brings back wonderful memories. ❤️

I could spend hours exploring the aisles there!

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What Makes a Great Supermarket

For me, a supermarket tells you so much about a place and the people who live there.

You can see what people eat every day, what’s in season, and even get a glimpse of the local culture.

I recently filmed a tour of my favorite supermarket here in Nara, and while I was editing the video, I realized something.

Japanese home cooking doesn’t begin in the kitchen.

It begins in the supermarket.

Variety of tomatoes. My favorite is football shaped cherry tomato named “Aiko.”

I always say that if you find a great supermarket in your neighborhood...

You’ve won!

My ideal supermarket is:

• Fresh

• Clean

• Well organized

• Affordable

• Full of variety

That’s my happy place!

The vegetables change with the seasons.

The fish is incredibly fresh and often prepared so it’s easy to cook after work.

There are dozens of kinds of tofu because each one has its own purpose.

Even soy sauce isn’t just soy sauce.

There are different varieties depending on what you’re cooking.

Shopping itself becomes part of cooking.

And I absolutely love that.

When My Body Chooses the Menu

When I walk through the store, I’m usually not following a shopping list.

Instead, I’m looking for what’s at its peak that day.

Maybe it’s sweet summer tomatoes.

Maybe it’s fragrant young ginger.

Fresh edamame. This particular variety, "Chamame," is incredibly fragrant!

Maybe it’s fresh edamame that’s only available for a few weeks each year.

The ingredients decide what’s for dinner.

I also listen to my body.

Sometimes I’ll suddenly crave sardines, or a big bowl of vegetables.

I like to think my body is gently telling me what it needs.

Whether that’s science or simply paying closer attention to myself, shopping this way has helped me eat more seasonally and more mindfully.

In summer, I naturally reach for foods that feel cool and refreshing.

In winter, I find myself wanting warming soups, root vegetables, and hearty stews.

Instead of asking the seasons to fit my recipes...

I let the seasons guide my cooking.

I think that’s one of the secrets of Japanese home cooking.

If you’d like to see what that looks like, I filmed a complete tour of my favorite supermarket.

We’ll explore the seafood, vegetables, tofu, pantry staples, and everything else that finds its way into my kitchen.

And yes...

At the end, we’ll make one of my favorite Japanese summer desserts—

Warabimochi. 🍡

One More Thing...

While editing this video, I realized something else.

I had just published my 1,000th YouTube video. 🎉

When I uploaded my very first video, I never imagined I would one day reach this milestone.

I have to admit, though...

It’s so embarrassing to watch that first one now! 😂

But I’m so glad I pressed “Publish.”

Whether you’ve been cooking with me for years or you’ve only recently discovered Kitchen Princess Bamboo...

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Your comments, your encouragement, and your support have meant more than you know.

Here’s to the next 1,000 videos...

...and many more delicious meals we’ll cook together.

With love,

Akino

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More than 100 recipe of super delicious Japanese Home Cooking Recipes!

As you already know, one of the most beloved summer noodle dishes in Japan is Zaru Soba.

At first glance, Zaru Soba looks very simple.

Just noodles, sauce, and a few toppings.

But the real beauty of this dish is in the small details, and today, I will reveal all of them!

I want to show you how to prepare Zaru Soba the authentic way — simple, refreshing, and full of umami.

Once you learn these small details, you’ll know how to make zaru soba with confidence every time!

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It is already the 4th of July here in Japan!

I don’t have a personal connection to Independence Day the way my American friends do. But my viewers in the United States make up the largest part of my community, and I’m endlessly grateful for that!

Especially now, as my first cookbook is about to be published in the US, even before it comes out in Japan!

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Every year, I see beautiful 4th of July food online: barbecue, summer side dishes, colorful desserts, beautiful drinks, and happy tables filled with people!

This year, I wanted to celebrate in my own way — from my kitchen in Nara. Not with traditional American barbecue, but with Japanese home cooking inspired by the red, white, and blue.

So I made two recipes: a juicy Teriyaki Chicken Burger and refreshing Blueberry Kanten Jelly Balls served with red shiso juice.

A little American, a little Japanese, and very much my kind of summer celebration.

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A Japanese Take on a Summer Burger

Teriyaki Chicken burgers are very popular in Japan.

If you have visited Japan, you may have seen them at Japanese burger shops like MOS Burger. The idea may sound a little unusual at first: a soft burger bun, tender chicken, glossy sweet-savory teriyaki sauce, fresh lettuce, and mayonnaise.

But once you try it, you understand why it is so addictive!

For my version, I used boneless chicken thigh with the skin on. The skin keeps the meat moist and makes the chicken even more delicious when pan-fried. I cut the chicken to fit the buns, scored the surface, and poked the skin side with a fork so it would cook evenly and stay tender.

Then I dusted it lightly with potato starch and cooked it skin-side down until the surface became golden.

The sauce is my favorite easy teriyaki ratio:

Soy sauce : mirin : sake = 1 : 1 : 1

If you like a sweeter flavor, you can add a little sugar.

Once the chicken is cooked, add the sauce to the pan and let it reduce until it becomes glossy and coats the chicken beautifully. That shine is the moment when the chicken becomes unmistakably teriyaki.

Homemade Teriyaki sauce

Then all you need is a bun, plenty of fresh lettuce, and mayonnaise.

Simple, satisfying, and perfect for a summer gathering.

(Full recipe in the PDF below.)

Blueberry Kanten Jelly Balls

For dessert, I wanted something light, cool, and playful.

I wanted to create a red, white, and blue feeling using Japanese ingredients. The blue came from blueberries. The white came from the clear, jewel-like kanten jelly.

Kanten, also known as agar-agar, is a traditional Japanese setting ingredient made from seaweed. It is often used in wagashi and summer desserts. Unlike gelatin, kanten is plant-based and sets more firmly, even at room temperature.

To make the jelly balls, I dissolved kanten powder in water and brought the mixture to a rolling boil. This step is important because kanten does not dissolve well with just a gentle simmer.

After boiling, I added a little sugar, cooled the liquid slightly, then poured it into round molds with blueberries.

In Japan, these round molds are easy to find at 100-yen shops, but you can also use small bowls, cups, or any small mold you have.

Here is the mold I used.

But you can always use a small cup to make a larger jelly, which is also delicious!

Once chilled, the jelly becomes clear and refreshing, with blueberries suspended inside like little summer jewels.

(Full recipe in the PDF below.)

Celebrating in My Own Way

※The recording may not be available after 5th of July 8:00 am JST.

What I loved most about this livestream was not just the recipes.

It was the feeling of connection!

I was in my kitchen in Nara, celebrating a holiday from another country with people watching from across the world.

Food can connect with us in a delicious way!

Happy 4th Of July Japanese Style

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Happy 4th of July from Japan!

With love,
Akino

Part 1 Where the Name Came From

Part 2 The Secret YouTube Channel

Part 3 The Year Everything Changed

Part 4 The Dream of a Cookbook

Food has always been there for me.

When I was eight years old, waiting on Amami Island for a father who had promised one year and stayed two and a half, food was there.

It filled a loneliness I did not yet have words for.

I still remember the sashimi, so fresh there was no fishy smell at all, and the purple sweet potatoes in a treat box on the table, ready to eat at any time of day.

So simple, so wild, so deeply nourishing.

When my silent teenage son would not talk to me at dinner, he still came home with an empty bento box every day.

Even when words could not connect us, food did.

When I stood in my pastry shop at 2 a.m., too tired to think and too stubborn to stop, food was there.

The smell of butter and vanilla.

The particular satisfaction of something made well, with real ingredients, by real hands.

Food has always been there in my life.

It cannot fix everything, but it can hold you, no matter what is happening around you.

Food is one of the best cheerleaders in life.

In Japanese, we have a phrase:

身土不二

Shindo Fuji.

Our body and our soil are never separate.

Meaning, what grows close to us can nourish us in a deep way.

Japanese cooking isn’t just about Japanese ingredients: it’s about harmony with what the land provides.

Whether it’s seasonal fish from your coast or vegetables from your local farmer, the wisdom like balance , simplicity, and the connection of body and land, can guide you to create nourishing meals from your own soil.

People of Amami Island have not forgotten about this.

Neighbors would leave vegetables at our door, whatever they had grown too much of, whatever the sea had given them that week.

And we did the same.

That is how people lived.

In rhythm with the seasons.

In harmony with the land.

Eating what was real, what was close, what was alive.

Not because of a supplement.

Not because of a diet plan.

Not because of a wellness program.

Because of real food, eaten together, made by hand.

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I think about the people watching my videos.

In the United States, India, Indonesia, and many other countries.

They are not only looking for sushi or tempura, the Japanese food the world already knows.

They are looking for everyday food with their ingredients.

The food Japanese mothers make on Tuesday evenings when everyone is tired.

They want to feel better in their bodies, sometimes without understanding exactly why.

Japanese home cooking can help with it.

Because it is built on real ingredients and real wisdom passed down through generations.

In Japan, there is another another phrase we live on:

医食同源

Ishoku Dōgen.

Medicine and food come from the same source.

It means that what we eat every day is deeply connected to our health.

Food is not only something to fill the stomach.

It is one of the ways we care for the body before it becomes sick.

What we eat becomes part of how we live.

You are what you eat.

I mean this simply and honestly.

Your body is built from what you feed it.

Every cell, every mood, every day.

When you feed yourself with real food, made with care, something changes.

Not only in your body.

But in the way you live.

I am here to open a door.

To show that Japanese home cooking, a food culture known for balance, simplicity, and longevity, is not complicated.

Think about it, no one gets angry when eating delicious food, right?

I believe, with everything I am and everything I have lived, that if more people cooked and ate real food together, the world would be a gentler place.

This is not a small idea dressed up as a cookbook.

This is why Kitchen Princess Bamboo exists.

This is why I picked up a camera in 2017 and cooked mentsuyu in broken English for an audience of zero.

This is why I closed my pastry shop and started over.

This is why, after everything, the island, corporate job, the waterfall, the pudding, the divorce, my father’s last breath, J’s message from New York — I am still here.

It’s never too late.

For me, those words mean taking up the challenge.

Again and again.

To start over.

To choose the unknown path, even when I am afraid.

For you, I hope they mean something simple but powerful:

It’s never too late to care for yourself through food.

It’s never too late to cook something warm and real, even in a small way.

Because health is the foundation for happiness.

Health is the foundation for becoming the best version of yourself.

As long as you are healthy, you can keep learning, creating, loving, starting over, and moving toward the life you want.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for watching, cooking, reading, and trusting me with your kitchen and your table.

This cookbook, Effortless Japanese Cooking, is for you.

Every ratio, every recipe, every headnote.

Made with love, from my kitchen in Nara.

With love,

Akino

Pre-Order your copy

Part 1 Where the Name Came From

Part 2 The Secret YouTube Channel

Part 3 The Year Everything Changed

Last week, I told you about the test from heaven.

Everything came at once. And I passed.

And it led to my cookbook dream, as a reward.

Let me tell you about that dream now. Because I have been carrying it since I was very young, long before I had any idea how to make it real.

Pre-order your copy today!

I have been in love with cookbooks my whole life.

Not just cooking from them. Literally, living with them!

The weight of them in my hands. The world each author was creating. The smell of the pages. The headnotes…

All of those details excited me!

(Who’s with me?!)

Especially the headnotes, usually it was a small things from daily life, before each recipe where a cook tells you not just how to make something, but why. When to make it. Who it’s for. What it feels like on a cold evening, or a summer morning, or the day someone you love comes home.

When I read a headnote, I don’t just see a recipe. I see a table. A family. A particular quality of light.

I see happiness.

When I was young — and arrogant, as I have already admitted — I sometimes looked at cookbooks and thought:

I could do this better, but the hard truth is…

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Because of her, I kept moving forward.

Her name is J.

Missed the beginning? Start here:

Part 1:Where the Name Came From

Part 2 Why I Kept My YouTube Channel Secret Until I Hit 30,000 Subscribers

She contacted me from northern New York. Her mother was Japanese, and in her last weeks, she had been watching my videos from her hospital bed.

Not just watching but remembering her early days in Japan.

“This is so delicious,” her mother would say, watching my YouTube video together with her daughter beside her. “I used to make it with these ingredients.”

A Japanese mother, far from home, in a hospital bed in New York, finding her way back to her own kitchen through my videos.

J wrote to thank me for creating the videos, as they had a great last few days.

And I stood in my kitchen and cried.

Because I understood something I had only half understood before.

YouTube had more power than I had imagined!

And one idea comes to mind: were there more people like her?

People who had left Japan and missed the taste of home. People who had married into Japanese families and wanted to understand. People who had never been to Japan, but felt that Japanese food spoke to something deep inside them.

Maybe this was something only I could do. Living in Japan, cooking authentic Japanese home cooking, sharing it with the world in English.

That thought changed everything.

I stopped worrying so much about numbers. I stopped comparing myself to other channels. I stopped apologizing for my broken English. www

I just cooked honestly.

From my kitchen in Nara.

For anyone in the world who needed to find their way home.

J and I are still good friends online, and maybe we will see each other on the upcoming US book tour. And J’s endorsement for my cookbook now appears on bookstore sites, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Effortless Japanese Cooking is coming in October 2026 from Tuttle Publishing.

Pre-order your copy

Neither of us would have imagined this would happen.

But I am sure that the mother of my far-away friend awakened something in me.

And then 2020 arrived.

When COVID hit Japan in early 2020, I had already closed 竹姫, my pastry shop.

In 2019, I reached 100,000 subscribers and received the opportunity to write a book about YouTube, “How to start a successful YouTube channel even if you’re in your 40s,” in Japanese.

How to start your YouTube channel

※This book is in Japanese.

Looking back, the timing was almost a miracle.

If I had still been running the shop when the world shut down, I might have gone bankrupt.

The thought still makes me cold.

Instead, I was home with my camera, in my kitchen, continuing to create cooking videos.

And something extraordinary happened.

I had not changed anything.

Same recipes.

Same kitchen.

Same imperfect English.

Same me.

But the view count tripled.

Then quadrupled!

The whole world was suddenly locked down, they started watching YouTube the whole day, and people had to cook by themselves!

People wanted something comforting. Something that felt like it came from a real place, a real person, a real life.

Maybe I was lucky.

Or maybe the universe had been watching over me all along.

I published two books that year, about YouTube, building a channel, and what I had learned.

Eventually, numbers kept growing.

And I made a decision, I will become one of the best Japanese cooking creators, sharing real home cooking in my own way.

I will work hard, really hard.

That was my promise to myself.

But outside my kitchen, everything was becoming harder.

This is where the story gets personal.

The part I have never shared publicly before.

My marriage.

My father.

And the hospital room where everything changed.

If my cooking has ever meant something to you, I would love for you to be here for this part of the story.

Read more

My All-Star Homemade Seasonings.

Having homemade teriyaki sauce on hand is a lifesaver, especially for busy people who don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen, but still don’t want to compromise on taste.

My teriyaki sauce is incredibly versatile! Of course, you can use it for classic teriyaki chicken or fish, but it can do so much more.

Add plenty of grated ginger, and you have the base for Japanese pork ginger. Mix it with vinegar and oil, and it becomes a quick salad dressing. Brush it over a burger patty, drizzle it over tofu, or use it as a finishing sauce for a simple stir-fry.

That is why I think of teriyaki sauce not just as a sauce, but as a Japanese staple seasoning.

This recipe strikes the perfect balance. It is not overly sweet, so it pairs well with just about anything. Once you try homemade, you may never want to go back to store-bought sauce again.

And one more important thing to remember.

We never add garlic to our teriyaki sauce.

Never!

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

Yield: About 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

• 1 cup (240 ml) soy sauc

  e

• 1/2 cup (120 ml) mirin

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• Green part of a long green onion, optional

• Ginger peel, optional

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a pot.

2. Heat over medium-low heat and bring the mixture to a gentle boil.

3. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. This allows the flavors to come together and the aroma to develop.

4. Remove from the heat and let the sauce cool completely.

5. Strain and transfer to a clean bottle or jar.

Storage

Store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

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How to Use Teriyaki Sauce

Classic Teriyaki Chicken

Coat chicken thighs lightly with potato starch, then pan-fry until golden and cooked through. Add teriyaki sauce and let it reduce until the chicken is beautifully glossy.

You can also use chicken breast!

Tofu Teriyaki

Coat sliced firm tofu lightly with potato starch, then pan-fry until golden and cooked through. Add teriyaki sauce and let it reduce until the tofu is beautifully glossy.

Burger Glaze

Brush or drizzle teriyaki sauce over beef or chicken patties while cooking. It gives a Japanese twist to a classic burger and makes it taste extra special.

Pork ginger

Stir-fry thinly sliced pork and onion, season with teriyaki sauce and grated ginger. Classic Japanese Pork Ginger is ready in less than 10 mins!

Yellowtail Teriyaki

Coat yellowtail lightly with potato starch, then pan-fry until golden and cooked through. Add teriyaki sauce and let it reduce until the fish is beautifully glossy.

You can do this with salmon, of course. But yellowtail is more common in Japan.

A Sweet and Savory Sauce for Everyday Cooking

Teriyaki sauce is more than just a marinade or glaze. It is a reliable staple that brings together sweetness, savoriness, and umami in one bottle.

When you have this sauce ready in your refrigerator, everyday cooking becomes much easier.

Simple ingredients. Deep flavor, effortlessly!

Just trust me, making it once in a few month and your quality of meal will dramatically goes up.

With love,
Akino

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Coming October 2026Tuttle Publishing

Effortless
Japanese
Cooking

Super Delicious Homestyle Recipes

Pre-order your copy!

In Japan, you can find onigiri almost anywhere, especially at convenience stores. Tuna mayo, salted salmon, kombu, grilled onigiri… each one has its own charm.

When I first created an onigiri video on YouTube, many people commented, “Nice jelly donuts!” I felt a little offended. w

Later, I learned that the “jelly donuts” joke came from the English-dubbed version of Pokémon. In one famous scene, onigiri was called “jelly-filled donuts,” probably to make the food easier for American children to understand at that time.

Looking at it now, I can kind of understand why. The umeboshi filling does look a little like jelly!

Now, things have changed so much.

Over the last 10 years, Japan has become one of the most popular travel destinations in the world, and more and more people have fallen in love with Japanese food.

Today, many people know the word “onigiri.”

And that makes me very happy.

This week on my YouTube channel, I’m making onigiri for my livestream because it was the winner of the poll I ran recently.

↑Click wait and you are going to be notified!

Anyone can join live stream, I will be very happy to see you!

But for you Substack friends, I want to share five basic and popular types of onigiri that you can easily make at home:

1. Shio Onigiri, simple salted rice ball

2. Tuna Mayo Onigiri

3. Salted Salmon Onigiri

4. Edamame and Shio Kombu Onigiri

5. Yaki Onigiri, pan-fried grilled rice ball

And of course, the most important ingredient is Japanese short-grain rice.

For onigiri, freshly cooked Japanese short-grain rice is best. It is sticky enough to hold its shape, but still soft and fluffy inside.

The most important tip is this:

Don’t squeeze too hard!

The goal is to gently shape the rice while keeping it fluffy.

Vinegar-Salt Water for Your Hands

This helps prevent the rice from sticking to your hands and adds a very light seasoning, if you are not using a plastic wrap.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vinegar, any kind

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ½ cup water

Mix everything together in a small bowl.

Use this to moisten your palms before shaping each onigiri.

1. Shio Onigiri

Simple Salt Onigiri

This is the simplest onigiri, but when the rice is good, it is so delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 bowl hot steamed Japanese short-grain rice, about 100 g

• ⅓ teaspoon salt, shio in Japanese

• Nori seaweed, optional

Instruction

Scoop the hot rice into a rice bowl and let it cool down just a little.

Moisten your hands with the vinegar-salt water, then take a pinch of salt on your palm.

Place the rice onto your moistened palm and gently press it into a triangle shape.

Again, don’t squeeze too hard. You want the rice to hold together, but you also want it to stay soft and fluffy inside.

Wrap with nori seaweed, if you like.

This is the basic form of onigiri, and it is the best way to appreciate the flavor of good rice.

2. Tuna Mayo Onigiri

Tuna mayo is one of the most popular onigiri fillings in Japan, especially at convenience stores.

It is creamy, savory, and very comforting.

Ingredients

• 1 small can tuna, about 70 g

• 2 tablespoons Japanese mayonnaise

• 1 bowl hot steamed Japanese short-grain rice, about 100 g

• 1 sheet nori seaweed

Instruction

Put the tuna into a small bowl.

Add Japanese mayonnaise and mix well, breaking the tuna into very fine pieces.

Scoop half of the rice into a rice bowl.

Place the tuna mayo in the center, then add more rice on top.

Transfer the rice onto your moistened palm and gently press it into a triangle shape.

Wrap with nori seaweed.

If you want to make wafu-style tuna mayo, like the one you often see at FamilyMart, you can season the rice with a little soy sauce, mirin, and dashi when cooking it.

3. Salted Salmon Onigiri

Salted salmon and warm rice are such a classic combination.

This is one of the most traditional and beloved onigiri fillings in Japan.

Ingredients

• 1 slice salmon

• Salt, about 3% of the weight of the salmon

• 1 bowl hot steamed Japanese short-grain rice, about 100 g

• 1 shiso leaf, optional

Instruction

Sprinkle salt over the salmon.

Use about 3% of the weight of the salmon.

Let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.

To cook it, line a frying pan with parchment paper.

Place the salted salmon on top, cover with a lid, and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Flip it over and cook for another 3 minutes, or until fully cooked.

Crumble the salmon into flakes.

You can keep these salmon flakes in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

To make the onigiri, scoop half of the rice into a rice bowl.

Place the salmon flakes in the center, then add more rice on top.

Transfer the rice onto your moistened palm and gently press it into a triangle shape.

Wrap with a shiso leaf, if you like.

The fragrance of shiso makes this onigiri feel extra refreshing.

4. Edamame and Shio Kombu Onigiri

This onigiri is colorful, simple, and very satisfying.

Shio kombu has a deep salty and umami flavor, so you don’t need much seasoning.

Ingredients

• 1 bowl hot steamed Japanese short-grain rice, about 100 g

• 1 teaspoon shio kombu

• 2 tablespoons edamame

• 1 sheet nori seaweed, optional

• Shaved kombu, optional

Instruction

Mix the hot steamed rice with shio kombu and edamame.

If you don’t have shio kombu, furikake is a good substitute.

Once everything is mixed, transfer the rice onto your moistened palm and gently press it into a triangle shape.

You can wrap it with nori seaweed, or with shaved kombu if you have it.

This one is especially nice when you want something simple but still full of flavor.

5. Yaki Onigiri

Pan-Fried Grilled Onigiri

Yaki onigiri is one of my favorites.

The outside becomes savory and slightly crisp, while the inside stays soft and fluffy.

Ingredients

• 1 bowl hot steamed Japanese short-grain rice, about 100 g

• 1 tablespoon katsuobushi

• ½ teaspoon soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon mirin

Instruction

First, moisten the katsuobushi with ½ teaspoon soy sauce.

This is called okaka.

Mix the okaka with the rice.

Transfer the rice onto your moistened palm and shape it into a triangle.

For yaki onigiri, press the rice a little more firmly than regular onigiri so it holds its shape while pan-frying.

Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat.

If you have a tamagoyaki pan, that works beautifully too.

Grease the surface with sesame oil.

Pan-fry the onigiri on both sides until lightly golden.

Then brush both sides with soy sauce and mirin.

Lower the heat and pan-fry again until fragrant and slightly crisp on the outside.

This is yaki onigiri.

You can also make ochazuke with this yaki onigiri.

Just place it in a bowl and pour hot tea or dashi over it.

It is so fragrant and delicious.

Onigiri is one of those foods that shows the simplicity of Japanese home cooking.

A bowl of good rice, a little salt, and a simple filling can become something deeply comforting and filling.

Once you learn the basic shape, you can make endless variations with whatever you have in your kitchen.

I hope you’ll try making onigiri at home and enjoy your version of it!

And remember, don’t squeeze too hard!!!

Keep it fluffy, keep it simple, and enjoy.

With love,
Akino

I’ll be sharing more Japanese home-cooking tips, behind-the-scenes stories, and cookbook updates here on Substack. If you enjoy learning the small details that make Japanese food feel truly homemade, I’d be so happy to have you join me as a paid member.

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My upcoming cookbook will also include many easy, feel-good Japanese recipes you can make in your own kitchen. I can’t wait to share more with you soon.

Pre-order my First Cookbook

When I turned 40, something shifted.

Not dramatically.

Not all at once.

Just an uneasy, persistent feeling, like drowning slowly in lukewarm water.

I was still running 竹姫 (Take-Hime, meaning Princess Bamboo), still waking before dawn. Still baking, serving, cleaning, closing.

My Take-Hime pudding had won the grand prix.

Sanae Takaichi, who was then a congresswoman in Nara, was even a fan of my Pudding. Who could have known she would later become Japan’s first female Prime Minister?

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And yet.

How much longer can I keep doing this?

I sensed there was another way.

I just didn’t know yet what it looked like.

Then Japan changed.

Around 2017, tourism was booming. More and more visitors were arriving from China, Taiwan, Korea, and all across the region. Nara, with its deer, temples, and ancient light, was suddenly on every travel list.

A friend called me.

“Akino, can you teach a cooking class? In English?”

In fact, I was already teaching baking to local housewives on weekends.

I said yes before I had time to think.

And then I panicked.

English was the language I had studied at university. It was the language I had once used at the Swiss jewelry company when I worked with Italian suppliers.

But that was a long time ago.

And cooking English is its own language.

But I had said yes.

So I started studying English again.

Late at night, after the shop was closed and my son was asleep, I opened YouTube.

I watched every cooking channel I could find. Mostly Martha Stewart, whom I have admired for years.

I watched the way she spoke. The words she chose. The way she explained each step.

I watched obsessively.

And, the cooking class went well!

And, I start thinking, Maybe this is I want to do.

Teaching Japanese cooking in English!

Around the same time, I was having difficulties in my relationship with my son.

He was thirteen, almost fourteen.

The age when boys go quiet.

When the child who used to tell you everything suddenly has nothing to say at dinner, nothing to say in the car, nothing to say at all.

I took his silence personally.

I thought something was wrong.

Looking back, it was completely, totally, absolutely normal.

He was a teenager.

I was just too serious. 😄

But at the time, I wanted to do something.

Something that would crack us open.

Something impactful.

I found a temple online: Shokouji, in the mountains of Osaka countryside. It was the only temple in the area that opened its waterfall training to anyone.

I signed us up.

What I didn’t know until we arrived was that the monk who ran the temple was also the owner of a large jewelry company. His mother had founded the temple. He had taken it over, along with the business.

And his company had been a client of the Swiss jewelry firm where I had worked twenty years before.

My boss had been in charge of his account.

I stood at the temple gate and thought,

Everything is connected.

I still think that.

Even during those quiet teenage years, my son still asked me to make his bento.

He never went to the cafeteria.

It was summer, just before my son’s fourteenth birthday.

We stood under the waterfall together.

Something loosened.

In both of us.

On the way home, my son, who had said almost nothing to me for months, turned to me and said,

“Mom. I want to be a YouTuber.”

“OK,” I said. “Let’s do it together.”

He did absolutely nothing after that. 😄

But I did.

Years later, during his summer internship, he was in charge of a YouTube channel and broke the company record by gaining 10 million views.

So maybe the seed was planted there after all.

Just like that, in 2017, I started my YouTube channel.

Secretly.

Nobody knew except my son.

Not my friends.

Not my customers.

I told myself I was prepared.

Completely prepared.

I uploaded Homemade Mentsuyu: concentrated dashi stock made from scratch with real bonito, real kombu, and real dried shiitake.

Pure, traditional, authentic.

Nobody watched.

www

I had imagined, and I am embarrassed to admit this now, that it might go viral.

It did not go viral.

The truth is, it was too niche.

Too pure.

The world was not quite ready for homemade mentsuyu from a Japanese woman in Nara cooking in broken English.

But I kept going.

My English in those early videos was horrible.

I knew it.

I could hear it.

Every video felt like standing under a waterfall again, cold and loud and slightly terrifying.

So I kept the channel to myself.

No announcement, no sharing with friends, no posting to social media.

I just cooked, filmed, uploaded, and waited.

Quietly and persistently.

The way I had tested that pudding recipe, one batch, ten batches, fifty batches, I made one video, ten videos, fifty videos.

And slowly, something started to happen.

People found me.

From America.

From Canada.

From the UK.

People who wanted to learn Japanese home cooking and couldn’t find it explained simply and warmly, in a way that felt like a real kitchen, not a cooking school.

By the time I had 30,000 subscribers, I had told almost nobody.

30,000 people were watching me cook.

And most of the people in my life had no idea.

I stood in my kitchen one evening and thought,

Maybe I can become something larger than a pastry shop owner in a small city.

Not larger in an arrogant way.

I had learned my lesson about arrogance in September 2001.

Larger in the sense of connection.

I felt the possibility that Japanese home cooking, the food I had grown up with, the food that had shaped me on Amami Island, and through fifteen years of running a pastry shop, could travel.

I kept both lives going for two more years.

The pastry shop and the YouTube channel.

Dawn to midnight.

And then I hit 100,000 subscribers.

Next week: Part 3

The year everything fell apart. COVID. A divorce. My father’s diagnosis. And why I kept cooking anyway.

My first cookbook, Effortless Japanese Cooking, is coming October 2026 from Tuttle Publishing — everything I learned in that little kitchen in Nara, now in one beautiful book.

Pre-order your copy today!

Pre-order your copy

With Love,

Akino