Japanese Food Made Easy

If you love Japanese food but feel intimidated by the difficult techniques and hard-to-source ingredients, you are who Aya Nishimura, the Japanese-born food stylist and home economist, had in mind when creating Japanese Food Made Easy. Within the beautifully styled pages of her new cookbook, Nishimura proves that all you need for delicious Japanese food at home are well-selected ingredients and some straightforward methods. Nishimura covers all bases, with healthy and fresh recipes for favourites including ramen, gyoza, teriyaki, tonkatsu and sushi. Expect back-to-basic methods such as how to make steamed rice properly and recipes worthy of a showy dinner party.

Japanese-Style Curry

The Japanese are experts at inventing their own versions of foreign dishes. They have a slight obsession with curry, so naturally they have created a Japanese version.

Serves: 4

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

5 cloves garlic, grated

30g fresh ginger, peeled & grated

4 skinless chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 tbsp butter

¼ cup plain (all-purpose) flour

3 tbsp mild curry powder 200g tinned chopped tomatoes

1.2L good-quality chicken stock

2 tbsp tomato sauce (ketchup)

3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1½ tsp honey

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 small apples, peeled & grated

2 carrots, coarsely grated Sea salt

300g Japanese rice, steamed

To serve: 1 tsp sea salt cornichons, tiny pickled onions & a soft-boiled egg

Heat the oil in a large, deep saucepan over low heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook until it turns a deep golden colour and begins to caramelise.

Increase the heat to medium and stir-fry the vegetables until the onion is golden.

Reduce the heat, add the chicken and fry for 3 mins. Add the butter and flour and stir for 2 mins. Add the curry powder, then increase the heat and cook until aromatic. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 5mins. Add 1 cup of the stock and mix well.