i. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and pulp from the center of the kabocha.

ii. Lay your squash on a stable cutting board and use a sharp knife to shave off the tough green skin in downward strokes.

iii. Once peeled, chop the flesh into large, irregular chunks.

i. Preheat the oven to 180℃ (356°F). Toss bread cubes with olive oil, salt, dried herb mix, and melted butter. Fold in thin ribbons of tender kabocha peel.

ii. Spread in a single layer and bake on an upper rack for 10 minutes until golden and crisp.

i. While we wait for the oven, melt unsalted butter over medium-low heat. Add the thinly sliced onion and salt. Cook, stirring, until the onion turns translucent and sweet but not browned. Stop just before golden.

ii. Stir in the kabocha chunks with another pinch of salt. Toss for 1-2 minutes to coat in butter and start softening the surface. Seasoning now helps the squash absorb salt evenly later and prevents flat tasting purée.

iii. When the edges start to break, add water.

iv. Cover and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes until the pumpkin crushes easily with a spoon. Keep the bubbling gentle to preserve color and a fresh, sweet aroma.

v. If liquid reduces too fast, add a splash of hot water to maintain a shallow “just-covered” level.

i. Take the pot off heat and blend with a blender (or immersion blender), starting low and moving to high, sweeping the head across the pot to catch fibers.

ii. When smooth, add cold unsalted butter and blend 20-30 seconds more to micro-emulsify for gloss and body.

i. If you want the kind of texture that makes guests ask “Did you really make this at home?”, pour your blended soup through a fine-mesh strainer or chinois into a clean pot.

ii. Use the back of a ladle or spoon to press the puree through, leaving behind any lingering fibers or skin fragments. Yes, it’s an extra dish to wash, but the payoff is soup so smooth it coats a spoon in a glossy, unbroken ribbon.

i. Return the soup to a clean pot and stir in heavy cream and milk (you can use half and half if it’s available). Warm gently over low heat until steamy and slightly thickened, but do not boil.

ii. Add another pinch of salt and a sprinkle nutmeg. Set the heat to low and let the soup barely simmer, about 3-5 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent a skin from forming.

Once dairy enters the pot, high heat is your enemy. Boiling causes the milk proteins to curdle and the cream to separate into greasy puddles. Keep it at a lazy simmer.

iii. Turn off the heat and dissolve white miso. Make sure to taste test at this point!

i. Ladle the hot soup into warmed bowls. Crack white pepper over the surface, scatter a handful of those kabocha-skin croutons on top, and finish with a pinch of chopped fresh parsley for a pop of green against the orange.

Start by heating a generous splash of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and your mix of mushrooms (maitake, enoki, and shiitake) to the pan.

Cook everything together, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms start to develop a slight golden color and the aroma of garlic fills your kitchen. Don’t rush this step! Letting the mushrooms caramelize a little really brings out their savory depth.

Once you see those beautiful golden edges on your mushrooms and smell the garlic, add salt and give everything a gentle stir. The salt helps draw out any remaining moisture while enhancing the natural flavors.

Mix soy sauce, miso paste, sake, and mirin together in a small bowl, then pour it into the pan.

Give it a mix and once the mushrooms are evenly coated, cover the pan with a lid and reduce the heat to medium-low for 4 minutes of steam-cooking.

After 4 minutes, remove the lid and turn off the heat.

Add black pepper and butter, stirring everything together while the residual heat melts the butter into a glossy coating.

Spoon the mushroom mixture generously over bowls of hot rice. Drizzle a bit of toasted sesame oil on top for aroma, then finish with sliced green onions and crispy fried onion bits for crunch.

Yes, it’s that easy!

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Start by trimming just the very bottom of the enoki mushroom stems. You want to keep as much of the mushroom as possible while removing any tough or discolored parts.

Gently separate the clusters into smaller bundles and place them in a large mixing bowl.

Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and toss thoroughly to coat every strand.

Add the black pepper, soy sauce, grated garlic, powdered cheese, and dried herb mix to the oiled enoki.

Using your hands or tongs, toss everything together until each mushroom strand is evenly coated with the seasoning mixture.

Next, mix potato starch in to create the final coating.

The goal is to create a flavorful base coating that will crisp up beautifully during cooking.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, making sure it coats the entire surface. Spread your seasoned enoki mixture evenly across the pan, creating a single layer that covers the entire bottom.

You’re essentially creating one giant enoki pancake.

Once it’s spread out, cover the top with a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper, then place a flat, heavy object on top.

Something like a water-filled pot works great. Turn the heat to medium.

Once you hear that telltale sizzling sound, maintain the pressure for exactly 5 minutes. You’re listening for a steady, gentle sizzle.

Carefully flip the whole thing and repeat the same process for another 4 minutes to crisp the other side.

Remove the weight one final time and flip the enoki back to its original side. Sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly across the top.

Let the cheese melt slightly so that it adheres to the surface, then quickly flip once more so the cheese is now against the hot pan surface.

This creates a crispy, golden cheese crust that’s absolutely irresistible. Cook without the weight for just 1-2 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown.

Transfer your crispy enoki creation to a cutting board and slice it like a pizza into wedges.

Serve immediately with ketchup for dipping, or try it with chopped green onions and a squeeze of fresh lemon for a brighter flavor profile.

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Start by combining all sauce ingredients in a small bowl (sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic paste, dried chili flakes, chopped green onions, and sesame seeds). Give everything a good stir and set aside to let the flavors meld while you prepare the mushrooms.

When I first tested this, I tried a bit more rice vinegar, but found the flavor most balanced when soy sauce and rice vinegar are equal parts.

Trim the root end of the enoki cluster as close to the base as possible. You want to keep as much of those delicate stems as you can.

Gently separate the mushrooms into bite-sized bundles with your hands, then lightly sprinkle with salt.

Here’s where my technique gets a bit unconventional: toss the mushrooms with olive oil first.

Then coat them thoroughly with potato starch.

I learned this trick through trial and error. At first, I tried coating the mushrooms directly with starch, but the coating wouldn’t stick properly and fall off during cooking.

Adding oil first creates a base layer that helps the starch cling to every surface of the mushrooms. This method transforms ordinary enoki mushrooms into impossibly crispy, golden clusters.

Heat your large frying pan over medium heat and add olive oil. I arrange the coated enoki in a single layer.

Then press down firmly with a spatula, aiming for a thin “mushroom pancake” and keep moving the spatula from one to another to ensure they’re all evenly crisped up.

Cook for 4-5 minutes per side, continuously pressing down to ensure even browning and maximum crispiness.

When both sides are a nice golden color and crispy, take the enoki out of the pan and let them cool down a bit. Since the press-frying can create cohesive clusters, you might need to gently separate them by hand or with kitchen scissors.

While they’re still warm, dip the crispy mushrooms into your prepared sauce.

Then arrange them over steamed rice.

Pour the rest of the sauce over the rice, along with any other tasty bits like green onions and chili flakes. Throw in a bit of black pepper at the end, and you’ve got a dish that’s about to become your new go-to.

The crispy, savory mushrooms and the tangy sauce over warm rice are absolutely divine.

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Start by preheating your oven to 160°C (320°F).

While you wait, wash the sweet potatoes with warm water and gently rub the skin with a clean cloth or sponge. Be careful not to use an abrasive or scrub too hard, as the skin of sweet potato is quite delicate.

Since they are washed, the skin will be edible once cooked (optional). I also like to place them in a bowl of lightly salted water while I wait (only necessary if you plan to eat the skin).

Place your sweet potatoes on a baking tray.

If you want the texture to be extra moist, wrap each sweet potato tightly with foil. Do not pierce or cut the potatoes, this can actually allow moisture to escape and dry them out.

One step further: Wrap with dampened kitchen paper, then wrap with foil.

The method you choose should be based on how much moisture you want to keep in. Unwrapped will be evenly cooked with firmer skin, wrapped with foil is softer but I found it slightly less smooth. The one wrapped with damp kitchen paper and foil was very similar to foil only, but the skin felt softer.

I personally found that I enjoyed the texture of the unwrapped sweet potato the most, but it’s down to personal preference.

Once your oven is hot, place the oven tray on the middle shelf and bake the sweet potatoes for 60-90 minutes.

The time depends on the size of the sweet potato, so check it around the hour mark. You should be able to pierce it with ease. I find sweet potatoes between 150-200g will take 60-70 minutes, whereas the large 300g+ ones take the full 90 minutes.

When you take the sweet potatoes out of the oven, they will be piping hot. Let them cool for a while and eat them warm.

Enjoy!

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Let’s do some prep work before we get to the fun part of cooking.

Torijiru uses a variety of vegetables, so chopping them up first will make things go smoother. Here’s how I prepared each one:

• Burdock Root and Japanese Leeks: Wash the leek and scrub the burdock root to clean off any dirt. Cut diagonal slices.
• Carrot: Slice them about 1 cm thick, and then cut those slices into half-moons.
• Daikon Radish: Go a bit thicker here, about 2 cm, and also cut into half-moons or quarters.
• Onion: Thinly sliced.
• Garlic & Ginger: Mince these finely. They’re going to add a lovely aroma to the dish.
• Enoki Mushrooms: Just remove the roots and bottom of the stems.

Now, let’s tackle the chicken.

If you’re using chicken thighs, the easiest way to peel off the skin is by hand; no knife required. For the meat, cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Next, let’s render some chicken fat. Add oil to the pot and cook the chicken skin over low or medium-low heat until it’s crispy on both sides.

This chicken oil is the secret to the depth of flavor in this dish. Once it’s crispy, remove the skin and place it on kitchen paper.

Leave it to cool for a few minutes and then cut into thin strips. This will be used as a garnish at the end.

In the same pot with rich chicken fat, cook the chicken meat until sealed on all sides.

After that, add the garlic, ginger, onion, and salt. Continue frying until the onion is soft. This step really starts to build the flavors.

Once the onions are soft, add the root vegetables (carrots, radish, and burdock root) and stir-fry them for a couple of minutes.

Next, add the enoki mushrooms, leeks, dashi, and sake. Heat it over medium heat until it’s just about to boil, then reduce the heat to simmer.

Cover the pot and let it cook until the daikon and carrots are tender to your liking. In my experience, this takes about 10 minutes.

At this point, you should already be able to see how rich this soup is- creamy and a little cloudy!

As soon as the carrots and radishes are slightly softened, turn off the heat. Stir in the miso paste and soy sauce, which brings the whole dish together.

To serve, ladle the Torijiru into bowls.

Top it with finely chopped green onions and the crispy chicken skin that we cooked earlier. It’s the perfect crunchy finishing touch to this hearty soup.

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i. Combine dashi stock, Japanese soy sauce, and mirin in a pot and bring to a steady boil at 100℃ (212°F). Let it bubble 1-2 minutes to burn off the alcohol of mirin. You’ll notice the alcoholic aroma fade to mellow.

ii. Turn off the heat and add salt. Mix until dissolved and leave on the warm stove for later. Reheat right before serving if necessary.

i. Heat a skillet on medium, lay the bacon slices in a single layer and flip once edges are deep mahogany and begin to crisp up.

ii. Reduce the skillet to medium-low and crack in the eggs. Cook until whites are just set and edges lightly frilly, 2-4 minutes.

iii. For set whites with tender yolks, you can cover the pan for the last 30-60 seconds so trapped steam finishes the tops. If browning races ahead, nudge the heat down.

i. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling 100℃ (212°F) boil. Boil udon per the package until bouncy with no hard core, then drain and briefly rinse under cold running water to wash off excess starch and restore snap.

ii. Dip back into hot water about 90℃ (194°F) for 10-15 seconds to rewarm without diluting the broth.

i. Slice two 7-10 mm pieces of kamaboko per bowl. Along the pink rim, cut toward the center without severing.

ii. Open the flap, cut it down the middle to form “ears.”

iii. Then fold both under and tuck the edge into the center slit so they stand.

iv. Press in a black sesame “eye” and dot a chopstick in ketchup for a tiny blush.

i. Reheat the broth to a gentle 95℃ (203°F) simmer, then divide hot noodles and broth into bowls. Top each with two strips of bacon, one sunny-side-up egg, two kamaboko rabbits, chopped green onion, and a small handful of tenkasu (crispy tempura flakes).

ii. Taste the broth. If too salty to your liking, add a splash of hot water, if too light, finish with a few drops of soy.

Measure out the rice and pour it into a sieve placed over a bowl. Fill it with water and gently rub the rice to wash it. Once the water becomes cloudy, drain the water and repeat three times in total.

Fill the bowl again and leave the rice to soak for 30 minutes. (If you live in a cold climate or it’s winter, soak for 1 hour.)

Drain the water and let the rice dry in the sieve for 5 minutes. Keep an empty bowl underneath to catch any dripping water.

Using a rice cooker is the most convenient and foolproof way to cook mochi rice by simply using the regular setting. Alternatively, cook the rice in a pot on the stove using the instructions below.

Transfer the rice to the pot and add 115ml water for every 100g of mochi rice. In my recipe that makes eight ohagi, I use 150g of mochi rice and between 170-175ml of water.

Shake the pot to level the rice and place a lid on top. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and once it starts to boil, set a timer for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, adjust the heat for the following times:

• medium-low – 2 minutes
• low – 5 minutes
• high – 10 seconds
• Turn off the heat (do not remove the lid!)

Leave the pot on the warm stove and allow the rice to finish cooking in the residual steam for 15 minutes. This step is vital to ensure the rice is fully cooked and it is essential that you do not remove the lid.

While you wait for the rice to steam, shape the anko into balls. The amount of anko used depends on whether you want to wrap the rice or use the anko as a filling. In my recipe, I make four ohagi with the anko on the outside and four kinako (roasted soybean powder) ohagi with anko in the center using 50g and 30g balls respectively.

Once rolled, cover and store in the fridge until it’s time to assemble.

Once the rice has finished steaming, mix it and add sugar and salt. Mix thoroughly to distribute evenly and crush the rice with the rice paddle as you go. It should be about half crushed.

Transfer the rice to a wide container to help it cool faster and cover with plastic wrap touching the surface to stop it from drying out. Once it’s cool to the touch, it’s ready to be shaped.

Again, the amount of rice used depends on whether they are wrapped or stuffed with anko. For wrapped, make 30-35g balls and for stuffed, make 50g balls.

Take a 50g ball of anko and press it into a flat circle. You can lightly dampen your hands to stop it from sticking or use a piece of plastic wrap. You can reuse the wrap for each one to reduce waste.

Place the 30g ball of rice in the center and then wrap it up.

You can perfect the shape while it’s still in the plastic wrap and then transfer it to a plate or container. I like using cupcake cases to avoid over handling them.

Take a 50g ball of cooked mochigome and press it into a flat circle. The bigger it is, the easier it is to wrap the anko. Like shaping the anko in the previous step, you can use your hands and lightly sprinkle some water on your palms to stop it from sticking. However, mochi rice is extremely sticky, and plastic wrap works much better for this. Once flattened, place a 30g ball of anko in the center.

Wrap the rice around the anko until sealed.

Mix kinako, sugar and salt in a bowl and then roll the ohagi until fully coated.

I recommend shaping them all first and coating right before serving for the best presentation.

Enjoy your homemade ohagi or store it using the tips below!

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Wash the surface of the burdock and then scrape off the skin using the back of a knife or a steel scrubber. The skin of burdock root is very thin so avoid using a peeler as this can waste a lot of the vegetable itself.

Once the skin has been removed, diagonally cut into 2mm thick slices. Cutting diagonally will create a larger surface area that will absorb more flavor. Place the pieces in a bowl of cold water and add a dash of rice vinegar. This prevents discoloration and removes some bitterness.

Scrape the skin off the ginger using a spoon and then cut into thin shreds (julienne). Place the ginger in a separate bowl of cold water to soften the flavor slightly. The ginger should not be too overpowering in shigureni.

I recommend purchasing beef that has already been thinly sliced, however if it is hard to come by where you live, buy a block and freeze until firm (not frozen) and thinly slice it yourself using a sharp knife.

Cut the thinly sliced beef into approximately 2cm (1 inch) pieces.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and then turn off the heat. Prepare a bowl of ice cold water ready for later.

Blanch the beef for about 30 seconds or until lightly cooked. This technique mimics the cooking method of Shabu Shabu and keeps the meat soft and tender. Be careful not to overcook (it will be cooked further later).

Drain the water and transfer the beef to the bowl of ice-cold water. Let it cool for a few minutes and then drain. Set aside for later.

Heat a frying pan on medium and add a generous drizzle of sesame oil. Drain the burdock root and at it to the hot pan, stir fry for 2 minutes.

Drain the ginger and add it to the pan along with white wine, soy sauce, light brown sugar and mirin. Mix well and simmer over a medium heat until reduced by two-thirds.

Add the beef to the pan and increase the heat to medium-high.

Stir fry everything together until the liquid is more or less gone and the meat is coated, then turn off the heat.

Transfer to serving bowls and top with a sprinkle of chopped green onion and sesame seeds (optional).

Enjoy!

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i. Pour dashi into a pot and bring it to just below a boil, aiming for gentle movement, not a rolling boil, around 90-95℃ (194-203°F). This keeps the broth clear and prevents kombu or bonito from turning bitter or murky.

ii. Once the dashi is nearly boiling, season with soy sauce to round the umami. If you’re cooking gluten-free, swap in gluten-free tamari. If you prefer a lighter sodium profile, hold back here and let the miso carry the seasoning.

i. Add the prepared mushrooms and return the broth to a gentle simmer at 85-90℃ (185-194°F). Cook 3-4 minutes, until shiitake edges look supple and enoki/shimeji turn silky.

i. Turn off the heat. Measure miso into a mesh ladle or strainer, dip it into the hot broth, and whisk or press it through so it dissolves smoothly without lumps. If miso escapes in clumps, just keep stirring through the strainer until the last bits dissolve.

If you don’t have a mesh ladle like below, place the miso in a small heatproof bowl and add 1-2 tbsp of the hot broth. Whisk it into a smooth pourable paste before adding it to the pot.

ii. Stir the pot to redistribute the miso, then ladle into bowls. Garnish with chopped green onions for freshness and a little bite. Serve immediately so the miso doesn’t settle. If it does settle as you serve, give each bowl a quick swirl with chopsticks.