Japanese Food

This is another somen soup dish I love.

I make this when I want something light yet rich and satisfying, if that makes sense.

The soup is not the cream type, but it’s full of flavor.

Then chili garlic oil was drizzled at the end.

Tasty!!

This dish is good cold or hot.

Topped off with tempeh, scallion, and sesame seeds.

Ankake means thickend sauce in Japanese.

Spaghetti served with this type of sauce is very popular in the Nagoya region where I grew up.

It’s far from so-called gourmet type of dish, but it’s loved by the locals.

I’ve never made it myself, because there is a restaurant called Yokoi https://yokoi-anspa.jp/ in Nagoya that makes the best Ankake spaghetti (I believe they are the one who created this dish), and I would just go to the restaurant whenever I had craving for it.

Now living in the U.S., I can’t find it anywhere near me (Unfortunately no Japanese restaurants in the U.S. make this dish).

I would tweak things a bit next time, but overall my first Ankake Spaghetti turned out really good.

Definitely satisfied my craving.

Noodles, veggies, soup, together, cold, and refreshing.

This was exactly what I needed!

Yaki-bitashi is a Japanese cooking method.

It means fry (or sautee) first and then marinade.

I gathered all my favorite vegetables for this dish.

Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, but I tend to go for smaller sized versions like the one I grew up with in Japan.

Their seeds are smaller and the skin is softer.

So when I found these at Costco, I decided to try them.

Funny they call them “baby” eggplant, but this is the regular size in Japan.

Many Japanese noodles have become known in the U.S. the past several years (e.g., ramen, udon, soba, etc.), but I don’t think a lot of people know this one, “somen.”

Somen is the thinnest version of Japanese noodles (I believe).

And we (and I) enjoy eating Somen in summer for some reason.

This is good hot or at room temperature, but GREAT cold!

Napolitan Spaghetti is a popular spaghetti dish in Japan.

Because of the name, I believed it was an Italian dish for the longest time.

It’s basically spaghetti sauteed with veggies like onions, peppers, and sausage, and coated with ketchup.

But first I want to talk about the sausage.

This is vegan sausage, just in case you are wondering.

I found this at a co-op store.

We really like it.

Everything from taste to texture, to look.

I cooked them with a little oil, but the sausage gives out a lot of oil itself.

(I’ve since started cooking these with no oil, and it works out better.)

This was so tasty!