Does anyone know any Japanese food that is cheap and the would make good samples?

Question

We are holding this Cultural Festival type thing and I need Japanese dishes that are tastey, cheap, and look great to help my team win.

Answer 1

You are best off going with some type of sushi. If you'd like something cheap, go with two traditional and easy to make rolls... cucumber rolls or Japanese pickle rolls. You can put a really small amount of cucumber in each roll, and same with the pickles. Japanese pickles are easy to find at any Asian food store, and they are delicately colored a deep pink or yellow. They'll probably look more impressive than the cucumbers. To make them look more "authentic" or "Japanese," try dipping them in sesame seeds before serving. In addition, small trays of soy sauce with wasabi would look really cultural.

If you want to go with hot food, a tasty idea is gyoza, a Japanese pot sticker. These are a bit more expensive and are not extremely easy to make. They require much more preparation time, and numerous ingredients. However, they're more impressive than ordinary sushi rolls, and the recipe can be found anywhere online. Just type in "gyoza recipe." Good luck!

Oh, and even if you don't choose to make gyozas for your Cultural Festival, try them sometime anyway. They're delicious. =]

Answer 2

I'd go with onigiri and chicken teriyaki

Onigiri
steamed rice
furikake
nori strips

Form the cooked rice into small balls (there are molds you can buy - try looking for the small 5 section one, it'll make 5 oval shaped onigiri at one time). Roll in furikake or wrap with a thin strip of nori and serve while warm.

Chicken Teriyaki

3-4 pounds boneless chicken cut into bite sized pieces

Marinade:

1-1/2 cups water
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons mirin, or rice wine vinegar (optional)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 thick, 1-inch piece ginger, crushed

Combine marinade ingredients and pour over chicken. Marinate in the refrigerator at least 24 hours. You can either grill these or fry in a pan until cooked through. Pile on a plate and serve with toothpicks so people can grab a bite of chicken.

Answer 3

I live in Japan and there are two things that are popular, easy, cheap, and go along way Yakisoba and Yakitori.
If you live where there is an Asian grocery store close by you can buy yakisoba and yakitori sauce. If not there are several good recipes on the net. You might also look for a domburi recipe. These suggestions are all easy to make and usually appeal to most peoples tastes.
Hope this helps and GOOD LUCK!

Answer 4

Onigiri is cheap and easy to make. You would have to use only a rice and nori wrapper. Pressed the rice and formed it in triangular shape.
Tonkatsu, make breaded-pork cutlet.
Mochi, japanese rice cake.
Furikake, seasonings for rice.

Answer 5

I love seaweed salad. spicy lobster roll is also very tasty- but expensive.

Answer 6

Passport to Japan: Edamame, Gyoza, Rice and Teriyaki Beef
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray and Kaeko Sherman
Gyoza, Rice and Edamame:
3/4 cup short grain rice
2 cups edamame, soybeans, from the frozen vegetables section of large markets
1 1/2 cups shredded Napa cabbage plus 1 large whole leaf
Coarse salt
1/4 pound ground pork
1/4 cup 300 count baby shrimp, a handful, chopped
1 tablespoons sake, or a splash mirin may be substituted
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
1 scallion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon tamari dark aged soy, available on Asian food aisle of market
1 teaspoon sesame oil
A few grinds black pepper
12 gyoza or won ton wrappers

Teriyaki Steak:
2 fillet of beef steaks, 1 inch thick, 6 ounces each
1 teaspoons steak seasoning or salt and pepper
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce or 1/4 cup tamari dark soy mixed with 2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon light oil: wok oil, peanut oil or vegetable oil
4 scallions chopped on an angle into 1 inch pieces

Dipping Sauce for Gyoza:
3 tablespoons tamari dark soy, eyeball it
1 teaspoon hot sweet mustard, from Asian foods aisle or other prepared mustard
2 teaspoons rice wine or white vinegar

Place 2 pots of water on to boil: 1 pasta pot with a few inches of water in it, 1 medium sauce pan with 1 1/2 cups of water in it. Cover both pots and bring all the water to a boil.

When the smaller pot of water comes to a boil, stir in rice and return water to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Place a colander over the pot and add the edamame to it. Place the pot cover over the edamame nesting it in the colander. Steam the edamame 5 minutes, then remove them to 2 small bowls, salt them and cover bowls with plastic or foil to keep warm. Set colander aside and return pot lid to rice, stirring rice before replacing the lid.

While the edamame are steaming, before removing them to the bowls, you have a pocket of time to work with. Add 1/2 cup, a couple of handfuls of Napa cabbage to the second pot of water. Blanch the shredded cabbage 1 minute and remove with a spider or tongs to paper towels to drain and cool. Chop shredded blanched cabbage. Combine meat, chopped salad shrimp, sake, ginger, 1 scallion, 1 tablespoon tamari, sesame oil, black pepper and cooled, chopped cabbage in a bowl. Place 2 teaspoons of filling on each won ton wrapper. Wet your fingertips to help seal won ton wrappers. The gyoza should look like small half moons.

Place 1 or 2 Napa cabbage leaves into the bottom of the colander. The leaves will prevent your dumplings from sticking to the surface of colander. Arrange dumplings on Napa leaf in colander and steam over second larger pot of simmering water. Place large pot lid over the colander to trap the steam. Dumplings need to steam 10 to 12 minutes. While you are working on this, go back and forth with the edamame as necessary per above directions.

While dumplings work, slice the fillet steaks thinly across the grain. Toss with seasoning and teriyaki or tamari and sherry. Heat a nonstick skillet over high heat. Add oil and the meat and stir-fry. When meat browns at edges, add scallions and cook 2 minutes more, stirring frequently.

Use remaining raw shredded Napa cabbage as a bed to serve your dumplings on. Plate all of your items on little dishes and in small bowls.

Mix dipping sauce of tamari, mustard and vinegar for the gyoza and set out alongside dumplings.

Warm or cold sake, leftover from cooking, is the perfect beverage and chilled navel oranges or tangerines make a refreshing end to this meal.


Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
User Rating: 5 Stars

Episode#: TM1D19

Japanese Chicken, Water Chestnut, and Scallion Yakitori
Recipe courtesy Gourmet magazine
For the marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup dry Sherry
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon minced, peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the skewers:
8 skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 36 (1 1/2-inch) pieces
2 bunches scallions (about 10), the white and pale green parts cut into 24 (1 1/2-inch) lengths
24 canned whole water chestnuts, rinsed and drained
Lemon wedges, as needed
Mustard, preferably Chinese-style, as needed

Equipment: 12 wooden skewers for skewering the chicken and vegetables

To make the marinade: In a saucepan whisk together the soy sauce, Sherry, sugar, ginger, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Let the marinade cool. (The marinade can be made in advance, and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.)

To make the skewers: On each skewer alternate 3 pieces of chicken with 2 scallion lengths and 2 water chestnuts. (Skewer the water chestnuts carefully so they don't split; and begin and end with the chicken.) Arrange the skewers in a large shallow baking dish and pour the marinade over the chicken and vegetables. Marinate at room temperature, turning once, for 30 minutes. (The skewers can be marinated up to overnight.)

Arrange an oven rack about 4 inches from the broiler and preheat.

Arrange the skewers on a foil-lined baking sheet, reserving the marinade. Broil the skewers, basting occasionally for the first 6 minutes. Continue broil, turning occasionally, until the chicken is just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Discard any remaining marinade. Transfer the skewers to a platter and serve with the lemon wedges and mustard.


Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 1 minute
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
User Rating: 4 Stars