Brett Stevens
Welcome to your ultimate destination for Japanese recipes with Gourmet Traveller‘s own curated collection of the best Japanese dishes you can make at home. Whetheeser you’re searching for easy Japanese recipes for weeknight dinners or exploring authentic Japanese recipes that capture the heart of traditional cuisine, look no further for inspiration.
Japanese cooking is celebrated for its balance of flavour, texture and presentation. While well-known classics — like ramen and sushi — are likely to spring to mind, scratch the surface and unlock the delightful depth of Japanese cuisine. From comforting bowls of Japanese curry to crispy, golden Chicken katsu, to skewers, snacks and noodles, our recipes offer step-by-step guides on how to deliver the taste of Tokyo, in your very own kitchen.
Craving something sweet? Discover how to make cloud-like Japanese pancakes that melt in your mouth. Looking for street food favourites? Try homemade okonomiyaki, the beloved savoury Japanese pancake packed with bold, umami flavour.
Our Japanese recipes collection includes quick family meals and delicate traditional specialities straight from Japan’s kitchens. Whether you’re new to Japanese cooking or looking to expand your repertoire with more authentic flavours, this collection is designed to help you master the art of Japanese food.
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Japanese snacks and starters
From gyoza to yakitori, Japanese cuisine is full of excellent snack-style eats. Whether you want to build an entire meal of ‘picky bits’ or you’re looking for an authentic starter to kick off your Japanese feast, scroll on for our curated collection of small bites, like onigiri, skewers, dumplings and more. (Note: If you’re looking for katsu snacks or sandos, or sushi starters, jump ahead to those sections!)
Crisp pork and ginger gyozas with sesame rayu
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Yakitori Yurippi’s chicken and spring onion skewers
Yakitori Yurippi’s onigiri
Grilled salmon tataki with lime and jalapeño ponzu
Yoko Dining’s mushroom gyoza
Jemma Whiteman’s grilled sticky rice with katsuobushi butter
Squid kara-age with Japanese mayonnaise
Yakitori Yurippi’s scallops in half shell
Fuyu’s fried cauliflower with white miso, sesame and furikake
Yakitori Yurippi’s zucchini skewers
Kazuki’s beef tataki with anchovy dressing and potato chips
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Kare pan toasties (Japanese curry bread)
Okra with ponzu and bonito flakes
Kazuki’s prawn and chive dumplings, sake butter and ponzu
Chaco Bar’s chicken thigh skewers
Chaco Bar’s chicken wing “gyoza”
Hiyayakko
Yakitori with Japanese spices
Japanese egg sandwiches
Sushi and sashimi
Contrary to popular belief, sushi receives its name for the rice — not the raw fish! Common types of sushi include maki (rolls), nigiri (hand-moulded mounds), or temaki (hand rolls). Sushi rice is also a common base for rice bowls that seek to capture and expand on the flavour of sushi. Meanwhile, sashimi refers to the sliced, raw fish. If you’re looking for tips, bookmark our guide on how to prepare raw fish.
Sokyo’s guide to making nigiri
Sokyo’s guide to making chirashi zushi
Sashimi of mulloway with a sesame-citrus dressing, edamame and seaweed
Sashimi rice bowls with pickled ginger dressing and wasabi peas
Sesame kingfish sashimi with ponzu and finger lime
Sushi bowls
Brown rice chirashi zushi
Sashimi with nori salt, avocado and ginger
Sashimi tartare with avocado and smoky miso mayo
Sashimi of mulloway with beetroot pickle
Japanese katsu recipes
Tradition katsu is a Japanese dish of panko-crumbed meat, deep fried to crunchy perfection. While the original fish is arguably pork katsu (tonkatsu), chicken katsu has become a popular alternative, served in sandwiches or with Japanese curry sauce. Meanwhile, vegetarians need not feel left out — just look below for our scrumptious eggplant katsu sandos.
Chicken katsu curry
Spiced eggplant katsu sandos
Tonkatsu with curry sauce
JoyBird’s katsu melt
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Bar Lune’s katsu sando
Pork katsu with sweet potato mash and gochujang-lime butter
Oyster katsu sandos
Chicken katsu sando with egg salad
Ramen recipes
Another globally popular Japanese dish is ramen, and now you can make it at home with the aide of our easy-to-follow recipes. From umami dashi to firm noodles and toppings of your choosing, browse our range of modern and authentic ramen recipes.
Ramen with roast pork belly, nori and spring onion
Smoked chicken ramen with corn
Chaco Ramen’s fat soy ramen and kaeshi
Bacon and egg tonkotsu ramen
Crab, cha siu and corn ramen
Drunken chicken with Shandong ramen noodles
Japanese dinner recipes
Look no further for easy Japanese recipes to inspire your midweek meals. From simple soups, to soba noodles, to a simple Japanese chicken curry, read on for Japanese dinner recipes to inspire your next main course.
Pork belly donburi
Asparagus and soba noodle salad with furikake pine nuts
Burnt honey and teriyaki Japanese eggplant
Beef short ribs in miso and beer
Sesame-crusted bonito and edamame with green-tea soba noodles
Crisp eggplant schnitzel with yasai itame
Okonomiyaki with sticky soy pork belly
Mirin-glazed pork belly, ginger rice and pickled shiitake mushrooms
Mushroom miso soup
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Japanese-style crumbed pork and curry with onion pickles
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Steak with caramelised onion and ginger ponzu
Okonomiyaki with shredded cabbage, daikon and fried noodles
Soba noodle soup with egg, tofu and broccolini
Yoko Dining’s okonomiyaki
Slow-cooked teriyaki beef ribs
Sake-poached salmon with pickled cucumbers and yuzu-wasabi jelly
Wafu pasta: Fettuccine with prawns, tomato and sake-soy butter
Green-tea soba with chicken and green miso
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Miso noodle soup with mushrooms and ginger
Yaki udon with mushrooms
Beef taco rice
Carbonara, Japanese-style
Jemma Whiteman’s braised pork belly with apple and yuzu kosho
Hiyamugi noodles with Japanese pickles
Barbecued lamb ribs with yuzu-sesame yakiniku sauce
Tetsuya Wakuda’s shabu shabu
Okonomiyaki hotcakes with school prawns
Chicken teriyaki with wasabi slaw
Salmon with ginger butter, soba noodles and radish
Navy curry
Prawn and soba noodle salad with sesame-ginger dressing
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Soba noodles with nori sesame butter and sake-grilled prawns
Japanese dessert recipes
Japanese souffle pancakes have become a cult unto themselves, earning an international reputation for their fluffy yet jiggly texture. While there’s really no ‘correct’ time to eat Japanese pancakes (breakfast? Lunch? Dessert? Who cares!), you’ll find our best recipes for them here, alongside other Japanese sweets, like mochi, and an abundance of matcha- and yuzu-flavoured desserts.
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Japanese soufflé pancakes with genmaicha sugar
How to make mochi
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Sweet tofu doughnuts with yuzu salted caramel
Matcha popsicles
Yoko Dining’s mochi ice-cream
Matcha doughnuts
Yuzu vanilla slice
Dark chocolate-matcha truffles
Yuzu cream tarts with ginger strawberries
Matcha layer cake with white chocolate cream
Lemonpi’s peanut and miso shortbread bars
Baked matcha custard with ginger-poached pears
Miso caramel apple pie
Ginger waffles with matcha ice-cream
Looking for more Japanese inspiration? Check out our pick of best places in Tokyo and our guide to Kyoto.
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