There is usually some abura-age (fried tofu) in my refrigerator, so I make grilled aburaage with various fillings. In this recipe, seasoned natto is packed in abura-age pouches. It’s a quick appetizer to serve with beer.

It’s easy to make harumaki (spring rolls), and you can even use leftover stir-fries for the filling. Try making harumaki with various ingredients. I often put harumaki in my bento.

These fried sweet potatoes (satsumaimo) are called imokenpi. They look like French fries, but the texture and flavor of imokenpi are very different from French fries. Imokenpi are hard and sweet. These crunchy sweet potatoes are great snacks to munch on while watching TV.

This is a Japanese sake lees soup called kasu jiru. It’s my favorite soup to eat for dinner during the winter. I usually make kasujiru with salmon and lots of vegetables. Taste the soup and adjust the flavor with some miso if you would like. Sake lees soup warms you up on a chilly night.

We eat lots of mochi in winter. Abekawa mochi is one of my favorites and is really easy to make. Grilled mochi are simply covered with kinako (soybean powder). If you have some mochi at home, try this recipe.

When I am catching a cold, I usually eat hot miso soup with lots of ginger and green onion. How about you? Also, okayu and zosui (Japanese rice soup) with chicken and egg are comforting food to eat when you are sick.

Oden is a popular Japanese hot pot. A variety of ingredients, such as vegetables and fish cakes, are simmered in kelp-based dashi soup. Convenience stores in Japan sell steaming oden during winter. You don’t need to have all the ingredients, so try this comforting food. It’s very easy to make oden.

It’s a Japanese custom to eat seven-herb rice porridge (nanakusa-gayu) on January 7th, praying for good health. Seven harbs include seri (water dropwort), nazuna (Shepherd’s purse), gogyou (Cudweed), hakobera (Chickweed), hotokenoza (Nipplewort), suzuna (turnip), and suzushiro (daikon radish). Since rice porridge (okayu) is easy to digest, nanakusa-gayu is a perfect dish to eat after holiday feasts. Seven herbs are sold at supermarkets in Japan, but they might not be available in your areas. Try using radishes and some leaf vegetables as substitutes.

The most common gyoza (Japanese potstickers) filling is made with ground pork. Also, shrimp makes a good gyoza filling. Slightly pink colored shrimp gyoza is a great addition to your dinner table.

Kata yakisoba is a kind of yakisoba where crunchy noodles are served with ankake (thick sauce). As kata means hard in Japanese, pre-steamed yakisoba noodles are deep-fried until crunchy. Top noodles with thick sauce just before eating. If you want a variation in making yakisoba, try this recipe.