Recipes · Japan · Vegetive

Salted and squeezed cucumber tossed with wakame seaweed, dressed in sweetened rice vinegar and toasted sesame.

Silken tofu warmed in kombu water and dipped in ponzu sauce, a winter dish from the temples of Kyoto.

Glutinous rice stained pink by the cooking liquid of azuki beans, steamed and served with toasted sesame salt.

Savoury egg custard steamed in a cup, scented with kombu and shiitake dashi, holding mushrooms and edamame.

Thin rolls of vinegared rice and cucumber wrapped in half a nori sheet, the plainest maki on any sushi counter.

Blanched, well-squeezed spinach dressed in a toasted sesame paste, lightly sweetened and salted with soy sauce.

Ice-cold buckwheat noodles dipped into a kombu and shiitake sauce, with nori, spring onion and a dab of wasabi.

A deep kombu, shiitake and miso broth with springy noodles, golden tofu, seared mushrooms and blanched pak choi.

Warm triangles of Japanese rice filled with pickled vegetables and umeboshi, wrapped in a crisp strip of nori seaweed.

A clear kombu broth with miso stirred in at the last moment, cubes of silken tofu and tender ribbons of wakame.

Tamagoyaki, the lightly sweet soy-seasoned rolled omelette, here enriched with finely shredded chard. It goes into a bento box.

Tofu that is crisp outside and silky inside, sitting in a sweet-savoury dashi broth with grated daikon and spring onion.