Japanese

This recipe sponsored by Black Swan Vineyards

Japanese connoisseurs of the noodle hold soba, made primarily of buckwheat flour, in particularly high regard. Here the nutty taste of the soba noodles is set off by a restorative broth in which miso is a savory option. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Here is a lovely seasonal dish that's fresh and delicate. Note that there is no raw fish in this recipe; the word sushi simply denotes that a dish features seasoned rice, which can be served with a variety of accompaniments, including raw seafood. This type of sushi is called chirashi-sushi (chirashi means "scattered"), and the rice is mixed with asparagus, thin strips of carrot, and cooked shrimp.

These custards are inspired by the Japanese egg custard chawan mushi, made with dashi broth (a stock of dried kelp and dried bonito flakes). We've used chicken broth for simplicity, but any broth or stock that you have on hand will work fine. Steaming the custards gives them a delicate texture, which is enhanced by the spare use of solid ingredients (the shrimp, scallion, and mushrooms).

In Japan a bamboo sushi mat, known as a sudare or a maki su, is used to roll this omelet roll. However, even without a mat, you should have no trouble making the roll.

Use this for the Springtime Sushi Nests or for any sushi recipe.

We love this recipe as much for the soy-glazed bonito flakes, with their maddeningly good smoky-savory-sweet flavor, as for making such great use of leftovers.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 25 min

Even though Aux Delices des Bois left Tribeca, Thierry and I still love Zutto, the sushi bar that was near our warehouse. It dates back to when Tribeca's cast-iron canopies cast their shadows on silent streets at night. Its metal loading dock held two tables, the precursor to the neighborhood's current profusion of loading-dock cafes. One evening the sushi chef, Albert Tse, made us this special dish, using a fish from each of the seven seas. Kind of like a Japanese version of the ancient French dish Coquilles St-Jacques, it combines fin fish and aromatic oyster mushrooms with the scallops and sharpens the flavor with rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and seaweed. If scallop shells aren't handy, use any ovenproof baking dish.

Miso soup — a fermented-soybean broth — is not difficult to make at home. Freeze the ginger and thaw it before squeezing; that way, extracting the juice will be easy. Chilled sake goes well with the meal.

Trimming all corners and ragged edges from the carrots and potatoes is very Japanese; rounded edges also ensure even cooking. In Japan we used metal molds to cut our carrots into plum blossoms for a seasonal motif. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Kombu comes packaged in dried lengths that are most easily cut with scissors.

The term tataki refers to beef or fish that is seared, then chilled, marinated and thinly sliced. This ginger beef version is served with traditional tataki accompaniments—grated daikon (white radish) and ginger, chopped green onions, and a great dipping sauce.

Dashi is a subtly flavored soup stock that is used throughout Japanese cooking.

These hors d'oeuvres should be served warm, so fry a couple of batches at a time as platters need replenishing.

Here, you get an entire meal with a single, 45-minute recipe. Udon, Japanese wheat noodles with a chewy, stretchy texture, are available dried in the Asian food section of most supermarkets (along with mirin and chile paste with garlic) or fresh in the produce section. Sliced pineapple or mango sorbet would be an ideal dessert.