Every season of Dining with the Chef ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best seasons of Dining with the Chef!

Chef Tatsuo Saito shows us how to make a light, soft and healthy Japanese Teriyaki Hamburger Steak. He serves it with Garlic Chives with Grated Daikon Radish that's easy on the digestion and Cabbage Miso Soup.

Japanese Teriyaki Hamburger Steak Garlic Chives with Grated Daikon Radish Cabbage Miso Soup

Chef Rika Yukimasa visits a sukiyaki beef hot-pot restaurant that's popular with foreign tourists and builds on this traditional cuisine to devise a Chicken Sukiyaki from poultry, leeks and other ingredients that are easy to find abroad.

Chicken Sukiyaki

Chef Saito grills fresh salmon with yuzu citrus, in a classic style called Yuan-yaki. He also cooks "Green Peas and Rice" and "Egg Drop Soup", and each menu item welcomes the new taste of spring.

Salmon in Yuan-yaki Style Green Peas and Rice Egg Drop Soup

Chef Yukimasa cooks Okonomiyaki, what she calls "Japanese healthy pizza." It's one of the most popular cheap and casual dishes. She explores professional techniques for making Okonomiyaki, and its history at an authentic Okonomiyaki restaurant.

Okonomiyaki

'Five tastes, five colors' with ingredients from both sea and mountains is the secret of Japanese-style cuisine's balanced nutrition. The representative dish this week is fish boiled in soy broth.

Soy Beans and Rice Mushroom and Sweet Potato Miso Soup Fresh Cod Simmered in Soy Sauce Eggplant and Tuna Salad

Chef Saito will share his knowledge with you, enabling you to cook perfect Ginger Pork at home without fail. He utilizes every part of the cabbage, serving the leaves in a salad and then pickling the core to serve alongside the pork. Tomato and Bacon Miso Soup rounds out this hearty early summer lunch menu.

Ginger Pork, Pickled Cabbage, Tomato and Bacon Miso Soup

Master Chef Saito demonstrates how to cook the authentic Japanese dish Nanban-zuke -- fried fish in sweet vinegar. He also prepares Avocado and Grapefruit with Wasabi Soy Sauce, and Okra Miso Soup. Both of these please our palates with refined flavors.

Nanban-zuke Fried Fish in Sweet Vinegar, Avocado and Grapefruit with Wasabi Soy Sauce, Okra Miso Soup

Chef Rika Yukimasa will cook "Shoyu Ramen", Japanese ramen noodles in soy sauce broth which have become increasingly popular and are often spotted on menus in Paris, London, and New York. Shoyu ramen is healthy and easy to make at home.

Making Ramen Noodles in Soy Sauce Broth at Home

Chef Tatsuo Saito will cook a tofu set meal which consists of "stir-fry tofu crumbles", "tomato with sweet tofu sauce" and "tofu and chilled corn soup". Tofu is one of the healthiest Japanese ingredients.

Sautéed Tofu Crumbles, Tomato with Tofu Sauce, Tofu "Ice Cube" and Chilled Corn Soup

Chef Rika Yukimasa will introduce you to how to make the popular classic izakaya dishes easily; Rika style ham cutlets, potato salad, and onigiri rice balls. And we explore the original Izakaya culture at a typical Japanese Izakaya crowded with many office workers.

Izakaya Small Plates - Ham-katsu (Ham cutlets), Potato salad, Onigiri rice balls

Master chef Saito will teach you how to cook eggplant as a satisfying

and summery main dish. He'll also introduce you to a vinegar-dressed

salad and a refreshing lemon-scented soup.

Country-style Miso-flavored Eggplant, Octopus and Cucumber with Vinegar Dressing, Clear Soup with Asparagus

"Yoshoku" is a unique type of cuisine where Western dishes have been adapted to suite Japanese tastes. Let's cook one of the most popular yoshoku dishes, omuraisu with chef Rika Yukimasa!

Omuraisu, Sengiri-cut vegetable salad

Today's theme is tempura, the king of "Washoku". Master chef Saito will teach you how to fry tempura professionally! Using seasonal vegetables will make tempura so summery! Let's deep-fry it so it is very dry and crispy.

Summer Tempura, Clam Miso Soup

Chef Rika Yukimasa shows you how to cook oyakodon, chicken and egg rice bowl at home. Side dish is sunomono, vinegar dressed salad. They give you the energy to get through the hot summer!

Oyakodon (Egg and Chicken Rice Bowl), Sunomono

Our main dish is Simmered Chicken Wings and Soybeans, very nutritious with both animal and plant protein. For the salad, lettuce is used. It is served with ponzu, a very light citrus soy sauce. A cucumber miso soup, served cold, helps to alleviate the summer heat!

Chicken Wings and Soy Beans, Blanched Lettuce with Ponzu Soy Sauce, Cold Cucumber Miso Soup

Chef Rika Yukimasa shows you a nutritious, healthy curry that allows you a well-balanced meal, a ethnic style salad that compliments the curry and a Japanese sweet with green tea. Each dish utilizes lots of Japanese healthy cooking ideas.

Rika's bean curry, Avocado and tomato salad, Shiratama-dango (Rice dumplings)

Professional chef Mr. Saito will teach you Japanese cooking techniques. Today, in the primary simmering lesson, we'll learn how to simmer food with light seasonings. Kabocha pumpkin is delicately seasoned with soy sauce and sugar to highlight the pumpkin's original flavor.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Simmering Part 1 - Kabocha Pumpkin

Our second session in simmering, with rich seasonings. Even the though the taste is rich, it's still Japanese cuisine! Chef Saito will teach you how to simmer a fresh, fatty pork belly.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Simmering Part 2 - Pork Belly

Japanese people loves Nabe hot pot! Because there is a functional reason that we can eat not only a good balance of vegetables, meat, and seafood, but also warm ourselves. Rika will teach you her original nabe, a fusion of Taiwanese nabe and Japanese nabe.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Nabe hot-pot: Shrimp and Chicken meatballs, Cucumber and Egoma Salad with Sesame Oil Dressing

Rika will teach us how to make korroke, Japanese potato croquets, with her original Asian sauces. Crispy bread crumbs outside and fluffy potato inside, with sweet onion and juicy ground beef. Everyone from children to adults, love this combination. Korroke can be a fabulous dish for your parties at home! So give it a try!

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Korokke with a Trio of Asian Sauces

Delicious and healthy Japanese food is catching the attention of global eyes. This program delivers the profound Japanese culinary experience including the background food culture and scientific corroborative of the techniques. Linking with November's theme 'food', we jump out of the studio for this special edition and explore the fun and wisdom of Japanese culinary skills in autumn Hokkaido. Master chef Tatsuo Saito arranges the dishes with fruit of the sea and earth, while introducing the harvesting of potatoes and other vegetables, and the catch of hairy crabs and sea urchin.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: In Hokkaido

The grilled fish, are prepared displaying a curvature in their body, as if they are swimming in the sea. Japanese grilled fish are very artistic! Today, Chef Saito is cooking the fish with a traditional Shichirin, a portable cooking stove, with charcoal.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Grilling & Sautéing Part 1 - Aji horse mackerel

Kuwayaki is said to be the original "teriyaki" dish, now loved all over the world.

Chicken is first sautéed, then basted and glazed to a glossy sheen with a rich, sweet soy sauce.It is a satisfying main dish, and is well complemented by cooked white rice.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Grilling & Sautéing Part 2 - Chicken Kuwayaki

The most important holiday for Japanese people is January 1st, New Year's day. On that day, they celebrate with family by eating osechi - traditional New Year foods. It is a hassle to make an authentic osechi meal. So this time, Rika will introduce easier recipes instead. But they are just as gorgeous as traditional osechi !

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: New Year Party / Chirashi-sushi & Deep-fried Shrimp

We'll be making Chawan Mushi, a savory egg custard. There are lots of ingredients in it, and it's exciting to see what's in the custard... like a treasure box. The various textures elevate the Chawan Mushi. Enjoy Japanese winter comfort food.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Steaming Part 1 - Chawan Mushi Savory Custard

The ice formed on water, or a snowy winter scene.

The sweetness of the winter turnip is highlighted by grating it, and it is steamed into an attractive airy mound. Silvery ankake tastes of dashi, and it is accentuated with the heat of the wasabi. It is a very good balance in taste.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Steaming Part 2 - Kabura-mushi (Steamed Grated Turnip)

Yakiniku is basically a very simple dish of grilled meat. So, today's point is Rika's original sauce that she developed through trial and error! We are sure you will be addicted to her original sauce once you try it and then you can't stop eating!

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Yakiniku (Japanese-style BBQ)

Today's main dish is Japanese hamburger steak, "hambagu"! One of the most popular dishes served in Japanese homes. Rika's hambagu is a thick, fluffy patty which is cooked in a frying pan. The meat juice is sealed into the hambagu, and it's delicious when combined with the flavor of soy sauce and wine!

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Hamburger Steak with Soy Sauce & Wine Sauce

Ginger and soy sauce are the keys to delicious tatsuta-age. This represents scenery with autumn foliage. Tatsuta-age and rice are the best match! We will introduce a recipe for a combination of tatsuta-age and rice!

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Tatsuta-age Fried Chicken

A special edition of 'Itadakimasu!' from Chang Mai, Thailand.

From street food to home cooking, the secrets of healthy Thai dishes are uncovered. And we bring you Chef Rika Yukimasa's TOKYO CUISINE, this time fusing Thai ingredients to Japanese menus.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: In Thailand

Kaki-age is usually made by combining small pieces of seafood and vegetables with batter and deep-frying it. It is a well-known variety of tempura. With one bite, you can enjoy various flavors in your mouth. Crispy and satisfying, kaki-age has become a main dish. The second was the soba noodles with kaki-age. It's a traditional Japanese soba dish. You won't forget the deliciousness!

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Kaki-age Tempura

Japanese love fish. Rika will teach you a stewed fish recipe you can make at home. Today's theme is the standard home-made dish, Misoni, Stewed Mackerel with Miso!

Rika's recipe is Korean-style and spicy so it is good for people who are not so keen on fish.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Stewed Mackerel with Miso

Japanese adore Italian food. Today, Rika is teaching us something she loves to eat, Japanese-style pasta. The perfectly cooked, al dente spaghetti, is combined with nutritious, seasonal oysters. Enjoy them hot and dressed with soy-sauce and olive oil.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Pasta with Oysters

Rika will show us how to make three different sea food dishes that makes a casual dining perfect. Today's main course is steamed Sea Breams with clams and potatoes on the side. Potatoes are perfectly steamed with Sea Breams and clams in sake based broth which makes all the ingredients taste even better.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Steamed Tai Sea Bream in Sake

Today's dish is sashimi with tuna and squid. Sashimi is the supreme form of Japanese cuisine. To achieve the simple beauty, there are many tips and techniques.

Thickly cut tuna and thinly cut squid are arranged on a plate. The sashimi is then arranged with decoratively cut fresh vegetables.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Cutting Part 1 - Tuna and Squid Sashimi Plate

Today's first dish is the octopus and rapini with egg vinegar dressing. This is a popular vinegary sashimi dish in Japan, and a perfect spring dish. Next dish is octopus and avocado caesar salad. The red octopus is outstanding in contrast to the pale greens. The avocado mingles with the caesar dressing, and it's so good!

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Cutting Part 2 - Octopus and Rapini with Egg Vinegar Sauce

Japanese love to serve fried chicken with beer. Rika's fried chicken, is extra crispy, with a tasty batter. A perfect combination of a fried dish, salad, and soup! Enjoy with some delicious Japanese beer.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Rika's Quick Fried Chicken

Today's theme is stuffing. First dish is Inari Sushi, an example of a casual dish at home. Inari Sushi is made with abura age, which is seasoned with sugar and soy sauce, and it is stuffed with seasoned rice. It is a very popular item for picnics or box lunches.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Stuffing Part 1 - Inari Sushi

Japanese-style, stuffed peppers are popular menu among kids and adults, which are half-cut grilled pepper stuffed with ground pork. For a applied variation on the dish, the whole stuffed peppers will be battered and deep-fried to a delicious, crispy texture.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Stuffing Part 2 - Pan-fried Stuffed Peppers

Buckwheat flour is made into soba, the buckwheat noodle, and loved in Japan. Zaru-soba, the chilled soba served with cold dipping sauce is the best way to enjoy its scent and texture simply. Let's get a taste of Japanese' favorite popular noodle with its apt side dish, tempura.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Zaru-soba (Cold Soba Noodles with Dipping Sauce)

Ma Po Tofu is a representative Sichuan dish. Ground meat and tofu can be enjoyed with spicy chili peppers. Today, Rika is making 3 dishes, featuring Tokyo-style Chinese cuisine. Rika's Ma Po Tofu has fluffy tofu pieces and the spiciness and the sweetness goes well together.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Rika's Ma Po Tofu

Rika will introduce healthy attractive Japanese party dishes. The appetizer is vegetable finger food salad, served with savory Japanese dipping sauce. The roast pork is presented sashimi-style with soy sauce-based sauce. Enjoy your weekend party at home with these wonderful dishes!

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Healthy Summer Party Menu

Today's first dish is Chikuzen -style Chicken and Vegetables. When you quick-braise the food with soy sauce, it will turn to a beautiful caramel color. A bright green element like green beans adds a great contrast. For the variation, chef Saito will use the chicken and vegetables for making stir-fried rice.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Itameni Part 1 - Chikuzen-style Chicken and Vegetables

Today's theme is"Itameni Quick Braising Part 2". We are going to learn this technique along with kimpira. Kimpira is one of the most popular dishes in restaurants as well as at home. Chef Saito is using lotus root instead of burdock root today, so that we can enjoy the crunchy, fun texture. By using the same technique and seasonings as kimpira, Chef Saito is going to make Gyudon, a beef rice bowl. Let's try cooking!

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Itameni Part 2 - Kimpira with Lotus Root and Carrot

Rika grew up in a large city named Fukuoka. It is considered to be one of Japan's culinary destinations with everything from delicious street food to high-end cuisine. Today, she is making 3 dishes and all of them are local Fukuoka specialties.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Rika's Soul Food, Kashiwa-meshi Chicken & Rice

Today, Rika introduces us to a chilled noodle dish that is a favorite of Japanese. Hiyashi Chuuka or Chilled Ramen Noodles is a classic summer dish in Japan. Rika is making Chilled Ramen Noodles as the main dish and 2 additional summer vegetable dishes.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Chilled Ramen Noodles with Steamed Chicken

Today's menu consists of 3 dishes each with its own flavorful composition. Our 1st dish is Spicy Seafood and Vegetable Salad seasoned with sweet and hot Korean miso called gochu-jang. Our 2nd dish is Green Spicy Aromatic Rice. Our last dish is black-pepper flavored dessert for the adults. These bold flavors will give you a boost, during the hot summer months!

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Spicy Summer Dishes

Today's theme is "marinating". We are learning how marinating elevates the flavor of fried vegetables by infusing them in a dashi stock and soy sauce mixture. For one variation on this dish, our chef is making a noodle dish, using marinated and fried vegetables.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Marinating Part 1 - Fried Vegetables Marinated in Dashi

Today's theme is "Marinating Part 2". We are making "Chicken Namban", Fried Chicken Marinated in Sweet Vinegar. Fried chicken pieces quickly become pickled in a sweet and sour marinade. They are eaten with tartar sauce. It's a type of Western-influenced, Japanese chicken dish. For one variation, the fried chicken will become an open-faced sandwich.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Marinating Part 2 - Chicken Namban (Fried Chicken Marinated in Sweet Vinegar)

The theme of this episode is “Yoseru”(setting together and congealing) part1.

With the help of gelatin, Chef Saito makes softly-set Creamed Corn Tofu and “matcha warabi mochi”, a popular Japanese sweet dumpling.

Authentic Japanese Cooking:  Yoseru Part 1 - Corn Tofu

The theme of this episode is part two of “Yoseru” (setting together and congealing).

Chef Saito uses an agar stick, called kanten in Japan, to make a dish which represents clear running river water.

Another dish is mizuyokan, a traditional Japanese dessert – a smooth, sweet azuki bean paste jelly made with powdered kanten.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Yoseru Part 2 - Somen Noodles in Kanten Gelée

This episode features dishes that go well with a refreshing highball. The main dish is fried aji (Japanese horse mackerel), covered in crispy breadcrumbs and served with Rika's original tartar sauce made with fresh cucumber and celery.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Fried Breaded Aji horse mackerel

In this episode we will look at nabe cooking using autumn seasonal mushrooms. Rika will be using chicken with five different kinds of mushrooms. She will also make two types of dipping sauces. The first with a lemon flavor inspired by Vietnamese cooking, and the second is a hot sauce that uses Japanese soy sauce.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Nabe Hot Pot: Quintet Mushrooms

The theme for this episode is Rolling (Part 1).

We look at Rolled Dashi Omelet: egg with a lavish amount of dashi full of umami flavor, which is rolled while being fried nice and thinly.

As a different variation we added vegetables and some sweetness from sugar, which creates a lovely colorful touch.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Rolling Part 1 - Rolled Dashi Omelet (Dashimaki)

The theme for this episode is Rolling (Part 2).

We look at beef and burdock rolls, a dish that in Japan often finds its way onto the table during celebrative occasions.

Burdock root is wrapped in beef, and sautéed with a sauce, creating an exquisite flavor.

As a different variation, we then wrap the rolls in rice and seaweed to create futomaki (thick rolls). The perfect dish for parties!

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Rolling Part 2 - Beef and Burdock Rolls

This menu includes 3 dishes sure to warm you to the bone in the cold of winter. The main dish is cuisine that uses the seasonal root vegetable daikon radish with pork belly, stewed slowly until soft, and seasoned with salt and sugar. Why not try it with the Japanese liquor shochu as they go very well together.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Simmered Daikon Radish & Pork Belly

In this episode we look at a warm and hearty Japanese udon noodle dish - Udon Hot Pot with a rich chicken stock base. This wonderfully nutritious hot pot, made with udon, fresh seafood and seasonal vegetables, is sure to warm you to the bone. Perfect for the company of family or friends on a cold winter's night.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Udon Hot Pot

The theme for this episode is Thickening Techniques (Part 1). We will take a look at Fried tofu with dashi sauce, which is extremely popular both at home and at Japanese-style pubs. Enjoy the smooth texture of fried tofu covered in a thick sauce that uses plenty of dashi. As a different variation there's Yuba no Ankake, which is chopped up bean curd skin in a lovely thick sauce. Topped with vegetables it makes a wonderfully healthy dish!

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Thickening Part 1 - Fried Tofu with Dashi Sauce

The theme for this episode is Thickening Techniques (Part 2). We take a look at jibuni, a local dish from Kanazawa in the Hokuriku region. It uses flour to thicken the sauce which is quite unique among Japanese cuisine. As a different variation the jibuni sauce can be poured over deep-fried bean-starch vermicelli creating an attractive, colorful dish!

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Thickening Part 2 - Jibuni-Style Chicken and Tofu

This episode we have a rice porridge created using soup stock made from dried scallop, an ingredient used in Chinese cuisine. With ginger added too, it is a perfect winter dish that will warm your body to the core. We will take a look at it together with a rich-flavored sautéed chicken with teriyaki sauce and a wonderfully nutritious egg dish that both go superbly with a light porridge.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Rice Porridge with Scallops & Ginger

The theme for this episode is Cream Stew.

A variety of delicious ingredients in a soup nicely thickened with milk, it is a popular home-cooked meal in Japan in winter. It uses seasonal oysters lavishly, and has a light flavor that goes perfectly with rice.

Accompanied by a salad seasoned with sushi vinegar and a Japanese sake jelly, it is a full course of Rika's original Japanese nouvelle cuisine.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: "Cream Stew" with Oysters

The theme for this episode is Dressing Techniques (Part 1).

Japanese cuisine contains a magnificent array of aemono, or dressed dishes. Here we will take a look at one of such dishes known as shiraae. Vegetables and seafood, such as tuna, cuttlefish, and scallops, are colorfully dressed using a paste made from tofu. Another variation is a tofu paste and persimmon aemono, which is also wonderful as either an appetizer or dessert.

Authentic Japanese Cooking:  Dressing Part 1 - Tuna and Cuttlefish with Tofu Dressing

The theme for this episode is Dressing Techniques (Part 2).

We will take a look at the dressed dish known as nutaae that uses a dressing made with miso, the characteristic Japanese food. The rich, golden sauce and luscious green onion produce a beautiful spring feel.

Another variation is the Japanese favorite macaroni salad prepared in the nutaae style.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Dressing Part 2 - Chicken Breast and Onion with Egg Miso Dressing

The theme for this episode is the ever-popular gyoza.

A filling of minced meat and chopped vegetables is kneaded together, wrapped in a dough skin and fried.

There is an incredible variety of gyoza depending on the ingredients and cooking method used by individual restaurants or households. Rika-style gyoza use pork mince, and four vegetables including Chinese cabbage and shiso, to create a light and tantalizing flavor.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: “Rika's Gyoza” (Japanese-style Pot Stickers)

This episode features bamboo shoots - the ingredient that symbolizes spring in Japan!

We take a look at takikomi rice, as well as chawan mushi which is given a smooth, velvety texture with egg and which brings out the full umami flavor of dashi.

In addition to these two fine examples of Japanese cuisine that use bamboo springs lovingly, we will also present a simple steamed fish dish.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Spring Dishes with Bamboo Shoots

The theme for this episode is Wrapping Techniques.

We take a look at chakin sushi, which consists of sushi rice carefully wrapped in thinly fried egg and then colorfully decorated. Garnished with shrimp and rapini, it brings a wonderful feeling of spring to the table.

The second dish is a soup that uses dashi and egg white, and creates a delightful appearance of blooming flowers.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Wrapping : Chakin sushi

A tonkatsu sandwich of fresh pork loin covered in a crisp bread-crumb coating and wrapped in lovely soft bread, is wonderful when you feel like treating yourself for lunch.

Packed in a lunch box with some pickles, it's also perfect for a picnic amongst the cherry blossoms!

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Tonkatsu Sandwiches

The theme for this episode is "cutting".

We take a look at ushio-jiru soup using an in-season fish, sea bream. We'll show you how to fillet a sea bream and create a delicious soup with a fantastic aroma. It's garnished with iris-shaped udo and rapini to add a lovely touch of spring.

The second dish is rice with sea bream, which uses dashi and leftover fish from the ushio-jiru soup, bringing out the umami of the sea bream.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Cutting - Ushio-jiru (Soup made from tai fish stock)

The theme for this episode is a hand-rolled sushi party that children can enjoy, too!

Our main sushi roll fillings will be chicken soboro and egg omelet. It is perfect for people who don't eat raw fish or who live in areas without easy access to fresh fish.

We'll also show you how to make grilled tofu with a miso sauce which is perfect as an appetizer, as well as a warming Japanese comfort food, shiratama-shiruko (sweet azuki bean soup with rice dumplings) for dessert.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Fish-free Hand Rolled Sushi

The theme for this episode is sautéing.

We're going to cook a world-famous Japanese food, teriyaki swordfish.

The thick-sliced, nicely-browned swordfish is sautéed in the sweet, aromatic teriyaki sauce until it's been glazed beautifully.

For our second dish, we're making daikon radish steak, sautéed in great-smelling sesame oil, and topped with grated daikon to add a refreshing flavor.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Sautéing - Swordfish Teriyaki

Our main dish in this episode is udon, the Japanese noodles that are becoming popular worldwide.

We'll show you how to make chilled udon with Rika's delicious dipping sauce that combines the appetizing aroma of sesame seeds with the flavor of the Chinese condiment douban-jiang.

The sauce also goes great with Chinese noodles or phở, too, making it a great recipe to know.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Chilled Udon with Sesame Dipping Sauce

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Kashiwa-meshi Chicken Rice

The theme of this episode is "Deep frying."

We'll be making crispy deep-fried chicken wing Kara-age, flavored with sake and soy sauce and served with a Japanese-style negi green onion sauce made with dashi stock, and beautifully garnished with shishito chili peppers and white negionion.

We'll also show you how to easily remove chicken bones! For another variation, we'll try something unique with our chicken wing Kara-age lettuce wraps, made with red miso paste and mayonnaise — perfect for any party!

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Deep frying - Chicken Wing Kara-age (Fried chicken Wings)

In this episode, we're going to take a look at Kushiage or deep-fried skewers, one of the popular local foods of Osaka's unique food culture.

We'll be using Rika's selection of pork, asparagus and three other ingredients, and we'll deep-fry them using two types of breading, for two different textures.

In addition, we also will make three sauces to add more variety.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Kushiage Deep-Fried Skewers

In this episode, we will learn about Nikujaga, the very popular Japanese food.

Its ingredients are very simple, so even if you are not in Japan, you can still make it easily.

Our version of this recipe adds a Chinese chili paste, Douban-jiang.

The chili's fragrance and the miso's richness will enhance the complexity of the dish's flavor.

This Japanese home cooking classic will turn out to be something unique and surprising.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Niku-jaga with Douban-jiang (Simmered Beef & Potatoes)

Our main dish in this episode is Yakisoba, a staple of Japanese summer festivals.

We're using plenty of shrimp and vegetables, and adding some salt and nam pla to give it a light, clean flavor.

We'll also be preparing a squid salad with lemon, and a sautéed liver side seasoned with a variety of Asian flavors to give us the energy to beat the heat, for a meal perfectly suited to the season.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Yakisoba with Salt & Nam Pla (Stir-fried Noodles)

Our theme of this episode is handmade soba noodles. Our teacher will be the handmade soba master, Akila Inouye, showing us a fail-safe method for delicious soba noodles that even beginners will have no trouble with! We'll be cooking mori-soba, the best way to enjoy their natural buckwheat flavor.

In addition to soba noodles, we'll also show you how to make a dipping sauce, and a delicious bukkake soba recipe with seasonal vegetables and duck! This will be the perfect first steps on your journey to becoming a master yourself!

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Artisan edition - Soba noodles

Our theme of this episode is marinating, and our teacher will be Chef Saito, mentor to a number of famous chefs worldwide. We'll be learning how to prepare fish by tossing it with salt to remove the moisture, then marinating it in vinegar. Vinegar marination is a technique invented long ago in Japan to preserve fresh fish, and has been passed down for generations. It's great for not just preserving fish, but for using the vinegar to give fish a delicious flavor that's unlike sashimi. We'll also be learning a modern spin on the recipe that's rolled up in nori with uniquely Japanese herbs — don't miss it!

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Vinegar-marinated Aji Salad

Our main dish in this episode is made with edamame, in season for summer and finding popularity all around the world! East meets west for our edamame pasta dish, and with a cold eggplant salad on the side, and the popular Japanese summer dessert mizu-yokan, all three of our recipes will help you stave off the summer heat!

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Japanese-style Pasta with Edamame

The theme of this episode is pan-frying. Chef Saito will be showing us a Japanese twist on steak, a worldwide favorite. The secret is the ume-sesame sauce: the tartness of the sauce goes perfectly with the fattiness of the steak, for a clean, delicious flavor.

We'll also be learning how to make miso soup with tofu and wakame seaweed, a Japanese standard. We'll be making it with a niboshi dried fish dashi as the base, for a delicious side to go perfectly with our steak!

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Beef Steak Salad with Ume-sesame Sauce

Our theme this week is the American-born Japanese food, the California Roll. Featuring colorful fillings like salmon and avocado, and with decorations on the outside, too. We'll also be making a side dish that'll teach you the secrets of how to use the sushi staples, wasabi and nori.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Rika's California Roll Trio

There are many variations of curry, which is popular around the world. It is said curry was originally brought to Japan from the U.K. and it has evolved, adjusting to Japanese palates. In this episode, Rika is making Japanese-style curry and rice. Using her creativity, she makes it extra special.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Japanese Curried Rice with Chicken

Our main dish in this episode is menchi katsu, just as delicious hot and fresh as it is cooled down. Mix meat and vegetables, make patties, and bread them. Fry them up and they're nice and crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and absolutely irresistible. We'll also take a look at three great sides to go perfectly with menchi katsu in your next bento lunch box!

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Menchi Katsu (Minced Meat Cutlet)

Our theme in this episode is simmering.

We'll be making Simmered Taro and Beef with ingredients that are in season for autumn. With its sauce made with a shiitake dashi stock, and its beautiful glaze, this is one dish sure to make anyone hungry. We'll also be putting a unique spin on a classic by making chewy croquette with the simmered taro and ginger.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Simmering - Umami-simmered Taro and Beef

The theme of this episode is deep-frying. We'll be using top-quality flounder and preparing it ikada-age style, making even the bones delicious. We'll fillet the flounder into five pieces, soak it in salt water, and fry them up to look like little rafts that could float on water.

After frying the flounder to get crispy bones and tender meat, we'll be making green tea soba noodles with chili-seasoned grated daikon and ten-tsuyu sauce for a dish as beautifully reminiscent of pine needles as it is delicious.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Deep-frying - Deep-fried Flounder with Soba Noodles

The theme of this episode is "grilling." We'll be introducing the Japanese favorite, kabayaki. We'll learn the easy way to spread open sardines for kabayaki without even using a knife. We'll also learn about how to make a variation on kabayaki by flaking the sardines and adding dashi stock, to make delicious hitsumabushi.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Grilling - Kabayaki-style Sardines

Our theme of this episode is deep-frying. We'll be working with mushrooms, in season for fall, and making Autumn Kakiage mixed tempura with a variety of ingredients, like lotus root, maitake mushrooms, scallops, shrimp, and more, for a deliciously crunchy and colorful dish. We'll also make a variation on the recipe, letting the flavor of nori shine in our chicken tenderloin nori-fry.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Deep Frying - Autumn Kakiage Fries

Our theme this of episode is the fall harvest. We'll be cooking a meal with the ingredients and flavors of fall. Our main dish will be salmon and three types of mushrooms, wrapped in foil and baked. We'll also be making beautiful sweet potatoes simmered in syrup, with the purple of the skins contrasting with the yellow of the inside. Finally, for our third dish, we'll be making a delicious bacon and burdock root soup with dashi made from kombu kelp and bonito flakes.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Foil-baked Salmon and Mushrooms

Our theme of this episode is warm noodles, full of the best of land and sea, to make cold winter days better. The port city of Nagasaki, on the island of Kyushu in southwestern Japan, remained open to foreign trade even when Japan closed itself off from the 1600s to the 1800s. As a result, Nagasaki developed its own unique food culture, and this week Rika will be making her own version of Nagasaki's famous noodle dish, champon.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Rika's Champon Noodles

Our theme of this episode is sushi. We'll be introducing sushi, that most famous of Japanese foods. We'll invite Chef Yasuda, who has dedicated himself to sushi for thirty years, including running New York's top sushi shop. He'll show us how to make Edo-style sushi with the finest ingredients, sharing the secrets of how to cook the rice, prepare the fish, put the sushi together, and even the best way to eat it. He'll also teach us about nori-wrapped negitoro rolls.

Authentic Japanese Cooking:  Artisan edition - Sushi

Our theme of this episode is kneading.

We'll teach you how to make chicken tsukune meatballs for a soup, by kneading ground chicken until it develops enough stickiness to come together into balls. We'll also show you the unique Japanese ingredient you can add to make your tsukune meatballs light and tender. Our soup this week has a wonderfully high-class feel to it as well. Finally, we'll show you an alternative way to serve the tsukune meatballs, with a sweet and savory mitarashi sauce.

Authentic Japanese Cooking:  Kneading - Tsukune and Shiitake Soup

Our main focus this episode is on shabu-shabu, a famous Japanese dish on par with sushi or tempura. We'll be using soy milk, a convenient way to get the healthy protein of soybeans, to make the shabu-shabu broth with Chinese and Japanese chili spices and use it to quickly and deliciously cook plenty of pork and vegetables.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Shabu-shabu with Hot SoyMilk Broth

This week, we'll be making the famous Japanese dish tempura, but with a twist! For our main dish, we'll be making rice balls — a Japanese favorite — with shrimp and scallop tempura inside. We'll also be making a light beef shank soup to help warm the body on these cold winter days, as well as a delicious sauté made with vitamin-rich spinach, fresh cream, sesame oil, and soy sauce, for a surprisingly delicious combination of flavors.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Rice Balls with Seafood Tempura

Our theme for this episode is "simmering." We'll be using the unique Japanese ingredient, koya tofu, as our main ingredient, and simmering it alongside three other ingredients. Koya tofu is freeze-dried, so it soaks up soups and liquids, making it a delicious ingredient to use. Our other ingredients, shrimp and chrysanthemum leaves, are both simmered with different methods, and then all three ingredients are brought together at the end for a finished result as beautiful as it is delicious. We'll also be making a unique variant on fried chicken, using crumbled koya tofu for its breading.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Simmering - Simmered Koya Tofu, Shrimp, and Chrysanthemum Leaves

Our theme in this episode is marinating.

We'll be making Yuan-yaki, a dish originating in Japanese traditional culture, by marinating ingredients in yuan sauce and then grilling them. We'll be adding miso to our soy sauce and mirin-based yuan sauce, then marinating salmon and chicken in it to flavor them.

Authentic Japanese Cooking:  Marinating - Yuan-yaki

Our theme of this episode is making hot pots!

We'll be introducing oki-suki, a dish that was once prepared by fishers on their boats during downtime while fishing. The "oki" means "offshore," and the "suki" comes from the name of the dish sukiyaki. With seasonal seafood, including buri yellowtail, and a rich soy sauce-based soup, this hot pot features flavors you'll only find in Japanese cuisine. We'll also show you how to finish up the leftover soup in the traditionally delicious Japanese way.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Hot Pot Cooking

We'll be visiting the far northern prefecture of Akita and learning about Akita's local cooking over two episodes. In the first episode, we'll learn about Kiritampo-nabe, a hotpot dish once cooked by the Matagi, hunters who lived in the mountains. This hotpot contains local Hinai chicken, seri, maitake mushrooms, burdock root, and kiritampo, the item that gives the dish its name. Made by mashing rice, then spreading it on a stick and grilling it, kiritampo are perfect for soaking up the rich flavor of the Hinai chicken soup. We'll also learn about Akita's unique food culture, full of the flavors of nature.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Artisan edition in Akita - Kiritampo Nabe (Rice Stick Hot Pot)

We're visiting the far northern prefecture of Akita and learning about Akita's cooking over two episodes. In this second episode, we'll learn about koji, used to make indispensable Japanese ingredients like miso, soy sauce, sake, or mirin. The town of Yokote, Akita is famous nationwide for its rice, and the town's food culture features many fermented items based on the use of this exceptional rice has been used to make koji since long ago. By mixing koji and salt, we can make the all-purpose condiment shio-koji that has been sweeping Japan in the past few years. We'll learn a simple recipe to make shio-koji, and see ways to use it to make Japanese dishes even more delicious. This week, we hope to introduce the world to the mysterious and wonderful powers of koji!

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Artisan edition in Akita - Koji

Our theme of this episode is seafood. For our main dish, we'll be making asari littleneck clam rice. Littleneck clams are in season right now, so Rika will be introducing this original recipe inspired by Fukagawa-meshi, some of Tokyo's regional cooking. We'll also be learning how to make a soup with oysters and turnips, which are sweeter and tenderer in the spring, as well as nokke tofu, or tofu topped with whitebait and shrimp, rounding off our three seafood dishes for this episode.

Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Clam and Burdock Root Rice

Our main recipe in this episode is tofu hamburger steaks, a healthy variation on the Japanese western-style standard, made with tofu and low-fat ground chicken instead of beef or pork. By steam-frying these hamburger steaks in a frying pan, they'll come out nicely light and juicy, and the sauce we'll make for them with ponzu and grated daikon radish gives them a deliciously light, clean flavor. For our sides, we'll also be making pumpkin salad, sugar-glazed carrot and shiitake mushrooms, and sugar snap peas, making for a beautifully colorful spread perfect for spring.

Authentic Japanese Cooking: Tofu hamburger steaks

Traditional techniques and resourceful recipes! Chefs Saito and Rika, present their unique approaches to cooking delicious Japanese food.

The Best Seasons of Dining with the Chef

The Best Seasons of Dining with the Chef

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13