Nail the basics of Japanese cuisine with these easy yet authentic dishes.

With ramen bars and sushi restaurants in abundance, most of us know our soba from our shitaki these days. But cooking Japanese food at home? That likely remains uncharted kitchen territory. However, California-born Ms Nancy Singleton Hachisu, who’s lived in a sprawling farmhouse in Saitama, Japan, for the past 30 years, is setting out to change that. Published this month, Japan: The Cookbook, is her third – and most ambitious – book and comprises a comprehensive collection of more than 400 recipes which reflect Ms Hachisu’s take on traditional Japanese home cooking. From dashi to miso, noodles to pickles, it’s a celebration of a cuisine that’s at once pared-back and deeply flavoured; healthy yet seriously satisfying. We asked Ms Hachisu to shed light on three crucial techniques, and share some recipes below to help get you started.

When it comes to making noodles from scratch, says Ms Hachisu, “all flour is not created equal”. “Seek out flour from Stoate & Sons, Shipton Mill, or Gilchesters Organics. This will greatly improve the flavour.” She recommends using a heavy-duty rolling machine, preferably a Japanese seimenki, or a pasta machine. “When you’ve rolled out the dough, throw flour over the noodles and shake them lightly to distribute the flour and prevent sticking.”

**Serves 6 **

For the broth: 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs 2 small carrots, cut into 3cm lengths 200g spring onions, cut into 3cm lengths
 2cm piece ginger, thinly sliced 
 1 tsp sea salt 2 tbsp sesame oil

For the noodles: 300g plain flour, plus extra to sprinkle 2 tbsp sesame oil 2 eggs 2 egg yolks 4 tsp soy sauce

For the toppings: 200g Japanese mustard greens or spinach, blanched, squeezed, and chopped
 3 tbsp spring onions, finely chopped 3 eggs, boiled for 8 minutes, refreshed, peeled, and halved 1 sheet of nori, cut into six Chilli oil, to serve (optional)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 230°C. In a bowl, toss the chicken, carrots, spring onions, and ginger with the salt. Rub with sesame oil and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 35 minutes.

Scrape the chicken into a large pot and add 4 litres of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 1 hour.

Remove the chicken thighs and shred the meat from the bones into a bowl. Spoon a ladleful of broth over the meat. Return the bones to the pot and continue simmering, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Strain into a clean pot and discard the bones and vegetables.

Meanwhile, make the noodles. Place the flour in a large bowl 
and drizzle in the sesame oil. Mix with your fingers until pebbly. Make a well in the centre and break in the eggs and yolks. Mix with your fingers until combined, but the dough is still a bit crumbly. Turn out and knead until smooth and pliable, then rest for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough using a pasta machine or seimenki, then cut into noodles 3mm wide. Cut those noodles into 22 cm lengths. Sprinkle with flour.

Fill a large pot three-quarters full of water, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. In 6 soup bowls, measure 4 tsp soy sauce. Whisk 4 tbsp broth into each bowl to emulsify.

Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. While the noodles are cooking, ladle 350ml broth to each bowl. Drain the noodles and divide among the bowls. Working quickly, add 2 tbsp chicken, 2 tbsp greens, ½ tbsp spring onions, 1 egg half and a piece of nori to each. Finish with chilli oil.

For something as simple as miso soup, says Ms Hachisu, it’s key to source the best ingredients possible. “Using egg in this soup recipe provides richness and substance. Choose the highest quality eggs you can, and source decent Japanese wakame and miso, available from Clearspring,” she says. “Thoughtfully chosen dashi components will yield the best results. This is that simple yet elegant part of Japanese cuisine, where the subtleties are ephemeral, yet nonetheless crucial to the end dish.”

**Serves 4 **

For the dashi: 1 10 cm square konbu 1 handful freshly shaved katsuobushi or hanakatsuo (dried, fermented skipjack tuna, available online)

For the miso soup: 4 small eggs 1 onion thinly sliced 1 tbsp dried cut wakame (seaweed), soaked in cold water for 20 minutes
 4 tbsp brown miso

First make the dashi. Place the konbu in a small saucepan and add 500ml cold water. Bring to a simmer. Remove the konbu. Drop in the katsuobushi, and cook at a gentle simmer over low heat for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and let steep for 8 minutes. Strain the dashi through a sieve.

Break each egg into a small bowl. In a medium saucepan, bring the dashi to a simmer over a medium-high heat and add the onion. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Drain the wakame. Dollop the miso into a soup ladle and whisk in a little of the dashi to emulsify. Stir the miso into the dashi with the wakame.

Slip the eggs into the soup one by one. Cover and cook on a low simmer for 1 minute, swirling the pan to encourage the soup to cover the egg. Remove from the heat and allow to cook, covered, in the residual heat for 2 minutes.

“While soaking rice for 30 minutes is a good idea, I have never found it to be the most important step,” says Ms Hachisu. “Far more important is the scrubbing and rinsing – don’t be slap-dash in this process. Flush and drain several times, and be precise in your measuring. Rice cooks best in a cast-iron pot, not a rice cooker – throw that contraption out!” In this pared-back recipe, fragrant Japanese shisho leaves are paired with salmon and cucumber. “This is a lovely dish for a warm summer evening,” says Ms Hachisu.

**Serves 6 **

450g Japanese rice 2 salmon fillets 1⁄4 tsp sea salt 100g Japanese cucumber, sliced into thin rounds
 2 tbsp hojiso (shiso buds) 1 ume (plum vinegar) 4 green shiso leaves, rolled and cut into thin strips 2 tbsp white sesame seeds, warmed slightly in a dry frying pan

Measure the rice into a cast-iron pot. Fill with water to the top to wash out any dust or debris, drain, and scrub the rice with your fingers. Flush with water and drain several times until the water runs almost clear. Add 540ml water, cover, and soak for 30 minutes. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to rest.

Preheat the grill to medium. Place the salmon on a baking sheet under the grill and cook for 4 minutes on each side. Shred into a bowl.

Massage the salt into the cucumbers. Leave for 10 minutes then squeeze gently. Place the shiso buds into a sieve and pour a steady stream of boiling water over them for 10 seconds. Pat dry on a clean tea towel.

In a small bowl, stir together the ume and 1 tbsp water. Sprinkle over the cooked rice and fluff up with a wooden spoon. Fold in the salmon, cucumbers, shiso buds, shiso leaves, and sesame seeds to distribute evenly. Serve.

Japan: The Cookbook (Phaidon) by Ms Nancy Singleton Hachisu is out on 6 April