A terrific way to use up a lot of carrots, these golden fritters with a hint of ginger and curry are a favorite. Eat hot or cold, plain or with some Japanese mayonnaise.

Kid-friendly korokke can be eaten hot or room temperature which makes this a good addition to bento or lunch boxes.

Japanese hamburger is a seasoned beef patty, eaten hot or cold with rice. It is similar to the Salisbury Steak only without gravy although you can serve this with curry or tonkatsu (Japanese steak) sauce.

The name is misleading as the rice is not in the burger but in the bun. MOS is the second largest fast food burger franchise in Japan today, just behind—who else—McDonald’s.

Another Western or yoshoku dish, this sweet soy sauce hamburger on a bun tastes delicious with or without grilled pineapple. Burgers on buns were new to Japan.

Seaweed is perishable, so it often comes dried in long strips. Here is how to prepare konbu for use in recipes.

Take the bitter bite out of raw onions by soaking them in cold water. Sweet onions and wakame seaweed make a delicious salad with a tart miso dressing.

This is a typical Japanese simmered dish of carrots, aburage (fried tofu) and hijiki seaweed.

Gyoza skins are similar to a rolled pasta like ravioli or won ton wrappers, only they are cut into circles instead of squares.

The correct way to cook these dumplings, also known as potstickers, is to pan-fry until the bottoms develop a slight crust and then steam them until the tops are tender. Their name comes from how they stick to the pot.