Thin somen noodles cook quickly and may be eaten hot or cold. Perfect for summer meals.

Hina-matsuri, or Girls Day, celebrates daughters with special foods like this colorful sushi bowl. Read more about Girls Day which also is known as Japanese Doll Festival.

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

Perhaps it was the plentiful sugar cane or the humid weather that influenced culinary adaptations when the Japanese immigrated to Hawaii but many recipes departed from their old world roots. Hawaii sushi is an example of an interesting variation.

Many Japanese immigrated to the Hawaiian Islands around the turn of the 20th century, bringing with them traditional foods and customs. But the Hawaiian, Portuguese and Chinese presence influenced the Japanese, especially their cuisine.

My Caucasian husband does not like plain musubi or onigiri (white rice ball) which presented a problem in our marriage until I made him this version that satisfies his love of bacon.

This traditional clam soup is often served on Hina-matsuri or Girls’ Day because the clam symbolizes a particular part of the female anatomy.

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

Guava is a tropical fruit not easily found in Japan, but when many Japanese immigrated to the Pacific Islands, indigenous ingredients like guava found their way into Japanese recipes.

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