First off, a little copycat recipe from a Katsu restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo. I ordered Pork Katsu, and before they served dinner, we had this salad.
Shredded Napa Cabbage with Sesame Ginger Dressing
Ingredients
½ small Napa Cabbage, very finely chopped
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
¼ cup toasted sesame oil
¼ cup of your favourite sesame ginger salad dressing (I bought some as I have no clue what the recipe was in the restaurant but it tasted of yuzu, ginger, sesame, sweet soy sauce and honey … utterly delicious, and I’m still trying to replicate it!)
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cream, more if needed
¼ cup crunchy toasted onions (you can buy those too! )
¼ cup pickled ginger (optional)
Method
1. Finely shred the cabbage, shredding very thinly with a good chefs knife
2. Toast your sesame seeds until fragrant, place in a small bowl to cool
3. Take your toasted sesame oil out the fridge, it’s where you should keep it! Put it out for serving to reach room temperature or measured out in a small fancy pouring jug
4. Mix together your mayonnaise and cream, so that’s it’s just pourable to drizzle over, so you might need more cream, add a tablespoon of sesame oil and whisk until smooth
5. Place your yummy sesame ginger dressing out for serving too. I added more ginger juice from the pickled ginger (about 2 tblspn) and a splash of yuzu juice.
6. To serve: on a plate or in a bowl, serve yourself some finely chopped cabbage, pour over a little of the ginger sesame dressing, top with the toasted sesame seeds, preferably crushed with a mortar and pestle, add a tiny dazzle of sesame oil to taste or in a little bowl, mix the sesame oil and crushed sesame seeds together, then drizzle over. End with a drizzle of the mayonnaise cream and a sprinkle of crispy toasted onions and a little pickled ginger if you fancy!
7. Yum! It’s honestly absolutely delicious.
Here is the Katsu we had and the view from where we sat. The restaurant was on the upper level floor of a beautiful department store. There were many restaurants to choose from on this level.
Below, is the charming Tolo Coffee and Bakery, a Totoro Ghibli themed retreat in the Shimo-Kitazawa area that we visited. It’s a maze to find but worth the walk through the hip neighbourhood. I had a Totoro Cream Puff filled with delicious creamy vanilla custard. Yes, I was definitely not doing low carb on this once in a lifetime trip!
Various photos below from wonderful foods at the 7-Eleven, Lawsons, Pronto Coffee Shop and various restaurants. Japanese sweet potatoes are insanely sweet and delicious, just plain and baked in a clay pot. If you ride the Shinkansen DO order the vanilla ice cream. It’s rated (by me 😉 the best in the world.
Keto Recipes 