Aya says: “Osaka is famous for its kushikatsu and has hundreds of casual standing bars that specialise in it. Their menus are endless because so many different kinds of meat and vegetables can be skewered and panko-crusted. The customers share big bowls of dipping sauce and the restaurants have signs that say ‘Strictly no double-dipping’ for health and safety reasons!”

Serves 4

Ingredients

Fresh:

• 600g pork shoulder steak
• ½ large onion, cut into 4 wedges
• 4 okra, stems trimmed
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt
• Tonkatsu sauce (store-bought or homemade, see page below), to serve

Pantry:

• 8 wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes
• 75g plain flour mixed with a pinch of salt and pepper
• 100g panko breadcrumbs
• 500ml sunflower oil, for deep-frying

Method

Cut the pork steak into 2 x 9 cm (3/4 x 31/2 inch) strips. Using two skewers at a time, skewer the ingredients in this order: pork, onion, pork, okra, pork (one kushikatsu is made from two skewers – after cooking, it is cut through the middle to make two individual kushikatsu skewers).

Preheat the oven to 100°C.

Place the flour, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs in three separate shallow trays. Dip the skewers into the flour first, coat evenly, then pat off any excess flour. Next, dip the skewers in the egg. Finally, carefully cover the skewers with breadcrumbs. Heat the sunflower oil in a deep saucepan over high heat to 180°C. Fry two kushikatsu at once for about four minutes, until the crust becomes golden and crispy. Lift out with tongs or a large slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Keep the kushikatsu warm in the oven while you continue cooking.

When all the skewers are done, cut in between the skewers to make eight half-skewers. Serve with tonkatsu sauce for dipping.

Quick Tonkatsu sauce 

“Tonkatsu sauce is the Japanese equivalent to British brown sauce. You will find ready-made tonkatsu sauce in any Japanese grocery store, Asian food store or online. However, it’s not too difficult to make from scratch. Here is my quick, easy-to-prepare version.”

Makes about 1/2 cup (125 ml)

Ingredients

Fresh:

• ½ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pantry:

• 2 tbsp tomato sauce (ketchup)
• 60ml Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 4 tsp soy sauce
• 45g light brown sugar
• a pinch of sea salt
• 40g white sesame seeds, toasted, optional

Method

Mix the tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice and salt in a bowl until well combined. If you are making this to store, don’t add the sesame seeds at this stage. Store the sauce in the fridge in a clean, screw-top jar for up to a month.

Place the toasted sesame seeds in a suribachi or mortar and coarsely grind. Mix them into the sauce just before serving.

From Japanese Food Made Easy by Aya Nishimura (£14.99, Murdoch Books), out  now

Bonnie says: “These little pillow-soft wrapped tofu buns are the juicy burgers of Taiwanese street food. They are impressive to serve, but super-easy to make. Crispy breaded pieces of tofu, cosily tucked into a bun, drizzled with a bit of mayo and spicy tonkatsu sauce, this is a total crowd-pleaser. If you can’t get hold of bao (though look in your local Asian store), it will also work with sweeter soft breads such as milk buns, brioche, or good old white sliced. If you have the time and patience, you can even make your own bao. All the effort here is in the prep, so you can serve the bao quickly and effortlessly.”

Serves 4/Makes 8

Ingredients

For the bao:

• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 120g panko crumbs
• 400g firm tofu, drained for 20 minutes, pressed and cut into 8 x 1.5cm/½ inch rectangular slabs
• 8 bao buns
• vegetable oil, for frying
• 8 Romaine lettuce leaves
• 8 cucumber slices
• 100ml mayonnaise
• 70ml brown sauce (optional)
• 8 small wooden skewers, or toothpicks

For the quick tonkatsu sauce (optional):

• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 2½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1½ tsp oyster sauce
• 1½ tsp caster sugar (superfine sugar

Method

If you are making your own tonkatsu sauce, mix all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Put the egg for the bao in a shallow dish and the panko in another. Dip the tofu in the egg, then press the slabs into the panko until covered and sticking on all sides.

Prepare the bao buns by steaming them in a microwave with clingfilm (plastic wrap) on top, or, if using brioche buns, place in a preheated oven at 180°C fan/200°C for four minutes.

Heat up a large frying pan over a high heat, filled with enough oil to cover the base by 1cm/½ inch. Fry the tofu slabs for two to three minutes on each side, or until golden.

Assemble the buns by filling them with the lettuce and cucumber. Spread the mayonnaise and tonkatsu sauce, or brown sauce, on the tofu pieces, then add them to the buns, holding them together with skewers or toothpicks. Serve immediately.

Twists:

Instead of tonkatsu sauce, you can try tartare sauce, sriracha, hoisin or brown sauce, which can all be bought in most supermarkets.

From Tofu Tasty: Imaginative tofu recipes for every day by Bonnie Chung (£14.00, Pavilion Books), out now

Kwoklyn says: “Panko breadcrumbs are super crispy even before you fry them and they bring a crunch to a dish that standard breadcrumbs just can’t deliver. As you cut into this cauliflower steak you’ll instantly release the aromatics; as they waft up your nose and trigger your taste buds, this is when your mouth will begin to water uncontrollably. Then you dip into the rich, sweet and sour BBQ sauce and it’s game over.”

Ingredients

• 1 large head of cauliflower
• 200ml almond or soya milk
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• ½ tbsp cornflour
• ½ tsp salt
• 100g plain flour
• 100g panko breadcrumbs
• oil for shallow frying (vegetable, groundnut or coconut)

For the sauce:

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• 100ml tomato ketchup
• 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp white or brown sugar

Method

In a large bowl, mix together all of the sauce ingredients.

Remove the outer leaves and stalk from the cauliflower, then slice the head into 4cm (1½in) thick steaks. In a large bowl, mix together the almond or soya milk, garlic powder, onion powder, cornflour, salt and plain flour and mix well to create a smooth, pouring consistency batter. 

Spread out the panko breadcrumbs on a large plate. Dip the cauliflower steaks into the batter and then coat with panko breadcrumbs, pressing down to ensure the crumbs stick.

Pour enough oil to deep-fry the cauliflower steaks into a large saucepan and heat to 170°C. Carefully lower in the cauliflower steaks and fry for five minutes on each side, or until tender and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack or kitchen paper to drain.

Slice each steak into slices and serve with the Tonkatsu sauce.

From The Veggie Chinese Takeaway Cookbook by Kwoklyn Wan (£15, Quadrille), out now