HARUMI Kurihara is big in Japan. In her homeland, the diminutive, smiley cook is the equivalent of Delia Smith – minus the football team.

Having spent 20 years teaching Japanese housewives how to cook, Harumi now wants to show the British public how easy and tasty Japanese cuisine is.

Last year, Harumi spent three weeks in a flat in north London, experimenting with all the ingredients she could get her hands on.

The result is Everyday Harumi, a recipe book brimming with simple Japanese recipes infused with common British ingredients.

To find out just how easy it is to cook Harumi-style, I met the chef last week.

As she methodically guided me through her recipe for fishcakes, Harumi explains that healthy eating is de rigeur in Japan.

“Japanese food isn’t particularly fattening and there’s an awful lot of vegetables, particularly in my style of cooking,” she says.

After mincing the prawns and salmon, we move on to the ponzu soy sauce, for which mirin – a sweet, alcoholic liquid used in lots of Japanese cooking – is a key ingredient. Like most Japanese ingredients, some supermarkets and specialist stores sell it (try the Asian supermarkets in and around Bournemouth), but if you can’t find any, Harumi says soy sauce with lemon juice and sugar is a suitable alternative.

Aware that Japanese foodstuffs can be tricky to find, she’s listed stockists around the country in the back of her book.

We squish the fish and chopped onions into balls, which then fry in vegetable oil in a pan until brown. While they’re cooking, Harumi shows me how to chop ginger thinly, explaining that the thinner it is, the better the flavour.

We serve the fishcakes with a neat pile of ginger on top and dip them into the ponzu sauce before eating – they’re delicious.

Harumi explains that the sauce will keep in the fridge for up to a month and can be used as a salad dressing. Like many Japanese sauces, it’s very versatile.

Born to a big, traditional Japanese family, Harumi learnt to cook at a young age – she says her 80-something mum still starts the day by making a sesame sauce.

She acknowledges there are cultural differences between Western and Japanese food. “You don’t use much sugar in main courses,” she says, before explaining that we can bridge the gap by embracing both cultures’ ingredients. “I would like to see people around the world being able to say, ‘I fancy eating Japanese tonight, what shall I make?’ and then making it easily.”

To help her realise that dream, why not get started with some of Harumi’s recipes?

Everyday Harumi by Harumi Kurihara is published by Conran Octopus priced £20.

Salmon and Prawn Fish Cakes
(Makes 18 small fish cakes)
360g salmon
120g shelled raw prawns

120g onion
1 tbsp sake
Salt and pepper
Sunflower or vegetable oil
Ponzu soy sauce
Finely shredded fresh ginger, to garnish
For the ponzu soy sauce:
100ml mirin
100ml soy sauce
60ml lemon juice
5cm piece konbu seaweed
To make the ponzu soy sauce: In a small saucepan, bring the mirin to the boil, then reduce the heat and cook for a further 2-3 minutes over a low heat to burn off the alcohol. Remove from the heat and add the soy sauce, lemon juice and konbu and leave to cool.

Remove any skin or bones from the salmon and finely mince.

Chop prawns finely. Both the salmon and prawns should resemble minced meat. Chop the onion into 7-8mm size pieces.

Put the salmon and prawns into a bowl, mix well then add the onion and mix again. Add the sake, some salt and pepper to season, and combine thoroughly.

Shape the mixture into small fish cakes, each one being around 4-5cm in diameter. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and when hot, place the fish cakes in the pan, allowing them to brown well before turning over. Once cooked, place on a large plate and drizzle over the ponzu soy sauce and garnish.