A move to Aichi Prefecture when I lived in Japan prompted a visit to Kikuso, one of the area’s most famous regional-food restaurants. Kikuso’s specialty is dengaku nameshi, a savory combination that has been served since the place opened sometime around 1820. Dengaku is a seductively simple, even primitive, dish, made of small squares ofRead On >
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Oden: Japanese Hodgepodge Stew
When I was a college student in Tokyo, I would often pass mobile food stalls, called yatai, late on blustery winter nights and be completely overwhelmed by the powerful aroma of oden, or Japanese hodgepodge stew. Oden’s pungent smell and taste have made it a perennial favorite with drinkers, no matter the season. It isRead On >
The Top 10 Japanese Utensils You’ll Love To Use
Whether you’re ready to master Japanese cooking or just want to add something new to your weekly menu, this isn’t just a top 10 list of Japanese utensils you should use, but a list of cooking tools you’ll love to use. I sure do! When you look around my kitchen, a lot of my utensilsRead On >
Yakisoba: The Noodle That Came In From The Cold
Last year, my daughter’s Japanese teacher at the local high school asked me to teach about 40 kids how to make yakisoba. So one early morning, we crammed into the very small ‘parent’s’ kitchen, set up a number of different stations with electric frying pans, and cooked away. There wasn’t a leftover in sight, andRead On >
Interview with Eric Gower of Breakaway Matcha
A number of months ago I was reading an article online at mindbodygreen.com and it mentioned Eric Gower of Breakaway Matcha, located in Marin County and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of it considering my total obsession with Matcha (high quality finely ground powdered green tea from Japan, primarily from the area surrounding Kyoto);Read On >
Succulent Clouds: The Way of Light, Delicious Tenpura
With a light, crispy, oil-free coating enveloping a perfectly cooked and succulent piece of seafood or vegetable, tenpura (also written tempura) is considered a quintessentially Japanese food. Both the word and the dish, however, are almost certainly of foreign origin. The source: Spanish and Portuguese missionaries called nanbanjin (southern barbarians) who came to Japan toRead On >
Top 10 Favorite Japanese Cookbooks
I have over a hundred and thirty English language books on Japanese cuisine on my bookshelves, and yet I feel I’ve only begun to skim the surface. In the past few years, there have been scores of Japanese cookbooks, Asian fusion cookbooks, you name them, published around the world. It is hard to keep up!Read On >
Festive Fare: Traditional Treats for New Year’s
NEW YEAR’S IS ONE OF THE BEST TIMES IN JAPAN – at least for eating. Shogatsu, the New Year’s holiday, is celebrated from midnight on December 31 until January 3 or 4, or even longer by diehards. No New Year’s banquet would be complete without a bowl of zoni, soup with toasted mochi (pounded riceRead On >
SOBA CELEBRATIONS for a Happy New Year!
IN JAPANESE CULTURE, soba (buckwheat) noodles have always been seen as a “happiness” food, served on special occasions. It is traditional, too, when moving into a new house to greet your neighbors with hikoshi soba (moving soba). This involves a play on words, as soba also means “close” or “near” – like neighbors. Another sobaRead On >
Get Breakaway Matcha Delivered With A Special Offer for Thanks For the Meal Readers
I admit it, that I am very obsessed with Matcha! And you may be wondering, what is matcha? It is finely ground powdered ultra-premium Japanese green tea. It can be drunk hot or cold. Look for my interview with Eric Gower, the owner of Breakaway Matcha from Marin County in the coming weeks for moreRead On >