This simple yet delicious and easy main course salad is truly a mingling of Eastern and Western cuisines, a fusion of cultures and ingredients to create something new and exciting for your palate. The main ingredients –raw sashimi-grade fish and Japanese herbs – are unmistakably Japanese, but the presentation is a Western – style salad.Read On >
Fish
Sushi Hand Rolls
It is getting hotter here in the Bay area, so I don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen….but still want delicious and easy Japanese dishes! You can’t get much easier than Sushi Hand Rolls (temaki). Make a pot of sushi rice, set out lots of yummy toppings on trays, and let yourRead On >
Regional Recipe Corner: Tai Meshi from Shikoku Island
Shikoku Island (the smallest island in Japan) may have only four prefectures, but when it comes to regional cuisine, it is very wealthy. I had the chance to eat my way through the whole island when living in Japan. What struck me the most, was that, although most of the cuisine is fish-based, I neverRead On >
Fried Sardines with Shiso
I love shiso, also known as perilla leaves, and am always thinking about how to use it in recipes. In fact, in my last blog posting on yakumi: Essential Japanese Herbs, Spices, and Condiments, I wrote about shiso (perilla leaves). This is a simple yet absolutely delicious fish dish that not only uses shiso,Read On >
Katsuo no Tataki: Seared Bonito Sashimi with Garlic
Katsuo (Bonito) is a seasonal Japanese delicacy of early summer. The most popular way to eat it is as katsuo no tataki (“pounded bonito sashimi”), a traditional dish from Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island. (Part of Thanks for the Meal’s regional Japanese recipe collection.) This is a unique type of sashimi, the only kind toRead On >
Uosuki: Fish Sukiyaki
Ask anyone about sukiyaki, and most will nod knowledgeably and say, “Ah, yes, a famous Japanese dish.” Mention Uosuki, though, and even most Japanese will react with a blank look. Uosuki is a form of fish sukiyaki, a famous regional dish from the Osaka area that originated on fishing boats in the Inland Sea. FreshRead On >
Nanbanzuke: Marinated Fried Fish from Nagasaki
Portuguese and Spanish missionaries started trickling into Japan to spread the teachings of Christianity near the end of the Muromachi era (1392-1567), and their first foothold in Japan was Nagasaki. The Japanese took to referring to all Europeans as Nanbanjin or “Southern barbarians,” and gradually the term “nanban” came to mean anything related to EuropeanRead On >
Real Eel: An Electrifying Dish from Nagoya
Once tasted, the delicate flavor of eel (unagi), prepared according to the special ways of Japanese cuisine, will linger in your memory forever. Since the Edo period (1603-1867), eel has traditionally been eaten in the height of midsummer on the Day of the Ox (July 23); popular custom has it that anyone who eats eelRead On >