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 >
All Recipes
Chanko Nabe: A One-Pot Dish for a Pot Belly
A little unknown fact about me is that I love sumo! It is one of the few sports I’ll watch. When I lived in Japan, you couldn’t tear me away from the television whenever sumo was on. I even went to a live Sumo tournament in Tokyo with my then father-in-law and it was sublime!Read On >
Trefoil and Shimeji Mushroom Pasta
We are having another heat wave in the Bay area, so spending as little time as possible in the kitchen is my modus operandi at the moment. I have been hankering for mushrooms a lot these past few weeks. This is a yummy and quick pasta dish that incorporates East-West elements. Although I use shimejiRead On >
The Art of Ramen: Basic Chicken Stock For Ramen
This is a simple yet delicious stock base to make for any of your Ramen recipes. If you want to try other bases for the stock you can use cracked pork bones (for a richer stock) and even shelled short-necked clams. You can also quickly sauté the clams in sesame oil for a lighter stockRead On >
The Art of Ramen: Salt Flavoring for Ramen Soup
This recipe uses another traditional ramen ingredient, namely menma (Manchurian wild rice stems), which I love. Along with fishcake (naruto), spinach, lard, and green onion or Japanese leek, the garnishes add a nice touch to the salt flavoring. This is part of the “Art of Ramen” series. The basic chicken stock for ramen that’s usedRead On >
The Art of Ramen: “Tampopo,” Ramen history and more
In Juzo Itami’s definitive movie on ramen, “Tampopo,” a woman fights for her economic survival by learning the art of ramen (Chinese noodles in soup) making. Kitakata, Fukushima Prefecture, the local economy survives due to the largest concentration of ramen shops in Japan. Why? Ramen is a successful Chinese import, made from wheat flour, eggs,Read On >
Sweet Summer Spoonful: Mizu-Yokan: A Cool, Traditional Japanese Dessert Jelly
What the Japanese originally called kashi first came to Japan from China during the Nara period (710-93) in the form of fresh or dried fruit. Although not our modern idea of what a sweet should be, fruit was still referred to as kashi right up until the Muromachi period (1333-1573). Later, sweets made of riceRead On >