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 >
regional dishes
Thanks for the Meal's collection of regional Japanese recipes includes dishes with specific locally-inspired flavors from Nagoya, Kanto, Kyoto, Okinawa, Nagasaki, Osaka, Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island, and Hokkaido.
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 >
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 >