I love salads and of course, Japanese salad dressings! Salad dressings play a large role in any Japanese culinary repertoire. The composition of salads and dressings are an area of great versatility and creativity in Japanese cuisine. If your pantry is equipped with a couple of Japanese standards, you too can whip up or poundRead On >
sweet sake
Tofu: Skewered, Grilled, and Garnished (Part 1)
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 >
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 >
Delicious Tenpura Recipe (Tempura)
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 >
The Art of Ramen: Soy Sauce Flavoring for Ramen Soup
This is a traditional, yummy and simple Soy Sauce flavoring for Ramen noodles. Directions: Mash the garlic, ginger and leek together. Mix together the mirin, soy sauce and sake. Add all the ingredients to a small saucepan and let cook slowly, over low heat, for five minutes. Combine the soy sauce flavoring with hot stock. Place garnishes on top of the cooked noodles in the soy sauce flavored soup.