Udon is a Japanese noodle made from wheat flour.Nabeyaki udon is a hot type udon dish made by simmering udon noodles with other ingredients in soy sauce taste broth.Usually those are simmered in an earthen pot, and served.Popular ingredients are shrimp tempura, kamaboko, egg, spinach, shiitake-mushroom, carrot, green onion(Japanese leek), etc.Nabeyaki udon is popular in cold winter.
When I came back to the U.S., one of the things I thought I should do was diversify a bit so that I covered snacks from other countries. While I’ve done that a little, I’ve still mainly focused on Japanese snacks. I have forgotten that I wanted to shoehorn in some other things, and Mexican snacks in particular. I have ample access to them, and they’re generally pretty cheap, and writing about
The earthy buckwheat soba noodles are our favorite. It often becomes a last minute lunch meal as there is always dried soba noodles in the pantry as well as a bottle of men tsuyu concentrate. In this simple recipe mushrooms are simply cut into bite-size pieces and blanched in hot water and then put onto the soba. The earthy mushrooms are a perfect partner for the noodles. Kinoko (Mushroom) SobaServes 4½ cup shiméjimushrooms½ cup shiitakémushrooms½ cup maitakémushrooms½ cup namékomushrooms4 bunches of dried soba bottled men tsuyu 麺つゆ orめんつゆshichimi (seven spice), optionalHeat up a very large pot of water for boiling the soba. Heat…
Ohisashiburi Foodies! Shiozakura Dashi Taki Soba Gohan Kumiage Yuba Donburi: Now that is a mouthful! So, what exactly is it? In short, it is a rice dish topped with condensed soy milk and finished with soy sauce and wasabi. This dish is healthy and creamy yummy, it can easily be made vegan. Shiozakura and Soba Gohan – Ready to Cook Soba Gohan: Japanese short grain rice with fresh buckwheat soba kernels. I love how Japanese add a little of another grain to their white and, or brown rice to make it more nutritious and flavorful. Perhaps the most popular is mugi gohan, ‘mugi’ is oats that have been pressed or rolled to facilitate cooking and ‘gohan’ is rice. Soba gohan is much less …
Oyakodon is a bowl of rice topped with simmered chicken and egg.Japanese word, “Oyako,親子” means parents and child.In the name of the dish, chicken is compared to parents, and egg is compared to child.We usually simmer bite-size cut chicken and sliced onion in mildly sweet soy sauce based broth.Add beaten egg to them, and simmer until egg start to harden.Put them on hot rice in a bowl.Finally, put nori or mitsuba-leaf on it.
“Tako” means octopus in Japanese. I know many of you can’t believe we eat octopus but it’s incredibly popular in Japan. It’s fairly similar in taste to squid, so if you like calamari, you are ready to try tako! Yield: 2 servings Time: 10 minutes Ingredients 1/4 lb boiled tako (sliced) 3 small cucumbers (or 1 large cucumber) 1/3 cup dried wakame (seaweed) 2 oz thinly cut ginger (optional) Spices 2 tbsp vinegar 1/2 tsp soy sauce 1 1/2 tbsp sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1 tbsp salt (for cucumber) Preparation Peel the cucumber, then sprinkle salt on top and massage Rinse cucumber, pat dry, and slice into thin wheels Soak dried wakame (seaweed) in hot water a minute or so until it is moist Mix spices (vinegar, sugar, soy…
Kinpira is a Japanese cooking style in which sliced vegetables are stir-fried and seasoned with sugar and soy sauce. Renkon (lotus root) has a snappy texture and a distinct appearance that will surely afford you many compliments! Yield: 2 servings Time: 15 minutes Ingredients 3/4 lb Renkon (about 6″, thin sliced into wheels) 1 small carrot (sliced crosswise and halved) Spices 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp sake 1 tbsp mirin 1 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp sesame seed 1 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp vinegar Preparation Mix 3 cups water and 1 tsp vinegar in a bowl, then marinate renkon for 3-4 min Mix spices (soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar) in a small bowl Heat sesame oil in …
If you are looking for a place to PIG OUT, I’ve found it for you. If you order their 6,000 yen course, Chef’s Table in Azabu Juban will, I absolutely guarantee you, provide you with so much food you will be screaming for mercy. The cooking is good, honest South American inspired fare that impresses with its generosity both in the size and the attitude. I am a big eater by most standards and I usually like a big course menu, but I would be more than satisfied with just ordering an entree, main and dessert from the menu. You’ll notice there’s no picture of dessert as my …
On the morning of our sixth day in Japan, we planned to go to Tsukiji fish market with Rachael. Key word: “planned”. We dragged ourselves out of bed around 3am. Neither Son nor I are morning people (we’re more likely to be going to bed around 3am), so there was definite dragging involved, however before long we were up and ready to go see some fish! And then we got stuck in our hotel. Seriously. As I’ve mentioned before, one of the lower levels of our hotel connects to a train station, so that’s how we would usually get across to…
This is hiyashi-chuuka(冷やし中華), another popular food to eat for lunch in summer. It’s a chinese noodle dipped in a cold vinegared soy sauce or sesame sauce, topped with egg strips, imitated crab meat, sliced cucumber, ham etc. Colorful and tastes light! If you’ve already had enough of cold udon or soba noodles this summer, try this one! Hiyashi-chuuka package is easily found at a grocery stores and it comes with a sauce! Just be careful to look on the package for the taste you want, 醤油だれ(shouyu-dare) stands for vinegared soy sauce and 胡麻だれ(goma-dare) stands for sesame sauce.Cooking time: 10minsServings: 1Ingredients:1 package chinese noodlea slice of ham, cut into strips1/2 …
Our ninth day in Japan was our last day in Tokyo. We started the morning by finishing up packing (and ate a couple of onigiri), before checking out and leaving our baggage with the front desk so we could do a couple more things in Tokyo before heading to Kyoto. We met Rachael and her girls at their hotel, and headed to Kappabashi – the “cooking street”. Kappabashi is a street in Tokyo where many restaurants buy their supplies – cookware, dishes, signs, even the insanely realistic fake food that is often displayed in front of restaurants. We bought a few things there – a plate, a set of coasters, a silicone doughnut mold, a…
On the eigth day of our Japan trip, my true love gave to me… cookbooks, udon, and sushiiii!!! (Sorry, now that Thanksgiving is past, I’m in a bit of a Christmas-y mood!) So. Day 8. This was a hot, hot day! Our eighth day in Japan started out like this. If, like us, your legs get attacked by crazy biting bugs when you’re out late at a park, then you’ll want to acquire some of this apparently fairly popular cream at a pharmacy. Luckily for us, Rachael knew just what we needed. We had decided on sushi for lunch that day, since it was eight days into our trip and …
I just can’t keep up with this hot and humid weather in Tokyo. Better than cold but it’s too hot. For those who are like me, here is something to cool you!!This is kakigoori(かき氷), shaved ice, a popular sweet in summer. Flavored with matcha(抹茶), sweetened azuki beans(あずき) and condensed milk, sweetness and bitterness are mixed together perfectly as you pop into your mouth. It’s really really yummy!Other common flavors are strawberry, lemon, melon, and blue hawaii. But matcha is the best!
A beef bowl is called “gyudon” in Japanese. “Gyu” means beef and don is short for “donburi” which is food served on top of rice in a bowl. There are many gyudon restaurants in Japan and it is very popular, especially for men. It’s kind of like fast food, but much healthier. Many gyudon restaurants are open for 24 hours, and men typically go there after a night of drinking. Yield: 2 servings Time: 20 minutes Ingredients 1/2 lb sliced beef (sukiyaki style if you can find it) 1 medium onion (sliced) 2 bowls of steamed rice Spices 1 tsp hon-dashi (soup stock powder) 3 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp sake 2 tbsp sugar 1 tsp granted ginger Preparation Place …
Gion Kinana’s fresh-made kinako ice cream, more cream than ice, is the best Japanese ice cream that I have had. Their parfaits are completely amazing too. Kinana is located in Gion, just off of Hanamikoji Street, one of Kyoto’s most scenic and historic neighborhoods. I liked Kinana so much I went back for ice cream and parfaits like 10 times before I wrote this article! This one is at the top of on my Do Not Miss list. Kinana – Kinako Ice Cream Kinana – Autumn Chestnut Parfait Kinana ‘Dekitate’ Ice Cream and Kodawari Kinana makes six flavors of ice cream; kinako (roast soybean flour), azuki (sweet red bean), kurogoma (black sesame), kuromitsu (black sugar syrup), maccha (powdered green tea) and …
On May 19th I’ll be participating in the Sunday market at Serendipity Cafe here in Chigasaki. I’ve decided to make hummus and flat bread. I haven’t decided the exact flavors of hummus but I’m thinking Moroccan spice, texmex and something Indian. Serendipity Cafe is my favorite place to hang out here in Chigasaki. The owners, Mabo and Lisa, have build a great community and host events run by members of that community. I’m running a hummus workshop there next month. If you come to Chigasaki I highly recommend checking out Serendipity Cafe. If you are in the area, I would love to see you at the market a week Sunday. Address: 1-7-35 Matsugaoka, Chigasaki Phone number: 047-84-5244 Map: http://goo….
Gakugei Daigaku is probably not the place you’d expect to find a Provençal restaurant but then again, given the eclectic and wonderful nature of Tokyo dining (even in the suburbs), perhaps of course that’s where you’d find one. After years of passing through Gakugei Daigaku on the Toyoko line on the way to work, I’ve recently had the opportunity to explore the place a bit further. It’s really a pleasant area and there are a lot of what seem like newly opened bars and izakaya under the train line, which will be worth a try at some point.I digress. La Provence Gourmand Olivier is a bit of a mouthful to say, but it’s in no way pretentious. It …
Zoni is mochi (rice cake) soup commonly eaten on New Year holidays.Ingredients and cooking method of zoni differ from region to region.This time, I show you Tokyo style zoni.We place toasted mochi in small bowls and pour soy sauce tasted clear hot soup.Ingredients ( for 4 )—–for making dashi (soup stock)—–5 cups ( 1 liter) water10 g kombu (kelp) , wiped with damped kitchen towel20 g katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)—————————————-4 blocks mochi150 g boneless chicken thighs , cut into bite size and blanched in boiling water150 g komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach) , washed(you can cook spinach instead)8 slices kamaboko (steamed fish paste)a tablespoon soy saucea tablespoon sakeDirection—–(making dashi soup stock)—–Bring the kombu and water to …
