After several trips to Japan I learnt good gyoza aren’t easy to find in Tokyo. Maybe I was unlucky or maybe it’s Tokyo, but I rarely had excellent versions. My homemade gyoza are clumsily shaped and I haven’t mastered yet the Japanese fry & steam cooking method, but since the filling is high quality and…Continue Reading “Gyoza (Japanese Dumplings) with Wild Garlic/Ramsons”
This recipe might be very simple, but it solves a very serious question: “what else to do with a big tube of miso?”. Even if I love miso soup, I don’t have it regularly, so I always look for new ideas, especially since I buy several tubs of miso every year in Japan. Like the…Continue Reading “Chicken and Leek in Miso and Honey Sauce”
These rolls are the result of an exceptional craving for tonkatsu (Japanese breaded pork cutlets) combined with a desperate need to do something with an abundant crop of shiso leaves. I sliced the pork very thinly, seasoned it, rolled tightly with the shiso leaves, breaded and deep-fried. These crisp and aromatic rolls were perfect to…Continue Reading “Breaded Pork and Shiso Rolls”
Fresh corn is the only vegetable I used to eat always in the same way: whole cobs, grilled or boiled, then salted and smothered with butter. Then, two days ago, I was watching a video from 3分クッキング (3-minute cooking), a famous Japanese food program and decided to prepare a pancake they presented. To be frank, I didn’t…Continue Reading “Fresh Corn Pancake with Chives and Bacon”
Okonomiyaki is one of the most frequent Japanese dishes in my house. From the beginning I took its name literally (it means roughly “grill what you want”) and never stopped improving, adapting to my changing palate and, of course, seasons. As a big garlic fan, I made crushed garlic the obligatory ingredient of every single batter. Last weekend I decided to…Continue Reading “Spring Okonomiyaki (Japanese Savoury Pancake) with Wild Garlic”
In many countries imported fresh chilli is available all year round, but the most delicious aromatic local ripe chilli – the best for preserves – is sold only for a limited time. In my part of Europe the beginning of August is the best moment to start thinking about preserving this fresh aromatic chilli, find the most…Continue Reading “Chilli Lovers’ Preserving Reminder”
Tonkatsu 豚カツ (breaded pork) and especially chicken katsu チキンカツ are among those Japanese dishes I could eat practically every other day. Until recently, I thought they had a huge disadvantage : being deep-fried. (I don’t find deep-frying difficult, complicated or dangerous and actually like it, but avoid it due to the fat and calorie content.) This was until I discovered Nami’s (Just One Cookbook) revolutionary solution :…Continue Reading “Easy Lazy Eggless Baked Chicken Katsu (Breaded Chicken Breast)”
Have you ever considered making your own Japanese stock (dashi)? If you like miso soup, you should try doing it at least once. Then you will realise it’s a piece of cake in comparison with, say, chicken stock, not to mention the difference in taste with the powdered form. All you need (for the most popular…Continue Reading “Leftover Seaweed Rice Topping (Kombu no Tsukudani)”
While in Japan we usually follow the same eating pattern: restaurant for lunch and izakaya for dinner. Izakaya could be described as the equivalent of a pub, but no one goes there only to drink and the food is as good as in “real” restaurants (or even better, but at a lower price!). Izakayas serve small food portions and this makes them perfect places to end the day…Continue Reading “Japanese Shredded Cabbage Salad”
Happy New Year, my dear visitors! I hope all of you have spent wonderful festive days and that your return to active life was not too hard. I don’t know if any of you feel the same, but I have big remorses about all I’ve devoured during the previous weeks and, just like every year, try to…Continue Reading “Easiest Japanese Pickled Cucumber”