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”
“Sprinkling” would be the closest translation of “furikake”, though I guess “topping” sounds more correct. Furikake ふりかけ(“furikakeru” means “to sprinkle” is one of those Japanese food inventions that merits to be more known and practiced all around the world. If you don’t like eating plain white rice (I know many of us Westerners are not big fans) and you have already been…Continue Reading “Katsuobushi to Goma no Furikake (Dried Bonito and Sesame Seed Topping)”
I rarely boast, but I must say I consider these maki sushi as one of the best fusion creations in my life (and at the same time maybe even the best maki sushi I have ever made…). I had this idea when, assembling ingredients for maki sushi, I noticed an almost expired package of my beloved “matjes” herrings in the fridge. At first, I experimented with only…Continue Reading “Maki Sushi with Pickled “Matjes” Herring”
After green salads, maki sushi are my second biggest spring cooking frenzy. I am not able to prepare perfectly shaped and equal rolls, but the taste is there, so my lack of dexterity doesn’t stop me from preparing them regularly (I guess I should write about them more often…). Maki sushi are quick (and become…Continue Reading “Asparagus Maki Sushi”
Maki sushi is one of the staples in my house. I make sure I always have nori seaweed sheets, Japanese rice is my recent addiction, so I never run out of it, so I season it and then simply fill the rolls with whatever I find in the fridge. They make a perfect lunch, dinner, afternoon…Continue Reading “Maki Sushi with Shrimp, Avocado and Cucumber”
Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き ) can be translated roughly as “grill what you like” (“okonomi” means “what you like/want” and “yaki” means here “grilled”). This thick savoury pancake with an impressive variety ingredients might look weird, messy, not very appetising and definitely not photogenic, but I can assure you it is one of the most palatable dishes…Continue Reading “Okonomiyaki お好み焼き, or Japanese Pancake with Eringi Mushrooms and Bacon”
This simple, but surprising way to prepare scallops is another palatable – but maybe not visually appealing – discovery I owe to the Japanese Cooking. A Simple Art by Shizuo Tsuji. I have already written about this incredible book for example here, so I will not bore you with my enthusiastic impressions or details. I will just…Continue Reading “Scallops Fried in Nori, or Hotate no nori age”
Since I realised clumsy, but delicious maki sushi is very easy to make at home, I have been preparing it quite often. In the summer refreshing, light rolls become a staple. Even though I never put raw fish inside (I am not sure if the fish I buy and cook has the required freshness or/and…Continue Reading “Ground Beef Maki Sushi”
Dashi (出し) is the Japanese word meaning more or less “stock”. However dashi cannot be compared to the Western countries’ stock’s concept. Dashi is THE cornerstone of the Japanese cuisine. Without dashi cooking Japanese is not possible, “it is merely à la japonaise”, says Shizuo Tsuji. In his extraordinary “Japanese Cooking. A Simple Art” the author very…Continue Reading “Primary Dashi, or Japanese Stock (Ichiban Dashi, 一番 出し)”