Although I’m not a fan of plain ol’ white rice, I love my mom’s takikomi gohan or seasoned mixed rice. The primary ingredients my mom uses for her takikomi gohan are chicken, carrots, konnyaku, gobo, and shiitake mushrooms. In Japanese, this type of mixed rice using 5 ingredients is called gomoku gohan. If she has renkon she will add this too, or sometimes use this in place of gobo. There are also times when she...
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Niku Jyaga is a regular dish that my mom made for us and it was definitely a family favorite when I was growing up. It’s the Japanese equivalent of America’s meat and potatoes. I’m not sure what it is about men and their meat and potatoes but my dad LOVES this dish, and so does bebe dada. It’s light enough however, that it will even suit the palate of young kids and possibly even women who don’t care for meat...
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I love Costco rotisserie chicken – – – it’s the best thing ever. I use this for so many of our family’s fave dishes. Using pre-cooked chicken cuts out a big step in many of my recipes. Last month I made Chicken Mac Soup using leftover Costco rotisserie chicken that I FoodSaved and was hiding in the back of our freezer. A few days ago we had rotisserie chicken for dinner so I made Chinese chicken salads for...
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As a kid, my favorite dish was my mom’s spaghetti with meat sauce. It was, as the kids say today, “the bomb!” The funny thing was that, being Japanese, my mom would always ask us if we would like rice too. My dad, brother and I would always say, “no”. Yet, she always cooked a fresh batch of rice for dinner every time she made spaghetti, just in case one of us said, “yes.” The spaghetti I make...
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I woke up this morning to a dreary, drizzly, and cold Southern California. Bebe dada is still coughing, trying to get over his cold and I thought it would be a perfect day to make the Chinese Winter Melon soup that he taught me how to make. We call this tung qwa soup, prounounced “dong-ku-wa”. Like most of the recipes that I’ve learned from bebe dada, this one is really simple yet really good! If you order Winter Melon soup...
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Chicken karaage is the Japanese version of American fried chicken. The chicken is marinated and then coated in starch and then fried. Sometimes this dish is also called tatsutaage, which refers to a Japanese style of fried food that is similarly seasoned, coated and fried. You’ll often find chicken karaage on the menu at Japanese izakaya (tapas), Japanese restaurants, ramen restaurants and even in the deli or pre-made foods area of popular...
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Gindara Misozuke, a family favorite. Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha Nobu’s miso marinated black cod, or gindara misozuke as it is known in Japanese, is so delicious! This recipe won’t disappoint and will prove to be versatile for use on other types of fish such as grilled salmon. The first time I ever tasted this miso black cod was when the daughter of my Mom’s friend shared some of the fish that she marinated and baked for us....
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When I was little my dad used to make SPAM and eggs for lunch on the weekend. I didn’t know what SPAM was. I just remember seeing a rectangular piece of meat on my plate. It was salty, kinda rubbery and for awhile I just ate it because it was on my plate. Then I found my voice one day and I told my dad that SPAM was weird (since he wouldn’t tell me what kind of meat it was) and that I didn’t want to eat it anymore. He...
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