Here’s a super easy and quick shio koji recipe that’s great on a busy weeknight, and perhaps better than getting take-out. These days I’ve been so busy fully engrossed in our summer that I haven’t had much time for “fancy” cooking (or blogging – boo). Thankfully, shio koji seems “fancy” but it’s actually a super-easy short cut for “fanci-fying” any meal. If you missed my...
Read More
Happy Girls’ Day! Today, March 3rd is Hinamatsuri, or Japanese Girls’ Day, and is also known as Girls’ Doll Festival. Dolls are displayed in the family’s home to wish for happiness and good fortune for all the girls in the family. This year, we managed to display our Hinamatsuri Dolls for longer than a few days as we remembered to set them out earlier in February. In years past, we hastily displayed our dolls just a few...
Read More
For over a month now, the ongoing debate in our home has been whether egg foo young is a Chinese dish or a Japanese dish. I asked my Chinese-American husband if he grew-up eating egg foo young, to which he replied, “No, I’ve never eaten that. I don’t believe that’s a Chinese dish.” I was quite surprised by this, to which I said, “REALLY? Your parents never made egg foo young? Or ordered it at a Chinese...
Read More
I firmly believe there is a Japanese sushi chef somewhere in California that woke-up one morning and decided to mix a few pieces of fresh sashimi-grade fish and abalone with some mayo, throw in some masago (caviar) for good measure, and baked it all together in his little toaster oven. (Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha) This sushi chef, after tasting one bite of his crazy creation yells at the top of lungs, “D-Y-N-A-M-I-T-O-H!!!!! Kore wa...
Read More
Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとう！ 2014 is the Year of The Horse and true to family tradition, on January 1st my parents lined-up in front of their local Japanese market to get their free New Year’s zodiac ceramic. My Mom takes my Dad along with her so that he can get an extra ceramic to ensure that both my brother and I get one. Our ceramic horse is proudly decorated in our home as I write! (Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha) This...
Read More
My favorite osechi ryori, or Japanese New Year’s dish is kazunoko. It’s caviar made of herring roe, simply seasoned with dashi konbu (seasoned seaweed), katsuo dashi (bonito broth) and shoyu (soy sauce). Kazunoko is typically found in Japanese supermarkets only at the end of the year, which is quite unfortunate because I wouldn’t mind eating this year round. I’m sure there must be other markets that sell this...
Read More
There’s really no great English translation for “hiyashi chyuka” that would embody the true deliciousness of one of my favorite summer-time Japanese dishes. The dish is essentially cold aldente ramen noodles served on a plate and garnished with fresh vegetables and proteins. It might be difficult not to conjure up an image in one’s head of instant ramen noodles served cold on a plate. The noodles are not similar to that...
Read More
Yesterday was the first day in a very long time where Bebe and I didn’t have plans and we quietly enjoyed our solitude at home. After a very busy weekend and another broken household item, the slower pace was welcoming. Unfortunately, I’ve been on a bad luck streak and I’ve broken several things over the last week, including today. Has this ever happened to you? I first broke our vacuum cleaner. Usually hubs is the one who...
Read More
