Cold Noodles Part Two: SOBA

Cloth is the work horse, and often unsung hero, of the kitchen. In the Japanese kitchen, cloth enables the cook to perform a wide range of tasks such as lining steamers, draining and straining, enveloping, and shaping.Cloths known as fukashi nuno 蒸し布 are used to line...

Winter weather reports predicting SLEET (mizoré), are rarely welcome news. After all, the bone-chilling mixture of rain and snow is messy under foot and creates hazerdous road conditions. But when  mizoré appears on a menu, it conjurs up tasty fare. Snowy white daikon...

Year-Passing SOBA... New Year-Welcoming UDON The Japanese bid farewell to the current year by slurping l-o-n-g noodles at midnight. Though most areas of Japan eat soba, calling the noodles toshi koshi (year-passing), those hailing from the Sanuki region eat udon....

In Japan, rice is more than just sustenance. It holds symbolic and sacred significance. Rice yield was also a measurement of wealth during the Edo Period (1603-1868). Early records of rituals celebrating the harvest and entreating future prosperity, called nii namé...