PROJECT Kushi (skewers)

Mar 17, 2022 | Kitchen PROJECTS, Tabletop, Tools & Techniques, Year-Round

PROJECT Kushi

This Kitchen PROJECT is about making SKEWERED FOOD in YOUR kitchen. For inspiration and recipes to get you started, use these resources:

Black Sesame Miso Tōfu Dengaku
Crunchy Kushi Agé

Fuki no Tō Miso Dengaku
(Vegan & Vegetarian Options) Oden Part One
Oden Part Two

In KANSHA: Miso-Slathered Nama Fu (page 148) and Miso Oden (page 171) and Mitarashi Dango (page 228)

The theme of my March 2022 newsletter is SKEWERS.

Japan’s repertoire of skewered foods is extensive; just a small sampling of savory options above (from upper right, clockwise; KUSHI calligraphy in the center):

Hatcho miso tōfu dengaku with kinomé garnish; mitarashi dango in soy syrup; Sendai miso tōfu dengaku; Sendai miso konnyaku dengaku with white poppy seed garnish; Shizuoka-style oden with ao nori and sanshō pepper; savory miso-and-walnut stuffed shiso maki; blended miso tōfu dengaku; green yomogi and blond awa fu dengaku with dark and light miso.

Visit the Kitchen Culture blog post for more information.

Figs

Figs

Figs are one of the world’s oldest cultivated fruits. Images of figs appear in ancient Egyptian murals and are frequently mentioned in the Old Testament and the Qur'an (or Koran, the central religious text of Islam). Figs were known to be an important source of daily...

PROJECT Kanten

PROJECT Kanten

This project is about cooking with KANTEN, a shelf-stable foodstuff with remarkable gelling properties. It is used to make a wide variety of sweet jellies and savory aspics. Kanten is sold as sticks (they look a  bit like brittle cellophane or styrofoam) and in...

Tengusa (Heavenly Grass)

Tengusa (Heavenly Grass)

Making sweet and savory jellies and aspics from the sea begins with harvesting tengusa (天草 literally “heavenly grass”), a group of red marine algae that grow in fairly shallow waters. The most common variety is makusa (Gelidium amansii); in Japan most of the...

UCHIWA (flat fans)

UCHIWA (flat fans)

In Japan, hand-held, flat fans called uchiwa have been creating cooling breezes for millennia. Uchiwa can be many things: In addition to being practical tools in the kitchen (for fanning rice when making sushi... for fanning cooking fires when broiling), uchiwa often...

Recent Posts & Projects