PROJECT Yakumi

Jun 29, 2022 | Cooking Club

薬味
PROJECT Yakumi

This Kitchen Culture Cooking Club PROJECT is about making YAKUMI, fresh herb and spice mixtures, in YOUR kitchen… and sharing with fellow members what you have made, and how you are using it.

Use yakumi to top dishes such as chilled tōfu, fresh tomatoes or stewed eggplant. Cold noodles served with yakumi to be added to soy-based dips are a Japanese summertime classic (a great beat-the-heat strategy!). Yakumi can also be folded into an omelet.

Here’s a BASIC RECIPE to use as a point of departure for creating your own house version of YAKUMI.

More about yakumi on my Kitchen Culture post.

What will YOU make? Please post to KITCHEN CULTURE COOKING CLUB. Japanese washoku dishes are always welcome… maybe tossing with sushi meshi and making a chirashi-style scattered sushi platter? or stuffing  fried tōfu pouches to make inari-zushi?

Or, try this yakumi mix tossed into a pasta… or stuffed into a sandwich…?

I look forward to seeing your post!

My June 2022 newsletter is all about yakumi.

Fresh Bamboo Shoots

Fresh Bamboo Shoots

Apr 6, 2024

The moment in the culinary calendar when a food is at its seasonal peak of flavor is referred to as shün, and it is the driving force in most Japanese kitchens. Indeed, entire menus are planned around shün ingredients. In the spring, as tender bamboo buds begin to...

Project Kiriboshi Daikon

Project Kiriboshi Daikon

Mar 16, 2024

Cooking with KIRIBOSHI DAIKON in your kitchen. This versatile ingredient can be used in soups, pickles, rice dishes and a variety of sides, too. Here are a few recipes to get you started: Kogane Meshi, a takikomi-style rice dish Granny's Sun-Dried Radish, a...

Kiriboshi Daikon

Kiriboshi Daikon

Mar 16, 2024

Before refrigeration became widely available, pre-modern societies struggled with keeping fresh food from spoiling. A variety of ingenious techniques were developed throughout the world, including drying fresh foods in well-ventilated shade. In Japan, the resulting...

Funky Fish Sauces

Funky Fish Sauces

Feb 4, 2024

Fermented fish sauces can be found in many parts of the world, most having been produced for thousands of years. It is unclear whether each was an independent "discovery" or whether they influenced each other by way of shared ancient trade routes and/or political...

Recent Posts & Projects