by Elizabeth Andoh | Dec 16, 2020 | Culture, Holiday, Kitchen Culture, Winter
Pounding Rice Taffy 餅つき MOCHI TSUKI MOCHI TSUKI… steamed mochi-gomé rice is pounded into a sticky, taffy-like mass. As the year comes to a close and preparations to welcome the new year are underway, communities throughout Japan organize rice-pounding events...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Dec 5, 2020 | Holiday, Kitchen Culture, Winter
Tataki Gobō叩き牛蒡 Smashed Burdock Root This dish takes its rather alarming name from the thwacking sound emitted when burdock root is tenderized with a blunt, heavy tool. In the traditional Japanese kitchen, this would have been a surikogi, the wooden pestle used in...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Nov 13, 2020 | Autumn, Kitchen Culture
Sugar-Stewed Chestnuts栗の渋皮煮 Shibu Kawa Ni Shibu Kawa Ni is what the Japanese call sugar-stewed whole chestnuts that are only partially peeled – their slightly bitter, inner skin being kept intact. The resulting glossy brown globes are delightfully complex in flavor...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Nov 1, 2020 | Autumn, Kitchen Culture, Year-Round
Buddhist Cookery & Sesame Pudding 精進料理 Shōjin Ryōri・胡麻豆腐 Goma-Dōfu Goma-dōfu, a creamy-smooth sesame pudding, is historically associated with fucha ryōri, a Chinese-style of Buddhist cookery that arrived in Japan with Zen Priest Ingen in 1654. The pudding is a...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Oct 19, 2020 | Autumn, Kitchen Culture, Winter
Kinoko Gohan Rice with Mushrooms The Japanese call autumn’s many culinary pleasures Aki no Mikaku. Such pleasures include a glorious array of mushrooms. You, too, can celebrate the season at table by composing a menu that highlights this bounty. Kinoko Gohan Is an...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Oct 6, 2020 | Autumn, Kitchen Culture, Year-Round
Daigaku Imo (Glazed Sweet Potatoes) 大学芋 Syrup-glazed, black sesame-studded Daigaku (university) imo (potato) first became popular among university students in Japan at the turn of the twentieth century. To learn more about the history of this dish, read my October...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Sep 25, 2020 | Autumn, Kitchen Culture, Tools & Techniques
Yuzu Koshō 柚子胡椒 Mid-September…the heat of summer lingers on, but there is the promise of cooler autumn days ahead. That is when I typically see baskets of green yuzu in my Tokyo neighborhood markets and bags of green chili peppers, too. Within a month the yuzu...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Sep 15, 2020 | Autumn, Kitchen Culture
Tsukimi Udon Moon-Viewing Noodles 月見うどん As summer turns to fall, the moon wanes in a particularly luminous fashion. Indeed, the Harvest moon is celebrated in stories and songs around the world. In Japan, tsukimi, or “moon-viewing” also has a place at table. This...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Sep 1, 2020 | Kitchen Culture, Tools & Techniques, Year-Round
NANBAN-ZUKÉ 南蛮漬け (Southern Barbarian Style Fried-and-Pickled Fish) NANBAN refers to the Portuguese, the “southern barbarians” who settled in the port of Nagasaki, Kyushu late in the 16th century. In addition to Christianity and trade, these early Portuguese visitors...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Aug 17, 2020 | Kitchen Culture, Summer, Year-Round
Corn-Studded Rice Tōmorokoshi Gohan 玉蜀黍ご飯 Summertime… bushels of fresh, sweet, corn at every market begging to be taken home and transformed into Tōmorokoshi Gohan: corn-studded rice. Prepared takikomi-style, rice dishes are cooked in a flavorful stock extracted...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Aug 3, 2020 | Kitchen Culture, Year-Round
Soboro Don そぼろ丼 Colorful Big Bowl When I first wrote about soboro don in 1981 for Food & Wine magazine, these sorts of rice bowls topped with various ingredients were little known outside Japan. Fast-forward forty years and classic domburi dishes such as...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Jul 27, 2020 | Kitchen Culture, Year-Round
Foxy Fried Tōfu Japanese culinary culture is filled with references to foxes and their fondness for abura agé (fried tōfu). Names of dishes made with fried tōfu will often allude to this fox connection. Sometimes you see the word itself, kitsuné (fox) as part of the...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Jul 15, 2020 | Kitchen Culture, Summer
Photo from KANSHA © Copyright Leigh Beisch (Styled by Karen Shinto) 夏の福神漬けNatsu no Fukujin-ZukéSeven Good Fortunes of Summer Named after the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, Shichi Fukujin, this pickle is made from an assortment of chopped vegetables with the addition of...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Jul 1, 2020 | Kitchen Culture, Year-Round
COLD NOODLES: Part TWOそば・蕎麦・SOBA Most soba noodles are made from 80% soba (buckwheat) flour and 20% wheat flour; these are known as hachi wari soba (literally 80% soba). If you wish to make your noodle dish gluten-free you will need to buy jū wari soba, noodles made...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Jun 18, 2020 | Kitchen Culture, Summer, Year-Round
Survival strategy for hot, humid days: Chilled Sōmen Noodles-on-the-rocks! DOWNLOAD information on buying, storing and cooking sōmen and serving the noodles. © Photo by Leigh Beisch Styling by Karen Shinto ネバネバそうめんSlithery Sōmen Noodles Mouth feel (the way a food...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Jun 1, 2020 | Kitchen Culture, Summer
RAINY SEASON KITCHEN TSUYU (梅雨 literally, “plum rain”) comes to the Japanese archipelago every year as spring turns to summer. The constant dampness of tsuyu encourages the growth of kabi (mildew, and molds) requiring a strategy (taisaku 対策) … and...
by Elizabeth Andoh | May 22, 2020 | Kitchen Culture, Tools & Techniques, Year-Round
The Japanese developed two very special graters for two specific foods: 鬼おろし機 oni oroshi ki (“monster graters”) made from bamboo used to coarsely grate daikon into shards and鮫の皮 samékawa graters made from nubbly sharkskin that transform tough, fibrous wasabi roots...
by Elizabeth Andoh | May 12, 2020 | Kitchen Culture, Spring
初鰹 HATSU-GATSUO First Catch of the Season Japan’s seasonal sensibility is always on display at table; here the transition from spring into early summer is celebrated with hatsu-gatsuo (skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) prepared tataki-style. Whole loins of katsuo...
by Elizabeth Andoh | May 1, 2020 | Spring, Year-Round
Green Teas 緑茶 RYOKU CHA Green teas are green because enzymes responsible for oxidization have been prevented from doing their (dark and discoloring) work. The Japanese halt oxidation by steaming freshly picked leaves, while the Chinese typically pan-fire or roast tea...
by Elizabeth Andoh | Apr 22, 2020 | Kitchen Culture, Spring
Fava Beans: Sora Mamé そら豆 (Fava beans have been part of the eastern Mediterranean diet (Egypt, Greece, Italy) for at least 4000 years. There are stories of monks from India traveling through China who brought fava beans to Japan in the Nara Period (710-794...
