Cold Noodles Part Two: SOBA

Cold Noodles Part Two: SOBA

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...
Cold Noodles Part One: SŌMEN

Cold Noodles Part One: SŌMEN

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...
Rainy Season Kitchen

Rainy Season Kitchen

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...
Great Graters

Great Graters

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...
HATSU-GATSUO

HATSU-GATSUO

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...
Sora Mame

Sora Mame

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...