UMÉSHU Plum Wine

UMÉSHU Plum Wine

梅酒づくり Uméshu-Zukuri In Japan, early June is the time for UMÉ SHIGOTO (plum work), transforming the harvest of not-yet-fully-ripe fruit into a sweet liqueur (uméshu)  and/or sour, lip-puckering salt-cured uméboshi. If you are able to source green, not-fully-ripe...
Corn-studded Rice

Corn-studded Rice

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...
Domburi

Domburi

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...
Foxy Fried Tōfu

Foxy Fried Tōfu

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...
Seven Good Fortunes of Summer

Seven Good Fortunes of 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...
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...