An Edible Ode to Winter: Sleet & Snow

An Edible Ode to Winter: Sleet & Snow

Winter weather reports predicting SLEET (mizoré), are rarely welcome news. After all, the bone-chilling mixture of rain and snow is messy under foot and creates hazerdous road conditions. But when  mizoré appears on a menu, it conjurs up tasty fare. Snowy white daikon...
Kumquats

Kumquats

Kumquats are called kinkan 金柑 in Japanese, meaning “golden citrus.”  The fruit is native to south-east China where they have been cultivated for hundreds of years, though the scientific name is Citrus japonica. There are dozens of varities of kumquats but...
PROJECT Osechi-Making

PROJECT Osechi-Making

PROJECT Osechi-Making December is a busy time… The Japanese aptly call the final month of the year shiwasu, written with calligraphy for “professor” 師 and “running about in a tizzy” 走. In Japan shiwasu is a time of frenzied activity that...
Hakusai

Hakusai

HAKUSAI・白菜 Because hakusai is such a favorite wintertime vegetable in Japan, I assumed it had a long, deep history in Japan’s cookery. Not really. It seems that the original Brassica oleracea ancestor of hakusai is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe....
PROJECT Hakusai

PROJECT Hakusai

Using HAKUSAI fully A favorite wintertime vegetable in Japan, hakusai cabbages are increasingly available in Asian groceries throughout the world. A whole head averages 2 kilo (about 4 and 1/2 pounds). I encourage you to buy one (or at least a half or quarter-head...
NYUMEN

NYUMEN

煮麺 ・NyūmenSōmen Noodles Served in Piping Hot Broth Sōmen is usually served chilled, often on chunks of ice. Dipped into a deeply flavored sauce to which condiments have been added, it becomes a survival strategy for hot, humid days. But in Kagawa Prefecture (Shikoku),...
Buri Shabu Nabé

Buri Shabu Nabé

鰤しゃぶ鍋Buri Shabu Nabé BURI (yellowtail) is fabulous in the winter! If you can source top-quality tenderloins of fish, you could opt for luscious slices of sashimi. Though my favorite way to enjoy fresh buri is swished-through-bubbling-broth buri shabu nabé – barely...
PROJECT Shabu Shabu Nabé

PROJECT Shabu Shabu Nabé

Swished-through-bubbling-broth Buri Shabu Nabé (left) and Shōjin Shabu Nabé (right) しゃぶしゃぶ鍋Shabu Shabu Nabé This Kitchen PROJECT is about making Shabu Shabu Nabé hot-pots in YOUR kitchen. The Japanese have a fondness for naming dishes with onomatopoeia. The name shabu...
PROJECT Rice Snacks

PROJECT Rice Snacks

PROJECT Rice Snacks Crisp-and-Crunchy Rice Snacks are a delicious way to use up leftover omochi. Inevitably after the New Years holidays pieces of omochi remain uneaten. Dried and cracking they can be repurposed into tasty ARARÉ. This Kitchen PROJECT is about making...
ARARÉ Rice Snacks

ARARÉ Rice Snacks

あられ・霰・ARARÉCrisp-and-Crunchy Rice Snacks When listening to the weather report araré means “hailstones” but in the kitchen (or other culinary setting) it means “small cubes” or fine-diced omochi (sticky rice) that has been fried or baked. No doubt the origin of this...
OZONI Honorable Miscellany Stew

OZONI Honorable Miscellany Stew

お雑煮Ozōni “Honorable Miscellany Stew” Served for brunch on Gan Jitsu (New Year’s Day), and on many chilly winter mornings thereafter, ozōni is enjoyed throughout Japan. The name of the dish is rather straightforward and descriptive: the “o” is an honorific...
PROJECT Ozoni

PROJECT Ozoni

A sampling of REGIONAL OZŌNI Top row, from left: Kanto (Tokyo area) style, Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka) style, Kanto, KansaiBottom row, from left: Tottori with adzuki-jiru, Miyagi with whole grilled goby fish, Kagawa (Shikoku) with anko-filled mochi, Hakata with buri and...
Yuzu Yu

Yuzu Yu

ゆず湯・Yuzu Yu Food customs in Japan often involve word-play. The winter solstice​ that occurs on or about December 22 is called tōji 『冬至』, literally “winter arrives.” But the word tōji can also be written as 『湯治』meaning “hot-spring cure” or...
PROJECT Yuzu Miso

PROJECT Yuzu Miso

季節のゆず味噌・Kisetsu no Yuzu MisoSeasonal Citrusy Miso Sauce   The Japanese delight in bringing elements — often fresh produce — of each season to table. Yuzu citrus fruits ripen from green to golden yellow as autumn turns to winter. As yuzu ripen, the...
PROJECT Sudachi & Kabosu

PROJECT Sudachi & Kabosu

Japanese Citrus: SUDACHI & KABOSU The Japanese have consumed a variety of citrus for millennia, enjoying both the juice and peels of the fruit. Many who reside outside Japan have become familiar with yuzu, a member of the Rutaceae (citrus) family primarily prized for...
Setsubun

Setsubun

ONI wa SOTO          FUKU wa UCHI Throw out the ogres!      Bring in Good Fortune! 節分 SETSUBUN means “break between seasons” and such breaks occur many times during the year. However, today Japan celebrates the setsubun break that comes early in February and...
ODEN Part TWO

ODEN Part TWO

おでん ODEN Various ingredients find their way into the belly-warming stew known as oden. Most versions include myriad sausage-like items made from surimi (fish and seafood ground to a paste). Some of these are deep-fried while others are boiled, roasted, grilled or...