Hellooooo there. I ate these cucumbers at a potluck a few years ago. It was salty, crunchy, garlicky, and sweet. I asked for the recipe and permission to post it here. Then I planned, shot (with my daughter), and edited a video, and then guess what. I joined a preschool co-op! …and it sat in my queue […]
The classic combination of rice and miso soup. If you’ve had a Japanese breakfast, you know there’s also a pickle or condiment: umeboshi, furikake, nukazuke, or the highly divisive natto. At my dad’s house in Tokyo, there’s usually a container of kimchee and nori no tsukudani. Nori no tsukudani is a paste you slather on […]
Rice, egg, shoyu: mix. That was my favorite breakfast growing up. Sometimes it was a raw egg, other times it was a hardboiled egg steeped in the juices of a sweet oden broth. These days my stepdaughter continues the tradition with her go-to afternoon snack: rice, scrambled egg, shoyu, and mirin. But I feel better […]
You can’t go wrong with caramelized onions, even in muffin form—even in muffin form with no eggs (!). The recipe is from an (almost) vegan Japanese cookbook titled, “Meal-like Cakes and Muffins You’ll Want to Eat Everyday,” which is very wordy when loosely translated by me. Despite the skepticism I had about the lack of […]
First, I want to say the 5-DAY BREAKFAST CHALLENGE is going down this week. Today’s recipe is: Shiitake and Shimeji Mushroom Okayu. Second, I want to quickly introduce you to Noelle and tell you about the challenge. Her blog, xobreakfast is crisp, funny, and packed with thoughtful, purposeful recipes. I see her every week because […]
As you can imagine, a lot has changed since I had my daughter a year and a half ago. I used to enjoy the challenge of recipes that took a bit of time, skill, and rapt attention and thought the extra work and care gave it the made-with-love charm. I’ve since revised that opinion and […]
After a long hiatus, I’m easing back into things with this simple, delicious recipe. It comes from Nancy Singleton Hachisu’s Japanese Farm Food, a book my very generous (and wildly talented) cousin Kathy let me thumb through. It’s a fairly thick tome, with a mix of approachable recipes (like this one), and complicated ones (like […]
These pickles are quick and they balance the salty, sweet, and sour flavors beautifully. There’s also something gratifying about smashing cucumbers with a rolling pin, so if you have some aggression to let out, here’s your chance! The result is a more rustic pickle, crunchy, refreshing, and delicious.
Kakiage tempura is a mixed vegetable tempura, usually with carrots, onion, and gobo. I didn’t have any gobo on hand, so I made it with just the 2 ingredients. Instead of preparing a variety of vegetables and shrimp, what I like about kakiage tempura is its quick and versatile. We had tempura soba the first […]
I wish I could eat tofu so I could eat spinach prepared this way. I love the gentle flavor of the sesame and the richness of the miso combined with the tofu. I’m intolerant to soy, but I had a little bite and wished I could eat more. This would be a great addition to […]
