http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/ en Copyright 2008 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:09:21 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Shin Hatakeyama, a chef who is the manager of Sunrise Mart, the Japanese food market in Manhattan (the one at 494 Broome Street), has made a commitment to importing top-quality, authentic ingredients from Japan. Yesterday he invited Daigo Irifune of Yamaya USA to showcase his company's mentaiko. What's mentaiko?

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/06/mentaiko.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/06/mentaiko.html Ingredients ingredients Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:09:21 -0500 While working at Matsuri, I heard of a traveling knife salesman from Japan who regularly visits restaurant kitchens across America. I asked Chef Ono if he could order a knife for me the next time this man showed up at the restaurant. That happened two months ago. The other week my blade arrived.

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/06/buy-a-japanese-knife.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/06/buy-a-japanese-knife.html Equipment knives Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:38:21 -0500 When I visited a traditional donabe maker in Iga last fall (see my post), I brought home a specialized rice donabe, an earthenware vessel designed specifically to cook rice on the stove top -- in other words, a traditional pot adapted for modern lives. But I haven't used it much, to be honest. Until now...

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/05/rice-bliss-a-rice-donabe.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/05/rice-bliss-a-rice-donabe.html Equipment Technique donabe rice technique Mon, 26 May 2008 22:34:11 -0500 Here is another one of Mrs. Torimitu's pickles, called Kyuri no Asazuke ("quick cucumber pickles"). As she wrote: "When you are in a rush and have no time, try this recipe."

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/05/more-pickle-recipes.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/05/more-pickle-recipes.html Recipes naturally preserved Tue, 20 May 2008 23:14:52 -0500 Like most Americans, I suppose, I grew up with a concept of "pickles" as, basically, heavily vinegared cucumbers. But in Japan I discovered something completely different -- a vast and fascinating world of pickles, lightly cured for the most part to amplify the natural flavors of a wide array of vegetables, and typically infused with aromatics and other ingredients (like rice bran and sake lees) to add even more layers of flavor. (See last year's post on pickles.) They're an integral part of the traditional Japanese meal and a favorite of mine, especially at breakfast. And there are countless regional varieties and family recipes. I've been very interested to learn more about Japanese pickles.

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/05/japanese-pickle-recipes.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/05/japanese-pickle-recipes.html Recipes naturally preserved Tue, 20 May 2008 23:09:51 -0500 A couple of weeks ago a Japanese government representative here in New York handed me an interesting pamphlet called "A Guide to Japanese Ingredients," listing food producers and their ingredients, as well as a few recipes. One dish in particular caught my eye, for onion salad. The restaurant Yakitori Totto (which I love and should have mentioned in my restaurant post!) features it and it's fantastic. It's a kind of aemono, "dressed things," which, according to "Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art," is Japanese-style salad of several raw or cooked and cooled ingredients tossed with a dressing. Typical aemono dressings are vinegar-based and thickened with pureed tofu, ground sesame or miso. Just like the one in the recipe below. This dish makes a tasty small plate to accompany sake at the beginning of a meal.

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/05/onion-salad-with-miso-dressing.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/05/onion-salad-with-miso-dressing.html Recipes Recipe Sun, 11 May 2008 18:50:14 -0500 Takako Kuratani is a prodigious chef who designs menus for Japanese restaurants around the world, styles food for Japanese movies and TV commercials, develops recipes, teaches Japanese cuisine -- and never stops cooking and experimenting. I was fortunate to meet her last year at her test kitchen in Tokyo where she and her team treated me to a fantastic dinner. (Ah, the joys of writing... :)) Besides being incredibly talented, Takako is utterly gracious and kind, and thorough emails has been teaching me about Japanese ingredients and cooking. She just visited New York and one of the things she brought with her was a slender red notebook -- her own personal cookbook, where she records her recipes and cooking inspiration. While she was here, Takako planted herself in a kitchen, cracked opened that little red book and prepared a wonderful homey dinner for a bunch of friends. Her theme: the down-home cooking of Kyushu, Japan's own Deep South.

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/05/kyushu-style-fried-chicken.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/05/kyushu-style-fried-chicken.html Recipes Recipe technique Mon, 05 May 2008 15:50:12 -0500 At least in my opinion... New York is fortunate to have a sizable Japanese expat community -- and real deal restaurants to serve them. I'm talking about Japanese cuisine beyond sushi, which is just a tiny part of the food culture there, despite its popularity here. Many friends ask me to recommend Japanese joints in the big city, so here I go: Check out the half-dozen restaurants below (listed alphabetically) to discover a world of Japanese cooking from sophisticated cuisine to tapas-like pub food to home style chow. And what about your favorite places? Any Japanese restaurants you want to add? (And not just in New York) Please share your thoughts in the comments!

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/04/new-yorks-best-japanese.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/04/new-yorks-best-japanese.html New York Restaurants New York restaurants Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:42:15 -0500 When I sat down with my friends Chizuko Niikawa and Akiko Ito today, both Akita natives, both sake experts, I posed a simple question: What makes Akita sake so special?

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/04/akita-sake.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/04/akita-sake.html Sake sake Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:33:08 -0500 During the staff meal break the other night at Matsuri, I noticed Chef Ryuji cleaning a pile of fiddlehead ferns. Ryo is the Chef du Cuisine at the restaurant. I love watching him in action -- this man knows how to cook. During the break I can usually find Ryo by himself behind the line, working on something in the remaining quiet moments before service -- and its attendant frenzy -- begins.

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/03/layering-flavor-into-vegetable.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/03/layering-flavor-into-vegetable.html Technique ingredients technique Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:13:08 -0500 I was thrilled that Saveur included my item about Mrs. Sachiyo Imai in their latest "Saveur 100" list. Scholar, educator, TV host, and most importantly, accomplished cook, Mrs. Imai has worked tirelessly for the past quarter century to preserve Kyoto's traditional food culture. She is amazing. I wanted to share this piece I wrote about her efforts to save Kyoto's obanzai cooking:

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/03/kyotos-soul-food.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/03/kyotos-soul-food.html Japan Kyoto food culture ingredients Kyoto Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:23:30 -0500 After completing our four day trek along Shikoku's pilgrimage trail (see posts below), my girlfriend and I gave our aching feet a rest and rented a car to explore the island. Shikoku was a revelation: A rugged, breathtaking region with dramatic rocky coastline and towering mountains in the interior. I fell in love with this place, my first time there. We drove along the Pacific from Tokushima City to Kochi City over two days, then headed inland to the remote Iya Valley, where we relaxed at the fantastic Kazurabashi Onsen. Along the way we discovered (or at least I discovered, my girlfriend knew all about them) Japan's amazing network of local markets.

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/03/farmers-markets.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/03/farmers-markets.html Ingredients Japan food culture ingredients Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:06:09 -0500 Along the Shikoku pilgrimage trail (see previous post) my girlfriend and I encountered the long tradition of hospitality offered to pilgrims called o-settai. We passed sheds stocked with thermoses of tea and mattresses for resting, benches with notes inviting henro to sit and rest. During the 30-kilometer leg between the 12th and 13th temples, we came upon a tiny farm stand along the road with varieties of citrus and, interestingly, homemade konyaku offered for sale on the honor system -- drop your payment into a jar. As we were checking out the goods, the farmers, an elderly couple named Mr. and Mrs. Abe, appeared and invited us into their home as an act of o-settai. We gratefully accepted this honor.

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/03/the-real-konyaku.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/03/the-real-konyaku.html Ingredients Japan food culture ingredients Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:42:09 -0500 Train your eye to the top right hand corner of this amazing dinner. Overlook the thick slices of super fresh hamachi. Skip past the delicious udon noodles with oysters and fish cake. Forget the kiriboshi daikon, air-dried strips of daikon. Focus on the mixed rice -- we'll get to it in a minute.

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/02/mixed-rice-of-the-mountains.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/02/mixed-rice-of-the-mountains.html Technique Recipe rice technique Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:14:08 -0500 This hotpot hails from the far northern island of Hokkaido, a snowy, remote region famous for its salmon, crab, cattle and potatoes (an influence of nearby Russia), among other ingredients. It's called ishikari nabe in Japanese, in honor of Hokkaido's Ishikari River.

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]]> http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/02/salmon-hotpot.html http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/02/salmon-hotpot.html Nabe Technique nabe Recipe technique Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:37:58 -0500