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Japan Earthquake & Tsunami: How You Can Help

I know we're all absolutely stunned by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. My heart goes out to the victims of this incomprehensible tragedy. Please help as much as you can. Send donations to:

March 15, 2011

Cold ramen noodles from "A Cook's Journey to Japan"

Paging through a review copy of A Cook's Journey to Japan, a charming cookbook filled with homestyle faves, I landed on the hiyashi chukka recipe, cold ramen noodles with sesame vinaigrette. Man, that looked good.

July 25, 2010

"Love for Japan" Fundraiser: Martha Stewart, Wynton Marsalis at EN Brasserie

Please join my friends Chef Hiroki Abe and owners Reika and Jesse Alexander of EN Japanese Brasserie for a big fundraiser for Japan earthquake and tsunami relief. It takes place this Wednesday, March 23rd at 6pm at their restaurant in downtown Manhattan.

March 19, 2011

traveling japan

November 16, 2007

Food Forum Lecture at Japan Society

January 26, 2010

japan's far north

May 13, 2007

Savory Japan

August 18, 2009

Japan Society Demonstration & Tasting

December 8, 2009

Our Adventures in Japan

May 11, 2008

Savory Japan

August 18, 2009

Japan National Tourism Organization

November 7, 2007

Japan Living Arts

March 2, 2009

"Secrets of the Sake Brewery" Tasting and Fundraiser for Tsunami Relief at Matsuri!

Please join Chef Tadashi Ono and Sake Samurai Timothy Sullivan, with yours truly as moderator, for an important fundraiser for Japan earthquake/tsunami relief at Matsuri restaurant on Tuesday, April 12th at 7pm. The fundraiser will be very special workshop and tasting that goes behind the scenes at Japan's legendary Dassai sake brewery, where Timothy has just spent two months training.

April 1, 2011

Remembering Karatsu Potter Jinenbo Nakagawa, 1953-2011

The first time I traveled to Japan it wasn't for the food, but for the pottery. Back when I was a TV news producer in Washington in the early nineties, I caught a number of phenomenal Japanese pottery shows at the Smithsonian's Sackler-Freer Galleries that simply blew me away.

December 26, 2011

Mentaiko!

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?

June 22, 2008

Tasting Sake

One nondescript conference room. Sixteen bottles of sake. A half dozen of the best sake-tasting palates in New York. Henry Sidel, who runs Joto Sake, pulled together this group last week to evaluate a bunch of brews he recently brought back from Japan. He invited me to join in and observe.

February 8, 2009

Buy a Japanese Knife

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.

June 10, 2008

farmers markets

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.

March 2, 2008

Japanese Pickle Recipes

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.

May 20, 2008

Beef & Potatoes -- Inspired by the Samurai

One of my favorite things to do in Japan is to browse the cookbook racks at a local bookstore. Unlike ours in America, most Japanese cookbooks resemble a cross between a magazine and book ("mook" as they're called). They're not dense tomes like American cookbooks...

October 20, 2011

The Right Temperature To Serve Sake: A Guide

I remember the first time I tasted sake, and sushi for that matter, back when I was in college in the 80s. A friend who studied in Japan took me to a sushi bar on Irving Place in Manhattan, where he introduced me to raw fish on rice and sake served as hot as a steaming mug of coffee.

February 7, 2010

freestyle hotpot

After I wrote about nabe, or home-style hotpot cooking, last month, I asked a friend in Japan to research the many regional varieties of this social and comforting soul food. She just sent me a list of twenty styles of nabe, dishes prepared with salmon, tuna, octopus, pork, chicken, root vegetables, even wild boar and snapping turtle. These hotpots all reflect local foods, customs and geography, and their histories and lore are absolutely fascinating: One traces back to the cooking of Japanese pirates, another originated with bear hunters. There's a nabe invented by sake makers living inside breweries during production season and one that's supposed to be eaten in the dark (yikes!). There's even a nabe invented in 2005 to commemorate the merger of three cities. Like I said, fascinating.

January 28, 2008

Nagoya Cochin Chicken

Back in Japan now and just rolled into the lovely city of Nagoya. First order of business: Nagoya Cochin chicken.

May 27, 2010

66 Ways: How to Cook Miso Soup

In Japan, miso soup reflects the full bounty, breath, spontaneity and endless creativity of the cuisine -- the varieties are mind boggling and delicious. Case in point, the list that follows, sixty six miso soups that a Japanese cookbook editor and fabulous cook named Nobuko-san just sent me.

December 29, 2009

Nagoya Cochin Chicken

While varieties of Japanese <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagyu">wagyu</a> beef are now familiar in America (Kobe being the best known), traveling through Japan I've been surprised to learn about the different breeds of jidori -- heirloom "local chicken" raised across the country.

November 24, 2008

Ikejime: The Japanese Way to Butcher Fish

At my recent workshop at Saveur, I taxied over a live fish for Chef Sono to butcher the traditional way, a method called ikejime. Why share a cab with a flopping fish? I've been fascinated by this killing process since I first witnessed it in Japan, and Sono-san was kind enough to demonstrate it and explain the technique. This week I learned even more, thanks to an outstanding presentation organized by the Gohan Society and featuring the revered chef Suzuki-san of Sushi Zen restaurant.

December 17, 2009

Read This Book: Asian Dumplings

Okay, I'm going to out myself here -- I'm totally "gyoza otaku," or obsessed with Japanese-style fried dumplings. I'm not alone. In Japan, gyoza is the classic companion to ramen (with a frosty mug of beer finishing the picture), with bespoke versions the subject of magazine articles and television shows and endless debate online.

October 20, 2009

Garlic Fried Rice at En Japanese Brasserie

Since I returned in June from three months of cooking in Japan, I've been itching to keep building my skills. Luckily, Abe-san, the chef of the fabulous En Japanese Brasserie in lower Manhattan, graciously invited me into his spacious open kitchen.

October 16, 2009

kyushu style fried chicken

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.

May 5, 2008

Three Great Techniques from the CIA Conference

Master Japanese chefs shared amazing techniques, recipes, ingredients, know-how, theory and more during the two and half days of the CIA's Japan:Flavors of Culture. Here is a trio of methods I came across that I loved, and jotted down in my notebook:

November 9, 2010