Nanohana with Karashi Dressing
Nanohana is a variety of edible rapeseed plant, grown in Asia both for its oil and as a vegetable. It is in season in Japan from …
Satsuma-age
Satsuma-age is a fried patty of fish originating from Kagoshima, an area of Japan once known as Satsuma, hence the name. In Kagoshima, it is referred …
Mochi Kinchaku
Kinchaku is the word for a cloth pouch used to carry small items. It was traditionally used when wearing a kimono or yukata (summer kimono), and was sometimes hung from the obi (kimono’s …
Lightly Pickled Cabbage Salad
Green cabbage is best in the winter months. Its leaves are a darker shade of green than usual, and tend to be thinner and sweeter. …
Nori-Wrapped Scallops
This dish is called hotate no isobeyaki in Japanese. Breaking it down, hotate is the word for scallops, yaki means ‘cooked’, and isobe refers to the seaweed wrapping. Actually, isobe …
Carrot Shirishiri
In Japanese, this dish is called ninjin no shirishiri, or shredded carrot. Japanese is full of onomatopoeic words, and shirishiri happens to be one of them. It indicates the noise …
Tofu Steak
Tofu steak is a simplified version of agedashi tofu, a traditional Japanese recipe with deep-fried tofu served in a dashi-based broth. The first big difference is that …
Daigaku Imo
Daigaku imo means university potatoes! The name of this dish is said to have one of two origins. One is rather romantic and the other is …
Chrysanthemum Greens With Walnut Dressing
Chrysanthemum greens are a common ingredient in East Asian cuisine, but it’s not always easy to find them outside of Asia. Look for an Asian …
Quick Spinach Ohitashi
Spinach ohitashi is a standard side dish that fits beautifully in the traditional ichiju sansai (i.e. one soup, three side dishes) meal format. Ohitashi comes …
Eggplant Agebitashi
Agebitashi means fried (ageh) and soaked (hitashi). This is a Japanese cooking technique in which vegetables are deep-fried and then soaked in a flavourful broth. Frying evaporates …
Lightly Pickled Turnip
The Japanese turnip is quite a versatile vegetable. If cooked it will become soft to the point of crumbling in your mouth, and eaten raw …