I often keep a large containerful of thinly sliced cabbage and carrot in my fridge. This mix is ready to use for salad or anything. I often add extra ingredients to it such as egg or canned fish, and season with a dressing. Here are the three dressings that I like. This salad looks far …
One day, my daughter asked me what the difference between ‘Yakisoba’ and ‘Yakiudon’ was. ‘Yakisoba’ is a dish of stir-fried noodles flavoured with Yakisoba sauce, which tastes like mix of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. ‘Yakiudon’ is obviously stir-fried udon noodles and originally seasoned with the same sauce, but nowadays dashi-flavoured soy sauce is more …
This is a very popular stir-fry dish in Japan. It’s a dish consisting of vegetables, pork, prawns, squid, etc. stir-fried and thickened with potato starch. The dish is called ‘Happō-sai’ in Japanese and that means ‘Eight Treasure Ingredients’ as the number eight is the lucky number in our culture. This is my family’s recipe which …
A few weeks ago, when ALDI was having German Food Fest, I bought a jar of Sauerkraut. As I had never tasted German-made Sauerkraut before, I was excited to eat it. Now, to be honest about it, I couldn’t eat it because it was too sour!Then I remembered my mother’s Pickled Daikon that always turned …
When I am mentally or physically very tired, I often have a craving for a dish called ‘Namasu’ that is vinegared vegetables and most commonly Daikon and Carrot are used. When I didn’t have Daikon, I used Red Cabbage instead. The result was really refreshing, and very pretty as well. Makes 2 to 4 Servings …
It’s getting cold in Melbourne. Warm dishes are more enjoyable. I have posted some Japanese winter dish recipes such as ‘Furofuki Daikon’, simmered Daikon radish with sweet miso sauce. I want to introduce another iconic winter dish. It is ‘Steamed Savoury Turnip Meringue’, which tastes a little bit like Wasabi. This dish can be categorised …
As you know, ‘Bibimbap’ is a Korean dish, and the word literally means ‘Mixed Rice’ which is same as ‘Mazegohan’ in Japanese. I particularly like ‘Hot Stone Pot Bibimbap’ that is served in a very hot stone bowl. The stone bowl is so hot that anything that touches it sizzles, and the rice becomes browned …
I bought a bag of Black Beans from an Asian grocery store and have found out they are different from the ones available from ordinary supermarket stores. Black Turtle Beans are commonly called ‘Black Beans’ in Australia, but what I bought from the Asian grocery store are Black Soy Beans. My grandmother used to pickle …
Hōtō is a regional dish originating from Yamanashi, Japan. The wide noodles are stewed with vegetables in miso soup. Hōtō noodles are actually different from Udon noodles as they are made from ordinary low-gluten flour in the style similar to dumplings. That’s why it is easy to prepare at home. I once lived in Yamanashi …
This is what my mother used to make with Daikon leaves. She used to pickle a large barrelful of Daikon to make ‘Takuan’. She didn’t waste the Daikon leaves. She pickled the leaves as well. She used just salt for leaves. The salty pickled Daikon leaves were still bitter & peppery. She often cut them …
When I first heard about ‘Kimu-Taku Rice’ which is very popular in Nagano prefecture, Japan, I thought it was related to a Japanese star Kimura Takuya aka ‘Kimu-Taku’ who is an actor and also a member of an idol group SMAP. I was very wrong. ‘Kimu-Taku’ stands for ‘Kimuchi (Kimchi) and Takuan (Japanese pickled daikon …
‘Sumiso’ (Vinegared Miso) is the dressing with which I used to eat freshly cooked ‘Konnyaku’ (Konjac) or ‘Octopus’ while I was still living in Japan. My family’s ‘Sumiso’ recipe can be found on this page.I added more flavour to it for this Salad. Today I used Cucumber and Radish, but you may wish to add …