Garlic Chives (’Nira’ in Japanese) are very hardy. They grow so well, produce plenty of seeds and spread even outside of the veggie garden. Every time my husband cuts the grass around the garden, we smell garlic! But this means we can grow them easily. In Japan, ‘Nira’ is considered a vegetable not a herb. …
Kale is easy to grow and has grown too well in my veggie garden. We can hardly keep up eating it. So I blanched a large bowlful of Kale leaves and made this ‘Ae-mono’ (Japanese style salad). ‘Goma-ae’ Sauce is usually made with Soy Sauce but I used Miso for this dish. It was a …
Since I moved to Australia, I have discovered many different food and ’Falafel’ is one of them. For a long time I didn’t know what they are made from. ‘Falafel’ is something I buy from shops and I never thought it could be so easy. The most important thing is to use uncooked chickpeas and …
I wanted to make ‘Kinako Biscuits’ today but I didn’t have enough ‘Kinako’ which is the finely ground roasted Soybean. I used roasted Almonds instead. Using the food chopper, I ground the Almonds. I added some coarsely chopped Almonds as well. I rolled the baked biscuits in icing sugar to coat them. The result was …
Many Japanese words have been imported to English but often pronounced differently. ‘Edamame’ (the young soy beans) is one of them. It’s ‘e-dʌ-ma-me’ and NOT ‘e-dʌ-ma-miː’. When a word ends with ‘e’, English speaking people pronounce wrong. ‘Shiitake’ and ‘Sake’ are other examples. Please remember ‘e’ in Japanese words is always pronounced like ‘e’ in …
If you like ‘Mabo Tofu’, you would like this dish. My quick-braise method doesn’t stir-fry Tofu so you can use soft and delicate type of Tofu for this dish. I use whatever mushrooms that I have in hand. Shimeji, Shiitake, Enoki, Oyster Mushrooms are all very nice for this recipe. Serve with freshly cooked rice. …
‘Takoyaki’, a ball-shaped savoury snack, is one of the dishes that most foreign tourists try to eat in Japan. To make ‘Takoyaki’, you need a ‘Takoyaki’ pan. Do not give up if you don’t have one, I heard that Cake Pop Maker or Mini Pancake Pan are just fine for making ‘Takoyaki’. It doesn’t matter …
My husband’s aunt told me about her amazing discovery of Asian Fried Noodle Salad. She even gave me a bag of the fried noodles. The recipe was on the bag of the noodles but I found it too sweet. So I create my own dressing for the salad. I used a bag of ready-to eat …
‘Doria’ is a very popular rice dish in Japan. Butter rice or pilaff is covered with White Sauce (Béchamel Sauce) and grated cheese, then baked in the oven. This ‘Chicken Doria’ is the most basic ‘Doria’ dish which is seasoned with salt & pepper. You can add herbs and spices to create your own flavour. …
My son doesn’t like to eat fish that have bones. Even the filleted Sardines still have fine bones and he is reluctant to eat them. When he was very young, he got a fish bone stuck in the throat for three days. When it finally came out, we were all shocked at the size of …
This dessert was something I used to buy from shops. I never thought I could make this dessert until I tried. Many cooks and chefs on TV shows were saying it was easy to make. Then I tried one day and found it was indeed very easy. And you know, when we make it at …
‘Rugelach’ is a Jewish pastry and it attracted my attention when I was looking for a recipe that I can use leftover cream cheese. The article I found was about food in NY and I found ‘Rugelach’ is a new craze. I have never tasted authentic Jewish ‘Rugelach’ and I don’t know what I bake …