Following with the cold weather comfort food theme, this week I made the ultimate comfort food; Oden! This just happens to be one of my friend Suyong’s favorite comfort foods, so who else to judge it than a connoisseur of the dish! Oden is pretty simple and can be found just about anywhere in Japan [...]
かやくごはん- Root Vegetable and Chicken Rice
So yay, a rice dish means I finally get to rant about Japanese rice! Well… I guess I should introduce this dish first. So かやくごはん (Kayaku Gohan) is a pretty simple dish. You can just put all the ingredients into the rice cooker and walk away for 20 minutes! Its a pretty good winter dish, [...]
かき揚げそうめん – Mixed Tempura Noodle Soup
Thanksgiving is right around the corner and even with the pressures of cooking I was able to squeeze in my weekly Japanese night. Washington weather continues to get colder and wetter! Some people find this discouraging, but being a Washingtonian born and bred, I look at the silver lining of all this. The colder and [...]
ポークカリー – Pork Curry
Let me begin this weeks post by saying “I hate Ketchup”. Really, from the bottom of my heart, I find it distasteful and nasty. Japanese Ketchup, American Ketchup (there is a difference), I find all kinds of the sickly-sweet condiment to just leave the worst taste in my mouth. That said, when I started doing [...]
すき焼き – Beef Hot Pot
As cold as the weather has been in the pacific NW, I promised something to warm you up. I was super happy that it stayed cold last night, It made for the perfect “Stay under the Kotatsu and eat Sukiyaki” weather! Like most nabe (hot pots), these recipes are winter comfort foods in Japan. My [...]
ポテトコロッケ – Potato Croquettes
Japan, like most other countries, got some of its culinary influence from around the world. Ramen is a good and ancient example, having its origins in China. However, none stands out in the last century, I think, as the Croquette. Originally a French food, croquettes have gained a spot in most cuisines, from Spanish Tapas [...]
Surprise double feature! 茶わん蒸し and から揚げ
Life made a surprising turn this week and our good friends Suyong (Dr. Susu) and Eric (Maru-Chan) popped in for my Japanese cooking night. It was both exciting and nerve wracking as I had yet to cook my blog food for anyone other than Jon. Add on to that the fact that Suyong is from [...]
さばのみそ煮 – Mackerel with Ginger and Miso
So far we have had soup, Beef, Chicken… so it seems natural that this week we are moving on to fish! Japan, being an island nation, has an abundance of sea life to draw off. So it was only time before we breached the fish category. As I mentioned in the post before last, there [...]
筑前煮 – Chicken with root vegetables.
As promised, this week I bring you 筑前煮 or chicken stew with root vegetables. This recipe features an assortment of root vegetables. Carrots(にんじん), Lotus Root (れんこん), Burdock Root(ごぼう), and Taro (里いも). For those of you familiar with Hawaiian and Pacific cuisine, Taro is used widely in many dishes. Most popularly taro is the main ingredient [...]
肉じゃが - Sweet Meat and Potatoes.
Back again this week, this time with a more complicated (yet simple) recipe from Japanese cooking. 肉じゃが – Nikujyaga (Pronounced “Nee-Coo-Jaw-Gah”) is a sweet beef and potatoes dish, kind of like a thick stew. I had it a few times during the 給食 (Kyuushoku – Japanese School lunch) at my elementary schools and occasionally as a [...]
