December 21, 2012
We drove a long way from Los Angeles proper to try the soba at Otafuku in Torrance. The shop donned no sign, except a neon “Open” sign that flashed in the window. The place was packed with hungry folks for lunch, lone salarymen sitting at the bar, and housewives chatting amongst one another at the […]
November 14, 2012
Since May, our beloved Ippuku of Berkeley has been serving teuchi (handmade) soba. Owner-chef Christian Geidemann recruited Koichi Ishii from Yamagata, a prefecture well-known for soba, to come and cook at Ippuku and start a soba program right here in the East Bay. We are SO LUCKY! I know, I should have reported on this sooner. […]
February 15, 2012
By Shizuka Wakashita What do you drink when you go to a soba place? Beer? Sake? Shochu? I thought sake but I was wrong. I was converted into a sake lover about three years ago. Ever since then I almost always order sake when I go out for Japanese food, except for the occasions when I […]
December 30, 2011
As 2011 draws to a close, I am not thinking about the Mayans. Rather, I am trying to decide what I will be eating over the weekend. PRIORITIES, people! I’ll be working on Saturday evening (apocalypse be damned!), but I’ll have all the accouterments ready to ring in the new year with Johnny and a bowl of toshikoshi […]
October 18, 2011
By the time you read this, Yoko and I will be in Niigata, Japan, a prefecture three hours north of Tokyo, on the west coast, the side of the Japan Sea. It’s also directly west of Fukushima City, home of the Daiichi Power Plant. We will be visiting a sake brewery, as well as harvesting […]
July 14, 2011
PREFACE Summer Slurp Series, Pt. 1: Nikumiso Udon Summer Slurp Series, Pt. 2: Hiyashi Chuka (Cold Ramen) The one (and only) thing that I miss about the disgustingly humid temperatures in Tokyo is the arrival of cold noodle dishes on menus everywhere. During the hot months of June through September, I would convince myself that […]
June 3, 2010
Cold noodles are one of the best things about the summer. My favorite cold noodles are soba noodles. When it’s hot outside and steaming rice sounds like the last thing I want to do, I can always rely on soba noodles. But there have been more than a few times that I find that my […]
October 19, 2009
1.) Chopsticks holder-thingy. 2.) Chopsticks to lay on #1. 3.) Cup for soba broth. 4.) Little container of housemade broth, to pour into #3. 5.) Dish of green onions and wasabi. To be added to #3 (only after #4 is poured in). 6.) Pink salt for Exhibit 7. 7.) Maitake tempura. How autumnal! To be […]
August 16, 2009
My partner recently went to Niigata-prefecture in Japan for the weekend. He brought back a gift of hegisoba for me. At first glance, hegisoba looks just like the cheapo 178 yen soba I buy at the local supermarket, but upon closer inspection, there seems to be more grainy specks of black and grey. Hegisoba is […]
June 9, 2009
You read it right – 88 cents (or yen). I have mastered the art of cheap bastardism, and come up with a meal that could be the favorite for both my taste buds and my wallet. In a city like Tokyo, where you expect to spend $30-40 for a dinner out with friends, here’s a […]