After four years in Tokyo, Yoko relocated to the Bay Area. She loves dips, dashi, and deals.
Japanify
June 17, 2010
Japanify: I Love Okara
I discovered okara during my first year in Tokyo, thanks to my neighborhood tofu shop who sold me 400 grams (0.88 lbs) of okara every week for Â¥150 (about $1.70). Okara is translated as “tofu lees” or “soy pulp” and is a byproduct of the tofu-making process. Maybe it’s just me, but “soy pulp” sounds […]
June 10, 2010
Japanify: Sunomono Salad
This monochromatic sunomono salad may look humble, but it packs a sweet and sour punch. It tastes somewhat reminiscent to the cucumber salad that comes with Thai satay skewers. Although sunomono is eaten more like a salad than pickles, it does cleanse the palate when eating something oily or spicy. Sunomono literally means vinegared (“su”) […]
June 3, 2010
Japanify: Tsuyu (Soba Dipping Sauce)
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 […]
May 27, 2010
Japanify: White, Brown and Germ Rice
Rice has come up in conversation more than a few times since I have been back in the US. Mainly questions like “What kind of rice do you eat?” “Where do you buy your rice?” and “How does rice in the US compare to the rice in Japan?” True, nothing compares to rice in Japan […]
May 20, 2010
Japanify: Lazyass Wafu Salad with Wasabi-Yuzu Dressing
The idea of a salad at many Japanese restaurants in America is some iceberg lettuce, julliened carrots and a cherry tomato (if your lucky) – topped with a creamy, sesame dressing. I can say that I am sometimes a fan of this combination, but it’s really not the kind of salad you will ever see […]
May 13, 2010
Japanify: How to Make Miso Soup
Last month, I took a relaxing trip to Pt. Reyes with one of the best books I have read this year, the Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was another one of my favorites this year). Although I felt like I kind of knew what Pollan’s deal was from hearsay, […]
May 6, 2010
Japanify Ingredients: The Definitive Guide to Homemade Dashi
One of the most basic things about Japanese cooking that baffled me before living in Japan was how to make dashi. I knew it was easy and that the ingredients were readily available, but I wanted to make it right. All from scratch. Here is the definitive guide to making dashi. The easiest way to […]
April 22, 2010
How To Japanify: Preparing and Drinking Sencha
Every time I would go to someone’s house in Tokyo, they would likely offer me sencha before I even settled onto my zabuton or chair. Sencha is made by steaming green tea leaves, shaped into thin rolls, dried and then pan-fried or fired to lock-in the flavor. Pretty common in the U.S. as well, most […]
April 15, 2010
Japanify: Sharpening Carbon and Stainless Steel Knives
After seeing how well the chefs (at Konohana, the sousaku-ryori restaurant I worked at last year in Tokyo) and the housewives in Japan take care of their hÅchÅs (Japanese cutlery), one of the first things I did when I moved back to the U.S. was to get a knife sharpener for my carbon-steel hÅchÅ I […]
February 18, 2010
Japanify: Making Natto in North America
Natto is the one of those foods that elicits strong reactions. I get overwhelmed with a sense of joy and excitement, but the response I hear from most people (who aren’t from or aren’t descendants of the eastern regions of Japan) is pure disgust. I remember how clueless I was junior year in college when […]