Note: This entry also appeared at my friend Sherisa de Groot’s blog, L’élephant Rose. L’élephant Rose is a collection of handmade jewelry designed by Sherisa, based in Amsterdam. It’s also the name of her blog about design process, music, green living, food, and fashion. Ever since I visited Japan two years ago, onigiri, small balls [...]
I first stumbled upon mentaiko, or marinated cod roe, a few years ago at Nijiya Market in San Francisco, where a packet of the spicy, salty mentaiko sauce was on sale. Intrigued, I prepared it at home with spaghetti as the packet suggested, and I was hooked. Unfortunately, pre-packaged mentaiko sauce is loaded with preservatives [...]
This dish was initially supposed to be hamachi teriyaki, but apparently every market in the East Bay didn’t have yellowtail amberjack in stock the day I tried to make this, so I gave it a shot with basa. I had my reservations about using catfish to substitute a firmer-fleshed fish, but after how successfully this [...]
It’s only February, but I’ve had summer on my mind, and all the fresh dishes that go with it. The aptly-named summer rolls are one of my favorite things to eat in the warmer weather and with spring only a few weeks away, I’m making these early this year. These seafood summer rolls pack a [...]
I didn’t grow up eating chawan mushi, but it feels like comfort food. An egg-based custard dish, it’s simply flavored with soy sauce, mirin, and dashi and mixed with a few ingredients before being set to steam. It’s usually eaten as an appetizer in Japanese cuisine but I like to eat it as a snack [...]