I discovered this relatively new cultivar of rice on a recent trip to Thailand, and it’s become one of my favorite types of rice. Not only is it loaded with nutrients, it also tastes good and cooks in the same amount of time as regular white rice. What is Riceberry Rice? If you eat more than one grain of Riceberry are you eating Riceberries? Where does riceberry get its color from?...
I had a lot of great food in Singapore, including the inspiration for this Mie Goreng Java recipe, and while I couldn’t pick a favorite, there were some dishes that stood out: like Biryani at Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, or Hainanese Chicken Rice at Maxwell Hawker Center. One dish that stuck with me throughout the rest of my sojourn in Asia was something I had early one morning at Changi Airport as I was leaving for Japan....
I know the term “best” is subjective, but after experimenting with different methods for making Oyako Donburi for over a dozen years, I can confidently say this is the best Oyakodon recipe for most people. That’s because it recreates the tastes and textures of Oyakodon from high-end restaurants in Japan using chicken and eggs that you can buy in any country. In Japan, a great Oyakodon, such as one that might be served at a yakitori restaurant, is made with high-quality Japanese chicken cooked medium rare with silky eggs that are close to raw....
The British are often ridiculed for their food, but they make some of the best desserts ever! Eton Mess is easily my favorite, but I’m also a big fan of others, such as Summer Berry Pudding, Sticky Toffee Pudding , and Posset . What is an Eton Mess? How to make an Eton Mess French vs. Italian vs. Swiss Meringue Making Meringue for Eton mess Fruit Whipped cream 📖 Recipe Comments What is an Eton Mess?...
Onigiri (おにぎり) - Japanese Rice Balls Onigiri (おにぎり), which are sometimes called Omusubi (おむすび), are Japanese rice balls that come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They can be filled or unfilled, but the idea is that they’re a seasoned and ready-to-eat bowl of rice that you can pick up and eat with your hands, making the perfect portable snack. Japanese convenience stores offer dozens of varieties, but they’re easily made at home, too....
Japanese Christmas Cake Following the events of the Meiji Restoration, Japan opened its doors to the world, and there was an influx of Western culture to Japan, including pastries and cakes as well as holidays like Christmas. In 1922, Fujiya, a western-style sweets maker, started producing Christmas Cakes and selling them through their shop in Ginza. Western-style desserts were considered an alluring luxury at the time, but by the 1970s, Christmas Cake had become as iconic as Santa Claus....
Japanese Salmon Rice (鮭の炊き込みご飯) One of the things I love about living in Japan is how the markets shift with the seasons. Right now, in early autumn, stalls are overflowing with Asian pears, fresh mushrooms, and fall salmon-known as akijaké (秋鮭). Unlike the richer cuts available in winter, fall salmon are preparing to spawn, so they carry milt or roe and have leaner flesh. But what they lack in fat, they more than make up for in deep, concentrated flavor, which is why they’re such a seasonal favorite....
Labneh dip (sometimes spelled labaneh or labna) is the Middle Eastern answer to cream cheese. By draining off the whey, this strained yogurt cheese reaches its fullest flavor, making it a versatile condiment and spread. I first discovered it in Saudi Arabia, where it’s drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with zaatar, and scooped up with tender swaths of pita bread. Similar to Greek yogurt, the straining process concentrates its protein and probiotics....
If you’ve ever “accidentally” poured maple syrup on your sausage, or ordered pigs in a blanket at your local greasy spoon, you know the gustatory pleasures where sweet and savory intersect. Like jumping into an ice-cold lake after a stint in the sauna or leaping from a plane with nothing but a sheet of silk strapped to your back, there’s something about contrasts that heightens your senses and makes you feel alive....
What is Yakisoba? Yakisoba (焼きそば) is one of Japan’s most beloved street foods , and its name literally means “grilled noodles.” Thought to have originated in Chinese cuisine, it became a popular fast-food meal in the black markets that emerged across Japan after the war. At a time when food was scarce and the nation was rebuilding, yakisoba’s simple ingredients and the ease of cooking it on large steel griddles called teppan (鉄板) made it perfect for these makeshift outdoor stalls....
Before you go making faces wondering if I’ve lost my mind, rest assured that I haven’t just dumped blue dye into regular mashed potatoes. These blue mashed potatoes are essentially Colcannon, except instead of using regular cabbage, I’ve used red cabbage. The cabbage is cooked in milk to extract its color. Then the colored milk and cooked cabbage are mixed together with the potatoes after they’ve been mashed. “But isn’t red cabbage magenta in color” you say?...
California Roll Sushi Bowl Although California rolls aren’t traditionally Japanese, this form factor of putting seafood and vegetables on a bed of sushi rice is called Chirashizushi in Japanese, and it’s a popular way of making sushi at home. I’ve turned the classic California Roll into a fun sushi bowl that’s easier to make than rolled sushi and more rewarding to eat thanks to the better ratio of rice to filling ingredients....
I’ve just returned from spending three incredible weeks cooking for some of the most influential people in the world on a ranch nestled in the mountains of western Colorado. The vistas were grand. The sunsets dazzling, and the night sky mesmerizing. Breathtaking views aside, the remoteness of the location made sourcing ingredients a challenge. With the nearest rural supermarket 2 hours away, most ingredients were Fedexed in from New York....
As much as I struggled with my Asian identity growing up, I have very fond memories of visiting Japan as a kid. One of my favorite activities was going to summer festivals, or Matsuri, which always had rows of brightly colored stalls with games for kids, and even more stalls hawking food. It’s hard to say what my favorite stall food was, but I’ve always loved the sweet spicy aroma of yakisoba sizzling on a flat metal griddle....
I was recently asked what dish from childhood I remember the most. Cashew chicken (my mom made hers with almonds) was the first to come to mind. It was on the dinner table at least once a week. Quick and tasty, I can’t really blame her for making it so often, but by the time I left home, I never wanted to see it again. Somehow, I managed to avoid it for twenty years (when did I get so old?...
Furikake Furikake is a beloved Japanese condiment that’s traditionally sprinkled on top of cooked rice to season it. The name literally means “sprinkled over,” and its concentrated umami-rich flavor makes it well suited for topping much more than rice. While it’s used primarily as a seasoning these days, Furikake originated as a nutritional supplement for rice, to combat malnourishment. Unfortunately, today’s mass-produced Furikake is loaded with coloring agents and additives....
If you’ve ever made poached eggs and ended up with a foamy mess of egg whites, there are a couple of reasons why this may be happening. The first is that your eggs are not fresh enough. Unlike boiled eggs , where you want older eggs, for poached eggs, you want the eggs to be as fresh as possible. This is because the albumen, or egg white, is almost like a gel when the egg is freshly laid, but it becomes looser and more watery as the egg ages....
Japanese braised pork belly, or buta no kakuni (豚の角煮-literally “simmered cubes”), is one of those magical dishes that transforms an inexpensive cut of pork into something so luxuriously tender it melts in your mouth. Inspired by Chinese Dongpo Pork, which arrived in Japan through Ming Dynasty trade with the port of Nagasaki, it evolved into distinct regional variations-Nagasaki’s tōbani (東坡煮), with its deep, soy-forward flavor, and Okinawa’s rafute, which uses the island’s signature rice spirit, awamori, for a mellow yet subtly nutty finish....
Japanese Sweet and Sour Chicken While Sweet and Sour Chicken is best known as a Chinese takeout favorite, there are variations of the classic in other Asian countries, and today I want to show you how to make a Japanese version of this dish. Popularized by a restaurant called Ootoya , this colorful take on sweet and sour is loaded with a rainbow of colorful vegetables and tender, juicy chunks of chicken marinated in soy sauce and ginger....
Okay, so this one was hard to name. Every title I came up with made it sound… well… simplistic. The ingredients and preparation for Lemon Tuna Steaks on Roasted Veggies are both simple, but this belies its tastiness. If you think I’m being ridiculous for calling cooked tuna tasty, I feel your pain. At most restaurants it’s either lightly seared (at which point you’re basically eating sashimi), or it’s cooked all the way making it a hard puck that both looks and tastes a bit like cardboard....
