Media - Harumi Kurihara interview for JETAANY Magazine JQ

Scroll down to page seven to see my interview (done via e-mail) with Harumi Kurihara on her new cookbook, Everyday Harumi.

http://jetaany.org/magazine_files/JQ_JanFeb2010.pdf

Japanese Culinary Forum at the FCI

This article from The Japan Times is regarding the Japanese Culinary Forum at the French Culinary Institute from the fall of 2007.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fg20071109a2.html

NPR - The Leonard Lopate Show

Today on NPR, Leonard Lopate interviewed Michael Pollan on his new book, Food Rules. I was honored to have one of our house food rules included in the New York Times magazine article (rule #12):

http://tiny.cc/siWvp

And, now I was quoted on today's program. Quote #20 or you can listen at about 20:00.

http://tiny.cc/qTMc5

I am a big fan of Michael Pollan's books and am tickled to be included twice.

Osechi Ryori おせち料理

This article I wrote for bento.com highlights the basic components of osechi ryori, the Japanese food for New Year's day.

http://www.bento.com/fexp-osechi.html

Essential Kitchen Tools

Batterie de cuisine are the tools and gadgets of your kitchen. The Japanese kitchen has a few basic essentials that allow cooks to make most of the basic dishes. This article which first appeared in Metropolis magazine highlights these items to stock up.

http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/776/localflavors.asp

Recipes - Dashi 出汁

Dashi is the essential broth from which many Japanese recipes are based. This article which originally appeared in Metropolis magazine gives tips on making the classic ichiban dashi from kombu (kelp) and katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and a kombu based vegetarian dashi.

http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/745/localflavors.asp

Recipes - Takikomigohan 炊き込みご飯

We love white rice. I am still learning about the subtle nuances of rice, and am always impressed when Shinji can make comments on the aroma and texture of different strains of rice. We usually cook our rice in a donabe (ceramic pot) but also for convenience sake we use a rice cooker. He says that the aroma of the rice is better in the donabe but that the rice cooker always has a nice texture (that fuzzy logic you know).

Another way to add variety to the Japanese table is with takikomigohan. Before steaming the rice, adding a few items to the rice pot. This article which first appeared in Metropolis magazine has ideas for simple takikomigohan to get started with.

http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/733/localflavors.asp

Recipes - Nabe Hot Pots 鍋のレシピー

Nabe (Japanese hot pots) keep us warmed through the cold winters. These are easy to make, easy to clean, and best of all, delicious. This article appeared in Metropolis magazine and includes some very easy nabe recipes.

http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/720/localflavors.asp

Tips for Making Bento at Home

I enjoy making bento for my husband, Shinji. It does not take that much time if you are organized. I make most of the side dishes at one time, usually taking about twenty or thirty minutes. If you plan ahead, it really is a snap. And, more than anything, I feel much better knowing that he is getting a well-balanced meal and not running out for fast food or ordering out food that does not include a lot of vegetables.

What helps a lot us having a bento box that is easy to fill up. The side dishes are put either in aluminum foil cups, and recently we picked up small plastic cups that can be washed and reused. When packing up the bento box along with it goes a pair of chopsticks that gets washed each night and then wrapped up in a handkerchief.

This article which first appeared in Metropolis magazine includes tips on making bento at home.

http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/700/localflavors.asp

Adding Umami to Your Meals

Umami, the fifth taste, is well-known in Japan, but outside of the country, is often misinterpreted or made to be something magical or mystical. It is an easy concept to grasp and can be applied to many home meals. This article first appeared in Metropolis magazine offers tips on adding umami to your daily life.

http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/699/localflavors.asp

Recipe - Cooking with Kimchi キムチ料理

Some tips for cooking with kimchi at home from an article that first appeared in Metropolis magazine.

http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/673/localflavors.asp

Recipe - Temakizushi 手巻き寿司

As my husband, Shinji, is a fishmonger, when we eat raw fish at our home it is most often sashimi. If we are going to eat sushi in Japan we often go out for it. One fun alternative for making sushi at home is to do a temakizushi or hand-rolled sushi, shaped like an ice cream cone. This is also a fun way to entertain at home. This article that first appeared in Metropolis magazine offers tips for making temakizushi at home.

http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/622/localflavors.asp

Food Sake Tokyo

I have started a new blog to highlight shops and restaurants in Tokyo. The blog will highlight shops that appear in my upcoming book, Food Sake Tokyo, to be published by The Little Bookroom in the spring of 2010. This site will focus on cooking Japanese food at home.

http://foodsaketokyo.wordpress.com/

Recipes - Kanten 寒天

Kanten is a sea vegetable that can be used in the kitchen as a substitute for animal based gelatin. It peaked in popularity in Japan a few years ago as part of a diet trend. Rich in fiber and low in calories it is easy to work with in the kitchen. This article first appeared in Metropolis magazine and offers tips and ideas for cooking with kanten.

http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/602/localflavors.asp

Recipes - The Autumn Vegetarian

Chef Yumiko Kano of Nakaiseki Sen, one of Tokyo's great vegetarian restaurants, is a prolific cookbook author. Her restaurant, Sen, offers kaiseki vegetarian cuisine. I interviewed chef Kano for an article that first appeared in Metropolis magazine. Here she offers up tips for cooking with vegetables in the kitchen.

http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/657/localflavors.asp

Recipes - Natto 納豆

As a child growing up a big treat was a bowl of rice topped with natto. Sadly what I had in the early 70s was frozen natto. Visiting family and friends in Japan, my mother would ask everyone to prepare natto for me. What a different product when it is not frozen. There are many great pleasures of living in Japan for foodies. Among one of them is the variety of natto, and at affordable prices. In Japan supermarkets often put natto on sale, three packs for less than 100 JPY (or under a dollar). A recent visit to Mitsuwa in Fort Lee, NJ had natto, three packs for $1.99, and I believe most of it has been frozen while shipping.

This article first appeared in Metropolis magazine. It offers ideas for eating natto at home, including natto spaghetti.

http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/587/localflavors.asp

Tips on Cooking Nabe Hot Pots

With Thanksgiving lurking near I am pulling out bulky sweaters and my winter hats to keep me warm throughout the winter. In the kitchen we have pulled out our konro (portable gas heater) and nabe (hot pot). We are hosting our first nabe party of the season tomorrow and have started shopping for vegetables, kimchi, tofu, and thin sliced pork for a kimchi chige nabe.

Entertaining with nabe could not be any easier, and clean-up is a snap. Here is an article I wrote for Metropolis magazine on tips on cooking nabe at home - and it includes a recipe for a very simple mizutaki, chicken and vegetables nabe, perfect with a ponzu dipping sauce.

http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/560/localflavors.asp

New York Times

Click through to rule #12 for Japanese practices that we put into use in our home.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/10/11/magazine/20091011-foodrules.html

Japanese Food Words in The Japan Times

The Japanese language is filled with rich words to describe the food. Atsu atsu for something that is very hot like a bowl of ramen, or saku saku for something crispy like tempura or tonkatsu.

Today's Japan Times has an article I wrote about these fun Japanese words, so integral for chefs, retailers, and food writers when describing food.

http://tinyurl.com/lawsnk