Archive

Day 30: Sake What better way to finish a food series about Japanese food than with something all good feasts here are finished with – some sake! I know this isn’t technically a food but I hope you’ll forgive me this indulgence. Sake is a traditional form of Japanese alcohol, often called ‘rice wine’ although ...

Day 29: Tsukemono Tsukemono literally translates as ‘pickled things’ and it’s a pretty simple and accurate description of what we’re talking about. Tsukemono is a broad category for the small bits of pickled vegetables that you’ll see all the time in Japanese cuisine. The most common vegetables that are pickled in this style are turnip, ...

Day 28: Champon Champon is essentially a noodle dish but it’s a special one that is prepared very differently and has a mix of ingredients you probably won’t find in any other types in Japan. Champon is made by frying a combination of pork, seafood and vegetables in lard before a soup made from chicken ...

Day 27: Edamame Edamame are definitely more of a snack than a whole dish. They’re something to nibble on before you main meal arrives, share with your friends, or eat with a few beers after work. And that’s why I love them so much. Edamame (or edamame beans, as they’re sometimes called) are made from ...

Day 26: Bento Well, the other day I said that onigiri had been my lifesavers in Japan because they were easy to find and filled me up quickly. I failed to mention that I did always have a back-up plan which I want to tell you about today. It’s the bento. At its very simplest, ...

Day 25: Donburi Donburi is a very general term that refers to Japanese dishes where meat, vegetables or a mixture of the two is simmered together and then served over a bowl of rice. It’s a very popular style of food because it’s cheap and easy but gives you a lot of choice over exactly ...

Day 24: Makizushi As discussed a week or so ago, not all sushi is made the same. I’ve already written about ‘nigiri zushi, which is when you have a small block of rice and something (often raw fish) put on top. Today it’s time to look at ‘Makizushi’. In the Western world, this is often ...

Day 23: Miso soup It’s about time that I talked about one of those Japanese foods that’s pretty hard to miss(o). That little pun probably gave it away – I’m referring to miso soup. It’s not served with every single meal but it has come with about half of those I’ve had at restaurants in ...

Day 22: Onigiri These little packages of delicious joy have saved me so many times. They’re cheap, tasty and available every block or so. Oh, onigiri, how could I ever live without you? The idea is really simple. Onigiri is a squashed-up lump of rice with a filling inside, wrapped in seaweed paper called nori. ...

Day 21: Kushikatsu I knew even before I tried kushikatsu that I was going to like it. After all, I had heard it described as ‘a deep fried kebab’. The Kansai region, around the Japanese city of Osaka, is where this food is particularly popular and that’s where I decided to do my investigations into ...