No, not that kind of mold. Check out the photo of this super cool pancake mold that allows you to shape your flapjacks in a Rilakkuma pattern.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll take any excuse to get the kids over to the breakfast table and away from the television. Rilakkuma pancakes would certainly do the trick. I really like how Japan puts that little bit of extra effort into food presentation. The visual aesthetics behind stuff like this, or even a well-prepared bento box has always fascinated me for some reason.
Speaking of aesthetics, be sure to check out Shibuya246 for more great photos like this one. Very cool blog.
While some of us have heard about the mysterious hidden restaurant Aronia de Takazawa, very few of us have ever had the pleasure of actually eating there.
Matt Rudd of the Times Online was lucky enough to get a seat, and this only after 18 months of emailing and trying to secure a reservation. He just posted a great article about his experience leading up to his visit, as well as his detailed thoughts of the food that they served. Read the rest of this entry »
Hats off to Lonleeplanet.com for one of the best Japan snack finds ever! Check out this ever-so excellent Doritos bag from Japan:
I mean, can anybody explain what’s going on here? The guys are all dressed up like Cheetos, but as if that’s not bad enough one of them is applying the ‘Nutcracker’ to the other!
Loneleeplanet put it best: Doritos Crunchy Nut Flavor. Go check out his blog of more awesomeness from Japan.
The other day, I found a very interesting article called, for the lack of a better name, The Miracle Fruit. What this fruit does is that it rewires the taste buds completely that sour foods taste sweet. Lemons, for example would taste like candy with a citrusy flavor but without the sour bite to it.
Some guy in New York is having a Miracle Fruit party and had most of his guests rampaging through his personal fridge and downing condiments to experience the incredible sensation on their tongues, after foods offered were trialed and tested. The down part to this is that each fruit costs $3 and while that may not be so bad the company that sells it only sells it on a minimum order of 30 fruits, which would amount to $90 bucks + $30 for shipping. Pretty steep for 30minutes of taste rewiring.
But here’s the great thing, someone at ThinkGeek found the Miracle Fruit in pill form and are selling them at $19.99 for a box with two tabs. It is a sensation everyone should try and YOU must get some!
The sticky and gooey by nutritious food that is rich in protein and is originally Japanese. You can never find anything like natto anywhere else in the world. A big reason why is the way natto looks, very sticky and very gooey, not at all appetizing and a very pungent smell. But who are we to judge if we eat moldy cheese like Roquefort?
You can make your own natto in your own home. You just need a few simple ingredients and a very clean vessel for the process of fermentation of the soybeans.
Here’s a simple natto recipe you can try at home. You will need to purchase some dried rice straws, which you can find in any asian grocery stores.
Have you ever eaten hamo? May it be cooked into a rich broth or barbequed, it is not food for the squeamish.
Hamo is essentially pike eel to the Western world. In Japan, hamo is a delicacy that is popular around the Kansai region, particularly Kyoto. To prepare hamo, you need a chef that is skilled at eels for the this slippery sea creature. Do not mistaken hamo for the common unagi, as hamo is smaller and slender and is prepared either broiled, deep-fried or in soups.
Do you have an eel recipe you would like to share?
I am sure you’ve had some very delicious Japanese food with Octopus? You can buy octupus pre-prepared and cooked in any Japanese store. However, preparing it yourself maybe a little daunting. Where do I make the incision is the most frequently asked question. This video has the answer to your Tako preparations :)
Please ignore that George Micheal background music, it’s ….inappropriate but god knows why they put it there. Otherwise the video is a helpful one :)
Shiokara (塩辛, Shiokara?) is a food in Japanese cuisine made from various marine animals that consists of small pieces of the animal’s meat in a brown viscous paste of the animal’s heavily salted, fermented viscera. The raw viscera are mixed with about 10% salt, 30% malted rice, packed in a closed container, and fermented for up to a month. Shiokara is sold in glass or plastic containers.
The flavor is quite strong and is considered something of an acquired taste even for the native Japanese palate. The taste of shiokara lingers in the mouth. One method of enjoying it is to consume the serving at one gulp and to follow it with a shot of straight whisky. Some bars in Japan specialize in shiokara.
In Korean cuisine, Jeotgal (젓갈) or Jeot (젓) is similar to shiokara but ingredients and amounts of salt are differently used. A small amount of Jeotgal made from anchovies or shrimps is often used in the making of kimchi.
Check out this thread on how to make your own: Squid Shiokara
Watching them making mochi the traditional way is entertaining and educational. It looks hard but that’s how Japanese ancestors have been making mochi to celebrate the new year for hundreds of years. And as always mochi = happy faces :)
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