notes from my kitchen
by Chris
What to do if you love white carbs, but still want your food to look interesting? Bread-lovers have rustic multigrain baguettes to scatter across their flour-smudged blue linen tablecloths… but what about rice-lovers?
Enter mixed rice. It’s a lot quicker than homemade sourdough and much more colourful. [Read more…] about rice and corn recipe (corn maze-gohan)
by Chris
A vibrant matcha sponge cake or quatre-quarts, served in fingers. Matcha gives this simple sponge cake a bright colour and not-too-sweet flavour; beaten egg whites make it extra light. Easy to make and simple to serve, matcha sponge cake makes an elegant but unfussy afternoon treat.
by Chris
When I’m pushed for time and need an extra vegetable dish, this rangiri cucumber yuzu salad is the recipe I turn to most often. Essentially a cucumber sunomono (vinegared salad), it provides a nice splash of acidity and colour alongside fish, chicken, rice or miso soup. Rangiri or ‘random-cut’ refers to the chopping technique, or rather the visual effect it creates. It’s actually not random – or complicated – in the slightest. Read on for all the info and a few ideas for variations!
[Read more…] about rangiri cucumber yuzu salad: a lazy sunomono
by Chris
As you may know, Japan loves to adapt ‘Western’ food to its own taste. The substitution of spaghetti to make ‘karubonāra udon’ is one inevitable result of this. I admit, I shunned such dishes for a while, having internalised a certain Italian orthodoxy about noodle-sauce combinations. Now I heartily renounce that position. Try my udon alla carbonara recipe and see what you think!
[Read more…] about udon alla carbonara recipe: not wafu, not pasta?
by Chris
This post is dedicated to sweet red bean paste, or anko as it’s known in Japanese. This glorious substance is a component in many traditional Japanese desserts and yes, you can make it at home. Anko comes in two main varieties: coarse tsubuan and smooth koshian. I have always preferred koshian, but have only recently attempted to make it from scratch. I must warn you, it did take a whole morning. If you want to hear that story, read on. Alternatively, jump to the end for the sweet red bean paste recipe in brief!