Japanese

Time to wrap things up! Homemade Gyoza Wrappers

“Luck is like having a rice dumpling fly into your mouth.” — Japanese Proverb I’m a huge lover of all types of dumplings, especially Japanese gyoza. Living in Japan meant I was able to feed my inner gyoza monster on a regular basis. In our apartment complex in Tokyo we had a little mini supermarket […]

Bunny Bento

Today’s post is in honor of Lolly’s Big Time Bunny Week that has been running all week over on her blog, LollyChops. I’ve been having so much fun reading about her projects that I decided we needed some bunnies over here at the Fuji cottage. I decided to make Squirrel a bunny bento as a […]

Onigiri—Squirrel’s Favorite Oyatsu

Today is Hinamatsuri (雛祭り) in Japan, the Japanese Doll Festival , or Girls’ Day, held every year on March 3, the third day of the third month. I love this holiday because it is a day when families pray for and celebrate the happiness and prosperity of their girls. Being the mom of two little […]

Celebrating Simplicity: Quick and Easy Carrot Sesame Salad

When I think of Japanese cuisine, one of the words that comes to mind is “simple.” Not all Japanese dishes are simple, but many celebrate flavors and ingredients through simplicity. Some of my favorite dishes have relatively few ingredients and focus on highlighting flavors and celebrating certain seasonal ingredients. Leonardo DaVinci is quoted as having […]

Slow Cooker Nikujaga (Japanese Stewed Beef and Potatoes)

I love being able to throw a bunch of ingredients in a slow cooker, forget about them, and then have dinner “magically” appear in the pot at dinner time. Yesterday I woke up craving Nikujaga (肉じゃが, literally means “meat potato”), a kind of Japanese stewed dish of beef and potatoes (and sometimes other vegetables) that […]

Baby, it’s hot in here! Make your own chili oil.

Tientsin chili peppers, have ya ever heard of ’em? Maybe not, but I bet you’ve seen them before! These are the peppers that most of you probably avoid when eating your kung pao chicken (I’m weird, I like to eat mine). These peppers are natives of the Tientsin (Tianjin) province in China. They are a […]

Pumpkin Curry-licious

I love a good curry. There’s just something about the endless array of rich and hearty gravies that shouts “Comfort food!” to me. As I explored the possibilities for Pumpkin Palooza thoughts of curry pushed themselves into my mind. I looked for a good pumpkin curry recipe to share with you, but I just wasn’t […]

Blossoming Garnishes—How to carve a carrot ume blossom.

One of the things that I find captivating about Japanese cuisine is the presentation. It is beautiful. I read somewhere that Japanese cuisine takes advantage of the four distinct seasons and that garnishes are often created to give a sense of the season that the dish is representing. Although it is Fall now, I recently […]

Yakisoba Comfort

Yakisoba. Although Chinese in origin, the Japanese have made this noodle dish all their own. Yakisoba can usually be found at food booths at matsuri (festivals), conbini (convenience stores), home cooked meals, etc. Unlike the name might lead you to believe, yakisoba is not made using soba noodles (made with buckwheat flour), but noodles that […]

Power Breakfast–Vegetable Miso Soup

As Squirrel gets older, and is eating less and less baby food and more and more "regular" food, I have begun to worry more about the things that I am cooking for us to eat every day. For a while now Squirrel has been eating a bowl of oatmeal every morning for breakfast (she likes […]

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