February 2004

More about Yohshoku

Previously, I wrote about yohshoku, or Japanese-style western cuisine. Prompted by a question from Elise, I've done a bit more research on this. (Much of this is gathered from a book in the Just Look Just Cook cookbook series from Yomiuri Shimbun Co., called "Yoshoku in Japan". (Note that it can be spelled Yohshoku or Yoshoku.))

Filed under:  basics japanese yohshoku
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Cultural heritage in your tummy

Most of the time I think we just go along without thinking much about such big themes as Our Cultural Heritage. But these days I've been contemplating more and more on this. One reason for this has been the movie Lost in Translation. For various reasons, this movie has brought up a lot of debate and thinking about what it is to be Japanese. (Some of the conversations about the movie are on my other blog.)

Filed under:  philosophy memories
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Jalapeño and cheese cornbread

jalapenocornbread.jpg

Although I do love baking as a hobby, the fact is that it's possible to get great bread from the local bakery or even the supermarket here in Switzerland. So, most of the day to day baking I do is of quick-bread type of things.

Filed under:  bread cheese quickbread cornbread retro
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Nikujaga: Japanese stewed meat and potatoes

nikujaga.jpg

There is a category of cooking in almost every cuisine, "mother's cooking". It means something that's simple, homely, filling, and invokes strong feelings of nostaliga. In Japanese this is called ofukuro no aji (mother's flavor). Nikujaga, or stewed potatoes with meat, is one of the mainstays of Japanese-style mother's cooking.

Filed under:  japanese potatoes favorites beef
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Natto

natto on rice

Japanese people like to consume soy beans in many forms. The most well known soy bean product outside of the country is tofu, and edamame (green soy beans) is gaining in popularity too. There is one Japanese soy bean product that probably will never become very popular in other countries though, and that's natto.

Filed under:  japanese ingredients natto legumes vegetarian vegan
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Spring is just a few weeks away

a basket of grapes from our garden last summer

Filed under:  essays
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Is my blog burning?: Spiced Spinach Soup

spinachsoup.jpg
Here is my entry for the the soup blogging day proposed by Alberto of Il Forno.

Filed under:  food events soup vegetables imbb
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Temple Food II: Zohsui (Japanese rice soup)

ojiya.jpg

Continuing on the theme of temple food - simple, easy to digest food that is gentle on the stomach and the soul - here is zohsui, or ojiya. Where I grew up, we called it ojiya, which is considered a more vulgar term. Whatever you call it, it's essentially a soup made of rice, various aromatic vegetables, egg, and sometimes some seafood or chicken. It's closely related to Chinese congee.

Filed under:  japanese lighter soup rice
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Temple food and braised vegetables

braised bok choi

I haven't posted here this past week, mainly because I have been very busy, and haven't had much time to do any sort of serious cooking. I've also felt that I'd overindulged a bit over the past weekend, what with my birthday and all. So I've been trying to have some simpler food to get back to some sort of state of balance.

Filed under:  lighter vegetables
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