Just Hungry

This month’s Japan Times article is about the traditions and superstitions surrounding Setsubun, which is coming up on February 3rd. continue reading...

A video showing one Japanese mom’s tiny yet super-efficient kitchen. continue reading...

How my late father related to a particular scene in the movie Tampopo. continue reading...

The last meal before departure. continue reading...

To me, persimmons or kaki (柿）are the quintessential fall fruit. Although there are by some counts around 1,000 different varieties of persimmons in Japan alone, they can be broadly divided into two types: sweet (amagaki) and bitter or astringent (shibugaki). The ones in the photo above are the sweet kind, which can be eaten as is as soon as they are ripe. continue reading...

In Japan, coffee is just as ingrained in everyday life as tea. continue reading...

Looking in-depth at an old favorite. continue reading...

A container that reveals what lies within. continue reading...

The famous flavored Kit Kats sold in Japan are not quite what you'd call delicious treats. continue reading...

Japanese curry hotness levels, and my favorite childhood curry. continue reading...

How a Japanese curry mix got to be named after a New England state not exactly known for curry. continue reading...

Did you know that ramen is considered to be one of the two main National Dishes of Japan? continue reading...

This month in the Japan Times, I talk about setsuden (cutting down on electricity consumption) and suzumi (keeping cool). continue reading...

This is a follow up to my previous post about above-safety limits levels of radioactive elements (namely, cesium) found on tea grown in Kanagawa prefecture. There seems to be some confusion over how tea is tested, due to some misleading news reports. (Note: I have updated this post several times to reflect new events.) continue reading...

This month’s Japan Times article by me is about organic and natural farmers and retailers in the Kanto region of Japan (that’s the area that includes Tokyo), including the thorny subject of how they are dealing with radioactive substance contamination on their crops. Because of space constraints I had to leave a lot out of course (that’s the nature of newspaper articles) so here are some supplemental things. continue reading...

I’ve talked about the awesomeness of konbini, or Japanese convenience stores, before. Actually, almost everyone who has been to Japan raves about the awesomeness of konbini. continue reading...

Regarding the radiation contamination detected on tea leaves grown in Kanagawa prefecture. continue reading...

An update on what’s going on in Japan, especially in the Tokyo-Kanto area, plus a closeup look at one particular type of company that keeps modern Japan going. continue reading...

A new article in the Japan Times about spring mountain vegetables, plus a bit more about vegetables. continue reading...

There is an ongoing crisis of confidence regarding the safety of vegetables from a farming area that mainly serves the Tokyo metropolitan area. I went to my favorite produce seller in Yokohama to see how they are dealing with it. continue reading...

I’m writing to you from my mother’s home in Yokohama, Japan, where I’ve been since Tuesday. It was another lovely early spring day today. The weather was warm enough to go outside without a coat. Kids were playing outside all day, since schools don’t start until next week. Their shrill voices waft all the way up to my mom’s 8th floor apartment. Normally I’d be a bit annoyed, but not now. continue reading...

Update, how to donate. continue reading...

A new article and recipe for Hinamatsuri (Girl’s Festival) in the Japan Times. continue reading...

Pondering a little about religious and cultural traditions, and food. continue reading...

Flames to start the new year on a hopeful note. continue reading...

Take a look at some homemade osechi ryouri, or traditional New Year’s Day feast food. continue reading...

Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとうございます。 continue reading...

A new article in The Japan Times about toshikoshi soba. Plus, a little about my favorite food-eating model, Lena-chan, and her brother Lyoh. continue reading...

Kinou Nani Tabeta? (What did you eat yesterday?) is a wonderful manga series that features lots of delicious recipes. One of them is a supremely simple recipe for stewed caramel apples. continue reading...

I finally made it to Taimeiken, an old time yoshoku restaurant in Nihonbashi, to indulge in the original Tampopo Omuraisu (rice omelette). Yes, that Tampopo. continue reading...

A new article in The Japan Times about winter fish, and how fish fits into a typical Japanese meal. continue reading...

A little slice of old Tokyo in an out-of-the-way area of Tokyo, Obana is an unagi-ya (eel restaurant) that even someone who’s not an unagi fan can love. continue reading...

A museum that pays homage to a single type of dish? Why not - this is Japan after all. continue reading...

I have a new article in today’s edition of The Japan Times, available online here, or in the print edition. continue reading...

Here’s a rather unusual (to Western tastes anyway) way to enjoy cold soba noodles - with slimy grated nagaimo root. continue reading...

It’s matsutake season! Let’s see just how much you pay for one of the most expensive foodstuffs on earth. continue reading...

A simple side dish or salad to serve as part of a Japanese meal, or on its own. Plus, take a look at a couple of real Japanese home meals! continue reading...

A new article and recipe by yours truly is now available on The Japan Times web site, as well as in its print edition if you’re in Japan. The subject this time is eggplants (aubergines). It also includes a recipe of course! The recipe combines delicious fall eggplants with a miso-meat sauce or sorts.

Incidentally, although the original recipe calls for thinly sliced beef, it works well with ground beef too. This is a shot of a version I made using ground beef.

This dish is great hot or cold, so make some for dinner and save a little for your bento the next day. Really yum!

Since I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes, I’ve been doing a lot of research into what is recommended for diabetics in Japan to eat. There are several issues to keep in mind when eating or making Japanese style dishes, so I thought I’d share these here. Whether you’re planning to travel to Japan or are just a fan of Japanese cooking and restaurants, I hope you’ll find this useful. continue reading...

Pointing to something non-food on my personal site. continue reading...

About some weird ‘diet’ pills labeled Japanese, even though they aren’t from Japan at all, plus some REAL Japanese diets that are popular now. continue reading...

Using a form of exercise that’s a Japanese cultural institution, to get my circulation going while I’m stuck in a French hospital. continue reading...

(Hi everyone. As Guruman posted, I was hospitalized for emergency surgery 2 weeks ago, and I’m still in hospital unfortunately. So there won’t be any new recipes from me for the time being. However, I still have lots of topics from my Japan trip to talk about. Here’s an article I was working on before I had to go to the doctor, and I was able to finish it up today finally. I’ll try to be back to full throttle real soon!)

Back in March, I got a new camera in Tokyo; the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1. I think this one just might be the ideal camera for many food bloggers who are looking to upgrade their point-and-shoots, or for a lighter alternative to a DSLR. Here’s a review of the micro four-thirds format itself and this camera in particular. It’s not a very technical review - there are plenty of those online elsewhere. Instead it’s focused on the photography needs of a typical food blogger. continue reading...

As I slowly settle in to my new life here in France, I’m finding out about quite a lot of interesting local suppliers of the things that I want to eat, wear, sit on, or otherwise use. But I never thought that I’d find this: French natto, as in natto made right here in my region of France! continue reading...

The final post in my Postcards from Kyoto series, with some reflections on what Kyoto stands for, plus more shopping and food. continue reading...

This edition of the Postcards from Kyoto has no food in it…but if you’re a fan of handcrafts and sewing and the like, read on… continue reading...

This is the third in my Postcards from Kyoto series.

The traditional center of life in a Japanese town is the sho-tengai (商店街), a street or collection of streets where all the local shops congregate. Often it is wholly or partially covered and made into a indoor shopping mall or arcade.

The most famous sho-tengai in Kyoto, and arguably in Japan, is Nishiki Ichiba (or Nishiki Shijo - the word for market, 市場, can be read either way) or Nishiki Market (錦市場), which proudly calls itself Kyoto’s Kitchen. Although it’s called a market, it is a sho-tengai really rather than a market in the European sense; it’s a narrow, covered street lined with small stores.

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I will get back to my Kyoto Postcards, but I wanted to talk a little about cherry blossoms first, before April ends.

I have written about the ohanami, or cherry blossom viewing, culture in Japan previously. As I wrote back then, one of the things I miss about not living in Japan is the cherry blossoms in the spring. For this trip back home, I wanted to be sure not to miss the cherry blossoms. continue reading...

When you go to Kyoto, you must have at least one tofu meal. It’s just the way it is. Fresh tofu in Japan is far better than it is anywhere else, and the tofu in Kyoto is generally held to be the best in the country. This is generally attributed to the skill, refined court and/or temple-influenced culture and the quality of the local water. Whatever the reason, to most Japanese people Kyoto means tofu, and vice versa. A visit to a fine Kyoto tofu restaurant is very likely to convert even the most die-hard carnivore into a tofu fan.

During my week in Kyoto, I was able to pursue one family business’s vision of what tofu should be from beginning to end. Kamo Tofu Kinki, a company that’s been in business since 1834, makes tofu and related products in two tiny workshops located in the Gion Kiya-cho area of Kyoto. Later on, I visited Sosoan, the tofu restaurant owned and operated by Kinki for a multi-course tofu feast. continue reading...

Kyoto, the former imperial capital, is the top tourist destination in Japan for many good reasons. A lot has been written about this city already, and it’s impossible to describe in a few sentences - so I’m not going to try to. Instead, I’ll share some of my favorite destinations in a series of pictures and short descriptions — as postcards if you will. Here’s my first postcard from Kyoto.

Kyoto is a city that hits the sweet spot for me in more ways than one. It is dripping with history, has fantastic shops, great art and craft galleries, and so many places to have a wonderful meal. It also has a lot of literal sweet spots. Perhaps because of its history as the seat of the imperial court, where ladies influenced much of the culture, there are many amami dokoro, or places to enjoy a bite of something sweet, both traditional and modern. continue reading...