Every one knows wasabi, this green paste very hot eaten usually with sushi. Actually wasabi is a plant and the green paste is obtained from the stem, peeled and grated. In spring, the leaves of wasabi can be eaten. It's a delicate vibrant green leaf that is better slightly steamed or boiled and that accomodates... Continue Reading →
Angelica ashitaba – 明日葉
A few years ago we went to visit Hachijojima, an island down south of Tokyo in the Pacific that belongs to Tokyo actually. Besides being a lovely place, famous for their handwoven beautiful fabric used to make kimonos, their is one typical product from there: angelica, or ashitaba (明日葉). Ashitaba is a green leaf that... Continue Reading →
Good morning! Homemade croissants! (But I don’t get it right yet…)
Making croissants takes much more time than making bread, because every hour during 5 hours there is a manipulation to do. Not a difficult one, but you need to make yourself available. Last Saturday was the perfect day for it: grey, cold, gloomy, and making you wish that Sunday will be a better day and... Continue Reading →
Buckwheat spinash cheese thick galette
A quick recipe for a power lunch: buckwheat flour, 2 eggs, some cheese, a few spinach. Mixed altogether and cooked as a thick galette. Prepared in 1 min, cooked in 7 min, perfectly delicious and full of energy for busy afternoon.
Bamboo shoot rice- 竹の子ごはん
As I was telling you earlier, spring means a lot of fresh wild vegetables. After the fukinoto the bamboo shoot is probably the next to be found in Isumi area. In particular, the area close to Ohtaki is particularly great for delicious takenoko (bamboo shoot in Japanese). It's also a great fun to go and... Continue Reading →
French in Japan
Finding delicious natural cheese, not industrial in Japan is not easy task. By pure chance, our country house in Ohara is very close to a cheese factory. Yes yes! a cheese factory in Japan! and not in Hokkaido! But, sadly it is impossible to just go there and buy cheese... At least all my trials didn't... Continue Reading →
Pork and vegetables in cocotte
I have a beautiful Staub cocotte that I use not often enough. It's a pity because I love vegetables cooked in the cocotte, when the juice and extracts mix together. So today I decided to use it and prepare a Japanese style pork filet in cocotte with new onions and carrots. In the cocotte I... Continue Reading →
Colorful plate
I love vegetable sauté and all the possible combinations. I tried a new one, with sticks instead of slices. I cut the carrots, sweet potatoe with a mandolin, cook them in a bit of olive oil under cover, then added na-no-hana, and served with scrambled eggs. Perfect brunch plate for a Saturday!
Flan patissier
I love this thick and rich dessert called "flan patissier", which basically is a milk pudding on a dough. It's been years I haven't eaten any, and recently I've been thinking about making some. Chance was on my side with a special issue of "cuisine actuelle" on homemade cooking, and a lot of classical French... Continue Reading →
One-bowl lunch
This is definitely the end of winter! But the spring greens and veggies are not yet ready, we'll have to wait a few weeks, so in between, mizuna, brocolli, spinach, na no hana are the best options!I find that mizuna really goes well with plain Japanese rice, so I prepared it on a rice bowl... Continue Reading →
Winter sport in Japan
The valley of Hakuba Why traveling to Japan for winter sports when you have pretty snowy mountains in your country? I reckon that wouldn't be worth the hassle, the jetlag, the exhausting travel even if recently magazines have been spreading the word that Niseko is a must destination! But when you live in Tokyo it's... Continue Reading →
Coconut-strawberry tart
Coconut ad strawberry tart with a bit of coconut and ice sugar for the decor I love strawberry tart and I love to make some! Usually the best time starts end of March in Japan, but this year we've started to have delicious strawberry for a few weeks already, so I couldn't wait! I love... Continue Reading →
No-time-dinner and almost empty fridge
It is often that around Thursday the fridge starts to be empty because I shop mainly my fresh fruits and vegetables in the country on weekends. Adding a few dinners out for work and a busy schedule, I couldn't refill at the local shops in Koganei, so I must say that it happens that I... Continue Reading →
Sticky millet croquettes
I discovered just recently while on a trip to Nagano prefecture that in Japan they grow some sticky millet. It looks very much like millet but once cooked it is much stickier. I found this consistency perfect for vegan croquettes. So I mixed some boiled sticky millet with some vegetables sautéed I had in the... Continue Reading →
Let's talk cooking gears!
Knives, peeler and scissors I have two kitchens: one in Tokyo and one in Ohara, and I found really silly to duplicate all my cooking gears. So to solve the problem, except for a very few things, I have always decided to cook with little equipment and keep it really simple, skipping all the goodies... Continue Reading →
Chai butter cookies
Nothing better after a day outside than hot tea and treats. Butter cookies are so delicious, easy to make and bake that they are a great pick! Recently I am trying to look for the perfect Chai to drink and I think I found a very good one in Cape Town, unfortunately it's a bit... Continue Reading →
Radish soup and miso grilled sea-bass
This litlle radish (little compared to giant Japanese daikon), or this big turnip, was so beautiful that I couldn't help buying it at th coop shop. I didn't how to prepare it and what to do with it at first, but suddenly the idea of using it for a soup was obvious. So I peeled... Continue Reading →
New onion vegetable sauté and seeds
Spring is in the air!!! Sunny days are getting a little warmer, in a week daffodils have sprouted everywhere in the garden and new vegetables start slowly to appear. It starts first with onions. They are so sweet and with a taste that is so much the annunciation of warmer days that I love them!!!... Continue Reading →
Hazelnut cake for weekday's breakfast
Cakes are great for weekday's breakfast because they last 2 or 3 days, are much more delicious than industrial breads and you can make any variation that pleases you depending on ingredients and season! I bake a hazelnut simple cake this week. It's a simple recipe base on yogurt cake but without yogurt. I use... Continue Reading →
Spinach and tomato tart with chick pea dough
Chick pea flour is really easy to use. Mixed with some water and fried, you make soca, a little bit thicker you can make panisse. I love pies because they can prepared in advance and are handy when work is really busy. Today I wanted to try a pie dough with chick pea flour. I... Continue Reading →