The other day I was so happy with cherry blossom rice in my bento that I couldn’t help trying to make some. It’s just the right season for it, cherry trees start to bloom, though it seems they are rather late this year. Making sakura rice is very simple. You need only four ingredients: white Japanese rice, soya sauce, some fresh greens: spinach or canola, and some salt preserved sakura flowers. In Japan it is very easy to find them in little bins in supermarkets, in small boxes or packs at the farmers market. Wash the greens, and blanche them. Slightly and delicately rinse of the sakura flowers. In a pan or rice cooker add the rice and about 5 to 10 flowers. Add a tbs of soya sauce. Cook your rice as usual. Cut the greens in 1.5 cm pieces. Add to the rice when cooked and stir. Add a salted flower for decoration. That’s it!
To Osaka!
En route to Osaka for for a few days! Which means no cooking and fewer posts from me. What I love with traveling in Japan by train, is this habit that people have to eat on the train. Eating on the train is part of the journey and at the station finding the lunch box (bento-弁当) that you would like to eat is whole part of it. At Tokyo station you have plenty of options. If you commute by train there is a nice underground bento shopping district. If you arrive directly to the station by bus or taxi I recommend the underground floor pf Daimaru, which offers serious eating options. Plan a good 15 to 30 minutes to browse all the different shops! Today I had a crush for sakura rice and it was a very goodd choice. Something I will try to cook at home too. See you in a few days!
Green chahan
Lunch is all like the weather today! Sunny, warm and nice! With tones of fresh greens: mizuna, spinach, snap peas; sesame and tofu and freshly cooked rice. It is so simple to make that even shooting a video of it was easy and quick! So today the recipe is in the movie! Enjoy your Sunday!!!
Itosho – いと正
Last year I tried Daigo and a temple that serve Shojin-精進 cuisine. This time it is the turn of the Michelin one star Itosho in Azabu juban. The number of restaurant serving this kind of cuisine seems to be slightly increasing but Itosho is one of the long runner, since it started almost 50 years ago. And it has been run by chef Ito, a nice little character that serves himself the dishes he prepares. The place is in a small street of Azabu juban area and it is much less luxurious than Daigo, but the private room simplicity (all classic Japanese style seating) and neatness is perfect to make a time shift and appreciate the cuisine. Of course Ito uses fresh seasonal products, and it is perfectly delicious. Paired with some sake from Takayama, his region of origin. The tofu is amazing and the use of egoma is just right. And honestly it is quite affordable. Booking is mandatory and choosing the size of the menu also. We picked the middle one (I thought my father would complain with the smallest one) and it was quite a huge amount of food already!
Itosho – いと正
3-4-7 Azabu-Juban, Minato-ku, Tokyo; (03) 3454-6538
Open daily for lunch 12-3 p.m. and dinner 5:30-9:30 p.m. Cash only for payment.
Japanese style pasta
And here we are with a new recipe of Japanese pasta. Honestly I didn’t think I would like this combination so much but in the end I prepare some more than often after the one with pickled cabbage. So this time I prepared a vegan base with new onion, canola, snap peas, fried tofu, to which you can add some bonito flakes. Served with spaghetti or liguine, and a few drops of soya sauce. Simple and delicious! Have a nice weekend!
Kumquat and carrot salad
Fresh, simple, delicious and just a Japanese twist for the white miso dressing for this salad, that was inspired by my IG watching.
You need a few carrots, a few kumquats, a tbsp of white miso, and a bit ofkonbu dashi or water. Slice or grat the carrots, cut the kumquats in quarters, and stir the carrots and the kumquats in a bowl. In a small bowl, mix the miso with a tsp of dashi or water. Add with the vegetables, and stir. Ready to eat!
I wish you a very good week!
Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi – 三越日本橋
I often go to shop at Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi because it is the closest department store from our place and it offers some really amazing services that I hve never found somewhere else: an excellent antic jewelry repair corner, a fur reform service, a nice shoe repair center, a huge corner for patisserie and bread making, with organic flours, fresh yeast… and of course, some Italian products and European products. I don’t use often the fresh products corner, but they have some nice fishes and vegetables. And only once in a while I shop there for prepared food. When we have visitors from Europe and we don’t want to eat out, but I am too busy with work to prepare a proper Japanese dinner, I like to go shopping there. First for the gyoza… the shiso and seaweed gyoza are just super delicious. They have a beautiful choice of seasonal food with pickles, tofu, crackers, and sweets. Going there with your foreign visitors you can be sure they will enjoy it and be amazed. The fact also that you can taste many of the products is really perfect. And during weekdays it is not even crowded. They often have exhibitions of Japanese craft related to fashion in the big lobby. This time, with my parents that freshly arrived in town, I knew that Mitsukoshi would be a great place to go for a walk, in particular on a rainy day. They love gyoza and it is almost a tradition now that the day they arrive in Tokyo we have gyoza for dinner at home. But this time we bought much more than just gyoza!!!! Sakura daikon pickles, rice crackers, yuzu mochi… A real shopping spree! All more delicious than the other!
Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi – 三越日本橋 :
Kumquat-shiitake-pork pasta
A new video testing with the preparation of a a singular recipe: pasta with a sauce made with shiitake, kumquats and thin slices of pork. A very nice and surprising combination that puts a bit of warmth and colors in a gloomy rainy day. Tell me how you like the video or what you would like to see. I’m testing several options.
Japanese spikenard – 山ウド
Japanese spikenard – 山ウド is one of the mountain wild vegetables that sprout in spring together with fukinoto, kinome, taranome, kogomi (fiddlehead fern) etc… it is very tasty and ressembles artichokes, chards or cardoons. I find it really delicious eaten cold with a miso and vinegar mix. So here is my recipe.
Japanese spikenard with sour miso and kumquat:
– 1 Japanese spikenard (like on the picture)
– 2tbs of miso of your choice
– 1tsp of sugar
– 1tsp of vinegar (white wine…)
– 2 kumquats
Peal the spikenard and cut it in 4cm long pieces, then cut them in the height in 2mm thick pieces. Blanche once, then change the water and blanch again. Then drain and wash in cold water. In a bowl mix the miso, the vinegar and the sugar. Add the juice and a bit of zest of the kumquats (zest is hard to get!). Mix and add the spikenard. It’s ready!!!
I served it with some tofu, pickled vegetables and white rice.
