I have a favorite local ice cream shop in every town I have lived in, and what will win you points with adult me is your selection of unusual flavors.
Golden Week is For Foodies: Iwakuni-zushi
型枠 (katawaku): mold (for shaping things) This Golden Week, a friend and I finally ventured out to southwestern Honshû to see Hiroshima. I’ll be doing a separate post on all the tasty things we ate in Hiroshima City and Miyajima, but I wanted to start out with some of the dishes we had on our…
Stuffed Zucchini
日常的な食物（nichijôtekina shokumotsu): commonly eaten food I grew up in southern Ohio, and like most Midwesterners, summer was a time of ridiculous amounts of zucchini. By the end of season, everyone had so much zucchini that you would practically pay people to take it off your hands (or just give it out for free at work)….
Spring is Here: Na no Hana (Brassica napus)
緑黄色野菜 (ryokuôshoku yasai): leafy greens, yellow-green vegetables high in beta-carotene After a cold winter that was only matched in length by the irritatingly hot summer that preceded it, spring has finally come to Hokuriku. The supermarket is filled with spring vegetables, but the easiest and perhaps most inoffensive one (least bitter) to prepare is na…
The Apple Chronicles, Part 2: Kabocha-Apple Whole-Wheat Turnovers
One recipe I had wanted to make for a while was “Squash-Apple Turnovers” from Cooking Light, but I was deterred by the use of canned biscuit dough. Not only is that not in the spirit of this blog, but you simply can’t buy that kind of thing in my neck of rural Japan. (I suspect…
The Apple Chronicles, Part 1: Applesauce
「しゃきっとみずみずしい果肉をしている」(shakitto mizumizushii kaniku wo shiteiru): to have a crispy and juicy flesh (of fruit)（alc.co.jp) One of my favorite apples grown in Japan is the Jonagold. The flesh is crisp and sweet, and the skin is a gorgeous gradation of reds and yellows. This week, however, I have been pushed to the culinary limit by my…
Fiddleheads
深緑 (shinryoku): deep green Springtime is prime season for going to the grocery store and having no idea what on earth is on the displays in the produce section. One item I did recognize was kogomi (こごみ) or kakuma (かくま), fiddlehead ferns, but only because I tried them last spring in a soba shop in…
My Tribute to Michigan: Cherry Salsa
Some people say that they’ve left their hearts in their hometowns, but with the amount I’ve moved in the last 8 years, I’m starting to feel like Voldemort with his horcruxes. The piece of my heart (or horcrux, or whatever) that represents my time in Michigan is housed firmly in Cherry Republic, Glen Arbor, MI….
やっぱりアメリカ人: Peanut-Butter-Chocolate-Chip Brownies
「アメリカの料理は？」<What about American food?> 「やっぱりピーナッツ・バター！ピーナッツバターが懐かしい。」 <Definitely peanut butter! I miss peanut butter. > 「甘い。。。」<But it’s sweet…> It’s the nature of an expat to be perpetually food-frustrated–if I’m in Japan, I want turkey and fancy cheese; if I’m in America, I want bamboo shoots and yuba. The ultimate American comfort food for me is peanut butter….
Taiyaki Tour
ほかほか (hoka hoka): steaming hot food “So, taiyaki is shaped like the tai, which is considered to be—well, you know how this sentence is going to end. The way all my explanations end.” “’Good luck’?” my mother asks. “And also the other way all my explanations end: filled with bean paste.” There’s nothing like biting…
Healthy Comfort Food: Whole-Wheat Strawberry-Orange Muffins
しっとりした (shittori shita): moist (food) It’s been a rough couple of weeks here in Japan, and even though my region is perfectly fine and safe, the mental strain of having to reassure people that we are not being irradiated is starting to wear on us. The latest (actual) issue with the Fukushima plants has been…
Disaster Relief: Second Harvest Japan
Dear readers, My region of Japan remains unaffected by the March 11 earthquake, aftershocks, and tsunami, and we are far from the nuclear plant in Fukushima. Last night, I was talking to a friend who lives in Tohoku, and he told me about the food and power shortages there. He managed to get some mabo…
I'll Make It Myself! 
You must be logged in to post a comment.