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Noodles and Rice

January 17th, 2008

Conventions on Culinary Compatibility

I expected a fair bit of incompatibility when I moved from Australia to Japan.  I expected to find difficulties with the language, the customs and even the relationships.  But I didn’t expect to have to confront incompatible food sizes.
I guess I was asking for it.  On the weekend I got a pizza from a Costco […]

By Tom -- 2 comments

December 31st, 2007

Self Heating Obento

I took a holiday that involved a shinkansen bullet train journey last week.  On the platform I grabbed the nicest looking obento to eat on the way.  By chance I stumbled on a self heating beef obento.
The deal is, you pull a string that is sticking out of the cardboard box and after 7 minutes […]

By Tom -- 0 comments

December 15th, 2007

Old school rice steaming

What you see here is an old style rice steamer, cooking over a wood charcoal fire.  Of course most people don’t cook rice this way in Japan. because there are much more convenient ways.  However as new years approaches, it seems people get a bit more traditional and I understand that rice cooked this way is […]

By Tom -- 0 comments

November 17th, 2007

Goma Grinder

Half grater, half mortar and pestle is this Japanese goma grinder.  It works in the same way as a mortar and pestle in that you pound and grind the contents with a rounded stick.  But inside the bowl it is all serrated life a cats tongue. 
It is usually used for grinding Goma (sesame seeds) but […]

By Tom -- 0 comments

November 11th, 2007

Soba Finesse

I love soba.  By itself cold, hot in soup or pretty much any way else you can imagine.  One thing that I don’t like is soggy soba.  It can quickly turn from firm bitey noodles into buckwheat mush on your plate if you let it. 
The solution is to serve it up (if it is to be dry) […]

By Tom -- 0 comments

October 31st, 2007

Kapabashi - Kitchen ware town

I jumped at the chance to take a trip into Tokyo’s Kapabashi district last week with a visitor.  Kapabashi is otherwise known as Kitchenware town.  It is made up of one main street between Asakusa and Ueno and is lined on either side with shops. 
These shops are all specialist retailers whose main market are the […]

By Tom -- 2 comments

October 19th, 2007

Oyaku nabe

An oyaku nabe is a small shallow fry pan designed specifically for cooking donburi (rice bowl) dishes.  They come in a few sizes but are usually used for single serves.  The only oyaku nabe that I have seen are aluminium and have a single thickness across their base, making for relatively quick and controllable cooking. 
The […]

By Tom -- 0 comments

October 11th, 2007

The Nabe

The dark and poorly taken photo above is a Nabe.  From what I can work out so is a conventional steel saucepan or pot.  But if we are talking traditional Japanese food, this is what a Nabe will look like. 
I cannot express to you the importance of this ceramic dish.  I would trade all of […]

By Tom -- 0 comments

March 31st, 2007

Zojirushi Induction Heating Rice Cooker

Zojirushi recenty celebrated 20 years in the US and unveiled the newest additions to their product line at this year’s International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, IL earlier this month. Included in their newest offerings is this item that is at the top ten of my wish list right now:

Two weeks ago our […]

By Stef -- 0 comments

February 22nd, 2007

Funchop!

I am so deeply, terribly embarrassed. The guys at Funchop sent me these samples WAAAAAY back, in November I believe, and I promised to do a review. Between then and now, I had my kids try them, communicated my questions and got a response from their contact person, took pictures, and uploaded […]

By Stef -- 2 comments