Japanese cooking incorporates many different types of mushrooms including the family known as shimeji. Several types of shimeji mushrooms are used in Japanese cuisine including the delicate enoki, which have long white stems and tiny white caps, and the bunashimeji, pictured here, with a round brown cap and thicker stems. Shimeji mushrooms do not taste…
Tag: cuisine
Afuri Ramen
I’m breaking the rules today, but for good reason. Some of you may be aware that I am doing freelance writing and photography over at the excellent Japan travel resource site, Voyapon. The good folks at Voyapon send me off on adventures to off-the-beaten-path Japan, places you may never think of going on your own….
Korean Food
Wait, isn’t this a blog about Japan? Well yes it is and Korean food is one of those things that you’ll find in abundance in Japan. Japanese people do love Korean food, albeit at a little less spicy levels as the neighbors across the sea. Shin Okubo, a neighborhood just north of Shinjuku, is the…
Kakigori
When July and August roll around, the people of Japan swoon in the hot and humid weather. Perhaps that feeling led to the invention of kakigori, finely shaved ice flavored with a variety of sweet goodness. Kakigori is widely available on the cheap with a variety of artificial, bright colored flavored syrups like strawberry, lemon,…
Chirashi Don
Japan loves its raw fish in many forms, but Chirashi don, which is sashimi in a bowl of flavored rice can be quickly consumed over a short lunch break, making it the choice of office workers. Chirashi means “scattered” in Japanese, though some bowls have toppings laid out so beautifully, its easy to question that…
Kaiseki
Kaiseki is the form of Japanese cuisine based on individual servings of a wide variety of dishes, tailored to regional and seasonal foods to ensure the freshest of ingredients. Traditionally, kaiseki starts with a soup and ends with a sweet dessert and green tea. Sandwiched between can be a variety of dishes including vegetables, sashimi, grilled meats,…
Ichiran Ramen
Ramen is the original Japanese fast food and the seating at Ichiran aims to keep it that way. Seating is set up like a voting booth; partitions on each side of you ensure your focus is only on the bowl in front of you. While Ichiran isn’t the best choice for enjoying a meal with…
Hello Old Timer
Call it Japanese-Cajun fusion or Neo-Southern-Washoku, but no one disputes the food at Hello Old Timer is just plain delicious. Off the beaten path in Ekoda, 10 minutes west of Ikebukuro on the Seibu line, Hello Old Timer is a place you go searching for simply because there is nothing else like it in Japan or…
Kinkai Ramen
A favorite from the day we arrived in Japan, Kinkai’s soup stock is flavored with flying fish and is a relatively healthy alternative to the rich tonkotsu (pork broth) soups that many people love. If a bowl of noodles and a boiled egg isn’t going to fill you up, try the Oyakodama, with crispy kaarage (fried…
Plastic Food
If you’ve ever tried to order food from a restaurant with a menu written in a language you don’t understand, you know the anxiety of eating out as a foreigner in Japan. Fortunately, Japan has solved your problem decades ago, by creating plastic replicas of menu items that sit in the front windows of many…
365 JAPAN 