Essence of Japan

stories & recipes related to Japanese cooking

Japanese Potato Salad

There are so many varieties of potato salad in the world.  Every country and often every home has its own unique recipe, and it’s all good. …

Tamagoyaki

Tamagoyaki means grilled egg in translation, and is a type of Japanese omelette.  There are different types of tamagoyaki depending on the …

Japanese Candied Chestnuts

When chestnut season comes around Thanksgiving, I make my first kuri-no-shibukawani (candied chestnuts) for the season, and I make the second one for …

Roasted Soy Beans

Today is Setsubun (the literal meaning is seasonal division) which is the day before the beginning of Spring under the Japanese lunar calendar. …

Yaki Onigiri

Onigiri means rice ball, and yaki onigiri means grilled rice ball.  All onigiri are very tasty and are considered a comfort food by most …

Soy Marinated Egg Yolk

Here is a recipe for the simplest and the tastiest way of preparing egg yolks.  Just put it in a small container, pour some soy sauce and let it …

Eddo chips and roasted eddo

Have you heard of eddo (eddo) potatoes?  It looks like small hairy potatoes which is closely related taro.  We call it sato-imo in Japan and …

Watercress Salad with Wasabi Dressing

I had a nice salad similar to this at Masa Bar in New York City.  It was a very simple salad, but I really enjoyed the wasabi dressing that they …

Grilled Abura-age

Abura-age (aburage, age) is a thinly sliced and deep fried tofu not confused with Atsu-age which is a deep fried whole tofu.  When a thinly …

Pickled Radish

Here is a simple pickle recipe that goes with any style of food.  It is made with radish which is very easily obtained almost all year …

Kinpira Gobo

Recently I introduced you to a “Kale Stem Kinpira” recipe, and I mentioned that the most traditional kinpira (a type of cooking method) is …