No Recipes – Techniques, inspiration and cooking tips from my Japanese kitchen

Blueberry Lemonade

If “necessity is the mother of invention”, then I’d argue that buy one get one free sales are the father of invention. With nearly a quart of blueberries in the fridge, I’ve been franticly trying to use them all before they go bad. Since strawberry lemonade is one of my favorite summertime beverages, I decided [...]

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Peanut Butter Potato Salad

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I love peanut butter. Not only is it full of energy boasting protein, it’s a versatile food that’s just as good straight out of the jar as it is incorporated into both savory and sweet dishes. That’s why my pantry is never without a few varieties of peanut butter. You already know that Peanut Butter [...]

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Perfect Caramelized Onions

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A building block to good flavor and the foundation of many stews and sauces involves caramelizing onions. It’s not difficult to do, but it does require a bit of patience as it takes at least an hour depending on the number of onions you’re doing. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have an [...]

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Chicken Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)

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Fried chicken, whether it’s Southern, Japanese, or Korean, is one of my favourite foods of all time. Put simply, it would be on the menu for my last meal. It’s one of those dishes that strikes the perfect balance between flavor, texture and richness. The only downside about a really great fried chicken (calories aside), [...]

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Coconut Shrimp with Spicy Orange Sauce

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Cravings are a weird thing. Like little goblins, these self-destructive compulsions clamber up from the bowels of human nature, despite our best efforts to suppress them. I usually pride myself in avoiding packaged and processed foods, but there are times when I can’t help but succumb to a craving for something fast and fried. The [...]

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Nikujaga (Meat and Potatoes)

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If Japan had burly roughnecks and lumberjacks, Nikujaga (肉じゃが) would be their meal. It’s a real work horse of the Japanese home kitchen and quite literally translates to “meat and potatoes”. Being high in energy, low on prep time and very tasty, it’s no surprise why. Nikujaga is one of those dishes that anyone could [...]

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