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

Frozen Caprese Salad with heirloom tomato granita

This dish was used as part of a 1 night “restaurant” held out of our apartment as part of the Foodbuzz 24,24,24 launch event. This “insalata caprese” served double duty as an appetizer as well as a palette cleanser between a course of Faux Gras and Kuromitsu Pork Chops. The refreshing granita offsets the dense [...]

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Chanterelle tempura soba

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It’s unlike me to visit a grocery store looking for a specific ingredient. It’s one of the reasons I don’t like using recipes. This means I usually just go and peruse the produce, meat and seafood sections to see what looks good. After finding something that leaps out at me, I’ll round out the basket [...]

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Twitwit

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Considering I practically emerged from the womb with a laptop and cell phone in tow, I don’t think I’ve ever been accused of being a troglodyte. That said I’ve avoided some new technologies as of late (maybe I’m getting old?), more on principal than anything else. It’s been a long time coming and I’ve resisted [...]

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Creamy Maple Polenta Succotash

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The photo doesn’t look like much and the name might remind you of Sylvester from Looney Toons, but if creamed corn is your thing, this is your Holy Grail. Succotash is truly an American dish if there ever was one. Its roots go back to a time before the Pilgrims had the first Thanksgiving. Beans [...]

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Bittermelon with pork and blackbean sauce

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Bitter melon is one of those things that I used to detest as a kid and to this day, I can’t say I’m a huge fan. It’s a curious looking vegetable (technically a fruit), that looks a bit like a cucumber with blisters all over it. If you hang out at Asian groceries you’ve probably [...]

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North African Vegetable Stew

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Continuing along with the uncreative titles, here’s a veggie stew I put together using an abundance of fresh produce from the farmer’s market. It’s as simple as chopping stuff up and throwing it in a pot with some seasonings, but it does make for a wonderfully savoury meal despite the lack of meat. Most of [...]

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Japanese Style Broast Duck

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Okay, this is admittedly a terrible name. I always cringe when I see any recipe that starts with “Japanese style” (replace Japanese with any country). It tells me that the creator either didn’t feel confident enough in the authenticity of the dish to give it its proper name, or they were just too lazy to [...]

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Kinpira Miso Gobo (Burdock with Miso)

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For those not familiar with gobo (or burdock), it’s one of those wonder-veggies that has loads of fiber, iron and calcium. When lightly sauteed it’s got a pleasantly fibrous crunchy texture without being stringy or tough. When cooked for longer periods of time it will get tender while retaining it’s structure. Flavor wise, gobo is [...]

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