It Is Zuiki

Posted on Aug 16, 2012 in Hiroko's Blog

Is this rhubarb? Our neighbors Ray and Claudia asked me. This long, rhubarb looking vegetable is red zuiki, which is the stem of taro, and a specialty of Ishikawa Prefecture. It is sold fresh or dried. Dried zuiki has been a popular preserved food product since olden days. Fresh zuiki has pleasant crisp texture. In order to enjoy it we cook the zuiki in vinegar added water for about 2 minutes. After shocking it in cold ice water we cut it into pieces and use in salad dishes...

Read More

Kakigori, Shaved Ice

Posted on Aug 15, 2012 in Hiroko's Blog

Kakigori is a flavored shaved ice served in a glass cup with a stand. During unbearably hot and humid summer in Japan kakigori is the answer to cool off our body. The kakigori dish which you see here is called uji kintoki and my favorite. It is shaved ice flavored with matcha green tea syrup and topped with sweet azuki beans. A couple of small tender and gooey shiratama mochi dumplings also accompany. Among many tea shops where they serve uji kintoki, 103 years old Naniwaya...

Read More

Tsukune

Posted on Aug 13, 2012 in Hiroko's Blog

In Yakitori restaurants all parts of chicken are used in the kitchen. So you will find these names on the menu: bonjiri/bonbochi (tail), seseri (neck meat), nankotsu (cartridge), kawa (skin), hatsu (heart), sunagimo (gizzard), teba (wing), reba (liver) and sasami (fillet). All these parts are placed on skewers and salt-grilled or grilled and lacquered with rich yakitori basting tare sauce. Everyone’s favorite tsukune, ground chicken meat ball is made of leftover...

Read More

Yakitori, Hinai-ya

Posted on Aug 13, 2012 in Hiroko's Blog

Hinai-ya is a good quality, reasonably priced yakitori restaurant to which I frequently go back on my visits to Tokyo, Japan. Hinai is the name of one of the towns in Akita Prefecture, northern part of main island of Japan. There they raise jidori called “hinai-dori”, which is a cross-breeding between native chicken and Rohde Island Red. Chickens are free-ranged in a grass field for 160 to 170 days until slaughter time. The meat of hinai-dori is noted with its...

Read More

Iwagaki, Summer Oyster

Posted on Aug 9, 2012 in Hiroko's Blog

It is a tacit understanding that eating oysters in the months that lack the letter “r” in their names should be avoided. There are several reasons. Bacteria in water increases as the temperature of the water rises. Oyster prepares spawning when the temperature rises, and spawns in early summer. After spawning, oysters becomes thin and tasteless. So, it was a surprise to find wild giant oysters, Iwagaki, sold as summer oyster at Ohmicho Food Market in Kanazawa...

Read More