What I Am Doing Is…

Posted on Oct 15, 2013 in Hiroko's Blog

In Hiroko’s American Kitchen you can find a recipe – Sake Braised Short-ribs. This is one of my favorite dishes in the book. In this recipe I modified some of the ingredients and cooking techniques used in an American style Braised Short-ribs. By doing so, the end dish has clean and lean flavor, but is equally rich and delicious. Ingredient modification: I replace mirepoix with kelp. Kelp has much higher and cleaner umami flavor, which contribute to the dish...

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Spigarello Broccoli

Posted on Oct 12, 2013 in Hiroko's Blog, Recipes

  Last night dinner at Picholine I found out that a chef uses Spigarello Broccoli in one of his dishes. I began to spot this new green leaves this autumn at a Strawberry Farm at Union Square Greenmarket. The Strawberry Farm have been carrying it in the past 3 years, but I never attempted to try it. Spigarello Broccoli originates in Southern Italy. It is a cold season vegetable, which can withstand slight frost. This sounds like spinach, which survives in cold frosty...

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Master Chocolate Maker

Posted on Oct 4, 2013 in Hiroko's Blog

If you live in Manhattan, this is one of THE places to get a hand-made excellent quality of box of chocolate as a gift to yourself or to your friends and family. If not, go to her website and make an order. https://store.chocolatmoderne.com/ I have recently visited Joan Coukos, a owner of Chocolat Moderno at her factory store in Chelsea, 27 West 20th Street, NYC. Joan is one of 2013 classmates of Les Dames d’Esscoffier. Joan is an accomplished and talented chocolate...

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