The secret of soy sauce, dashi, sake, and miso The seasonings for traditional Japanese food are usually quite simple: soy sauce with a bit of grated ginger, or soup with miso paste and a bit of wakame in it. In recipes, the ingredient list tends to only be a few lines long and the directions […]
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How Ordering Tea is Different in Japan
Don’t let a seemingly healthy habit feed a sugar addiction Can we have two iced teas?” Before Covid, we were at an American diner somewhere in Connecticut, in the middle of one of the hottest days in August. My dad and I had just finished moving me into my new apartment, and we were both […]
Shiso Pesto: A Japanese Take on Traditional Italian Flavors
Shiso pesto is the fusion of two food cultures I went to Italy for the first time two summers ago with my family, and I still bring up the food every chance I get. “Do you guys remember that Amatriciana we had? Oh my god, it was so good.” “But that gelato! I’d fly back […]
Japanese Food and Why Everything Comes With Ginger
A healthful spice, that makes everything nice We forgot to go grocery shopping and our fridge was looking sparse. We didn’t have many vegetables at home, besides some eggplants and a nub of ginger. Can you even cook anything good with just that? But turns out my mom had a plan — she took the […]
To Eat Healthfully for Life, Eat with Your Principles
If you’ve ever looked up a dieting trend, you’ve probably fallen into an endless black hole back-and-forth discussion of robot questions and robot answers, on how to best adopt a healthy lifestyle. Frequently, discussions that look like this: What time is the best time for us to eat? — You should eat when your body […]
Why You Should Love a Japanese Breakfast
What is breakfast food? I was born in the U.S. and spent my formative years there, so, naturally, I developed the sense that a normal breakfast should look something like pancakes, cereal, buttered toast, bacon, or sausages. It’s what was served to me when I went to friends’ houses for sleepovers and it’s what was […]
How To Bake With Friends When You’re Miles Apart
Illustrations by Kaki Okumura (*No Zoom calls are required) It’s been about 4 months since my friend and I baked together. In April I left the United States to be with my family, and she flew back to California to be with hers. But when we still lived on campus together, we would often meet […]
How Life in Japan Influenced Gramercy Tavern’s Menu
Illustrations by Kaki Okumura Michael Anthony is the executive chef and partner of the Michelin-starred American restaurant Gramercy Tavern. Established in 1994, it is regularly rated as one of the most popular restaurants in the city and has become a beloved establishment in NYC fine dining. But what makes Anthony compelling to me is not his long […]
How To Listen, To Understand Each Other Better
Where disagreements can make our relationships stronger It seems that recently there are more claims of “I’m listening”, yet many of our arguments surrounding political and social issues are ending in frustration, polarization, and in the most unfortunate of cases a refusal to communicate with those who differ in opinion. Even in the household, our […]
Japanese Society, Shaped by the Seas
Why Japanese culture is what it is, in a word That word: geography It’s Sea Day today, July 23, 2020. A Japanese national holiday specially dedicated to celebrating our oceans. It’s a bit different from an American Earth Day, because Japanese citizens get an entire day off work and school, in name of honoring our […]
