Japanese cuisine has been listed as an Intangible Cultural. Asset by UNESCO, and one of the key reasons it has achieved this status is its rice. Here, we delve into why it’s so delicious. Reason1Japan has over 4,500… Read More
Onigirazu was originally introduced in book 22 of the manga ‘Cooking Papa’ (published by Kodansha) as a “super easy onigiri”. In 2014, it suddenly appeared high on the list of ranked search terms on popular Japanese recipe site Cookpad, garnering… Read More
COOKING 1. Pour lots of water in the bowl holding the rice and stir lightly. Throw away the water. 2. Fill the bowl again and using your palm heel, press down on the rice gently and stir to wash it… Read More
‘Keiran’ is made from Shichinohe to Noheji, in the Shimokita district of Aomori Prefecture. It gets its name from the word for ‘hen’s egg’, because it features two egg-shaped mochi dumplings with sweet bean paste filling, floating in a broth… Read More
For the mid-autumn harvest moon festival on September 27, people in most parts of Japan make offerings of spherical ‘tsukimi dango’ dumplings, but in the Chubu region of Shizuoka Prefecture the traditional offering is ‘heso-mochi’, which have an indentation in… Read More
Chigo mochi are a kind of sweet made only by men for the Gion Festival. It is used as an offering and as a treat for the children taking part inthe festival procession. Eating them is said to help bring… Read More
For Childrenʼs Day, (5 May), ʻKashiwa Mochiʼ is traditionally eaten ‒ but in Hokkaido the leaf-shaped, brown-and-white, ʻBeko Mochiʼ is more common. These two-tone rice cakes are often made at home in Hokkaido and in Tohoku. They can be semi-circular… Read More
On 8 April is the festival celebrating Buddhaʼs birthday. In Kawakami, Nara Prefecture, ʻhiuchi-mochiʼ (ʻflint rice cakesʼ, so called because they are made in a shape of a flint stone used by Buddha) are made as offerings for this occasion…. Read More
