Burdock root

Known around here as gobo, burdock is a root vegetable used in Asian and European cuisine. It is also known for its medicinal use. Here, it’s and every-day vegetable and can be cooked in many ways and in a variety of dishes. It has a crisp texture and somewhat earthy flavor and as a root […]

Grilled salmon cream sauce

It’s been a while since my last post. That doesn’t mean, I haven’t been cooking though. However, things have been busy during the last half of 2021 and the beginning of this current year. Time flies… I hardly ever cook fish, but here, I improvised a salmon cream sauce pasta dish. First I grilled salmon […]

Romaine Lettuce Stir Fry

I love salads. One of my favorite kind of lettuce is Romaine Lettuce. Not just for the basic Cesar Salad, but for all kinds of salads and for sandwiches. Sometimes, the outer leaves of the Romaine lettuce head can be tough, thick, looking almost like kale, tasting rather bitter. So for those tougher leaves, I […]

Versatile Napa Cabbage

Winter is upon us, and this is the season when Napa or Chinese cabbage prices go down. I usually get a quarter cut of a huge head and it’s enough for a few meals. Other than stir frying with other seasonal vegetables, this year I’m into cooking the following two ways. But there are many […]

Cooking with Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut, a European side dish made of fermented cabbage. It’s tangy, salty, sour, flavorful and healthy, as all fermented produce are. Having grown up in Germany, it was just a thing that came with a lot of meals, was served everywhere from high class restaurants to pubs, bars and cafeterias. Spiced and prepared differently depending […]

Tateshina Beef

Every year, I spend a few days up in the mountains in Tateshina, Nagano prefecture, where we have a little old house. Old, because it was built the years before I was born. At 1300 meters altitude, surrounded by trees, it’s usually cooler up there. Known as the Shinshu region, they have great produce, all […]

Blueberry Pancakes

Pancakes with fresh blueberries, topped with syrup and more fresh blueberries on the side. Easy enough to make (even with a pancake mix sold in stores) and always satisfying for breakfast or brunch.

Summer Smoothies for Breakfast

These days, it’s ridiculously hot. In fact, today has got to be some sort of record, what with 35 degrees Celsius already at 10am. We hit about 39C in the afternoon. So the heat wakes me up every morning, way too early for my taste. But I get up and proceed to make my morning […]

Soboro: ground meat and egg over rice

Soboro-don: simple bento dish that’s filling and satisfying. Usually, one uses ground chicken meat, flavored with soy sauce, mirin and sake. Ginger can be added, as well as other spices. For a spicy taste, add any kind of chili sauce or powder. The egg is cooked separately, basically scrambled eggs. I use some white dashi […]

Ratatouille stuff

I love Ratatouille! It’s so versatile and healthy, I make it in different variations. The other day, I happened to have some of the ingredients in the fridge, and I made pasta with a ratatouille-ish sauce. The key to Ratatouille is of course the use of Herbs de Provence. Not too easy to come by […]