Why This Recipe Works Layering textures and flavors efficiently create a rich and intricate bowl of brothless ramen in less than 30 minutes. The fragrant scallion ginger oil creates a flavorful, umami-rich base that seasons the noodles while keeping them from sticking together. A second spicy ground pork and garlic sauce add depth and heat to the noodles. Chopped green onions add a crisp texture and pop of freshness, while some shredded nori seaweed adds another layer of briny umami....

What is Riceberry? Riceberry is a cultivar of rice that was created by hybridizing Jao Hom Nin (black jasmine rice) with Khao Dawk Mali 105 (another type of jasmine rice). It’s a long grain rice that has a reddish black color when raw, that turns purplish black when cooked. Because Riceberry is a whole grain rice, the bran and germ have not been milled off; however, unlike brown rice, it cooks in the same amount of time as white rice....

Why This Recipe Works? By using a base of ground oats and whole sesame seeds, this Furikake has a splendidly crisp texture. Soy sauce, shiitake powder, and konbu cha contain compounds that create the umami taste. By adding these ingredients, we can make a flavorful furikake without any fish. Stirring in some matcha and aonori at the end gives the Furikake a vibrant green color and fresh flavor while imparting vitamins and antioxidants....

Kani means “crab” in Japanese, and kama is short for kamaboko, a traditional Japanese fishcake. Despite having “crab” in the name, kanikama is made from white fish such as pollock or cod. There’s some debate over who invented it, but it was created in the mid-1970s as a new style of kamaboko that has a similar taste and texture to crab meat. Combining these crab sticks with mayonnaise to make a salad has been around since the early days of kanikama, and both imitation crab and Kani Salad have become popular worldwide....

Part of the problem is that there isn’t much information out there in English on making ramen noodes. Even in Japan, noodle making is a closely guarded secret and you don’t see ramen shops parading around their recipes on the web. From the information I was able to glean, I knew that the noodles are made with wheat flour, and get their yellow color and distinctly firm texture from the addition of kansui....

Why This Recipe Works? By cutting the cucumbers, they pickle much faster than if you were to pickle them whole. The salt in the brine is balanced out by sugar which keeps these Japanese pickles from tasting too salty. Beer adds loads of umami to the pickled cucumber without needing to add umami boosters like MSG or konbu. Wasabi adds a spicy kick and fragrant aroma that goes perfectly with the green flavor of cucumbers....

Because they’re formed and dropped into a pot to cook simultaneously, they take on random shapes with nooks and crannies that make them perfect for holding onto sauces. This one step process also speeds things up, allowing you to make this homemade Nokedli recipe from scratch in about the time it takes to boil a pack of store-bought pasta. And I’ve included instructions for making them without a Nokedli maker....

Although Kaki Fry is considered a Western-style dish in Japan, a few key differences set this preparation apart from other deep fried oysters. The biggest distinction is that Japanese fried oysters are coated in panko. This gives the coating a thicker, crispier crust than oysters coated in Western-style breadcrumbs. I have a few culinary tricks in this recipe to make these the best fried oysters you’ve ever had, so let’s jump into it....

While there are various methods to make vegan unagi, I’ve found that the easiest method that results in the closest texture is to use eggplant. By pan-frying and then steaming it in unagi sauce, the eggplant can absorb a ton of flavor. Then, the mock unagi is glazed and blasted with a torch to caramelize the sauce and give it a smoky flavor. Why This Recipe Works? Cutting slits in the eggplant helps it soak up the flavors of the sauce and gives it an appearance that closely resembles unagi....

Types of Miso Most miso can be categorized into one of three categories based on its color, which is determined by the length of time it’s fermented. Shorter fermentation times result in lighter color miso, while longer fermentation time creates darker ones. White Miso (白味噌 - Shiromiso) While the color is more light blond than white, Shiromiso is the lightest of the varieties, thanks to its very short fermentation time (as little as 2-3 days)....

Katsu Curry (カツカレー) Katsu Curry is a modern classic beloved by growing teenagers and adults in need of a bit of comfort alike. It involves two components: Tonkatsu and Curry Rice served on the same plate. The curry becomes a sauce for the cutlet, and the crispy spicy synergy is nothing short of magic. The only problem with the dish is that you need to prepare two meals to have one....

So what do you do when you’re craving good fried potatoes, but don’t want to create a gallon of waste oil? Well, if you happen to have some rendered duck fat sitting around, you can make these duck fat smashed potatoes. They’re easy to make and you only need a smidgen of fat to get the perfect fried potato. First the potatoes are boiled in liberally salted water, before they are lovingly smashed into thick patties....

But before I tell you the secret, let me give you a little background on my love affair with ramen. As a kid, the highlight of every month was the Saturday my mother and I would make our monthly pilgrimage to Japan Town in San Francisco to stock up on Japanese ingredients. We’d head down to the City from Napa in the morning, driving through the rolling vineyards of Carneros, before skirting the Bay through Marin, and then finally crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into the San Francisco....

Ingredients for Homemade Granola At its core, granola is simply a base, a fat, and a binder. You can also add some flavoring and fruit to make each one unique. Here are just a few ideas for ingredients that you might have in the pantry. Base This forms the bulk of homemade granola, and aside from rolled oats, you can add almost any dry ingredient to change the texture, taste, and nutritional content....

Recently I got a chance to explore the culinary scenes of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, which are a melting pot of culinary cultures from both near and afar. Over the course of a week, I had some fantastic meals, and although each chef had his unique style, there were some common themes and ingredients that tied the cuisine together, and Labneh was one of them. I had it in sauces, under salads, with Jerusalem Bagels, and on raw fish, but never was I served a bowl of Labneh with a spoon and jam, like you’d eat yogurt....

I’m back from Oregon! During my short trip to attend my step-fathers graduation, I picked up 6 bottles of Willamette Valley wine (mostly Pinot Noir) and a sunburn (I didn’t get the memo about the 4 hour ceremony being outdoors). I actually got back on Monday, but the past 2 nights have been occupied working out the details of the Tastespotting replacement project I’ve started with a friend. It’s not quite done yet, but if you want to check it out, leave a comment and I’ll invite you as we need beta testers....

Whether you’re dining in a shopping center food court or at a proper restaurant, Chow Mein is often thrown on the plate as a mere afterthought to go with your Orange Chicken and Mongolian Beef. How many people do you know that would order a plate of Chow Mein as their main course for dinner? The thing is, as a ramen fanatic and lover of stir-fried noodle dishes, I want to love Chicken Chow Mein....

To get the most flavor into the dish, I like to include garlic in three forms: fresh, caramelized, and black. Although I skip the oyster sauce, the combination of the black garlic, soy sauce, and nutritional yeast creates a convincing alternative that packs just as much flavor while also being vegan-friendly. Why This Recipe is the Best Using three forms of garlic introduces a broad spectrum of flavors and tastes that makes this sauce taste much more complex than it actually is....