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Simon Daly
This cake whisked me back to my own childhood in the way only taste and smell can.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Nov 17, 2024
A Danish 'dream cake' inspired by Japan's headline news
Every holiday gathering needs a good cake, and this one takes inspiration from news stories in both Japan and abroad.
Cream-filled 'maritozzo' buns are just one of the many sweet treats on offer at Japanese convenience stores.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 3, 2024
Exploring the ‘B-gourmet wonderland’ of Japanese convenience stores
Tourists who obsess over 7-Eleven and FamilyMart can seem a bit absurd, but there's no denying the integral role these stores have in daily life in Japan.
Hokkaido cuisine is so much more than milk bread and regional ramen — as this humble yet delicious deer ragu shows.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Oct 20, 2024
Deer ragu straight from Hokkaido’s fields
Adapted from a recipe from chef Chihiro Naito, formerly of L’Effervescence, this dish brings the essence of Hokkaido game to your table.
There's nothing like a tangy sandwich to see the last gasps of summer fade into a crisp Japanese autumn.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Oct 6, 2024
Get yourself in a pickle with this uber-tangy banh mi
As a sandwich, this banh mi is a great hot weather lunch for those last few gasps of summer.
Deployed properly, uncooked rice can be a secret weapon to imbue your favorite cocktails with a certain je ne sais quoi.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Sep 29, 2024
The secret ingredient in this cocktail? Rice.
Using uncooked rice as an additive for mixing cocktails is a fun way to uncover subtleties in your favorite sips.
Hokkaido's cuisine and the culture that underpins it get top billing in Tim Anderson's newest cookbook.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 15, 2024
‘MasterChef U.K.’ winner’s new cookbook puts Hokkaido cuisine on vivid display
Tim Anderson's cookbook covers a lot, but its strength is in presenting Japan’s largest prefecture as a detailed tapestry via straightforward recipes.
Yes, this parfait is a decadent treat, but with the addition of some 'ume' (plum), it can actually help you weather the worst of summer's last throes of heat.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Sep 8, 2024
Ditch labor-intensive ice cream for this whisked-together parfait
The only kitchen gadget that is essential for making a parfait is a thermometer.
Roasting cauliflower can seem daunting when its already hot outside, but the flavors here more than make up for slaving over a hot stove for a bit.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Aug 25, 2024
With a bit of Japan's 'national mold,' cauliflower becomes a superstar
Picallili is a style of lightly spiced cauliflower mustard pickle, the result of South Asian flavors integrated into colonial British cuisine.
There are no rules when it comes to making a bibimbap adapted to your own personal tastes.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Aug 18, 2024
With the humble bibimbap, do as you like
With broccoli florets as part of our bibimbap topping, we can also make a quick pickle of the stalk, meaning this meal is practically without waste.
Japan is one of the great mushroom countries of the world, so it pays to know how to make the most of these morsels in your kitchen.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 28, 2024
‘Mushroom Gastronomy’ makes sense of Japan’s fungal diversity
“Mushroom Gastronomy” by mycological gourmand Krista Towns demystifies the world of fungi in Japan and abroad.
Most people think of hydration as a strictly liquid-based concept, but eating foods with high water content is an essential part of making it through a Japanese summer unscathed.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Boiling Point
Jul 13, 2024
How to tweak your diet when temperatures spike
The one thing everyone can control when the mercury rises is their diet.
There are numerous iterations of 'rāyu' (chili oil), and they all have in common a complexion fiery enough to easily ruin your favorite T-shirt.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Jul 7, 2024
I can’t believe it’s not restaurant ‘rāyu’
With just a few common kitchen items, it couldn’t be simpler to create a unique chili oil right in your own Goldilocks zone.
Any fruit can work as a base here — if, for example, the dad you’re cooking for this upcoming Father’s Day avoids raspberries.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Jun 15, 2024
Cobble together this Father’s Day raspberry dessert
Each spring, higher elevations, forests and countryside backroads are inundated by foragers in search of mountain vegetables, fruits and berries.
Serve this savory parfait chilled with rustic bread, crackers or other charcuterie.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Jun 8, 2024
Broaden your parfait horizons with chicken liver
Spices and herbs can be adjusted to individual tastes or even omitted, but the gelled wine topping is fairly classic, set here with seaweed extract.
"Rintaro: Japanese Food from an Izakaya in California" is a welcome reminder of how Japanese basics are best done and, perhaps, how to get a little closer to how things still should be.
LIFE
May 26, 2024
A California dreamin’ cookbook of 'izakaya' favorites
In an age where traditional knowledge is being forgotten, “Rintaro: Japanese Food from an Izakaya in California” is a treasure trove.
The original recipe for a "toast sandwich" has the added option of cold cuts, though the dish has since been reimagined with bone marrow and other lavish ingredients.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
May 12, 2024
Recipe: Japanese bread sandwich (yes, really)
This is not a sandwich made between slices of toast, nor is it a toasted sandwich.
Mustard can be found up and down Japan-based cuisines, but it's rarely a component in American macaroni and cheese.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
May 5, 2024
Recipe: Mac ‘n’ spicy cheese
This recipe raises the stakes of the American classic of macaroni and cheese with Japanese mustard.
In this recipe, cherry tomatoes take the place of classic tomato puree, with sausage, onion, mushrooms and green pepper in tow, as is tradition.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Apr 14, 2024
Recipe: Italian-Japanese pasta with a pinch of South Korea
This is a balanced, delicious meal anyone can put together in 20 minutes flat.
This technique can also be used to marinade tofu that has had excess liquid pressed out.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Apr 7, 2024
Recipe: Miso-marinated Camembert
Umami rich and sticky sweet, 'dengaku' sauce is best known in recent times as a glaze for grilled eggplant.
The giant green signs of this supermarket chain can be slightly intimidating, but chefs of all stripes are welcome in Gyomu's aisles.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 31, 2024
In praise of Gyomu Super, a gem of Japanese grocery shopping
With a name that translates to something like “commercial supermarket,” you might assume Gyomu is just a restaurant supply chain.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?