Japan Eats

Japan Booze Blind: Baird Summer Beers

Host Christopher Pellegrini discusses summer beers with the Baird Nakameguro Taproom's Marco McFarren.

Recipe: Hiyashi soumen

With the arrival of summer, Japanese are increasingly looking towards light meals at lunchtime. A bowl of soumen (cold noodles) is one of the most popular ways to relieve the summer heat. Soumen is traditionally served with a large variety of yakumi, or condiments. While it may be tempting to cut back on the number of different garnishes, it's worth trying all of the yakumi listed below at least once so that you can better judge which you prefer. Serve the noodles on ice in a wooden bowl. Pour a little soup into each guest's bowl and allow them to choose their ...

Recipe: Suage yasai no okaka itame (deep fried vegetables)

Eggplant, peppers, pumpkin and string beans: a light vegetable dish fit for summer Summer time is (almost) upon us. In Tokyo, the rainy season (June/July) gives way to days which are long, hot and humid - the perfect time for salads and light vegetable dishes. Here is an extremely easy deep fried vegetable dish which would suit any summer menu. It only requires a handful of ingredients, and these can be adjusted according to taste. Vegetarians take note: simply skip the bonito flakes and add a little more flavor with a fresh sesame seed garnish. [caption id="attachment_1731" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Deep fried vegetables"][/caption] Ingredients (serves ...