Mid-Winter Wagashi: Kyoto Toraya Red Plum Blossom with Frost Theme Namagashi Confection

January 23, 2010 13 Comments

A wagashi confection that was created in 1699 by Toraya is a beautiful and unmistakable expression of a mid-winter plum blossom. It is called Shimokobai 霜紅梅, or red plum blossom with frost. This confection, created centuries ago, expresses something that I can only clearly recall seeing once: fruit blossoms in snow. While it is mid-winter here in Kyoto, we are…

Wagashi: Kyoto Toraya’s Year of the Tiger Namagashi

January 13, 2010 4 Comments

This is the Year of the Tiger and I got my tiger themed new year namagashi from Toraya again, same as last year. It is called Sachi Tora (幸とら), or Happy Tiger. Like last year’s ox, this delightful design is quite abstract and uses cinnamon to create both flavor and fragrance but moreover a novel visual effect. Eto: Twelve Chinese…

Osechi Ryori: French Osechi by Restaurant Okumura

January 1, 2010 17 Comments

This entry is part 8 of 8 in the series O-shogatsu Ryori

In 2009 we brought you authentic Kyoto osechi New Year’s cuisine and while Japanese style is the norm there are some restaurants that do Western, Chinese or fusion-type osechi. I had a chance to meet Chef Shinzo Okumura of Restaurant Okumura who is said to have invented ‘French…

O-shogatsu Ryori: Kyoto-style Saikyo O-zoni White Miso Soup

January 1, 2010 12 Comments

Happy New Year from KyotoFoodie! Here is a little taste of the New Year in Kyoto: white miso soup. In Kyoto, people like sweet miso soup and the miso soup for O-shogatsu, or Japanese New Year, is especially sweet, surely the sweetest miso soup in all the land. The soup is called o-zoni and this article is about Kyozoni, or…

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