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…

Tsukemono: Kiku Kabura (Chrysanthemum Turnip)

October 16, 2009 11 Comments

Autumn is chrysanthemum season in Japan and the flower which has literally countless form, shape and color variations makes numerous appearances in Japanese cuisine, both as decoration and as symbol. This meibutsu tsukmono is from Kamekura a shinise in Kameoka, a small and quaint town west of Kyoto. Kamekura is perhaps best known for its senmaizuke, a Kyoto winter favorite…

Wagashi: ‘Kyobeni’ D.I.Y. Azuki and Monaka

September 24, 2009 4 Comments

“I want to be crisp.” Very ‘Kyoto’ and ‘un-Kyoto’; it’s ‘do it yourself’ anko paste in monaka cookies! Not only that, the monaka cookie is the shape and design of a maiko’s lipstick compact. This wagashi turned out to be a lot of fun and solves a vexing problem for monaka aficionados. ’Do It Yourself’ Azuki and Monaka 京べに Happy…

Izuju: The Best Kyoto Style Sushi in Kyoto

June 3, 2009 30 Comments

This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series Do Not Miss

Sushi in Kyoto has a long history but it is quite unlike the nigiri sushi that we are used to abroad. Unlike Tokyo, Kyoto was landlocked and that required somehow keeping fish edible after the journey here. Kyoto sushi required some smarts and ingenuity, it also had…

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