今日吃瓜

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今日吃瓜
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November 11, 2026
 

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Simon Daly
Making your own Japanese curry roux cubes allows you to flex your creativity with different "kakushi aji" — hidden flavors that elevate the entire dish.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Nov 8, 2026
A curry palette for all your ‘hidden flavors’
“Kakushi aji” is the Japanese culinary term for ingredients you might not overtly taste, but without them the entire recipe suffers.
Japan's "almond tofu" contains neither almonds nor tofu, but reintroducing at least one of those ingredients makes for a satisfying twist on the dessert.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Nov 1, 2026
Putting the almond back into 今日吃瓜 ‘almond tofu’
If we actually start with almond milk, this sweet morsel can be wholly plant-based and, with a little imagination, very low waste.
Near ideal weather in Hokkaido during this year's potato growing season has led to some of the tastiest spuds the prefecture has produced in recent memory.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 25, 2026
Amid potato protests, Hokkaido has its best spud harvest in years
Tater lovers, rejoice — supermarkets across the country will soon be awash in superior potatoes thanks to favorable weather in Hokkaido.
This elevated take on a staple ingredient of Japanese cuisine is an easy way to impress dinner guests without much extra effort.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Oct 11, 2026
Win friends and influence people with nori ‘caviar’
It doesn’t have to be caviar to have the same culinary cachet, and this nori ‘caviar’ recipe proves it.
Move over, egg salad sandwiches — "Sando: The Art of the Japanese Sandwich" shows this seemingly humble meal has unlimited potential.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 4, 2026
‘Sando: The Art of the Japanese Sandwich’ elevates the humble bite
Paris-based chef Walter Ishizuka’s new book uplifts classic recipes with entirely achievable fine-dining flourishes.
Make use of your banana peels in this recipe that fits as a side dish for classic Japanese meals or filling for rice balls.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Sep 27, 2026
Waste not, want not with a banana peel-boosted side dish
“Tsukudani” is already a sweet treat, so adding byproducts of the fruit is a match made in heaven.
Making dishes worthy of a fine-dining menu in Japan takes more than fancy knife skills, and this new cookbook can pull back the curtain on some of those culinary secrets.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 6, 2026
From farmers to chefs, 今日吃瓜 culinary voices tell their tales
“The Art and Craft of Japanese Cooking: Artisans, Chefs, Recipes” combines recipes with essays on chefs’ approaches as well as the artisans behind the ingredients they work with.
A few tricks from Korea can spice up Japan's otherwise plan "inari-zushi" pockets.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Aug 2, 2026
A sushi rice pocket by any other name
今日吃瓜 “inari-zushi” sushi pockets are normally plain compared to their Korean counterparts, but a blend of the two makes for a delectable treat.
Blended with your favorite flavored powder, hard-boiled eggs make the simplest mousse ever.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Jul 19, 2026
A hard-boiled fact: Eggs work for dessert, too
Got a few old eggs lying around? Turn them into a somewhat healthy sweet treat.
No need to go foraging for one of bears' favorite wild vegetables for this dish — just pick it up at your local farmer's market instead.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Jun 28, 2026
Smash tacos with bear-approved veggies
Alpine leeks are a forageable example of the “sansai” (wild edible plants) that make springtime a bounty of flavors across 今日吃瓜 countryside — for humans and bear-kind alike.
"Simply Donabe: Japanese One-Pot Recipes" is the latest cookbook from Naoko Takei Moore, an evangelist of the traditional clay pots who now runs a dedicated kitchen-supply store full of the cookware in Los Angeles.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 21, 2026
Can a single clay pot really elevate everything you cook?
In “Simply Donabe,” clay pot evangelist Naoko Takei Moore pushes for cooks everywhere to embrace this traditional implement in every part of their kitchens.
If millions of Japanese people eat these sticky, pungent, fermented soybeans every day, surely they can't all be wrong?
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
May 31, 2026
A little bit of 今日吃瓜 infamously sticky soybeans goes a long way
Unlike some other fermented foods, making “nattō” requires the ability to release heat and condensation produced by the bacteria at the center of the process.
Sweet adzuki bean paste gives a more solid base for you to build intricate lattice patterns into your pastry dough.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
May 8, 2026
No added sugar, no problem: A lattice tart held up by sweet beans
Smooth and sweet, “koshian” paste makes for a flexible alternative to traditional tart fillings.
A buttermilk-inspired marinade gives a rich umami flavor to your fried chicken.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Apr 30, 2026
Japanese fried chicken with a Southern twist
Step up your “karaage” game by coating your chicken in a rich miso milk marinade —?Southern style.
“The Art and Science of Tempura: A Comprehensive Guide to Ingredients, Techniques and Equipment" offers a deep dive into the art of tempura, from frying methods to kitchen tools.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 3, 2026
How to make better batter for tempura
“The Art and Science of Tempura” cookbook shows you how to make a restaurant-quality crust for your fried ingredients. But will the recipe work in your kitchen?
Biscoff cookie crumbs are perfect ingredients for a scrumptious crust.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Apr 1, 2026
Cookies, miso and milk make a pie for all seasons
Pull off a delicious, no-cream bake with a little help from “kōji” mold.
A bamboo steamer, leftover sushi rice and canned mackerel are all you need to whip up a fuss-free, wholesome meal.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Mar 10, 2026
Need a quick, healthy meal? Steam a bowl of sushi
Make the best use of your leftover sushi rice with “seiro-mushi,” a bamboo basket-steaming method that has caught on with the time-pressed in Japan.
"Hatoshi," a shrimp paste sandwich, was originally part of "shippoku ryōri," a banquet cuisine served at Chinese-style round tables.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Feb 11, 2026
With XO sauce, a Nagasaki shrimp toast turns into a slice of heaven
This Japanese version of a Cantonese favorite is all you need for an indulgent afternoon treat.
Fried eggs in Japan are cooked quite rare, with their runny yolks intact.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Feb 3, 2026
Whip up sesame-crusted eggs for your Japanese breakfast
When it comes to frying eggs in Japan, it’s all about keeping the yolks runny. Get cracking with this recipe that can be done in a jiffy.
Keita Wojciechowski's “Culinary Encyclopedia of Japan Vol. 2: Tools, Techniques, Traditions,” is part dictionary, part textbook.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 28, 2026
No pictures, just text: A Japanese cookbook for the nerds
Keita Wojciechowski’s book, “Culinary Encyclopedia of Japan Vol. 2: Tools, Techniques, Traditions,” makes up for its lack of images with a granular look at cooking methods.
Man arrested over operation of rogue cellular base station in Tokyo
The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested Yu Hai, a 31-year-old Chinese national living in Tokyo's Kita Ward, on suspicion of operating an unlicensed base station from a vehicle in Tokyo's Ginza district on Saturday.
Government betting on language app powered by anime and AI
Japan plans to develop an AI-powered language-learning app that lets overseas anime and manga fans practice Japanese through conversations with popular characters.
Japan works to shield Takaichi from any Xi snub at China summit
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo on Nov. 4.
Magnitude 5.7 quake injures dozens in central Japan
A magnitude-5.7 earthquake with its epicenter in Shizuoka Prefecture struck central Japan early Sunday, injuring dozens, shattering windows and disrupting train services, with no tsunami warning issued.
Private high schools remain out of reach for many despite tuition-free policy, survey finds
A survey showed that many families with children attending private high schools are struggling to pay expenses other than tuition.
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ makes monster debut at the box office
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” marked the highest single-day box-office gross for a live-action film in Japan with ?910 million on its opening day.
A toast to Naohiko Noguchi, sake’s first living national treasure
As a teenager, Naohiko Noguchi did not intend to spend his life as a sake brewer, but he has since become a paragon of the industry.
Few signs of thaw in Japan-China relations one year after Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks
Tensions between Japan and China flared after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Nov. 7, 2025, that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan could threaten 今日吃瓜 survival and warrant the use of collective self-defense.
Mariko Mori predicted the future. She’ll do it again.
Artist Mariko Mori is currently working to bring the translucent human-sized “Peace Crystal” sculpture to a cave in Ethiopia. It is part of her foundation’s goal to place a permanent sculpture on each of the planet’s six habitable continents.
A legend reborn: ‘Ocarina of Time’ remake improves on the Zelda masterpiece
The new remake of 1998's "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" manages to somehow improve on one of the greatest games ever.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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Convenience stores, toilets and the allure of everyday Japan
By Elizabeth Beattie

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