Yamagobo is the Japanese word for pickled burdock root. It is sometimes written as yamagobo-zuke, with the zuke suffix indicating that it is a pickle. Yamagobo is colored with orange food coloring as a part of the pickling process. The …
Kamut flour is made from Khorasan wheat, which is a relative of durum wheat. Khorasan was grown in Ancient Egypt. According to one early story of this wheat’s origin, an American airman in Egypt after the Second World War took …
Dashi is a difficult ingredient to replace. Many Japanese food experts will tell you that it is impossible and that you would be better off not trying. To a certain extent, they are right. The complex umami character of dashi …
Dijon mustard is the version of mustard associated with the city of Dijon in France. It’s a versatile condiment that you can use in sandwiches or as the basis for complex sauces. Dijon mustard is useful enough that you should …
White sugar is the most commonly used sweetener in the west. It is used to sweeten everything from coffee to pastries. If a recipe calls for sugar and doesn’t specify the type, it’s safe to assume that you are meant …
Dashi could be considered the foundation on which much of Japanese cooking rests. Dashi is a broth commonly made with dried kombu (seaweed) and that may or may not also contain other ingredients such as bonito flakes. Bonito is a …
Raw sugar and brown sugar are very similar products. Both refer to crystallized sugar with a significant percentage of molasses; however, there is more to each of these sweeteners. They are not always interchangeable for a number of reasons, which …
Bonito flakes are difficult to replace in Japanese cuisine. The flavor of bonito flakes is unique and it plays such a major role in Japanese food that omitting it can ruin a dish. That said, bonito flakes are not always …