What are enoki mushrooms? The enoki is a striking white mushroom with a tiny cap perched atop a long slender stem. Around here, it is more commonly called the “velvet shank”. Native to Japan, these mushrooms usually grow in clusters on tree stumps during the winter period. In the wild, […]
What is umami flavor? Sweet, sour, salty, bitter… These tastes are already familiar to us, but what exactly is umami? It’s actually a relatively recent discovery. It’s also known as the “fifth taste,” and it has often been described as the subtle, velvety aftertaste you encounter in dishes that make […]
Tempeh is a soy-based food believed to have originated in Indonesia thousands of years ago. The earliest recorded use of the word “tempeh” dates to the early 19th century, in a volume of Javanese history. Since the 1970s, when it became readily available in the West, tempeh has become a […]
Arrowroot is a flavorless white powder commonly used to thicken sauces, soups, and dishes such as fruit pie fillings. Made from starch extracted from various tropical tubers, including Maranta arundinacea, arrowroot powder is similar to cornstarch and offers twice the thickening power of wheat flour. It is neutral in taste […]
You may know tapioca from classic puddings, but this gluten-free starch, extracted from the cassava root, also works as a thickener in both sweet and savory dishes. Native to Brazil, the cassava plant, also called yucca, is now grown across South America and Africa, and tapioca made from it is […]
Star anise is the fruit pod of Illicium verum, a shrub native to southwest China. The star-shaped pod typically has eight points, each containing a single pea-sized seed. Both the seeds and the pod are used in cooking and impart a sweet, potent anise flavor. Star anise is sold whole […]
Origins and history of jasmine rice Jasmine rice is a staple of Asian cuisine. It is a type of long-grain rice, usually white, sourced mainly from Thailand and Cambodia. It owes its name not to its fragrance, but to its color, which resembles that of the jasmine flower. For many […]
Despite its distinctive name, panko is simply a type of breadcrumb. The word panko is Japanese – “pan” means bread and “ko” means flour or powder. Authentic panko is always made from a special crustless white bread, rather than whole wheat bread, that is baked using an electric current. The […]
One of the wonderful things about sushi (or even Japanese cuisine in general) is that you don’t need to know the name of every little variety to enjoy it. This is especially true if you go to conveyor belt sushi restaurants, where you’re free to pick any dish that catches […]
“Wheat meat” has been eaten for centuries, but the name “seitan” (pronounced SAY-tan) is relatively new. Even though it is made from wheat, seitan has little in common with flour or bread. Popularized by Buddhist monks, it first appeared in Chinese and Japanese cuisine, and with the rise of veganism […]
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