Sakura gohan / steamed rice with salted cherry blossoms

Enjoy the soft, tangy taste and aroma of salted cherry blossoms as a harbinger of a warm, bright spring.

A pound of fish

The seafood counter at Uwajimaya in Seattle attracts lots of customers and people admiring the variety of fish, and I join the crowd several times a year. But the first place I check is one end of an open refrigerated chest for fillet fish. There is a section dedicated to fish tips, which often have lots of bones. These fish tips come straight out from behind the counter after filleting for good-looking larger pieces, meaning they are super fresh.

There are a number of dishes where you only need a tiny piece or small chunk of fish. Don’t miss the great deal offered by fish tips.

The last time we were there, I picked up two packs of fish tips – one of lingcod and one of channel rockfish. Kinki, the channel rockfish (about 1.3 lb/600 g), had lots of bones and only a small amount of flesh but was enough for two meals for us. I made my favorite aradaki with daikon radish, and we ate it the same day as purchased and again the next day.

Kani to satoimo, horenso no nagaimo soosu guratan / crab, baby taro root and spinach gratin with Chinese yam sauce

A Japanese-style gratin with Chinese yam sauce flavored with white miso and soy sauce. It is much lighter and gentler than a bechamel sauce and cheese gratin. For this gratin, crab is paired with baby taro root -- yet another classic combination in Japanese cuisine -- to make a substantial dish. A bed of sauteed spinach adds additional flavor that also goes well with crab.

Amazake no moto, amazake / amazake base & drink

A strikingly sweet wonder drink made of rice malt.

While today this opaque, white drink is more strongly associated with winter, especially with the New Year's holiday and Hinamatsuri Doll (Girls' Day) Festival on March 3, it used to be a health tonic in summer. Typically served hot in winter and cold in summer, often with ginger juice, this super healthy tonic contains nine essential amino acids and over 100 enzymes. Rich in glucose (20%) and oligosaccharide, it also contains vitamins (B1, B2, B6, B12, pantothenic acid, inositol and biotin). Amazake has been called a “drinkable I.V.,” which shows how nutritional it is.

Amazake is mentioned in Nihonshoki, an early 8th-century history book, and its use goes back hundreds years before the book. This primitive drink is now easily made in a common modern appliance – the rice cooker!  

Renkon no nanbansu-zuke / fried lotus root marinated in spicy soy sauce vinegar

A crunchy renkon dish that is both spicy and sour. Make this a day in advance to enjoy its full flavor.

Kani no iimushi / steamed sweet rice and crab with light soy-sauce flavored dashi sauce

Dig into the sweet rice and enjoy the blended taste of crab and slightly salty gin-an sauce. 
A recent “wow” dish for me.

Hakusai napa cabbage

Brassica rapa var. pekinensis

Also called nappa cabbage, hakusai has oblong yellowish-green leaves with white firm ends toward the bottom. Inner layer leaves are yellower and taste sweeter than outer green layers, and the sweet taste becomes more prominent in winter – the best season for this vegetable -- and when cooked. In broth, for example, hakusai makes the broth mellower and milder. Along with shungiku garland chrysanthemum, hakusai is the standard leafy green in a number of nabe hot pots. In addition to use in simmered, sauteed and steamed dishes, hakusai is also often used as a pickle. For Japanese pickles, hakusai can simply be salted and pressed to extract the water, while kombu seaweed or citrus peel provides flavor and aroma variations. Kimchi and la bai cai with sweet and spicy vinegar are quite common in Japan, too.