Japanese Cuisine

Creating An Original Cocktail: Wabi-Sabi Recipe

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Japanese cocktail Wabi-Sabi made with Inugami shochu and wasabi vodka.

There’s something magical about cocktails. A story to tell, new ingredients to mix, cultures to share with a wider audience. Japanese cocktail culture has an incredible amount of creativity, from the way certain drinks are made, to the passion of every bartender and mixologist who puts a new concoction in front of their guests.

It’s that kind of energy that’s inspired me to try coming up with my own cocktails. Introducing Wabi-Sabi, a cocktail that taps into the philosophy of transience as viewed through Japanese culture.

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Japanese Cuisine

Kokoro Care Packages Offers A Diverse Range Of Regional Japanese Food Products

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Kokoro Care Packages.

Japanese food is among the most diverse and multi-layered cuisine on the planet, with flavour profiles that spark the imagination. A large volume of regional Japanese food doesn’t get to be experienced outside of the country, so it’s wonderful to see businesses like Kokoro Care Packages changing that by offering bespoke Japanese food hampers from regions all over Japan.

Run by Lillian Hanako Rowlatt and Aki Sugiyama, Kokoro Care Packages is built on a foundation of bringing people closer together with new foods and tastes. I had the opportunity to see what was in Kokoro’s Community Favourites of 2020 package, which really opened my eyes to the huge range of regional Japanese products that are out there.

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Guest Posts · Sake Reviews

Guest Post: Kiuchi Awashizuku Sparkling Junmai Review

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The Kiuchi brewery is known for making the famous Hitachino Nest beer as well as sake.

As a long-time enthusiastic craft beer drinker, one of my must-visit locations in Tokyo was Hitachino Brewing Lab, in the Akihabara district. Whilst I certainly spent a fair amount of time getting well acquainted with all manner of styles from the Hitachino Nest Beer range in the hip bar, I walked away completely oblivious to the fact that Kiuchi started life (and continues) as a sake brewery. 

It was actually not until I was back in the UK and looking to order some of my new favourite Nest Beers to enjoy at home that I stumbled across Kiuchi’s nihonshu range.

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Japanese Cuisine

Natto Breakfast Bowl Recipe

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Natto breakfast bowl recipe.

Natto. The marmite of Japanese food. Either you love it or you hate it and it’s definitely one of the most unique Japanese meals you’ll come across. This fermented soybean dish can be recognised by its slimy texture, pungent smell and cheesy qualities. It’s also recognised for its health benefits, helping to improve digestion, potentially lowering blood pressure and promoting a healthier heart.

After trying it for the first time recently, I’ve fallen into the ‘I love Natto’ camp and see it as an extremely versatile ingredient. It was one of the main attractions in my natto breakfast bowl and here is the recipe.

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The Kokoro Files

The Kokoro Files: Alice Ngan

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Ecila Choco.

It’s a known fact that Japanese sake goes well with pretty much anything, especially chocolate! Alice Ngan has explored this combination with Ecila Sake Chocolates, a brand that uses sake and sake kasu to create premium chocolate products.

Yamato Magazine presents an interview with Alice that covers her experience in sake, opening up a chocolate business in Toronto and exploring the local nihonshu scene. Remember that stressed is dessert spelt backwards, so grab your favourite sweet treat and enjoy reading this interview at your leisure. 

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The Kokoro Files

The Kokoro Files: Lillian Hanako Rowlatt

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The Kokoro Files shares the stories of people who’re connected to Japan through heritage, food, culture and travel experience. The word ‘Kokoro’ is Japanese for heart, but it’s more than the physical organ. Kokoro is passion, love and connection all at once and Lillian Hanako Rowlatt channels that sentiment with Kokoro Care Packages.

Yamato Magazine caught up with Lillian about the story of her brand, her love of Japanese cuisine and her desire to help local farmers share their produce with a worldwide audience. 

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Pop Culture and Japan

Championing Small Scale Nihonshu Breweries With Sake Lovers

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Sake Lovers.

Japanese sake is more than just a drink. It’s a story, a tradition, a culture, a lifestyle choice and a passion. From the people who brew nihonshu to the distributors and importers who sell it, there’s a real love for promoting something that’s been on a decline throughout Japan. 

There’s roughly about 1600 sake breweries in Japan, yet that number used to be much higher and preserving this tradition has become paramount for many small-scale breweries. 

Yuki Imanishi and Kyoko Nagano are on a mission to keep the livelihood of small sake breweries alive with Sake Lovers. Built on a love of craft production and heritage, Sake Lovers has a great story to tell.

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Guest Posts

Guest Post: The Japanese Way

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Japanese baseball player.

For this gaijin, the great enigma of Japan has long been how its people can so readily adopt so much from others and yet remain unmistakably Japanese in spirit.  Americans may be pragmatic enough to adopt things foreign, but they do so only reluctantly and with a sense of defeat.

Not so the Japanese. They readily embrace things foreign with not the least embarrassment or sense of loss.  It all seems more graceful and reasonable than my own country’s way.  Not only is it more graceful, but it somehow enables the Japanese to put their own unique stamp on what not too long before was entirely foreign.  

This is a wonder to me, and no doubt feeds my never-ending interest in Japan and its culture, modern and ancient. Over the years of living in and visiting Japan, questioning and reading, I have failed to fully understand, though at times I have had glimpses of how the process works, and often in the strangest of places.

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Guest Posts

Guest Post: Rakugo – Ever Evolving Yet Never Changing

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Japan has a fascinating and multifaceted culture. It is a culture that is steeped in traditions dating back thousands of years and at the same time in a constant state of rapid flux, with continually shifting fads, fashions, and technological developments. Yet, at times it seems that the more Japan evolves, the more it remains the same. Many of Japan’s traditional arts embody these characteristics as well and reflect the mutable society we have so often observed.

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Pop Culture and Japan

A Nihonshu Pop Culture Lexicon From A Sake Nerd

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Drinking sake is a sure-fire way of feeling better connected to Japanese culture. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or first-time drinker, every sip is another step towards understanding the heritage and traditions that make Japan so multi-faceted.

When entering the world of sake, there’s loads of terms thrown around that might seem intimidating and I think it’s interesting how people find their own way of relating to different topics. 

From my perspective, I find popular culture helps. With that said, here’s a pop culture lexicon from a sake nerd that’s filled with random comic, wrestling and musical references. 

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