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Monday, January 30, 2006

Favorite Things: Sembei

If you go to Tokyo, along the pathway to the temple in Akusaka there are vendors selling hundreds of kinds of "sembei" or Japanese rice crackers. Though the crackers originated in China, in 806 AD a Buddhist monk brought the recipe to Japan where the Japanese have perfected the art of sembei. Even today they continue to innovate, coming up with new flavors, designs and specialties which vary from region to region in Japan. In Japan, both sweet and savory sembei are not just a snack but often given as a gift. No ordinary snack they are like little works of art. Made from rice, peanuts and soy they are flavored, sometimes with sesame seeds, soy sauce, nori (seaweed) or red chili. At the Winter Fancy Food Show this year, a family owned Japanese company Fujiya Seika and subsidiary Hidemi exhibited a beautiful range of crackers and confections. Representing the company were brother and sister, Tomio, who lives where the confections are made in Osaka and Hidemi, who lives in...
Saturday, January 28, 2006

IMBB 22 Use Your Noodle Part 1, 2, 3 & 4

(click on the photos to see the post or read the descriptions below) Babe in the City whips up Udon in Chinese Herbal Soup with mostly what she had in the house. Nice one. Fanny of FoodBeam was inspired by the recipe of a food blogger she calls "the goddess of yummy healthy food" to make Sunshine Pasta . Can you guess which blogger that is? The Part Time Pro Bono Baker is in Beijing, so it's no surprise to see scrumptious looking Rice Noodles . Cook Almost Anything at Least Once recreates a childhood favorite inspired by a trip to Italy, Linguine with sage burnt butter sauce and sauteed Sweet Potato . A Veggie Venture makes Orzo and Spinach a personal favorite and I can see why. Barbara at Tigers and Strawberries makes a favorite of her family, Chicken Lo Mein with Greens and Mushrooms and even explains what "Lo Mein" means. Asian noodles are popular in Germany too where Kuchenlatein shows us in terrific photographs, step by step, how to make ...