The Japanese have a passion for beer that is slowly overtaking Sake.  Almost all of the beer sold in Japan is from domestic breweries and most of these are from the big 4.  These major breweries are Asahi, Sapporo, Kirin and Suntory. 
Japanese beer is legally classified by it’s ingredients.  There are a large selection of “Real” beers made with conventional quantities of malt.  Second grade beer is called Happoshu and contains less than 25% malt.  The third class is cleverly called “3rd Beer” which contains no malt. Under this is an even lower grade called “3rd Beer -liquor”.  The primary differences from a consumers point of view …read more

If you are stuck on a cold rainy corner of any busy Japanese city, there are three things that are likely to come to mind: 

How do I get warm
How do I get something into my stomach
How  do I do it without standing in one of the unending queues that lead to just about every place that has anything warm to put in your stomach

The answer is probably no further than 100m in any direction, and it comes in the form of a vending machine full of cans of hot coffee. 

I should first point out that I am not trying to claim …read more

Tammy “the Wine Gal” over at Celebrate Wine suggests wines to go with Asian food. I haven’t tried Riesling with our food, so we’ll have to do that sometime. Check out her blog for other wine tips as well!

Right across the street from the area’s oldest Asian grocer, Jay International, is Wei Hong Bakery. It has been open for several years and has garnered quite a following. Unpretentious and so accessible, being right smack dab on one of the busiest portions of Grand Boulevard. You’ll have to park across the street, though, and it will serve you well to press that pedestrian button, as traffic can be heavy especially on weekends and those drivers won’t slow down for anything but a red light.
Wei Hong is closed on Tuesdays, but the rest of the week you …read more

Tea is a fundamental part of Chinese life. It is identified, at least in one old Chinese saying, as one of the seven basic necessities in life, the other six being soy sauce, vinegar, salt, rice, fuel and oil. The role of tea in Chinese culture is so important that some authors have even questioned the validity of Marco Polo’s claims that he set foot on China based on one main thing — he never mentioned tea. Of course, he didn’t mention many other things, either.
Tea is a beverage prepared from the leaves of a the southern …read more

For people serious about their tea: I just found out about this company last month. They won Best Black Tea and Best Green Tea in the Commercially Brewed Category at the Annual World Tea Expo in April 2006. From the Press Release:
Rishi Tea, the leading importer of Organic loose leaf tea in North America and 3-time winner of “Best Tea” by the SCAA, took home two 1st Place awards for their Organic Iced Teas at this year’s World Tea Expo. The Expo kicked off with the 3rd Annual Iced Tea Shake-Off competition, a blind sampling by industry …read more

A History Lesson: The Chinese Restaurant in America: Learn just how “American” this institution is, the ubiquitous Chinese restaurant found in practically every corner of America’s streets. Cynthia Little of the Atwater Kent Museum in Philadelphia even calls it “as American as apple pie”. The corresponding exhibit runs until September 10. We just might make it there in June. Come join us?
Best Vietnamese Restaurants in Australia
Want to know what the best wine is with your Asian meal? My go-to-wine has always been Gewurtztraminer, but Judy Finn of Neudorf Vineyards in New Zealand recommends …read more

I’ve got some sweet brown rice I need to use up. I’ve used it in sushi, and I’ve been thinking of making homemade mochi, and I’m tempted to try amazake.
I found the homemade Amazake recipe in Michio Kushi’s book

Here’s a detailed recipe, though a bit more intimidating.
Bunnyfoot has detailed her process here.
There are kits available to make homemade koji, but I don’t think I want to go that far. Not yet anyway. Hopefully I’ll be able to find some koji at the local Japanese food market.
Whole Foods has a whole section on cooking grains, but …read more