Quail Egg Onsen Tamago (Hot Spring Eggs)

Quail Egg Onsen Tamago (Hot Spring Eggs)

Hot spring eggs are fun in that in Japan (and elsewhere where hot public baths and springs exist), you can purchase a couple of eggs to cook while you… cook. The unique temperature result is an egg with runny silken tofu-like whites, with semi firm …

Chiang Xie/嗆蟹 (Chinese Raw Marinated Crab)

Chiang Xie/嗆蟹 (Chinese Raw Marinated Crab)

I love ganjang gejang which is Korean raw marinated crab, but my mom introduced me to Chiang Xie/嗆蟹 (although pronounced chiang ha in the regional dialect) which is Chinese style raw marinated crab. She bought it from a side dish take out place in Flushing …

Atlantic Blowfish Satsuma Age (Japanese Fish Cake)

Atlantic Blowfish Satsuma Age (Japanese Fish Cake)

Some years there are so many blowfish in the water you can’t catch anything else because they are voracious and will take any line with any bait at any time. Then there are years where they don’t show up at all, for whatever reason may …

Smoked Quail Egg Conserves

Smoked Quail Egg Conserves

I’ve had smoked trout and smoked cheese conserves in a Costa Rican resort when we visited my parents last year and had wanted to do something similar, and then in passing I saw a recipe for Hungarian smoked quail eggs in oil. Try as I …

Nikogori (Fish Aspic)

Nikogori (Fish Aspic)

This “dish” is usually what’s considered ”accidental” as in it’s a byproduct of cooking or braising fish, rendering a gelatinous broth that is cooled and solidified (although now there are places that make it specifically)—often done with eel but it can actually be made with …

Torched Wagyu Donburi (with Yuzu Sansho Sukiyaki sauce and Quail Egg)

Torched Wagyu Donburi (with Yuzu Sansho Sukiyaki sauce and Quail Egg)

My sister bought 12lbs of A5 Wagyu for a pretty and decadent penny and then gave me a hunk of it after we had a barbecue. This level of marbling in the wagyu makes it a slightly difficult ingredient to work with–heat it for too …

Octopus Confit (with Lemon White Bean Puree and Salad Burnet)

Octopus Confit (with Lemon White Bean Puree and Salad Burnet)

My mom gave me a package of octopus before she left for Costa Rica–I’ve been meaning to make something with it but never got around to the doing part, mostly because octopus has a long prep time and I wanted to make sure I gave …

Broiled Oysters With Garden Herbs and Garlic Butter

Broiled Oysters With Garden Herbs and Garlic Butter

My sister came over today much to everyone’s (especially the kids’ who are obsessed with her) delight and of course, being two foodies who love to cook (and one an actual chef), we got to working on shucking a baker’s dozen (plus an extra one) …

Venison Carpaccio

Venison Carpaccio

Sometimes I get venison from friends who are hunters which is always a treat. I find raw venison to be less gamey than cooked, so it’s one of my favorite ways to eat it. Obligatory warning that consuming raw meat can lead to food-borne illnesses. …

Bumper Egg Crepes

Bumper Egg Crepes

The whole house came down with some vengeful stomach virus for almost two weeks (it went around TWICE) and that meant that we had an overflow of eggs from the chickens that hadn’t been used (try keeping down eggs—it’s not fun.) What was I going …