A mere week back into the day job and I found myself flying out to Las Vegas for the annual gathering of nerds and nerd-baiters, otherwise known as colossal (...)
Lazy Saturday – when you finally have the time to go to the market, overload yourself with food and narrowly avoid splurging on a dried fish. Or at least you (...)
There’s a pantheon of chili mythology as mysterious and contradictory as the Bible itself. To bean or not to bean, to grind or to chop, to dry or to…fresh? My (...)
Japanese-style ozoni soup for New Year celebrations
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明けましておめでとうございます! Or rather, happy new year and welcome to Nipp’ntuck. It’s been a long time in the making, but we as resident obachan and ojichan are hoping to (...)
Back when I was living in Japan, sending gloaty messages back home about the o-toro I was scoffing or my latest trip to Mister Donut, my younger sister would (...)
If there’s any type of food that has a history worth plumbing it’s the fine art of putting meat on fire. Barbecue – powerful enough to make home cooking the […]
So while the rest of London heads out to enjoy the sunshine with a pint by the river, I’m a prisoner of my paycheck and spending the evening rifling around […]
Before I lived out there, the only time I’d ever spent in Japan was during the summer holidays. The temperature was unfailingly sweaty – about 32 degrees with (...)
I may have a mortgage and manage big budgets (unfortunately not my own), but Monday night is always spaghetti night. The only fitting reward for bravely saying (...)
Yes, we’re back to aubergines again because I’m a little obsessed with them at the moment. One of the things that converted me to aubergines was a two-week (...)
Caveat: this is treading the ground of every observational comedian since Michael McIntyre was making revolving-door jokes in utero and so part of an (...)
Agedashi tofu - japanese appetizer with crispy tofu and dashi sauce
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Here’s the first little something from the dusty 70s books: a firm izakaya favourite, agedashi tofu. ‘Izakayas’ are usually loosely translated to ‘taverns’ (...)
Oh. My. God. It’s freezing. Going outside is to be avoided at all costs. So instead of venturing out to spend money I don’t have, I’ve retreated indoors for (...)
*or eggplant, or brinjal, or nasu or whatever Aubergines were the great revelation of 2011; up until that point I’d spent most of my days largely unbothered by (...)
If you’re lucky enough to live on the outskirts of London and have a penchant for discovering industrial estates, you might already be familiar with Hoo Hing. (...)
SUNLIGHT. FINALLY. Time to over-optimistically pack away my collection of umpteen-denier black tights. After that, time for something cold and tasty. This is (...)
Hina-matsuri girl’s day japan: cultural significance and traditions
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Today is hina-matsuri (雛祭り), otherwise known as Girl’s Day. As per tradition, if you were strolling around Japan you’d see tiered arrangements of dolls in shop (...)
