Tororo Soba is a Soba noodle dish with gooey grated Nagaimo. It could be hot or cold although the recipe here is a cold version. Zaru Soba is the very basic and most popular soba dish, but Tororo Soba is also found on the menu at any Soba restaurant in Japan. Cold Tororo Soba is a great dish during summer for Nagaimo’s rich nutrition and coolness of Soba when you don’t have much appetite from heat outside.
Kakigori (かき氷) is Japanese shaved ice with flavored syrup. It is very popular during the hot and humid summer in Japan, and there are a lot of pop up Kakigori stores appearing in the season.
Although you can get shaved ice here too, usually as a snow cone in the US, Kakigori is very different from that. Snow cones often use crushed ice or ice shaved in thicker pieces. Japanese shaved ice is very soft and fluffy, and melts in your mouth like newly fallen snow. It doesn’t have much crunchy texture at all. Hawaii also has a version called “shave ice” that is becoming popular in other states as well. It’s based on and very similar to Japanese Kakigori, but some of the flavorings are different.
Soba Bolo is a Japanese cookie made from buckwheat (Soba) flour, sugar and eggs. It is a simple cookie with a nice buckwheat aroma that has been enjoyed for years and years in Japan.
Soba Bolo’s name came from Bolo, or “cake” in Portuguese. Bolo the western dessert was brought into Japan in the 16th century by Portuguese missionaries/traders. Bolo has changed its form over time, and eventually it became one of Japan’s own sweets. Bolo in Japan today indicates more cookies than cakes, and also a kind of cookies that are light and crispy.
Yakimeshi is Japanese fried rice with egg, meat, and vegetables. Yakimeshi is something your mom makes from left over rice and ingredients she already has in the house. Other than rice and egg, there are no particular ingredients you need to use. Yakimeshi is quick and easy and also a very economical food you can make for your family or yourself.
Kakitamajiru is a kind of Sumashijiru, a Japanese clear soup, but with an egg. It looks similar to the famous Chinese egg drop soup, but the flavor is totally different. Kakitamajiru is made from Dashi (or Ichiban Dashi), and it has a subtle but nice Umami (savory flavor). The soft yellow egg and green Mitsuba, Japanese herb, look very pretty, too, giving a splash of color to a meal.
Kushikatsu is pieces of deep-fried pork, like Tonkatsu, on a skewer. It is a comfort food Japanese people love. There are a lot of Kushikatsu restaurants/bars in Japan, and it is usually a kind of food you eat out of the house, however, it is easy to make at home for dinner or a fun dish to serve for a large crowd.
Nametake is cooked soft Enoki mushrooms (Enokitake) in Soy Sauce flavored sauce. This little salty dish is a convenient preserved food in a jar, like pickles in western homes, that you want to keep in the refrigerator all the time. It is a great accompaniment not only for Steamed Rice but also a great topping for Tofu and even pasta.