Lemon Cooks

[lemoncooking]

Sunday Throwback - Treacle Tart

Despite the name, it's usually no longer made with treacle (mollasses). English Treacle is usually lighter and slightly less sweet than American Molasses, and varies in flavour from slightly bitter to just plain syrupy. As a result, treacle tart also varies. Sometimes it's too sugary for my taste, but this was a really excellent one, lightened with a bit of lemon. Not so sure about the fennel garnish, mind you.

[lemoncooking]

Iced Matcha and Joyo Manju at Tsuruga Castle

Iced matcha is a delight, especially as Uncle Fish and I got caught out by the unexpected heat of the Aizu-Wakamatsu bonshi. That is to say, a basin surrounded by mountains in which all the hot air likes to squat. Thankfully, it wasn't just me - various Japanese tourists likewise getting off the bullet train and immediately asking why it was hot as balls in May. It's Bonshi.

Anyway, the sweets were nice, with a bouncey crepey dough surrounding a red bean paste filling.

[lemoncooking]

Jomon Soba with Mushrooms

This is a rare kind of soba, and possibly is only available at the Jomon museum near Shin-Aomori. It's made with acorn, chestnut and mountain yam, and has a thick, springy texture which Uncle Fish and I both really enjoyed. The recipe is a kind of reimagining of what people in the Jomon stone age era of Japan may have eaten. If true, then they ate damn well!

I'm kind of sad it's not more readily available and eyeing the trees in the park...

[lemoncooking]

Beef Tongue

At the amusingly named Tanya restaurant in Sendai - we had to wait for an hour and honestly, I'm sure we could have gone elsewhere and had equally good beef tongue with less of a wait, but hunger is the best seasoning and we did enjoy it. The soup is oxtail, which was a bit chewy.

[lemoncooking]

Summer Dishes

It's hot as satan's arse here this week, so I'm not into cooking. I used the coolest part of the day to prep a bunch of side dishes and have been chewing on those at meal times. Clockwise from the red dish:

Tomato marinated in dashi and kombu

Salad of lettuce, cucumber and home-grown herbs

Chicken grilled in nori and macha butter

home-made mixed pickles

Egg and Potato salad with honey mustard

Pickle-salad of cauliflower, carrot and onion with sesame

Chilled green sencha tea

[lemoncooking]

Seafood Cream Stew Omu-Rice with Melon Soda

I hadn't come across this before - rather rich but it was very tasty and just what was needed after a long morning touring the Iwate Art Museum.

[lemoncooking]

Warabi Mochi and Iced Tea

I love warabi mochi. Made of bracken starch, it's soft and slightly chewy, mildly sweet, and I can't say it has a huge deal of substance by itself but for some reason it really clicks the button.

[lemoncooking]

Flat Peaches - Summer 2026

[lemoncooking]

Conger Eel 4 Ways

Uncle Fish and I were on a soy sauce quest in Ueno, which failed spectacularly, and therefore we ended up resuming the chase in Ginza - still not a success but good soy sauce and shrimp crackers were both acquired in Mitsukoshi, which ticked the box. By that point, we were starving, and as the Mitsukoshi eel shop was full, we marched down the road to this one. It's not Unagi, it's Anago, which is smaller, more easily farmed and less muddy, so I like it better. The 4 ways were steamed, grilled, turned into a meatball, and soup. Overall, I liked them all, but Uncle Fish was only truly impressed by the grilled, so I cannot make any recommendations as to which was best. I'd go back though. Especially as the whole shebang only cost 1,300 JPY.

[lemoncooking]

Throwback Sunday

A sushi bowl eaten somewhere, some time. Decently well stuffed, wasn't it?

[lemoncooking]

Sunday Throwback

Some of the best pastries I've ever eaten

[lemoncooking]

Aomori Apple Pie and Tea

I say 'Aomori Apple Pie' like there's just the one. There isn't. There are at least 44 official ones, and probably a whole range of unofficial ones as well. In any case, over 3 days, we managed to eat 8, which I think was a good effort, but only 4 each, so still a great many left to go...

[lemoncooking]

Garlic Marinaded Rose Veal Chop, mixed grilled veggies

[lemoncooking]

Sunday Throwback - Grilled Collar of Yellowtail, Mustard Greens and Mixed Rice

Simply salt grill the fish and let the tasty fats in the collar bring the flavour. A simple and luxurious meal!

[lemoncooking]

Throwback Sunday - Katsuo

Skipjack tuna - it's the same stuff used to make bonito flakes. This is a seasonal special at my favourite sushi restaurant, cut chirashi style, lightly seasoned and served with fine herbs. A delicious and refreshing treat that goes well with sake.

[lemoncooking]

Throwback Sunday - Cream Tea

Devoured after quite a long ramble around in the New Forest (which is not the kind of forest you are envisioning). Should you put jam or cream on the scone first? Various arguments but I usually decided based on how hot the scone is and how long I can wait to eat it. If the scone is too hot, cream put first will melt and be pointless. But you don't want a cold scone either. I therefore like cold jam on the hot scone (provides a barrier for the cream, and takes the edge of cold off the jam), then the cream.

[lemoncooking]

Throwback Sunday - Inarizushi

Sushi stuffed into fried and marinated beancurd pouches, flavoured in various ways. They're satisfying and easy to eat and you can generate a lot of variety. None of these are exactly traditional versions, but experiments with ingrediants on hand.

Left hand back row: sushi rice simply seasoned with bonito flakes, nori and egg furikake rice sprinkles

Middle back row: rice seasoned with red shiso (perilla/beefsteak mint) and umeboshi pickled plum. (also right hand front row)

Right hand back row: sushi rice, topped with jako tsukudani - baby achovy 'pickled' in a seasoning of soy and mirin. I mixed this also with some similarly pickled enoki mushrooms

Left hand front row: sushi rice topped with canned tuna seasoned with nori, kyupi mayo, sansho pepper, and chopped herbs. The colour of the tuna mayo was a bit funky, but it really tasted good and also made a good toast topping.