My favorite drink is sake.
I can't imagine Japanese food without dashi, a broth made with kelp and dried bonito flakes. It has the aroma of the sea, tinged with a subtle smokiness, and adds a very important, distinct flavor.
I always have dashi in my refrigerator - it's the almighty Japanese ingredient.
Two words to improve any dish. Ba, Con
Dashi remains unfamiliar to most French and American cooks, who tend to reach for a bouillon cube to do many of the same things. But dashi is worth preparing and using the way the Japanese do: for poaching fish, as a soup base, and in simmered dishes.
I like anchovies, and I don't tell everybody about them. Almost every time, they don't even notice.
Anchovies pair really well with fruit like a nectarines or clementine. The fruit complements the sweetness and saltiness of the anchovy.
Ramen is Japanese soul food, appealing to old and young, rich and poor.
At its best, [Japanese cooking] is inextricably meshed with aesthetics, with religion, with tradition and history. It is evocative of seasonal changes, or of one's childhood, or of a storm at sea.
Soy sauce and seaweed go really well with potato chips.
Everything tastes better with butter. Meat that has fat in it is tender in a certain way, flavorful in a certain way. It's hard to deny the flavor quotient there.
Soy sauce is really a multi-purpose seasoning.
