sesame teriyaki flat iron steak.

 

Japanese cuisine is a favourite in our household. Whether it's recipes passed down through tradition or an inspired take on a classic. When Sous Chef asked if I'd like to review the Sushi Collection Santoku Knife I couldn't wait to add this sleek and sophisticated tool to my knife block. Made in Japan, the knife is fully forged from high carbon stainless steel, with a magnolia wood handle – the traditional wood to use for sushi knives

As the description suggests, it's a very versatile knife which can be used for much more than just sushi. Santoku knives are especially good for three main preparation techniques – chopping, slicing and mincing vegetables. I thought that I'd try it out for meat slicing with this sesame teriyaki flat iron steak - which is super simply and yet looks pretty impressive as part of a Japanese inspired banquet.

sushi and robata, high street kensington, london.

Found on the second floor of High Street Kensington's Wholefoods Market in the Barkers Building, Sushi and Robata is the latest venture from Japanese Genji. Proud to offer up creative, healthy and authentic Japanese cuisine, the menu is roughly split into small sushi places and grilled dishes from the robata grill. Not forgetting bento boxes and sushi treats to takeaway! Opening it's doors back at the end of June 2016, I couldn't wait to whip out my chopsticks and give it a whirl.

ethan's teppanyaki, sushi and japanese steak house, lincoln.

Found along the A46, around five miles from Lincoln, Ethan's is a newly opened Japanese steakhouse featuring everything from sushi bites to teppanyaki showcases. In a rather unusual location, ran by the popular Damon's Motel and American style restaurant, Ethan's is proud to serve up authentic (and a few more contemporary) dishes from a host of skilled chefs.

tokyo to go from yo! sushi.

Ever fancied ditching the sushi belt and going al fresco with your favourite Japanese dishes? Perhaps gorging on gyoza in your very own home or getting your noodle fix in the office? For miso on the move and takeaway tempura, Yo! To Go is the answer. Get your most loved Yo! dishes (and a few brand new extras) to takeaway or be delivered to an eligible address. Complete with soy sauce, wasabi, ginger and chopsticks, of course. And hey presto... it's Tokyo To Go!

mister miyagi, bold street, liverpool.

Mister Miyagi, also known as simply Miyagi, is a Japanese inspired gem that you'll find amongst the bustling independents of Liverpool's Bold Street. Always keen to track down an Asian restaurant whilst on my UK travels, the same name kept coming up upon asking for Liverpool Twitter recommendations. With a menu boasting the likes of steamed buns, sushi and gyoza, I knew that I had to try it out. It was a tough choice decided what Oriental treats to choose from this Japanese restaurant's menu, but someone had to do it.

chilli & sesame chips.

An Asian inspired take on the beloved potato chip. These rustic baked chips have an extra crispiness from the sesame seeds, sea salt and chilli flakes. Not forgetting the ultimate dip - a medley of mayo and soy sauce. My new favourite snacking food on its own as well as alongside teriyaki dishes, Chinese style seafood, Asian vegetables or marinated skewers. These are dangerously easy to make...

muga ramen dining & bar, london.

MUGA is a stylish, contemporary ramen bar found just a short walk from Piccadilly Circus. This modern London establishment serves up authentic ramen, your way, with a minimalist menu and interiors to match. Whether you're mad about miso or have a yearning for yasai, you simply pick your noodles and add on any extras depending how hungry/greedy you're feeling that day. 

the latest additions at wagamama.

It's no secret I love Japanese food. Time and time again I return to old faithful wagamama for my favourite Ebi Raisukaree; a fragrantly spiced prawn curry which I've tried to recreate at home. I was invited by my local wagamama to come down and try the new menu additions. Weeks ahead, I already had my eye on the toasted sesame mochi for dessert.

saka no hana, london.

Sake No Hana is a Japanese restaurant nearby London's St. James Park, which boasts market fresh seafood, a plethora of sushi and, unsurprisingly, a great sake list to accompany. I couldn't wait to treat my tastebuds to their variety of signature dishes, and so went for their five course Taste of Sake No Hana menu, which is accompanied by a bottle of sake to share for £29 a head.

ebi raisukaree: a wagamama inspired recipe.

I like to think of myself as someone who loves to try new things at restaurants. But at some places, there just seems to be that dish. No matter how much you browse the delicious dishes shouting "Pick me! Pick me!" that dish will always win you over. at Wagamama, that dish is Ebi Raisukaree. a fragrant coconut and lime sauce with red chillies, coriander and your choice of chicken or prawns. I hope Wagamama don't mind, but I just had to recreate it at home. 

king prawn gyoza.

I've been loving trying out my dumpling folding skills lately, most recently with a fragrant steamed tofu potsticker recipe. Although I use the word skills lightly as I've still got so much to learn. Just like sushi and dim sum, I love little bites such as Japanese gyoza because you can eat as many or as little as you like. I made these as a starter between three, before having a vegetarian katsu curry with sticky rice for our main. 

making sushi at home: sushi simplicity by miyuki matsuo.

if you follow my little old blog, you'll know that i'm quite frankly sushi mad. so when i was asked if i'd like a preview of the upcoming sushi simplicity by miyuki matsuo it was a no brainer. on the shelves in early 2014, i couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy and try out some diy sushi at home! sadly i don't have a sushi belt in my house (yet) but i have to say still had lots of fun playing around with techniques colours, and flavours.

little tokyo, leicester.

another birthday meal: a feast of japanese treats! based in leicester along braunstone gate, i can't believe this is the first time i'd been to this lovely little gem. i took a few quick snaps of the food before devouring this delicious asian banquet.

happy national katsu curry week!

first and foremost, happy national katsy curry week! no i hadn't realised it existed either. but why on earth not would you not want to devote an entire week to the crispy coated, crunchy, fruity, saucy morsels on a bed of gorgeous sticky rice? to celebrate, yo! sushi have put the super mega katsu curry on the menu for £7 a bowl. with classic chicken, prawn and tofu to choose from, these beasts will definitely distract your attention from the rainbow of pretty plates on the sushi belt. 

sushi express, sheffield.

it was when i lived in sheffield that i really got into my love of sushi. you wouldn't believe how many little independent japanese gems there are in the city; sakushi, edo sushi, wasabisabi, yami sushi and perhaps my favourite (though not by much) sushi express. when i went to sheffield the other weekend i made sure i had a reunion with their sushi delights before an evening at some old haunts.

yo sushi, southbank, london.

sushi sushi sushi. i can't get enough of it. if you love it too, i'll talk to you about it for hours. if you tell me you hate it because it's all raw fish, i'll talk to you for hours about how it's not all raw fish, or even all seafood for that matter. believe it or not, i wrote my journalism dissertation about sushi. okay maybe i am a little bit mad... so when i was invited to try out the yo! sushi at london southbank i raised my soy sauce bottle high, painted my face with wasabi and did a little dance with my chopsticks. 

vegetable won tons.

move over pasta machine, i've found a new foodie toy in my bamboo steamer. having recently tried out vietnamese summer rolls with king prawns and steamed pork dumplings i thought i'd set about finding a vegetarian dim sum recipe with the won ton wrappers i'd just bought. to my surprise, there were hardly any veggie won ton recipes out there. so i don't profess to this being authentic by any stretch but i hope you enjoy my recipe of oriental infused vegetables :) oh and do you like my new bowl and dipping bowl?

sticky sesame cod with japanese style broth.

lately i've been dreaming about the sesame seed, sesame oil and soy sauce combo - i just can't get enough of it. this recipe was inspired by bbc good food - slightly changed and using soya beans instead of peas. well they are more japanese afterall :) 

i used to just nibble on soya beans as a snack with a sprinkle of salt - then they somehow seemed to disappear from most supermarkets! so when i was reunited with them again in the freezer aisle my love for them was of course rekindled. so onto the recipe...

koya japanese restaurant, london.

well, time out gave koya a whopping 5 stars and i'm certainly not disagreeing. this week i got the chance to go there with my friend who has recently moved to london. nearby leicester square tube station, we got there at about half 5 and by 6 there were queues out the door. 

no surprises why really, when you look how tasty the food is! we shared a mixed seaweed salad (£6.10) and steamed monkfish special (£8.90), then for mains had duck donburi (£12.10) and tempura udon noodles (£10.30) over a glass of red. 

absolutely amazing food and would definitely recommend going if you're ever nearby. five hearts from me! ♥♥♥♥♥

www.koya.co.uk ♥

hyper japan christmas event 2012.

when i was invited to the hyper japan and eat japan christmas event this year i just couldn't wait. let's face it - seafood, sushi and sake and i'm there. 

overwhelmed with all the brilliant stalls (and hunger from my two hour journey from leicester!), i spent the first half an hour deciding what i wanted for lunch. sadly around 20 minutes of that was in a cash point queue getting out money to buy... everything. more cash points please, earls court!

i'd remembered at hyper japan in summer 2011 i'd had some kind of noodles in a boat shaped bowl. i was determined to find what i called the boat bowl stall again. and i did... here i am loving life eating yakisoba noodles with a cheeky side of prawn tempura. delish! 

about five minutes after this photograph, i excitedly ran (ish) off in search of wasabi ice cream. it's so nice - the taste of wasabi but not the heat. there were also these things called snow cones which i saw afterwards (see picture below). i'm not too keen on overly icey things but they really intrigued me. has anyone ever tried them?

after a little mill round the stalls, taking in the atmosphere and, admittedly, looking for a little too long at all the incredible costumes, we headed over for the sake tasting experience. 

i actually hadn't tried sake before. like most people, i imagined it to be really potent, highly alcoholic and something i definitely couldn't try 10-15 shots of. the alcoholic part was pretty spot on as most of them were 16-18%. however, there were so many different flavours you wouldn't believe. we actually learnt loads about how they polish the rice and thee categories junmai, ginjo and daiginjo. the most premium sake is daiginjo with a 50% polishing ratio, whilst, ginjo is 60% and junmai is 70%. there were also snacks laid out to complement the sake - such as goats cheese, dried oyster, dried shrimps, wasabi peas and rice crackers.

a particular favourite was a sake made from yuzu, a japanese citrus fruit which i found to taste somewhere between a lemon and a grapefruit. this in was the cloudy yellow bottle in my pictures. i was so sad that they'd sold out and think i'm going to have to do some serious research to track down a japanese supermarket that sells it!

i also really enjoyed a cider style sake, which was in the white bottle. this was only 5% and was really fruity and sweet - just how i like my cider! kampai! after voting for our, favourite, sake we'd give as a gift and sake we'd drink with british cuisine, we got a free sake book and a go at a lucky dip. i won a wasabi fridge magnet... yess! 

all in a all yet another amazing j-culture event embraced by foodies, art lovers and fans of japanese gaming and pop culture. i can't wait to see what the next one brings!

www.hyperjapan.co.uk

follow on twitter at @hyperjapanevent