タンポポ or 蒲公英 literally means “dandelion” and is a classic Japanese movie that’s a must see.
Like seeds of a dandelion blowing in the wind, the plot of Tampopo wanders in several directions, following the lives of a quirky collection of characters. At the heart of this film is a young widow named Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto), who is struggling to make ends meet by running a noodle restaurant.
CUCUMBER TSUKEMONO-きゅうりの漬物
Tsukemono means “pickled” in Japanese. Most every meal will have a certain type of vegetable tsukemono on the side. You can pickle vegetables with salt, vinegar, miso and soy sauce. You can pickle just about anything except anything that’s too starchy like potatoes. Try this recipe on your favorite vegetable. My mom always had a tub filled with all sorts of Tsukemono. My favorites include, cucumbers, napa cabbage, eggplant and celery.
DAIKON SALAD WITH MISO DRESSING- 大根の味噌ドレッシングサラダ
Daikon is a Japanese radish found in all Asian Supermarkets and in many regular Supermarkets. It is a very popular vegetable and used in many different ways. Using Daikon makes a healthy and light salad.
Serves 6
1 head Lettuce, sliced thin
1 small Daikon, shredded
1 bunch Red radish, sliced
½ cup Green onions, finely
chopped
Miso Dressing:
½ cup Vinegar
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
1/3 cup Miso
½ cup Mayonnaise based salad dressing
2 tbsp. Sugar
2 tbsp. Mirin
2 tbsp. Sesame Oil
1. Combine lettuce, daikon, red radish and green onions.
2. Mix miso dressing ingredients until miso is dissolved. Add to vegetables just before serving.
SALAD WITH NATTO DRESSING- 納豆ドレッシングサラダ
This recipe is for the adventurous! If you haven’t tried NATTO yet, then this is a good way to start. The best way to eat this would be on top of hot white rice, but then again you are already masking the true flavor of NATTO which is just with soy sauce so take the chance and slurp this on its own!
SOBA SALAD
そばサラダ
Soba is a noodle made out of buckwheat. Although traditionally served in a hot soup broth, this is a great and healthy way to turn a steamy bowl of soup to a light salad. Japanese cucumbers are found at Japanese Supermarkets. They are skinnier in size and often have tiny bumps on the outside.
