Japan

Here, Eat This: A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Cuisine (That's Not Sushi or Ramen)

Although its all the craze lately, ramen is just one of the soups you'll find in Japanese cuisine. And although you'll find sushi everywhere these days -- from gas stations to grocery stores -- there's more to Japanese food than raw fish and rice. And while Houston may have far fewer Japanese resta ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 2: Chris Kinjo of MF Sushi, on Working in More Than 30 Restaurants, the Problem with Fake Fish and Old-School Japanese Sushi

This is part 2 of a three part Chef Chat series. You can read Part 1 here if you missed it. Look for Part 3 in this same space Friday. EOW: What was your first job as a sushi chef? CK: My first was at Sushi Muto in Santa Ana, California -- it's not there anymore. The sushi master there was a cer ... More >>

A Ransom Note To All Major Fast Food Chains

Scene: KFC International Food Testing HQ "So what you're telling me, Colonel, is that I can only get these creamy, delicious, bacon and herb stuffed taters...when I go to Japan? Japan!! Is that what you're telling me!??! Cue sound effects: multiple explosions followed by a quick sword fight and t ... More >>

Tokyo String Quartet

Ann Arbor Film Festival 16mm Touring Program

Japan Festival 2013

Go Way Out to Eat: 5 Favorite Dining Destinations

Food & Wine magazine recently featured a series of articles on culinary destinations, or "...the world's best food pilgrimages," as they put it. While it was indeed interesting, I must say that places like Bangkok, Rome and India are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to food travels. The ... More >>

Summer Wars

Pop Rocks: The Case For Internet Piracy

Well, not always.​What follows is a more or less accurate transcript of a conversation I had yesterday: Me: Looks like that charity album for Japan raised $5 million. Not bad. They: Which one, Songs for Japan? I downloaded that last week. Me: You...downloaded a charity album? They: No! I mean ... More >>

The Shaggy Dog Roll at Nippon Japanese Restaurant

Joanna O'LearyShaggy Dog Roll at Nippon​I grimace when the canine species is at all associated with Asian cuisine, but that didn't stop me from ordering the Shaggy Dog Roll at Nippon. The components (shrimp tempura, mayo, crabmeat, etc.) seemed familiar and innocuous, and, besides, as I told ... More >>

Expansion of Bay City Nuke Plant Abandoned

Josh HarkinsonNo expansion at Bay City.​The ambitious plan to double the size of the South Texas Nuclear Project, already in trouble over cost concerns, has been abandoned "as a result of the ongoing nuclear incident in Japan," its owner announced today. NRG Energy, owner of the plant, said " ... More >>

Upcoming Events

Photo by GroovehouseThe lawn at the Menil will be the place to be this Saturday.​First things first: The 2011 Burger Bracket Championship is on like Donkey Kong this coming Monday, April 4, at Lucky's Pub. The first 100 people there before 6 p.m. will receive a ticket and a judging token and w ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs

Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Jack Tyler Dines: CultureMap writer Ruthie Johnson alerted me to this food blog ... More >>

Sprinkles' Efforts to Help Japan

​With the recent disasters that have occurred in Japan, we're all looking for a way to help out however we can. There are numerous benefits and texting campaigns that have successfully raised money for relief efforts. Today Sprinkles Cupcakes is selling Red Cross Red Velvet cupcakes to ben ... More >>

Comment of the Day

​This morning, Geri Maria Harris listed her Top 5 sushi restaurants in Houston and -- as with any Top 5 or Top 10 list -- everyone weighed in with their own "left out" restaurants. But one reader, angrybaker, took issue with the name of the post itself, not necessarily the contents: While I ... More >>

From Fish to Feast: Breaking Down a Yellowfin Tuna

Photos by GroovehouseTo see the entire slideshow, click here.​When you have a landlord that occasionally goes deep sea fishing, you can expect some goodies to come your way every once in a while. That's what happened this past Sunday afternoon, when my boyfriend came home to find his landlord ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

Some restaurants helpfully split up their menus into Good and Evil dishes.​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we've almost finished constructing our 1700-layer cake in MineCraft. We started this week off right with some fried chicken coated in a buttery Cap'N Cr ... More >>

The 10 Most Fun Musical Instruments To Destroy

​A company in Japan is making disposable guitars expressly made for smashing. At around $60 a pop, you won't be too terribly sad about hacking up the stage with it or clocking your bastard bassist or dullard drummer over the head at the end of the gig. Hell, at these prices you could open the ... More >>

Jewish Panties: Donations Accepted (But It's Not What You Think)

Okay, we're just throwing this out there.Belden's, the terrific Jewish grocery store in Meyerland, has a box asking for donations of used panties.​ Some -- not us, certainly -- might question if someone at Belden's has a certain thing for such items.You know, because in Japan vending machines sell ... More >>

Random Ingredient: Hen of the Woods Mushrooms

​What is it? These funny-looking fungi are mushrooms known as maitake in Japan. Native to both Japan and North America, they grow in clusters at the base of trees (unless, of course, they're produced commercially). Other names include Ram's Head or Sheep's Head mushrooms. Some clusters, found ... More >>

Not for Breakfast

Okonomiyaki at Kaneyama

Random Ingredient: Dried Kelp

​What is it? Kelp is a type of brown seaweed used extensively in Asian cooking. This packaged, dried kelp is a Korean product known as dashima, but in Japan is known as kombu and in China hai dai. The actual seaweed, when rehydrated, is intensely slimy, and not surprisingly, smells like the be ... More >>

Mother’s Day Brunch at Tokyo One

Taste the goodness of Japan at this celebration for mom

Shiso Delicious

Shiso hasami age at Umai

Shonen Knife

Art Conservation Symposium: “Art Unfolded — Japan’s Gift of Conservation”

Web exclusive!

Tokyo Majin, Vol. 3

Web exclusive!

Polysics

Japanese Devo whip it into shape at the Meridian

Labor Day Show

Cinema Bomar’s latest installment features filmstrips about a hard day’s work

“Miwa Yanagi – Deutsche Bank Collection”

A Japanese photographer confronts the conventional images of women

Fish Frenzy at Tokyo One

Pile your plate with scads of sashimi at this new all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet

Melt Banana

“Japan” at Houston center for Photography

D’Entrone reveals the beauty of the island nation

Special Rip-Off Edición

That's Intensive

Shock Treatment

Image of the Week

Japan Festival in Hermann Park

It's All in the Packaging

Jungle Cafe

Family Show

Dazzling costumes and taiko drums await you at "Noh: the Art Festival of Japan"

Fun with Guns

Have a blast at the Lone Star Shoot

Recommended Reading

Dance Fever

HISD kills a reality show on high school dancers

Hai Art

Think Japanese photography begins with Nikon? You've got a lot to learn

Tooned In To Anime

Fans say there's nothing Mickey Mouse about these Japanese cartoons with their stories of love, sex, death and saving the world

Roll with It

Houston chefs are creating some uniquely Texan sushi rolls

Fusion on the Other Side of the World

Speaking off the toque: Michael Potowski

Best Japanese Restaurant

Kaneyama Japanese Restaurant

Six Strings Under

Unlike many of his rock guitar god peers, Joe Satriani has yet to flee to audiences overseas

Sushi Safari

After years of denial, our critic learns the truth: She has to eat it raw

Grand Kabuki, Grand Style