Chef Takumi
Octopus Vinegared Salad (たこの酢の物, Tako no Sunomono)
Summer cool, and very little work: tender boiled octopus, crisp cucumber, and wakame dressed with sanbaizu so the vinegar brightens the sea without covering it.
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Chef Takumi
Vinegared Lotus Root (酢蓮根, Su-renkon)
Lotus root looks ceremonial, but the work is plain: slice it cleanly, blanch it briefly so it stays crisp, then let sweet vinegar do its quiet work overnight.
Chef Takumi
Mustard-Dressed Greens (からし和え, Karashi-ae)
Karashi-ae is a small dish with a clear nerve: greens blanched just enough, squeezed dry, then dressed with mustard, soy, and dashi until sharp and clean.
Chef Takumi
Bamboo Shoots with Kinome Miso (木の芽和え, Kinome-ae)
Tender spring bamboo meets kinome ground fresh with white miso, vinegar, and dashi. The dressing is green, fragrant, and brief by nature, so make it when the leaves are young.
Chef Takumi
Dashi-Steeped Spinach (ほうれん草のお浸し, Hōrensō no Ohitashi)
Ohitashi is quiet food: spinach blanched, cooled, squeezed dry, then steeped in dashi and light soy until the greens taste clean, deep, and plainly themselves.
Chef Takumi
Shira-ae (白和え, tofu-dressed greens)
Shira-ae looks gentle, but it has one firm demand: press the tofu well. Do that, and the dressing turns creamy, nutty, and clean around whatever greens are in season.
Chef Takumi
Squid and Wakegi with Vinegared Miso (いかとわけぎのぬた, Ika to Wakegi no Nuta)
Spring nuta is a quiet composed salad: sweet wakegi, tender squid, and sumiso sharp enough to wake them without covering them. Blanch briefly, dry carefully, dress at the last moment.
Chef Takumi
Cucumber and Wakame Sunomono (きゅうりとわかめの酢の物, Kyūri to Wakame no Sunomono)
This is the everyday sunomono: salted cucumber, wakame brought back to green life, and sanbaizu that clings because you took the water out before the vinegar went in.
Chef Takumi
Sesame-Dressed Spinach (ほうれん草のごま和え, Hōrensō no Goma-ae)
Spinach, briefly blanched and squeezed dry, meets toasted sesame ground while fragrant. The dressing is simple, but only if you let the seeds speak first.
Chef Takumi
Simmered Soybeans (五目豆, Gomoku-mame)
Gomoku-mame is batch cooking the washoku way: soybeans cooked tender first, then simmered with small-cut vegetables in sweet soy-dashi until each bite tastes settled and clean.
Chef Takumi
Steeped Eggplant (なすの煮浸し, Nasu no Nibitashi)
Nasu no nibitashi is summer eggplant at its most generous: fried just enough to collapse into silk, then left to drink a clear soy-dashi broth.
Chef Takumi
Red-and-White Namasu (紅白なます, Kōhaku Namasu)
Red on white, crisp under the teeth, and clean enough to let the richer New Year dishes pass through. Kōhaku namasu is only cutting, salting, pressing, and patience.
Chef Takumi
Blanched Komatsuna in Dashi (小松菜のお浸し, Komatsuna no Ohitashi)
Komatsuna no ohitashi is the home cook's reliable green: a quick blanch, a careful press, and a short rest in dashi until the stems taste clean and seasoned through.
Chef Takumi
Bamboo Shoot and Wakame Salad (若竹和え, Wakatake-ae)
Two spring things meet here: pale bamboo shoot, green wakame, and a vinegar-miso dressing thin enough to let both speak. The work is sourcing, then restraint.
Chef Takumi
Vinegared Mozuku (もずく酢, Mozuku-su)
Mozuku-su asks for almost no cooking, only good seaweed, a clean vinegar balance, and enough chill to make the strands taste bright and alive.
Chef Takumi
Persimmon Namasu (柿なます, Kaki Namasu)
Ripe persimmon, salted daikon, and a clear sweet vinegar make an autumn namasu that is bright, restrained, and easier than its polished holiday look suggests.
Chef Takumi
Simmered Hijiki Seaweed (ひじきの煮物, Hijiki no Nimono)
Hijiki no nimono is the quiet bento side that rewards patience: soak well, simmer gently, then let the seaweed drink its seasoning as it cools.
Chef Takumi
Butterbur Ohitashi (ふきのお浸し, Fuki no Ohitashi)
Fuki is spring's bitter green stem, softened by salt, boiling water, and a calm soak in dashi. Peel it cleanly, steep it patiently, and the season announces itself without shouting.
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