To begin with, we would like to explain a little bit about our two of our main products, “ochazuke” and “tsukudani”.

• Ochazuke

  Ochazuke is one of many traditional ways to eat rice in Japan.
  To make ochazuke, a selection of small, strongly flavored toppings are put on top of a bowl of steamed rice and then hot green tea is poured over it. It is an easy way to prepare a light meal, or it can also be eaten as the last course of a deluxe meal. Many people also eat it after an evening out with alcohol and snacks. This way of eating ochazuke is what the Japanese call “shime”, or the closing dish of a meal. Ochazuke can be a very plain and simple dish, or it can be an extravagant affair, depending on the quality of rice, toppings and tea one uses to make it.

  It is interesting to note that Rosanjin, the extraordinary and multitalented Japanese artist, also known as an epicure, devoted a whole chapter on ochazuke, in his book “Ryori Ohkoku”. From this fact alone, one can assume he had a special fondness for this dish.

  

• Tsukudani

  The staple food in Japan is rice. To enhance the flavor of freshly steamed rice, the Japanese invented a variety of preservable side dishes, such as pickles, pickled plum and tsukudani. All these foods have a rather concentrated flavor and we like to call them “gohan-no-tomo” or directly translated, “friends of rice”.

  Tsukudani can be made with a diverse selection of ingredients such as seafood, meat, wild vegetables, or also regular vegetables, which are slowly simmered in a soy based broth. Tsukudani is an excellent accompaniment to your every day meal or added to a lunch box and also as a flavoring for rice balls.