Sauteed Chinese yam with butter and soup stock flavored soy sauce by Yuri Yamamoto’s recipe

                   
                           Sauteed Chinese yam with butter and soup stock flavored soy sauce

Yuri Yamamoto is now the most popular cooking blogger in Japan. The dish of Chinese yam is very easy: saute it with its peel, put butter and sprinkle soup stock flavored soy sauce. It is so good. In the first place, I didn’t have the idea of sauteing Chinese yam. It is a kind of taste like you eat in an izakaya. Yuri highly recommends soup stock flavored soy sauce, so I bought two flavors. Only by sprinkling with the soy sauce, boiled or grilled vegetables become a delicious dish. 

             

                                 Two kinds of the soup stock flavored soy sauces

Yuri has posted many recipes that you can cook with a microwave, which you have fewer dishes that you have to wash. I have heard that a husband who read Yuri’s recipe book and he got motivated to cook for the first time because those recipes

looked so easy.

By the way, Yuri is from Osaka but her husband is from Ono City, Fukui Prefecture.

They return to Ono City once in a while. And she wrote in her blog about foods in Ono City. 

On Twitter, she answers questions frequently about her recipes. For example, 

against a chocolate cheesecake recipe, "Is it okay without chocolate?" "It's okay. I recommend adding a little lemon juice." She has a big heart, so it must be one of the secrets of her popularity. (H.S)

               

                                      Yuri Yamamoto and her recipe book

                               （Photo is Books Kinokuniya’s official website）

                                        Yuri's Twitter: @syunkon0507 

                             

・Get our newsletter

Souvenir recommendation of Osaka “Freshly baked cheese cake by Rikuro’s”

Recently, when I go to Osaka, I buy the freshy baked cheese cake by Rikuro's home. They bake cakes at each shop respectively. Customers wait in lines of the shops but it’s no wonder because the freshly baked cheese cake is only 725 yen (with tax) for a 18cm whole cake.

Rikuro’s cheese cake is moist and fluffy, and even those who don’t like sweets can enjoy it. Raisins at the bottom of the cake accentuate the taste.

Who is Rikuro?

Rikuro Nishimura (1933-2007)
Rikuro was born in 1933 in a mountain village of Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture. When he was 16, he apprenticed to a confectionery wholesaler in Osaka. Two years later, he started working for another confectionery maker to master skills for confectionery making. He became independent from the company when he was 23. He founded “Chidori-ya” in 1956. In 1984, Rikuro mark was born as a branding iron when he sold freshly baked cheese cakes at the opening of its Kita-kagaya shop. Afterwards, his shops’ name was unified into “Rikuro’s”. Their cheese cake is loved by many fans. He is a founder of Rikuro Co., Ltd., which has eleven directly managed shops in Osaka City. (H.S)

                             The freshly baked cheese cake
                             The photo is from their official website.

[Video of branding the cakes with a hot iron]
 When they are finished baking, a bell rings. The cakes are jiggly.

 

・Get our newsletter

The world's only in-airport winery "Osaka Airport Winery"

This time, I departed from Itami Airport (Osaka International Airport) to Ishigaki Island via Naha. Actually, at the Itami Airport, there is the world's only winery at an airport. The winery "Osaka Airport Winery" also has a wine bar. So, I went to the airport early and stopped at the winery to have lunch.

                         The appearance of the winery and bar 

                 

                                                       Inside the bar

                         You can enjoy wine and Italian cuisine with a view of 

                         the brewing tanks.

                  

                              Red wine made on-premises (rough filtered)

       It was Concord, so I was afraid it was a bit sweet but wasn't and delicious,                       fresh and fruity. They offer white wines including Chardonnay.                                                                         

                                                   

               They serve various dishes to go with wine, which are large portions. 

                             

They sell wine as a souvenir. 

                      The bottles are accented with ITM (the three letter code for

                      the Itami Airport). They also show the wine maker's name 

                      Shigehiro Teruya. 

The central commercial area is currently going through major renovations and many new shops and restaurants will open in the summer of 2020. (H.S)