June 2022

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Rikucho Ogasawara's Onigiri Iron Plate has many uses other than grilling onigiri. Wouldn't it be fun to bake the dough in the style of dorayaki and sandwich it with anko (red bean paste) and butter, or to sandwich it in the style of dorayaki maritozzo with plenty of cream and anko (red bean paste)?

To make a dorayaki-like crust, add a sweetener such as honey or mirin to the egg, flour, and butter. To make a chunky dough, you can mix the flour with white bean flour. You can make them more easily by using a pancake mix.

The thicker the iron pot, the more heat it stores and the less likely it is to heat unevenly. Suitable for hamburgers, steaks, dumplings, okonomiyaki, pancakes, etc., where the inside is cooked slowly. Please try out Onigiri Iron Plate, as well as Mini Pan and Frying Pan, to see the difference in finish and taste.

Rikucho Ogasawara's Onigiri Iron Plate
https://www.shokunin.com/en/rikucho/onigiri.html 
Azmaya's Cheese Board S
https://www.shokunin.com/en/azmaya/cheeseboard.html 
Rikucho Ogasawara's Mini Pan
https://www.shokunin.com/en/rikucho/minipan.html 
Rikucho Ogasawara's Frying Pan
https://www.shokunin.com/en/rikucho/fryingpan.html 

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[A Story of Paulownia]

In the past, there was a custom in Japan to plant a paulownia tree when a girl was born. When a daughter married, she made a chest of drawers out of paulownia wood and used it as her wedding present. Paulownia trees grow quickly, reaching maturity in about 20 years. It is the lightest of all Japanese woods, rich in tannin, paulonin, sesamin, and other insecticidal substances, and its porous structure makes it both moisture-proof and fire-resistant, making it an appropriate wood for chests used to store kimonos.

The paulownia crest was also used in the crests of the imperial family and the family crests of warring feudal lords, and is now the crest of the Japanese government and can be seen on the back of the 500-yen coin. This comes from the tree where the legendary phoenix dwells, which has been praised as auspiciousness and good fortune by Chinese dynasties since ancient times. With its sacred image and excellent properties, it is understandable that paulownia wood is used as a storage box for precious objects.

Yama No Katachi's Paulownia Wood Tray feature stackable bottoms. Even if it is difficult to find space for a large chest of drawers, stacking folded and stored clothing can be useful when changing clothes. T-shirts and other items can be folded to the depth of the tray and arranged vertically to store a certain number of items. The “M-Deep" is recommended for storing clothes, while the “S-Deep" is recommended for storing handkerchiefs and masks.

Paulownia Wood Tray, which provides clean and simple storage, is manufactured by Yoshida, a limited company in Yamagata City that has been making paulownia boxes since 1930.

Yama No Katachi's Paulownia Wood Tray
https://www.shokunin.com/en/yamanokatachi/kiri.html 

References
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/キリ
https://www.shinrin-ringyou.com/tree/kiri.php
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/桐紋

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[In the Season of Plum Work]

When we see the freshly colored plums on the supermarket shelves, we often stop for a while in front of the plum section as all sorts of thoughts rush through our mind: shall we do plum work again this year, what should we prepare, what is our schedule, and so on. It is not so difficult to buy only a little, so we decided to buy 1kg first, and that 1kg turned into 2kg, then 3kg, and the aroma of plums in the kitchen grows stronger day by day, which is one of the pleasures of this season.

The plums we bought were allowed to ripen in cardboard boxes for a couple of days and were recently pre-soaked for pickled plums. We use Sori Yanagi's Stainless Steel Bowl for washing plums. For small amounts to 1.5 kg, we recommend the 23cm shown in the photo or the 27 cm, which has more room. After wiping off the water, dry the plums thoroughly and pack them with salt in the prepared storage containers.

We started working with plums a few years ago. There are many things we learn for the first time, and each season is full of encounters with new discoveries.

Sori Yanagi's Stainless Steel Bowl 23cm
https://www.shokunin.com/en/yanagisori/bowl.html 

Reference
https://www.umekenkyuukai.org/have-fun/calendar.html