This Matzo Ball Soup Drifts Toward Tokyo
Miso soup with matzo balls? Lotus root tempura with matzo cake meal? Japanese sweet potato kugel? These exciting dishes aren't the work of chefs, but rather came from the resourcefulness of 1,000 or so Jews in Tokyo, a city of 28 million.
One of Japan's tiniest minorities, they're creatively adapting traditional recipes for Passover, the ancient eight-day spring holiday, which begins Saturday.
Recipe: Miso Matzo Ball Soup
Many bring back kosher for Passover-approved ingredients like matzo cake meal from their travels, and, of course, substitutions are prevalent. Chinese horseradish or wasabi root, for example, steps in for the traditional maror (the bitter herbs on the Passover Seder plate), and miso forms the base for many soups, including matzo ball, with OK Kosher sending someone twice a year to supervise the facilities that make kosher fermented soybean paste.
In fact, said Andrew Scheer, 38, the enthusiastic rabbi of the Jewish Community Center of Japan, founded 70 years ago: 'You'd be just as likely to find miso soup as matzo ball soup on our Friday night dinner table.'
The center alternates between traditional Jewish cuisine preferred by its members and the kosher Japanese dishes tourists want to try. 'That way,' Rabbi Scheer said, 'everyone's happy.'
On a recent Friday night, the center served up chicken soup with matzo balls and roast chicken, with a kosher bird ordered from abroad. There was challah, too, made by Toyoko Izaki San, a Japanese woman who has been twisting the loaves for the center for at least 40 years.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
12 Things in Your Fridge You Should Throw Away
Some commonly refrigerated items may spoil earlier than you expect. Check soft cheeses, deli meats and condiments are common culprits. Homemade dressings, broths and leftovers should be eaten within a week or refrigerator is a godsend—without one we'd be running to the grocery store every day and throwing food out left and right. But refrigerators can't keep our food fresh forever. Whether you're working on a big kitchen clean-out or just trying to keep things spick-and-span, here are 12 types of items in your fridge that probably need to be checked. I have a confession to make: I like to collect condiments. At any given time, you'll find at least two, if not three, varieties of the same condiment (yes, we have both regular and Japanese mayo in the fridge). Hoarding so many condiments inevitably leads to many that expire or go bad before we're able to finish them. If your condiment collection looks anything like ours, you should probably go through your fridge and check to see which ones are still good and which ones need to be thrown out. Here's how long some popular condiments will last in the fridge: Ketchup, cocktail or chili sauce: six months Chutney: one to two months Horseradish: three to four months Mustard: 12 months Olives: two weeks Pickles: one to three months Mayonnaise and salad dressing: two months When in doubt, do a sight and sniff test. If it has separated or there's visible mold, toss it. If it looks OK but has an off smell, toss it. One of our favorite workday lunches is the good ol' deli or cured meat sandwich. It's easy and fast, and always delicious. Although deli and cured meats are preserved, they don't have a super-long shelf life. Deli meat should be consumed within three to five days of opening the package, and cured meats, such as prosciutto, should be eaten within two to three weeks. If you have any preserved meats that are beyond those time frames, throw them out. Better to be safe than sorry. Fermented foods like kimchi, pickles and miso are great items to have stocked in the fridge—they bring so much life to a meal. Fermented foods can be stored for a long time, but that doesn't mean they can last indefinitely. If your kimchi and pickles have a white film on top or mold growing, there's no way of salvaging them—throw them out. For foods like miso, if the color, texture and smell have changed significantly, it's time for them to go. Our grocery list always includes some kind of ground meat. We love how quickly it cooks and all the different ways it can be used. Unfortunately, ground meat needs to be used within two days of purchasing. This is because ground meat undergoes more processing and handling, which makes it more prone to bacterial growth. If you don't plan on using your ground meat right away, store it in the freezer and thaw it in the refrigerator one day before you plan on using it. A cheese plate every Friday is one of our favorite rituals. What can we say, cheese and a little wine at the end of the workweek makes us happy. Unfortunately, our favorite types of cheese, the softer kinds like goat cheese and Brie, don't have a long shelf life—about one week or so. If your cheese drawer is currently full of half-finished wedges and containers of soft cheese, do an inventory check and chuck any that have been around for more than a couple of weeks. Canned foods are a lifesaver. We have some stored in an emergency kit in case of a natural disaster, and we have some in our pantry for when we want to put together a quick meal. If you don't finish the entire can and haven't gotten into the habit of storing extras in an airtight container, we suggest you do. Refrigerating an open can will make the contents dry out faster, absorb unwanted odors and even expose them to cross contamination. If you happen to have opened cans in your fridge that are more than a day or two old, we suggest you throw them out. We cannot resist a good deal, but sometimes that means we end up buying more fruits and vegetables than we can eat. Although the coupon-clipper in us wants to cut off the moldy bit and eat the part that looks OK, in terms of food safety, the whole thing should be thrown out. Mold has roots and so even if it doesn't look like it's everywhere, the entire piece is probably contaminated. Same goes with slimy produce. That slippery white coating means that your produce has already begun to rot. Throw it into the compost pile. One of our favorite ways to stretch our rotisserie chicken is by making homemade stock or broth with the bones. We've found that using stock instead of water gives our soup a flavor boost without any additional effort or time. The thing about refrigerated stock or broth is that you need to use it in about four days or else it's no good. If you have no plans to make a big batch of soup, or can't use up that stock in four days, freeze it. Otherwise, it's got to go down the drain. We like to make our own salad dressings and sauces whenever possible. It allows us to use the best ingredients and also control the amount of salt and sugar added. That being said, homemade salad dressings and sauces don't have preservatives like commercially made ones, which means they will spoil more quickly. In fact, they should be eaten within a week or two. Anything beyond that risks unwanted bacterial growth. Saving leftovers is a great way to curb your food waste. They also make a great, no-brainer lunch the next day. However, if you forget to eat those leftovers within three to four days, they need to be thrown out. Consuming your leftovers past that time frame means there's a good chance harmful bacteria have started to grow, increasing your chances of getting food poisoning. Some bacteria won't even cause your food to look, taste or smell different, so a sniff and taste test is not helpful. Unless you're able to consume those leftovers within three to four days, toss them (or freeze them). Do you ever drink milk straight out of the carton or eat forkfuls of macaroni salad right out of the container? Don't be embarrassed, because we do it too. However, this does mean that those items are likely to spoil more quickly than their best-by dates. No matter how strict we are with our hygiene, our noses and mouths carry a lot of germs and bacteria, which transfer to the foods we eat. For foods that you've double-dipped or sipped, follow the leftovers rule, consume them within three to four days. Baking soda is a great way to keep your fridge smelling fresh (it's especially essential for those of us who always keep a jar of kimchi on hand). But, if you're like us, that box of baking soda has probably been in there for months, making it ineffective. The folks at Arm & Hammer recommend replacing your fridge box of baking soda every 30 days. We trust their expertise. Refrigerators prolong the life of our food significantly, but not indefinitely. To prevent any unwanted bouts of food poisoning, we recommend going through the contents of your fridge regularly and throwing out anything that's questionable or past its prime. While you're cleaning, why not start a Clean-Out-the-Fridge Vegetable Soup with the salvageable items—and don't forget to update your shopping list to restock your favorites. Read the original article on EATINGWELL
Buzz Feed
9 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
26 Gardening Products That Helped Reviewers (With Pics)
A standing weeder (without the chemicals!) to help improve your view of your yard. You're not the only one who has trouble enjoying weed-filled scenery. And hey, while you're weeding with this, there's no bending over! Your back will thank you. And a crack weeder tool that'll go where the larger weeder (and your hands!) can't. A dog spot repair if your puppy has a favorite pee spot and it shows... This stuff will get new grass growin' in no time so you can get back to hosting BBQs. A pack of four plant supporters can perk up any slumped plants right back up while blending in enough so they don't look super obvious. A Hori Hori Japanese weeding knife made of stainless steel with measurement markings on the blade to make sure that you're going as deep as you need. (That'll especially come in handy for planting stuff in the ground you want there.) A pack of Miracle-Gro water-storing crystals that'll help you get your watering levels juuuuust right so you don't over- or underwater your plants. All you have to do is mix in said crystals with your regular soil and they'll absorb water and hydrate your soil as needed. A variety of sunflower seeds that might just turn your backyard into the #1 destination for pics this year. And a pack of wildflower seeds can help transform empty spots in your garden beds and yard without having to map out which kind of plant goes where. It includes 30,000+ seeds total with 23 varieties to help you fill in some gardening gaps. Some colorful flower pots with draining holes and hooks so the plants inside can ~thrive~ while they sit there looking pretty. (Don't worry, artificial flowers will thrive in there too.) Cloning paste for orchids and other houseplants that you're about ready to declutter. Apply its lanolin and vitamin-rich formula to nodes to encourage new growth, which both you and your plant deserve. Sticky plant traps in case acquiring some new indoor plants also came with a bunch of gross gnats. It happens! But you can also deal with it. Scotts Green Max Lawn Food, which is really just fancy talk for fertilizer, plus 5% iron for a faster greener process. If your yard is looking a little more yellow and brown than green as of late, this is worth a try. A pair of stainless-steel gardening shears that'll help you get in there with precision for all kinds of tasks like harvesting a few tomatoes while keeping the stem intact, deadheading daylilies, trimming zucchini plants, and even cutting through THICK stalks. But they're super lightweight! Or some Fiskars long-handled loppers to help you reach and trim overgrown stuff so your backyard gets back to looking like a garden instead of a jungle in Jumanji. A pack of reusable Velcro garden ties can help your tomato plants (and tons of other plants) out of their sophomore slump. They'll help you attach stems to cages, trellises, stakes, and other structures without causing any damage. And they're adjustable so you can make adjustments as your plants grow. A wooden wall-mounted trellis here to support your growing climbing plants or hanging planters. If your backyard doesn't have as much space for foliage, this is a great way to get in some more greenery out of basically thin air. A pack of the 20 most popular vegetable seeds that'll help you make good on the threat that you're going to start growing your own after getting grocery store sticker shock. A seed and seedling spacer tool with color coding can do all the math you need to space out your seeds for success. All you do is press it in the soil, poke holes with the dibbler, and then plant your seeds. A soaker hose to help you *evenly* water your garden beds for barely any effort. Joyful Dirt organic concentrated plant food and fertilizer you can mix in with your water or sprinkle directly onto your plant's soil to help give your lil' plants an energizing dose to grow their biggest and brightest. Everybody needs a little help sometimes, including your plants! A pack of three rolling plant caddies that'll help you scoot your plant babies around as needed, like making sure your geranium doesn't get swamped in a summer downpour. Each of these bad boys can hold up to 80 pounds! A cordless grass trimmer can let you touch up little parts of your garden and places where your regular lawnmower can't go, like around pavers and garden features. A little trim can make quite the impact! Miracle-Gro Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food to help cover your outdoor *and* indoor plant food bases so all the work you've lovingly put into your greenery will pay off beautifully. Fabric grow bags with handles so you'll easily move around your growing darlings as needed without them toppling over or you losing any precious soil. The non-woven fabric lets your plants breathe and prevents overwatering and circling root structures. Plus, they're reusable! Or some Miracle-Gro tree and shrub plant food spikes in case you need a little more muscle for the bigger garden features. They also come in a fruit and citrus version in case you're lucky enough to have an orange tree that's seen better days. Liquid Fence deer and rabbit repellent can help deter local (though cute) pests from snacking on your gorgeous plant beds. It basically just makes all the stuff you spray it on smell really gross to them.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Horrific Air India Videos Emerge After Plane Crash
A series of horrific videos from the Air India crash show the moment the airplane exploded into a fireball. The videos also capture the wreckage on the ground and wedged into a building in the Indian city of Ahmedabad. The plane was headed to London. Be forewarned that the videos are disturbing because of the number of people who perished in the rash. However, the most graphic videos are not being shared. In one scene of horror, people on a street gathered around a body part on the road, taking cell phone videos of it (Men's Journal is not sharing that video.) Indian media are now reporting that a single passenger survived the Air India crash. He was in seat history, a handful of people have been the lone survivors in major plane crashes, with one flight attendant surviving a 33,000-feet fall. Other videos showed the damage on the ground. The video of the plane taking off almost looked like it was descending instead, as the plane slowly lowered toward the ground before crashing into the fireball. According to The New York Times, 242 people were on board the plane. It's believed that almost all of them died in the rash. The Times reported that the plane crashed into a medical college, and some of the dead include five students who were eating lunch in a cafeteria at the college when the aircraft plunged into it. The cause of the plane crash is not yet clear. Horrific videos also captured some of the passengers looking happy before they boarded the doomed flight. One video was posted by a person who said there were issues on the same plane with the AV screen working when he flew on it shortly before the fatal flight. The Times reported that authorities had not ruled out the possibility of survivors. Horrific Air India Videos Emerge After Plane Crash first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 12, 2025
