Valentine's Day. Four courses. Two kids helping in the kitchen.
This isn't about reservations or crowded restaurants. This is about showing up for my wife with white asparagus hollandaise, porcini mushroom risotto, pesto-crusted black sea bass, and chocolate panna cotta.
Lumi is my sous-chef. Lui hands Mom flowers. And I'm cooking every single course from scratch—because that's what she deserves.
Read MoreThis isn't just dinner. This is a statement. Four courses. Japanese fish market ingredients. My daughter Lumi as sous chef. Proper plating. Perfect timing.
Appetizer through dessert—each course planned to show up for the person who shows up for me every day. Kihada maguro is so beautiful, I could sell it for $200. Homemade pescatore with fresh shellfish. Veal with maitake cream sauce. Basque cheesecake to finish.
This is what love looks like in the Tatekitchen.
Read MoreThis is how I start every year. Cold plunge first - that electric shock that wakes up everything. Then osechi ryori - days of preparation, boxes of traditional Japanese New Year's food, each dish carrying meaning for the year ahead. One is intensity. The other is intention. Both matter. Both reset me.
Celebrating the New Year with a traditional Japanese Osechi feast, filled with flavors that symbolize health, happiness, and prosperity. Wishing everyone a joyful and abundant year ahead!
Read MoreIt's Christmas again. Time for cassoulet.
This isn't turkey. This isn't ham. This is the Matsuda family tradition now - French cassoulet. Duck confit, pork belly, sausages, white beans. The dish that takes two days to make and tastes like you put your soul into it.
Because you do.
Read MoreThanksgiving 2024: brined turkey wrapped in caul fat, Boston baked beans, roasted vegetables. Hosting the Tsurumen crew. The caul fat makes all the difference - golden crispy skin, incredibly tender meat. This is how I cook Thanksgiving every year.
Read MoreTonkotsu broth takes TIME. Hours. High heat. Pork bones breaking down until the broth turns milky white.
But when you get it right? When you nail that silky, rich, creamy texture? It's worth every minute. This is Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen—traditional technique, gluten-free execution.
Let me walk you through it.
Read MoreOctober in New England means apple picking at Connor's Farm. We came home with fresh apples, and I stopped at Walden Local Meat for organic pork chops and sausages. Then I cooked: braised pork sausages with apples and sauerkraut, and pan-seared pork chops. The kids picked the apples themselves and watched me cook with them. This is what matters - connecting to where your food comes from. Farm to table, literally.
Read MoreTsukemen isn't ramen. The noodles are separate. The broth is THICK—almost like a sauce. You dip. You slurp. You taste everything.
This is the gluten-free tsukemen technique that uses every part of the chicken—blended bones and all. Rich, creamy, zero waste. This is next-level ramen.
Here's how to make it.
Read MoreMost ramen broths are clear. Paitan is MILKY. Creamy. Rich. Almost like a sauce.
This is Chicken Paitan Ramen, Yokohama Yeah K style—high-heat emulsification creates that signature creamy texture. Add traditional toppings: chashu, ajitama egg, spinach. It's gluten-free, and it's one of the most satisfying bowls I've ever made.
Here's the technique that makes it work.
Read MoreWhat happens when you take Japanese ramen technique and New England ingredients? This.
Slow cooker chicken broth. Fresh clam juice from Boston's best clams. Shio tare that balances salt and brine perfectly. This is the gluten-free ramen that makes people forget it's gluten-free.
Let me show you how to build it.
Read MoreMost ramen takes hours. This one takes 15 minutes.
Miso Tanmen—stir-fried meat, tons of vegetables, rich miso broth. It's fast, it's clean, and it's PACKED with flavor. This is the gluten-free ramen you make on a Tuesday night when you want something real but don't have time to mess around.
Let me show you the technique that makes it work.
Read MoreListen, you can have the best gluten-free noodles in the world, but if your toppings aren't RIGHT, your ramen isn't ramen.
Two things will completely change your GF ramen game: proper chashu pork and rendered chicken fat. These are non-negotiables. Once you nail these, you're cooking at restaurant level.
I'll be sure to show you how.
Read MoreThe lobster is sitting on top of the paella - bright red, surrounded by mussels and roasted peppers. My daughter's best friend and his family are leaving Boston, heading back to Japan. I wanted to give them something they'd remember. Something unmistakably BOSTON. While the paella cooked, I gave the exhausted father a NeuroVizr session. He hadn't felt that calm in months.
Read MoreVeronika is in Boston. Time to cook. Gluten-free buckwheat pizzoccheri with spring vegetables. Beef tongue braised for hours until fall-apart tender. Roasted beets and caramelized onions salad. Then Veronika brought Nicky's mom's banana bread - I added coconut cream on top. This is what I love about cooking for Veronika: she GETS it. The technique. The time. The effort.
Read MoreLook, I'll be honest - most gluten-free ramen is disappointing. Mushy noodles. Weak broth. It's like someone gave up halfway through.
Not this one.
This is the ramen that made my gluten-free friends actually EXCITED about ramen again—crystal-clear golden broth. Real chicken chashu. That umami depth you've been missing. And yeah, it takes some time—but you're building something incredible here.
Read MoreA Vegan Gluten-Free Ramen recipe that will tantalize your taste buds and inspire your culinary journey! Unlock the secret to endless flavor with our all-purpose umami oil. From dried shiitake mushrooms to a rich infusion with EVOO, this vegan marvel elevates any dish. It’s not just oil; it’s a flavor explosion in every drop.
Read MoreIt's my wife's birthday. What she wanted: drop the kids at daycare, get coffee at Copley, and just exist. That's luxury for a busy mom. Then I bought fresh seafood from Eataly and cooked her a proper four-course Italian dinner at home. Duck magret, pasta al pescatore, insalata di artichocchi grigliati, mousse al limone. The real gift? Time, effort, and three hours where she wasn't "Mom." Just herself, being served.
Read MoreIt's 9 AM on January 1st, 2024. Everyone's sleeping off their hangovers. And I'm standing at Castle Island in Boston, about to jump into the Atlantic Ocean. In January. My kids are watching. "Is my dad crazy!?" After the 38-degree plunge, we go home to Osechi - traditional Japanese New Year's feast spread across lacquered boxes. Cold water for discipline. Osechi for intention. This is how I start the year.
Read MoreIt's Christmas at the Matsuda house, and I've been cooking for over a week. Cassoulet - the ultimate French winter feast. Duck thighs cured with petit salé for seven days, bones saved and frozen for stock, then assembled with pork ribs, chorizo, and white beans. My old BJJ training partner Takashima drove up from New York with his family. He brought ribeye steaks. I laughed - there's already a whole duck, pork ribs, pork hock, and chorizo in this cassoulet. "More meat is always better," he said. He's not wrong.
Read MoreMy younger brother was in Boston for Christmas. We drove him up to L.L. Bean headquarters in Freeport, Maine. When we got back, I cooked duck breast for Christmas Eve - crispy mahogany skin, perfect pink medium-rare center, red wine reduction. This is what Christmas Eve should be: intimate, quality, and worth remembering.
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