Some time in the ’70s people began to experiment with Japanese flavors. Essentially, things that are usually eaten with white rice were mixed into or put on top of spaghetti. Until recently, wafuu pasuta or wafuu supagetti was unknown in the West, and not seen on menus of Japanese restaurants frequented by tourists. I read in many blogs that it's popular in homes and small cafés (kissaten) and as Japanese food has become popular in the U.S. we can now enjoy some very interesting flavor combinations.

My daughter is visiting again, and she loves tuna, so of course I had to make this unique seared tuna for her. There are hundreds of recipes for seared tuna, ample evidence how popular Japanese food is in the U.S. But this recipe is special because it uses crushed black sesame seeds. The fish is marinated and coated with black sesame seeds, then flour, and finally quickly deep-fried. The black and pink make a striking appearance, and the deep fried crisp coating makes a lovely contrast with the succulent tuna.

When the daughter visited in the summer, we drove to Canton to eat at a Japanese noodle restaurant which I had been impressed with a couple of years ago. It was my fault—surfing on-line, working on the blog, and then insisting on a shower—that we arrived at the restaurant at a quarter past 2. They had just closed. So the daughter is visiting now, and it seemed an opportunity to visit Matsuchan. Mr. J was home so he drove. As we turned out of the driveway, one of us said, "Should we call to be sure they are open?" But we laughed and said it was only 12:30 and we'd get there in plenty of time. We didn't take into account that it was Monday.

Ms Shimbo experimented with using tofu to make a dip similar to hummus. But giving tofu a whirl in a food-processor made it unpleasantly smooth and slimy. Shira-ae, a Japanese tofu dressing has some similarity with hummus but it is light, fluffy and a little sweet. Using soybeans is a very clever way to make a Japanese hummus—I made daizu Hamosu last March when J. was working in Iowa and I was surviving on snack foods. This is realatively healthy snack food. And it's easy to make, and tastes even better the next day.