The “Nandemo” in Nandemo Kitchen comes from a word that means “anything” in Japanese. I’m based in Tokyo, where I have lived since 2009. Most of my best memories in this city have been food and drink (and thus, people) related. While it’s true that I don’t have access to a lot of the ingredients called for in Western recipes, I also have a wealth of local ingredients and techniques here to try. The name of the site doesn’t mean that I can make anything. Rather, it’s more just that I’m willing to try. Most of the recipes you’ll find here will be 1-2 serving sizes. My schedule is pretty busy (as I’m sure yours is as well), so I try to get a couple meals out of one cooking session (but not so many I get bored with the thing I’ve made).
In addition to the time spent in my own personal kitchen, I enjoy visiting restaurants and getting inspired that way. Tokyo is a great city to do this in. I know that a lot of people visit Tokyo and want to go places “off the beaten track” or “where locals go.” In addition to the happenings in my kitchen, I want to show a bit of that “local” restaurant sort of thing, yes, but I’m not really interested in sharing “English-friendly” places only. There’s already a TON of thorough, well-documented and extensively photographed information about such places available on the internet. I’m much more interested in showing something beyond that; a “hard-mode,” if you will.
My apartment is 28 meters square (301 feet) and my kitchen is roughly half of that space, but I think there’s a lot you can do with a little creativity, flexibility, and willpower. It’s my hope that even with just spaces of this size, we can find ways to connect to each other, create, challenge, share, and inspire. I chose to call this food project “nandemo kitchen” because I like the idea that the kitchen can be a place where anything goes.
Inquiries about Nandemo Kitchen can be directed to:
nandemokitchen AT gmail.com
You can also find nandemokitchen on Twitter and Instagram.
For more about the author:
arishaintokyo.com (Twitter, Instagram)