Yakiniku, Japanese-style barbecue

BBQ World Tour #2 - In 2020, Kokko transforms himself into a globe-trotter and offers you a "BBQ World Tour" to discover the history of grilling, smoking and roasting through different gastronomies. For our second appointment, direction Japan. Put on your gloves, heat the coal and install the grills: let's go!

The barbecue tradition in Japan

Even if the Japanese eat a lot of fish, they are nevertheless fond of meat, especially when it is grilled on the barbecue or more precisely, in Yakiniku. This word, which could be translated into French as "grilled meat" is the preferred cooking method of the Japanese, both for cooking meat, fish and vegetables.

The ban on eating meat

There's not enough fruit in winter? Even if the panel on the stalls is less complete than in summer, there is enough to prepare good compotes or roast them in Kokko!

Here are our favourite recipes:

Pears with honey

Pineapple with caramelized ginger

Pineapple Nems with Orange Sauce

2 - Vegetables

Throughout the winter, you can eat without moderation: spinach, squash, garlic, beetroot, carrot, chard, celery, cabbage, turnip, leek, black radish, parsnip, endive, cabbage, white cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, salsify, Jerusalem artichokes, crosne, curly, lamb's lettuce, onion, turnip, potato and watercress.

At the beginning of winter, during the months of January and February, squash (pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin, butternut), kale, chicory and red cabbage will still be in season.

From March, they are left aside for: pink radish, asparagus, artichoke and lettuce.

3 - Fish

Respecting seasonality when eating fish means eating better quality products. It is also a way to preserve certain species, breeding periods and to avoid overfishing.

On the fish side, we find: sea bass, sea bream, skate, cod, haddock, haddock, bass, monkfish, cod, red gurnard, pollock, dab, sole, hake, red mullet, dogfish, St. Pierre, cuttlefish, pout, whiting, hake or saithe and turbot.

For seafood: mussels, oysters, whelk, scallops, shrimp and spider crab.

A few ideas to enjoy:

Red mullet fillets on a bed of mangoes

Grilled shrimps marinated with spices

Bar and its new turnips

4 - Cheeses

And yes, it is not only fruits, vegetables and fish that are subject to the rhythm of the seasons, cheese too. Since pastures are less rich than in the summer season, the food ingested by animals will have less flavour and therefore their milk will be less tasty.

So in winter, we bet on cheeses matured from the summer milk or from the previous year's milk such as Tomes, Gruyère, Ossau-Iraty, Beaufort, Laguiole, Cantal, Salers, Appenzeller or Comté. An exception is Mont-d'Or, traditionally made in winter. We also bet on blue-veined pasta such as ants, Roquefort or blue cheese.

We also try to choose them as locally as possible and avoid buying products that travel thousands of miles. What if you started preparing eco-responsible meals as early as the festive season? We'll give you some tips on how to do it!