Taiwanese Ingredient Braised "Sun-Dried Cauliflower" and Cabbage

The key is sun-dried cauliflower for this recipe, but I also want to point out how delicious cabbage is in Taiwan. 

It came to my attention that sometime when talked about cabbage, the reaction is often frowned upon from westerners, especially Europeans. Little do they know that the cabbage from Taiwan is soft and even carry a bit of sweet note.

So the deepened flavor from the sun-dried cauliflower paired with sweet and tender cabbage, these two are the key notes for this recipe. And if you're reading my post and had a bad experience with cabbage, please, please do give our Taiwan cabbage stir-fry a try when you get a chance. It'll definitely change your mind for good.

Taiwanese Braised sun-dried cauliflower and cabbage - 

Ingredients?

• 100 grams sun-dried cauliflower
• 1/2 medium cabbage
• 8 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 medium carrot
• 400 grams fried bean curd skin 炸豆皮
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons dried shrimps 蝦米
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock (or chicken essence plus hot water)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Some salt
• Some white pepper powder
• Some corn starch and water mixture

How?

Peel and julienne the carrot. Cut-off the stem for the cabbage then hand-tear to medium large pieces. Peel and chop the garlic cloves.

If using dry fried bean curd skin, use hot water to quickly give it a rinse. If using frozen kind, just need to defrost the day before cooking. Slice into medium size pieces if too big.

Rinse the sun-dried cauliflower then soak in room-temperature water. Should be around 15 minutes or so. Once ready, rinse and drain again.

Rinse the dried shiitake mushrooms then use 1 cup of room-temperature water to soak it. Once hydrated, take out the mushrooms but do save the water here. Destem the mushrooms and slice the caps to strips.

Rinse and soak the the dried shrimps. You should guess it now, use room-temperature water for the job, about 15 minutes too. After that, drain and pat dry with paper towel then fine chop the shrimps.

Bring out a pot and drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Switch to medium heat, add in dried shrimps and garlic. Stir-fry till aromatic but not burning the garlic bits. Add in the mushrooms and stir-fry till aromatic.

Transfer torn cabbage over along with cauliflower, fried bean curd skin, and carrot. Give it a quick stir-fry.

Pour in 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock, or I actually used 2 single-serving packs of chicken essence plus some hot water instead. Also pour in that 1 cup of mushroom-soaking water that we saved earlier.

Bring to a boil then adjust the heat to keep it at a light boiling stage. Put on the lid and cook for 15 minutes, or till the vegetables reach desired texture. 

Taste and adjust with additional seasonings if needed. I added 2 1/2 teaspoons of salt plus few dashes of white pepper powder. Mix till evenly blended.

Switch to lowest heat and wait till temperature drops a little. Have some corn starch and water mixture ready. Pour into the pot slowly while stirring all the ingredients at the same time. This slowly pouring and stirring motion can help preventing lumps while reaching a slightly gooey thickened consistency.

A somewhat heathy dish I would say. However, if you prefer some meat in it, you can always drop in pork belly slices before mixing in the corn starch and water mixture. 

Other recipes using sun-dried cauliflower:

• Sun-dried cauliflower and pork belly stew 白花椰菜干滷肉
• Sun-dried cauliflower and shredded pork stir-fry 白花椰菜乾炒肉絲

Marinated Steak with Sautéed Button Mushrooms

While a simple grill might be the best way to enjoy steak, once in a while I do crave for something heavier. More spices and layers of seasonings, all that paired with big bites of beefy goodness.

Marinated steak with sautéed button mushrooms - 

Ingredients?

• 280 grams sirloin steak
• 200 grams button mushrooms
• Small bundle flat leaf parsley

Marinade:

• 1 wedge onion (about 2 tablespoons grated)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

How?

Peel the onion and slice down one big wedge. Grate that till you get about 2 tablespoons of grated onion into a container that will be used for storing the steak. Peel and grate the garlic in there too.

Also add to the container all the remaining ingredients listed under the "marinade" section. Transfer the steak over, rub in the marinade all around. Put on the lid and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

When ready to cook, remove the steak from the fridge and rest under room temperature for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, wipe clean and trim-off the very bottom of the mushrooms. If the mushrooms are too big just slice in half instead.

Have a pan ready. Switch to medium heat and wait till warmed. There is no need to brush the pan with oil since our marinated steak got some olive oil on already.

Add in the steak but try to leave out the marinade first. Sear till browned on the bottom, flip and sear till the other side turns browned too. Just the regular steak searing process but it's ok if you can't get it to perfect doneness. Just make sure not to undercook the meat, we'd rather go for a bit overcooked steak for this recipe.

Once ready, remove the steak to serving plate. 

Still using the same pan, pour in all the remaining marinade. Keep using medium heat and add in all the prepped mushrooms. Give it a quick sautée till nearly cooked through and well-coated with the seasonings.

Pour that all over the steak. Garnish with some chopped parsley, flat leaf parsley preferred for a smoother bite.

I think this recipe is also good for someone whose unsure about grilling the steak to perfect doneness. After all, getting the right sear on the outside while maintaining that pinkish medium rare center needs practices.

So if that's the case, this marinated version of steak recipe might come in handy. Even if you happen to overcook the beef, well, at least I can ensure you that the texture should still be on the tender side thanks for the overnight marinade.

Try practice searing this marinated steak and see if you can get a good coloring on the outside. Even if you missed and cooked a bit longer than the ideal timing, rest assured that this will still be a tender flavorful meal in the end. 

Sancho Pork Onigiri - A Little Citrusy and Tingly Touch From the Japanese Spice

What do you usually get when visiting Japan? I'm sure lots of snacks and sweet treats might be involved. After all, Japanese really know how to make yummy cookies with awesome packaging design. It'll be very hard to resist the temptation grabbing extra boxes to take home with.

So on top of all the munches, I also got some local spices, such as the main flavoring agent - sancho pepper used in this rice ball recipe. It's similar to green peppercorn. However, the aroma is more pungent on the citrusy and even minty side instead of the actual spicy note. 

You'll find sancho pepper sometimes being used with grilled meat. Some fancy sushi places use it to for their hot dishes, providing an elegant yet distinct aroma. As for me, I've decided to add the sancho pepper to ground pork stir-fry, which can be enjoyed as a stand-alone dish, or later on being mixed into onigiri, all very delicious. 

Sancho pork onigiri - 

Ingredients (about 2 to 4 servings)?

• 2 to 4 portions steamed white rice (I mixed some quinoa in it)
• 310 grams ground pork (preferably leaner meat)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1/2 teaspoon sancho pepper 

How?

Precook the rice. Just make sure the rice temperature is about warm or even on the colder side when shaping into onigiri. Don't use steamy hot rice since there's too much moisture still. Peel and chop the garlic cloves.

Have a pan ready and drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil. Switch to medium heat, add in ground pork and chopped garlic. Stir-fry till the meat changes to whiter color.

Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of mirin. Mix till evenly blended. Stir-fry till reduced and the ground pork changes to even darker brown color.

Turn-off the heat then mix in 1/2 teaspoon of sancho pepper. Mix till blended and let the whole thing cool-off a little.

Scoop enough rice for the onigiri and mix in some ground pork mixture. For me the rice to pork ratio is about 3:1. Once blended together, form the rice into individual serving onigiri. 

Note that there should be some ground pork stir-fry leftover even if you made four big onigiri. It's unrealistic to stir-fry such small portion of pork just for the rice balls. But don't worry, any leftover pork stir-fry is actually quite easy to finish later on.

I simply served the sancho pork as one of the side dishes. If you'd like, you can also cook up some Asian noodles and use the sancho pork as flavoring ingredient. Just remember to add extra soy sauce or perhaps some black vinegar and chili sauce to boost up the savory touch.

Other onigiri recipes:

• Misoyaki onigiri 味噌焼きおにぎり
• Egg scallion and shio kombu onigiri 蔥蛋塩昆布日式飯糰
• Tuna and sesame oil rice balls (onigiri)
• Hijiki and inari age onigiri 羊栖菜豆皮飯糰

Bamboo Shoot and Pork Stir-Fry in Spicy Fermented Bean Paste Seasoning 豆瓣竹筍炒松阪豬

Bamboo shoots are good for you! Not only it's rich in dietary fiber, but also packed with minerals such as copper and potassium. And of course bamboo shoots also come with various vitamins. 

While getting bamboo shoots fresh is your best choice, but note that its distinct sweet taste can disappear quickly after harvesting. So either get the bamboo shoots early in the morning, or simply use the already peeled and boiled sealed-tight version found in the fridge section at the grocery store.

The already-cooked kind can be pricy, but do know that the quality still holds. On top of that, you do get that crunch and sweetness from the packaged version. Usually there's no additives too in these products, just simply boiled bamboo shoots.

Bamboo shoot and pork stir-fry in spicy fermented bean paste seasoning 豆瓣竹筍炒松阪豬 - 

Ingredients?

• 450 grams matsusaka pork
• 500 grams prepared bamboo shoots
• 2 stalks garlic sprouts
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 to 2 red chilies
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce paste
• 1 tablespoon aged Shaoxing wine
• 1 tablespoon spicy fermented bean paste (ideally from Sichuan Pixian 郫縣)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons corn starch

How?

If using fresh bamboo shoots, peel away the fibrous layers and trim the end. Slice the bamboo shoots to large pieces while keeping about 1mm thickness.

Destem and section the garlic sprouts. Peel and slice the garlic cloves. Destem and slice diagonally for the red chilies.

Slice the matsusaka pork to large bite size pieces, also keeping the meat at about 1mm thickness. Transfer the pork to a bowl and add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of aged Shaoxing wine, and 2 teaspoons of corn starch. Massage till the seasonings have been evenly blended with the pork. Let it marinate for 15 minutes.

Have a pan or a wok ready, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil and switch to medium or medium high heat. Add in garlic sprouts, garlic slices, and red chilies. Stir-fry till aromatic but not burning the garlics.

Add in 1 tablespoon of spicy fermented bean paste and cook till aromatic. The fermented bean paste can further release its flavor once lightly seared with some heat. 

After that, add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce paste and cook till blended. It'll be fairly quick here.

Transfer bamboo shoot slices over and give it a quick stir-fry.

Mix in the pork and marinade. Stir-fry till all blended with the sauce, and the consistency turned slightly thickened.

The usual spicy fermented bean paste works, but if you see the one from Sichuan Pixian, do not hesitate and use that instead. It might not be as spicy as the common kinds but the depth of savory and umami note are unbeatable.

On top of that, while it might not be as essential for other type of fermented bean paste, but it is very important to heat up the Sichuan Pixian fermented bean paste during early stage of cooking. It can make a big difference in the final dish, giving much more depth to the savory note.

Other recipes using fermented bean paste:

• Pork and Chinese chives glass noodles 豆瓣韭菜豬肉粉絲
• Braised beef shanks 滷牛腱
• Eggplant and minced pork spaghetti 魚香茄子義大利麵
• Cubed eggplant and ground pork stir-fry with spicy fermented bean paste 炒辣豆瓣醬茄子豬肉丁
• Eggplant and tomato stewed rice 雙茄豬肉燴飯

鮨嘉仁 Sushi Kajin - This Time I Would Definitely Choose Hokkaido Hairy Crab Over Murasaki Uni, It's THAT Good

Taiwan might be one of the top three places you can find the same quality edomae style sushi outside of Japan. Of course at times it can come with a hefty price tag, but think about the costs importing all the top quality seafood from Japan to Taiwan, these ingredients have to be air-freighted too for a speedy and steady delivery.

So the ingredient-side has been taken care of, what about the "ryori cho," the chef who has the experiences and skill set to well-prepare and present these seafood? That's not a thing to worry about too. 

There are so many talented chefs in Taiwan, sushi chefs too, and a good number of them was also approved by the Michelin guide. In fact, we have so many Michelin-starred sushi here in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan.

This time I'm visiting this sushi place called 鮨嘉仁 Sushi Kajin. Quite new but already received its first one Michelin star award. 

Sushi Kajin was able to become a reality thanks to its strong capital-backup from Frank Huang 黃崇仁, who's the Chairperson of Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation. Locals often joked about Mr. Huang is a business person disguised epicure. He was dining at Kyoto Four Seasons' Michelin-starred sushi place and learnt that the restaurant was about to move. So he strongly invited the chef Okuchi Taichi 奧地太一 to open a new place in Taiwan instead.

You can roughly guess the rest of the story. 鮨嘉仁 Sushi Kajin was born around end of 2024. By the way, its one Michelin star was awarded in August 2025, super fast right?

Sushi Kajin wasn't fully booked everyday when it first opened though. I think partly due to many new sushi places opening in Taipei, we do have a lot of choices to pick around. Also partly due to Sushi Kajin's price point. Lunch set at about $6,000 NTD (about $200 USD) per person and dinner about $10,000 NTD (about $330 USD) per person, definitely hitting a somewhat niche target there.

Anyways, before we continue, Mister got a beer to start the night (don't drink and drive) - 

I was definitely lucky to enjoy a very delicious dinner at Sushi Kajin. It might feel utterly expensive at first, but once you really stepped inside getting a feel of the vibe and the service received, plus the most important of all, the food quality and taste, you'll know it's money well-spent. This place is expensive for a rational reason. 

Continue reading and examining the food pictures then you'll get a feel of what I mean. 

During early stage of the meal, the chef starts with something light but elegant. Such as our first cold chawamushi topped with sea urchin, or the second ara (あら) sashimi, which is considered a type of high-end grouper from Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture.

Then slowly progressing, the chef will gently increase the "kick" you get, but not always seasoning-wise. Sometimes that punch is coming from the texture of the food or the concentrated umami.

Often times people are puzzled by the condensed umami taste from a sushi place. For instance, it might appear as simple as one slice of plain fish, but why so flavorful? That's definitely due to the skill and experience from the chef. 

Sometimes they "age" the seafood for days, often accompany by lightly salting, curing, or storing with kombu. Of course there are other ways to enhance the natural taste of seafood too, but from diner's view, it's hard to tell what went on with the simple sushi presented in front. And that's one main reason why people are willing to pay premium for such experience.

Grilled sardine (イワシ) from Japan's Iwate Prefecture -

We also ordered some sake, so here it came all the beautiful cups for guest to choose from - 

Warayaki kanpachi from Japan's Mie Prefecture -   

When I first walked into Sushi Kajin, there's this hinoki woody smell gently filled the space. As time passed by, out sense of smell got accustomed to it. However, during this part of the meal another stronger aroma starts to permeate the area again. Something smoky, something charred.

At first I thought it was coming from previous dish, the "grilled" sardine as the preparation method implies. But the taste doesn't match the woody aroma. Then this kanpachi showed up, looking plain and simple. Could it be? After first bite I'm 100% sure that's it. Even though the fish might not appear heavily seasoned at all, but it does carry a distinct burning straw earthy aroma to it, very delicious.

Chef brought out the recent Michelin star plaque for the guests because some were curious about it. We can even hold it and take pictures if desired, but of course not going to make a fuzzy scene there - 

I did try to hold it for a short moment. The heavy weight took me by surprise. It was made with acrylic and I had to hold the plaque with both hands in order to securely bring it up.

Kinki (キンキ) shioyaki from Japan's Hokkaiko Prefecture -

Kinki is a medium sized red colored fish, Japanese thornyhead some might call it. It's considered one of the high-end fish in Japan. It has a delicate texture and once handled correctly, like the salt grill here, will further enhance the natural sweetness of the meat. On the side you'll find fig with Hatcho miso and a ball of grated daikon.

Some pickled vegetables, including Japanese mountain yam, cucumber, lotus root, and daikon -

All very refreshing except for the daikon, which was more like a "takuan" style pickle, thus the darker color. This plate of pickles was not refillable. However, we were also given lightly pickled young ginger slices that can be added once finished. The young ginger was great by the way, zero fibrous texture with a light crunch to it, very refreshing.

Katsuo (かつお) from Japans' Wakayama Prefecture -

Baby cuttlefish (新いか) from Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture - 

Pacific saury (さんま) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture - 

There's be a few years of not so good Pacific saury harvest, but not this time. The Pacific saury was booming this season with delicious fatty body. It was almost like juicy in a umami-bursting way.

Whelk (ツブ貝) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -

I especially love having all the whelk variety from a decent sushi place. The texture can be completely different from...let's say a rotating sushi place. I know I know comparing a high-end sushi with rotating sushi is not the fairest thing. But take tuna for instace, both expensive and cheap places can still all taste good. However whelk-wise, the difference can vary so widely like heaven and earth. I'm not exaggerating here. 

This whelk from Sushi Kajin felt like a layer of moisture on the outside and crispy clean crunch for the actual flesh. It was light overall but a slight umami breeze throughout. Super enjoyable.

Large saltwater eel (おおあなご) from Japan's Miyagi Prefecture - 

Akami (赤身) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture - 

Ootoro (大トロ) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -

If you enjoy the depth of umami from tuna, akami can be the best choice, especially from a sushi place that would go through great length of time to age the fish. On the other hand, if you enjoy the fatty part, ootoro at Sushi Kajin can deliver a true melt in your mouth experience.

Baby gizzard shad (新子) from Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture - 

Grilled surf clam (ホッキ貝) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -

Don't think of it as the surf clam at a rotating sushi place, which is usually one of the cheapest items offered. The version Sushi Kajin had here was juicy and tender at the same time, a huge difference from the chewy white clam with red pointy tip on the sushi belt.

Morotoge shrimp (縞海老) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture - 

This is a type of shrimp that's both pretty with and without the shell. 

Horse Mackerel (あじ) - 

It wasn't on the menu. Sushi Kajin doesn't open on Sunday and we went on Saturday night. The chef would like to use up all the remaining ingredients before their day-off. Lucky us I say.

Golden-eye snapper (金目鯛) from Japan's Chiba Prefecture - 

Hokkaido hairy crab (毛ガニ) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture - 

I kind of regretted that I didn't take more pictures of the hairy crab. It was awesome, like a umami burst and all that fine threads of crab meat just smoothly went down my throat. A bit different than the ootoro but one can for certain describe the crab as "melt in your mouth" too.

So usually the ootoro and the sea urchin are two of the favorite ingredients at a sushi place. I mean in general most people do love these two. However, if it's Sushi Kaijin's Hokkaido hairy crab, I would pick it over ootoro and sea urchin 100%.

Sujiko (すじこ) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -

Sea urchin (紫ウニ) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -  

Miso soup - 

Tamagoyaki -

Texture like a moist yet dense cake with crustacean aroma to it.

They chose to serve Taiwan's Naitou County oolong tea in the end - 

It wasn't just any ordinary oolong tea. I know it might sound absurd but some notes and the mouth feel do resemble puer tea to me. So smooth and warming, many guests asked for refill.

Fancy egg pudding for dessert -

Even for lighter-tasting sushi meal, I've always enjoyed something creamy to end the night. 

Remember in the beginning I was talking about that Sushi Kajin wasn't fully booked everyday when it first opened? Well, surprise surprise, after the 2025 Michelin star announcement and a one star award, Sushi Kajin is fully booked now.

Glad I booked this dinner just weeks before the Michelin award, otherwise I might run into a hard time getting a spot later on. Such an interesting thing though, the price remained the same, but now Sushi Kajin is fully booked, especially the expensive dinner which is even more popular than lunch service.

I am happy though. I can tell that chef and the team really put a lot of effort into running Sushi Kajin. And this one Michelin star serves not only an acknowledgement for the hard work, but also a nice welcome gift to chef Okuchi Taichi. Thank you for bringing this sushi experience to Taiwan.

Chef was very happy too. As customers urged him to put on the Michelin custom-made chef coat, he was like "What now!?" "Yes now," all customers replied immediately. So he posed shyly for us to take pictures. 

Later on after he took-off the coat, turned away, and walked back to store it, I noticed that chef was smiling, shy but a very happy look on his face. Congratulations chef, after this enjoyable dinner, that star absolutely belongs to you. Also kudos to the team and Mr. Huang who made all these a reality. 

鮨嘉仁 Sushi Kajin currently holds one Michelin star status.

鮨嘉仁 Sushi Kajin

No.28, Jilin Road, Zhongshan District, 

Taipei, Taiwan 

Official website: https://sushi-kajin.com/

Facebook: Sushi Kajin facebook

Online booking system: Sushi Kajin inline booking

Opening hours:

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday

12:00 noon ~ 2:00 p.m.、6:00 p.m. ~ 9:30 p.m.

Tuesday and Friday 6:00 p.m. ~ 9:30 p.m.

Sunday off