About
Kobi’s Kitchen is about fine dining, that you cook yourself, at home, in your own kitchen. There is a preconception that a domestic kitchen limits you to simple recipes, that you have to stick to commonly available ingredients, that you only get to eat gourmet dishes at expensive restaurants. Nothing could be further from the truth. You can, should you choose to, invite guests to your dining table and serve them good food, food that they’ll remember. For the most part, my recipes are not your simple run-of-the-mill home cooking recipes, but neither are they overwhelmingly complex. If you enjoy cooking, and enjoy seeing your guests enjoy your cooking, this blog is for you.
My policy is to give detailed recipes, so what you’ll find here won’t be simply a list of ingredients and a simple paragraph of instructions. Be forewarned, I am completely self-taught over 20 years of trial and error. Hence, as you might gather if you read some of my recipes, I have no qualms about suggesting things that would be considered culinary heresy by cooking schools. I have developed an approach when it comes to cooking. Unique dishes come from experimenting with less common ingredients, and using unconventional pairings of ingredients. Co-mingling Japanese and Italian for example works quite well. I always ask myself two things when I come across a new dish. What are the ingredients and can I replicate this? I wonder what this would taste like if I added changed X to Y?
Some clarification on spoonfuls:
In my website, 1t = one teaspoon, 1T = one tablespoon. Unless specified, it is always s slightly heaped spoonful for powdered or soft ingredients, and a flat spoonful for liquids. For t and T of herbs, assume this means dried herbs. The fresh varieties occupy more space, so you should use more accordingly.
Well that pretty much sums it up. I hope you enjoy the Blog/Website. Visit often.
Special Posts
Kobi’s Top Picks for Singapore Local Food
Types of Ramen, Styles of Ramen
Kobi's Kitchen 
don siranni
January 29, 2013 at 6:12 am
Kobi,I just found your site,but don’t understand how to use yet .,Is it possible to ask a single specific question?As, do you have an article on frying crispy (razor) clams.I just never get them right. Also I don’t do twitter or facebook,however.
kobayash1
January 30, 2013 at 1:08 am
I’m sorry I know how to fry clams in their shell but but I’m not familiar with crispy razor clams. Does that mean dipped in batter and deep fried?
jdons
February 4, 2013 at 10:16 am
KobiI appreciate the reply.Yes,but the prep is too varied for me to select the best,i.e.-a form of dry coating,or batter of varying thickness,oil fry pan or deep oil,bake/broil,etc. all forms of coating seem to get too damp/soggyWe have many types of sea clams on the oregon coast,razor, eastern softshell, giant gooeyduck, cockles.,mussels,littleneck hardshells.
kobayash1
February 5, 2013 at 9:56 am
Ok, I understand. May I suggest you search on the internet for recipes/videos for ‘Kaki Furai’ which is a Japanese crispy fried oyster. If memory serves, the formula involves coating in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. This definitely stays crispy and you just need to swap in clams for the oysters.
Chrystal Mcclelland
February 16, 2018 at 4:38 pm
Hi
I’m so excited to try your ramen bases and appreciate the time and effort you have put into your work as it is very difficult to find the old ways of cooking ramen
Do you have a hardcopy version of your teaching?
Teinei-go
kobayash1
April 25, 2018 at 2:47 pm
I hope the recipes have met your expectations. Regarding the hardcopy – If only I was famous enough to have my own cookbook.
Tsuru
November 16, 2018 at 6:13 am
Hi, have you ever considered opening your own ramen-ya? I am self-taught as well, but I am only 2 years in the ramen game so far. I plan to host a “Ramen Night” for locals early next spring. It will be a good time to get feedback from outsiders of my social circle.
Your site is very informative and detailed! 🙂
kobayash1
November 17, 2018 at 7:38 pm
Dear Tsuru,
My observations is that it is very difficult to be successful in F&B. If you come up with anything special, people will just copy you and charge less. And if you do well anyway, your landlord will just jack up your rent to make sure most of the profits go to him. I wish I could say otherwise because I like cooking, but that seems to be the reality. My observations are in relation to a competitive big city environment, so it really depends on where you are. In a less urban setting I think it is easier for a restaurant to thrive.
Bill
April 12, 2019 at 4:03 pm
Came across your site today while researching Soba recipes. Wow! What a lot of great information here! I love the ability to discuss recipes and general food information with you. My wife is Japanese and an absolute wonderful chef, but is away on travel and I am craving some soba 🙂
I have bookmarked this site and will continue to try to absorb all the great info here. Thank you!