Asian Influence Japanese Foods And Techniques Have Become Commonplace In Martha’s Everyday Life

My home in Westport, Conn., is 6,746 miles from Tokyo. Despite the distance, I’ve had an intense interest in this Asian culture since the first time I went to a Japanese restaurant when I was in college. The food looked and tasted wonderfully exotic, and I was hooked.

Today, America and Japan don’t seem quite so far apart. The flavors that used to be unusual have become familiar to many of us.

Right now, the world is watching Japan as the winter Olympic Games take place in Nagano, a city in the mountains 120 miles northwest of Tokyo. And I am amazed when I realize how many Japanese tools, foods and techniques have become part of my everyday life. Here are just a few of my favorites.

(Look for the tools, serving pieces and ingredients in Asian markets and Japanese specialty stores. Some are also available by mail order from two New York City sources: Katagiri, (212) 755-3566; www.katagiri.com, and Broadway Panhandler, (212) 966-3434.)

Kitchen tools

A mandoline is a manual slicing tool used for cutting vegetables into thin slices and julienne. I’ve discovered that a Japanese version, made of plastic with metal blades, works just as well as the classic (and expensive) French version - and it costs about $30.

With a spiral slicer, you can carve vegetables such as cucumber, carrot and daikon radish (a large Asian radish that is crisp and sweet) into incredible, long, thin spirals. Use them in salads, as garnishes, or to make a nest for grilled meat or fish. One of my favorite spiral slicers, the Benriner Cook’s Helper, costs about $50.

My Japanese cleaver has become indispensable in my kitchen. Like a Chinese cleaver, the blade is rectangular with no pointed tip, but it’s much narrower, similar to a chef’s knife. This knife is comfortable and easy to work with, ideal for almost any slicing job.

Cedar boxes

In Japan, cold sake (rice wine, pronounced SAH-kay) is often served in small cedar boxes. While I love sake, I also like using these boxes in other ways.

For an easy, elegant dessert, scoop green-tea or red-bean-paste ice cream (or any other flavor) into the boxes, packing it well and smoothing the tops.

Soybean snacks

A delectable snack, edamame (eh-dah-MAH-meh) are soybeans, served boiled or steamed in the pod and sprinkled with coarse salt. Frozen soybeans are easier to find than fresh ones.

To prepare, bring a pot of water to the boil, add the soybeans in their shells and cook for about 5 minutes. Drain and sprinkle generously with coarse salt - Japanese sea salt is the best.

Serve edamame with cocktails before dinner. Make sure you tell your guests how to eat them: Hold the end of a pod in your fingers, close your teeth around the shell, and pull it slowly out of your mouth; the beans will pop out of the tough shell, which should be discarded.

Buckwheat pillows

In a traditional Japanese home, every bit of space is used cleverly and economically; a single room may serve as bedroom, living room and dining room.

The floor is usually covered with a beautiful woven-straw mat called a tatami (when you enter a house, you trade your shoes for slippers, and even these are removed when you walk on the tatami). At night, a bed called a futon is removed from a closet and unrolled on the tatami.

Futons are firm and comfortable, but what I love most are the small pillows used with them. Filled with buckwheat hulls, they are stiff but soft and provide perfect support for your head and neck. They stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I’ve used one for years and am delighted that buckwheat pillows are becoming popular in America. Look for them at good bedding and home stores.

Gift wrapping

Gift wrapping is a true art form in Japan. One of the most versatile methods is to use a furoshiki, a square piece of fabric that gets its name from an early bathmat that the bather used to wrap his or her clothes in.

A furoshiki can be any size; 28 inches works well for medium-sized packages. To make it, cut a piece of fabric (raw silks and linens are especially pretty) into a square and hem the raw edges. Or pin two same-size squares with wrong sides together, and stitch around the perimeter, leaving a gap on one side. Turn the square right-side out, and stitch the opening closed by hand.

Here’s the simplest way to wrap a box: Place it diagonally across the center of the square, bring one corner over the top, then the opposing corner. Tie the remaining pair into a knot on top. Tuck in any loose edges.

Experiment with other folds and wraps.

When you present the gift, show the recipient how you wrapped and tied the furoshiki, so he or she can pass it along.

MEMO: Questions should be addressed to Martha Stewart, care of The New York Times Syndication Sales Corp., 122 E. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10168. Questions may also be sent to Stewart by electronic mail. Her address is: mstewart@marthastewart.com.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Martha Stewart New York Times Syndicate