TtoE hummus recipe

From my kitchen, you can catch the aromas of all kinds of cuisine. Of course, I make washoku, but I also riff on Hong Kong, Thai, Mennonite, and Mediterranean dishes. The variety of foodways comes from my multicultural upbringing. You can read about my mashup New Year's food, too.

For inspiration, I keep an eye on recipetineats, a food blog by a Japanese-born Australian. Her recipes cover a wide range of cuisines, and many use ingredients readily available in Japan. On this week's menu, hummus!

To get started, I roasted sesame seeds in my frypan to make tahini. You might think this is a Mediterranean condiment, but it's also used in Chinese cuisine. It makes its way into Japanese dishes, too. In a fry pan, I roasted some sesame until golden, and then ground it in a blender with lemon juice, olive oil, and a little water. My low-power blender doesn't turn it into a thick sauce but a paste. 

I use a few tablespoons of the tahini paste in my hummus. A little more olive oil, crushed garlic, salt, pepper, and a can of chickpeas, called ひよこ豆 in Japanese, result in a smooth, flavourful dip.

I eat it with toasted English muffins and add it to bento box lunches as a condiment. This is a simple, no-cook dish with ingredients you can get anywhere in Japan.

Do you make your own hummus? How do you make and serve it? Do you make or buy your own tahini, and what do you do to make the most of the sesame goodness?