Photos by Josh Urich, The Joy of Drinking

We did it! We signed a lease! After six months of free rent with Popuphood to see if we could “make it” in Old Oakland, we have proven to the world, and to ourselves, that the world is in need of a shop dedicated to Japanese bar and kitchenware.

Yoko and I hosted a party to celebrate our achievement and invited all our friends, old and new.

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More and more these days, I’m starting to feel like a grown-up. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I am a business owner, or if it’s the hipster kids who walk around without a care in the world (who I can’t connect with at all), or if it’s the pop culture references that I don’t get (although when have I ever been hip to pop culture references??), or if it’s cause I just turned 33 — the age Jesus was when he died for all of our sins.

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Ebi Chili is the best example of a dish that has been Japanified. It was originally created in the 1950s by a Chinese immigrant in Japan, taking cues from Sichuan-style cooking. It’s a shrimp dish that has a little spice and a little sweetness, perfect for the Japanese palate that typically can’t handle serious heat.

I remember loving Ebi Chili as a kid.

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After weeks of cold and rainy weather in Madrid, I headed to Huelva (in southwestern Spain) to meet up with my friend Lucía from London. We were both starving for some good weather and Andalusian food.

We stayed in Ayamonte, a charming, small village in the edge of the Portugal border, beside the Guadiana River. Narrow white streets with geraniums pots and marshes welcome you to this fisherman’s town of never-ending beaches and pine forest landscapes.

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The craze for sweets in Japan is so peculiar. There’s always, “This Year’s #1 Dessert!” which will inevitably be forgotten about next year. Sweets like macarons and other delicate pastries are kicked up a notch or two once they enter Japan land. Its level of sophistication is nothing you will see here in the States.

The age-old jelly roll is one of “This Year’s #1 Dessert!” It is super soft, and the cream inside is extra light and not so sweet.

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Went to Hard Water the other night, Charles Phan’s newest eatery located along the scenic Embarcadero in San Francisco. It’s such a rarity to go out and join the HOT SF scene. But it must be done, once in a blue moon!

The space was impressive, with a gorgeous marble U-shaped bar against a majestic backdrop of countless bottles of whisky.

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Yo Martians! Mother’s Day is NEXT SUNDAY MAY 12!!! Have you thought about what you’re gonna do yet? Maybe take Mom out for a nice brunch? You can also get her something fun and original for her kitchen and home from Umami Mart! We’ve put together four special gift sets to say, “Thanks, Mom!”

I love Harumi Kurihara — she’s the Martha Stewart of Japan.

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I am a huge fan of spice, and finding a dish that I can make that delivers the spice is always a welcome affair.

This renkon (lotus root) kinpira is a recipe I made out of an awesome book that Kayoko got me during her nine-hour layover in Japan. It was luck that I had a lotus root rolling around in my fridge as I explored the pages of the book.

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Remember when Umami Mart used to be really raunchy and we used to talk about all our 20-something woes? It was so fun. We would bitch and moan about what we felt were Very Important Topics. Well, we’re 30-somethings now and while life is not more exciting, things have certainly changed. We’re grown-ups! Which doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be as inappropriate or personal as we used to be.

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By Yuki HD

Doubanjiang has been called “the soul of Sichuan cooking.” A spicy bean paste most recognizable in Sichuan cuisine, doubanjiang is also a popular ingredient for Japanese home cooking, called tobanjan.

I use doubanjiang quite often in my cooking for sauces, and I was curious as to how I might make a home-style version using only natural ingredients.

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