I've been reading on many Japanese blogs that people are stuffing sticky rice inside a whole chicken, which absorbs all the good stuff from the bird, and makes a very nice sticky rice accompanying a perfectly roasted bird. I was going to roast the whole bird, but...
Karasumi (or bottarga) is salted and dried mullet roe. It comes in two sacks and are hard, like a candy bar. Its deep, oceany, salty flavor is reminiscent of caviar. But the texture is not like caviar, because it's a dense mass of eggs dried...
"Oshibori Udon" is a famous udon from the Shinshu district of Nagano prefecture. It is delicious with spicy grated daikon. My friend made this batch! *Nahoko Morimoto is a Tokyo-based photographer. Her work has been featured in Brutus and Vogue Japan.
Feeling out of the loop can make you feel old. I was feeling that way on Sunday night when I didn't recognize a third of the bands and artists that took the Grammy's stage. I didn't know when Maroon 5 ended and Foster the People began......
Japan is filled with weird desserts. A lot of influence comes from the west, but we somehow incorporate Japan-ness into western desserts. For example, castella came from Portugal and somehow the recipe changed a bit and one of the ingredients now is mirin (sweet sake)....
Our neighbors recently invited us over for kebab night. In California in February, it's easy to grill outside and I'm convinced everything tastes better when cooked outdoors! This was a seriously flavorful meal: beef kebab served with a plate of herbs (radishes, mint, green onions), homemade...
As we continue to celebrate the almighty noodle here, I give you one of my most delicious, yet absurdly lazyass recipes in my repertoire: curry udon. I love making Japanese-style curry in the winter, it is so soul-warming, with all the carrots, onions, meat and potatoes....
My latest hangout spot is in the infants aisle of Target but I have no babies with me. Stocking up on Pedialyte, bananas and apple sauce have been a full-time job since getting the worst incident of food poisoning of my life in Mexico last...
Congrats to UM for being around for five years! I still remember my first post on Peking duck back in 2007 (after constant harassment from Kayoko...
One of my favorite restaurants is Kajitsu, as I've written a couple of awesome reviews about the place. Chef Nishihara is simply a genius. His creativity and flavoring, using only vegetables (it's a vegan/shojin restaurant), is just amazing. I saw an article in last week's...
This is my new favorite winter cocktail to drink in our neck of the woods, so I named it after our neighborhood, Skylonda. I just soak some cinnamon sticks in a jar of bourbon for a few days which gives it a nice...
By Kenji Miura Shiokara is a fantastic savory condiment to your favorite glass of shochu. This particular shiokara is made with surume ika (Japanese Common Squid or Pacific Flying Squid). INGREDIENTS 5 fresh squid 2 tbsp salt METHOD 1. Clean the squid. (Here's how via
The other day at my local Asian market -- which is usually not very well equipped since importing food from Asia to an unsignificant little island kingdom like Denmark is incredibly pricey -- I found these bags of grains. And I remembered the many crazy versions...
I had the privilege to fly first class to Japan. Don't ask me why, let's just say I am a lucky person. Don't judge me, I am only doing this to show how things are being done up there. Don't we all wonder how the privileged few have luxurious full...
Back in Cupertino, Kuni (my pops) had a huge bag of fuguhire (dried blowfish tails) from Tsukiji market, which he is grills to make fuguhire zake. These tails are from the blowfish variety tora-fugu or "tiger fugu". Fuguhire zake is a common way to drink hot sake in Japan...
Baking chestnut cake dusted with powdered sugar and pine nuts. This was taken as part of an assignment for Edible Brooklyn to accompany an article on chestnuts. Photo by Erin Gleeson.
Happy new year! How did you spend your new year's day? The start of my new year was the worst. On new year's eve, I was at my a party in SF and drank many whisky cocktails that my friend made. I enjoyed the cocktail and...
I've been obsessed with making this dish for a few months now -- it is really satisfying when you are craving noodles, and so ridiculously easy to make. You can usually find nabeyaki udon on the menus at Japanese restaurants, for $12+. This is so easy to...
I am really excited to have been chosen to be part of a food photography exhibition called "Feast Your...
I was fortunate enough to peek into the Peko Peko kitchen this last weekend, while they were preparing all 40 boxes of their highly coveted annual osechi bentos. What a crew! Sylvan had about five people working the kitchen -- peeling, dicing, de-shelling 40 Dungeness crabs......
