Sake and Shochu Gumi
Happy Hour

Happy Hour: Good Morning Heartache

Being out of the country for nearly a month has a tendency to adjust a person's perspective of "home." Home has had various meanings and geographical locations in various moments in my life. Conceptually, it means numerous--and sometimes conflicting--things at...

Ode to Japanify: Natto-A-Day

I'm going through Yoko withdrawl. We were literally joined at the hip for the last month, gearing up for our GIFT OF FOOD benefit: chatting, Skyping, meeting with each other, organizing, coordinating, planning with our other awesome collaborators. It was definitely a huge team...

Happy Hour

Happy Hour: The Desert Ain't That Dry

The Prohibition Era figures prominently in the collective imagination of the cocktail world. The aura and mystique surrounding that era still wields great influence on popular culture. The popularity of HBO's Boardwalk Empire is a perfect example of our still not fully reconciled...

Japanify

Japanify Ingredients: Sendai Miso

Before the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, Sendai was a city that made my favorite miso. One tablespoon of Sendai miso goes into my dashi every morning for a breakfast consisting of miso-shiru, rice and umeboshi. In recent weeks, Sendai...

ReCPY: Let's Make Onigiri! (Video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9wFSoMiiBQ My colleague Kristen who produces videos for Japan Society’s Youtube channel, asked me if I knew of any onigiri (rice balls) shops since they wanted to showcase them in an upcoming video. I thought, “How about I teach how to make onigiri in the video?” That’s how this...

ReCPY

ReCPY: Martha, You WANT Me

Before I go into this week's tear-jerking post, I am fortunate to tell you that all my peeps in Japan are fine, but my thoughts are with everyone who is affected by the earthquake. This is truly awful, sad, and devastating for all of us....

ReCPY

ReCPY Redux: Peking Duck

About a year ago, Dickson's Farm opened up a shop in Chelsea Market and I often go there to get my meat. It's fresh, and sometimes you can see the guys butchering huge chunks of cow. It's nice to buy meat where you can...

ReCPY

ReCPY: MOcarons

My MO-obsession (baking with rice flour) has returned, and this time, it's the MOcaron. Now that I know exactly what to do when it comes to macaron-making, substituting almond flour with other ingredients is not that hard. Having said that, I had no idea...

Tap This

Tap This: Beer Recipe Writing Improv

If you are getting tired of using beer kits or following other peoples recipes and are ready to start creating your own beers, this post is for you. When I first moved out to San Francisco I started putting Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in...