Umami Mart Gift Guide
Casa de Kei

Casa de Kei: Kampachi Kama Soup

INGREDIENTS 1 kampachi kama (or any other desired fish collar like yellowtail, red snapper, or salmon) make sure to clean it thoroughly for scales and grit, it is not pleasant to eat 1 bunch komatsuna (or spinich) 5 small matsutake mushrooms (or any other mushroom...

Smoked Salmon Stop-Off Along the Russian River

Last week, Johnny and I randomly went to Russian River. We hadn't seen each other much for the past few months, since the conbini planning and build-out, so Yoko gave me the weekend off and I booked a cottage in Guerneville, a town along the...

Kuishinbo

Kuishinbo: Doyou no Ushinohi (A Day for Eel)

During midsummer, tradition is to have unagi (freshwater eel) on specific days. The days are called doyou no ushinohi (土用の丑の日) to provide a nutritional treat, as well as to help survive the hot season. Unagi carries a lot of "stamina" nutrition, such as vitamins A and B-complex. The...

Japanify

Japanify: Daikon-Tuna Stir Fry

Sometimes the most humble ingredients can yield some seriously satisfying results. Some days I procrastinate until the last stop on my train to plan out what I'm going to make for dinner. I mentally piece together what I have in the fridge and try to...

Ask Sushi Kuni

Ask Sushi Kuni: Usuzukuri

Uzuzukuri is one of my favorite preprations of sashimi. Kuni (my dad) would make this for very special occasions growing up, usually New Year's Day or Thanksgiving. It is so gorgeous that you almost feel bad eating it. But not that bad. The word...

MOTOism

MOTOism: Bara-Chirashi Extreme

Last week, Sakura wrote about chirashi sushi in London, a dish you can find at many Japanese restaurants throughout the world. I grew up in Kansai so when I was young, our chirashi (called bara-chirashi or gomoku chirashi) consisted of cooked root vegetables like...

Japanify

Japanify: Grilled Sanma

When the persimmons and matsutake start populating the markets in Japan, so do the sanma (Pacific Saury). They are so abundant, they are practically giving them out for free. For less than 100yen per fish, it's the most economical choice to...

Japanify

Great UM Noodletown: Karasumi Pasta

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...

Danran Dinner (Tokyo)

Danran, a little sushi spot in the Sakurajosui station in Tokyo, is no stranger to Umamimart. Yoko introduced us to the place in 2008, and Tmonkey reported on it again later that year. Yoko took me to Danran for the first time several years...

ReCPY

NAOE Restaurant, A Miami Gem

I was in Miami for Thanksgiving, listening to salsa music while eating turkey, which was great. Last Thanksgiving, I had a steak in Fort Lauderdale, but this year we had a very traditional Thanksgiving meal, with nontraditional music accompaniment. Since Thanksgiving Day's meal looks the same no...