The silicone steamer craze has been in full force in Japan since 2010. With the economy tanking continuously since 2008, single men and women who have never tried their hand at cooking have taken solace in kitchenware that promise quick and easy recipes. My...
Most people think the Japanese eat sushi for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Fact is, most of their diet is something entirely different. Like iri iri pan pan for example: rice, beef, eggs and peas. It's a super easy dish which has an undertone of sugary...
The Japanese have many dishes that originated somewhere in the world, but recreated it in such a way that fits to their taste. Curry, from India, is a good example. Japanese curry isn't the same curry as the kind from India. It's a lot...
This post is rather late, for which I apologize. Er, about a month late. SORRY! Where has all the time gone? How is it already mid-September? I look outside and the leaves are turning color. The light gives off a deeper glow. It is dark...
Japan is known to take ideas from other countries and adapt them for their own. From castella to ramen to hambagu, the Japanese menu is full of food items that could not exist without outside influences. Many of these foods have deviated so...
Ramen, as some of my fellow writers have observed, is totally taking over North America. People are obsessively eating, finding new shops, and eating more. New chains from Japan are opening like once a month here in New York City. Funny thing about ramen is...
PREFACE Battle ReCPY: NYC Umeboshi Project, Pt. 1 After a couple of weeks of pickling plum in salt, it extracts all the water out of the plums, which makes umezu (plum vinegar). Once the liquid rises above the plum, it's time to add...
A recipe for a Japanese dessert: It takes a mizu-yokan recipe and a matcha-kuzu kanten (agar) and plates them next to one another.
I've become addicted to miso. You know, that Japanese brown and weird looking paste consisting of fermented rice, soybeans, salt and the fungus kōjikin. Or at least that is the most traditional recipe, but miso can be found across Asia in many...
Avocado sashimi with yuzu kosho is the easiest dish to make. It's great to serve your guests before the main course. It's also an ideal option to serve yourself when you are feeling really lazy but a little fancy. I prepare this...
The other morning I woke up with the worst hangover I've had in two years. I remember drinking shochu the night before like I was drinking water. I clearly ended up mixing up the two halfway through the night because they both...
Japanese snacks are wacky. From matcha-flavored Kit Kats, to dried squid covered in chocolate, to using beans for desserts, the country is filled with surprises in the sweet tooth department. I've seen a DIY sushi-making video, and it was very intriguing. I think the idea...
A step-by-step recipe for Japanese yaki onigiri, or grilled rice balls.
My trip to France was my first international experience ever. As much as I tried to prepare, there really is just no preparing for the unknown. From walking a mile underground in between each subway line to the reality of the hotel rooms, everything seemed...
I visited my mom recently and she served me one of the best breakfasts I have had in a long time--tai chazuke. Chazuke is short for ochazuke, a common method of enjoying rice in Japan. A bowl of rice is topped with condiments and hot...
After seeing the Ume Project on the west coast, I was intrigued. I like umeboshi (pickled plums) and every time I go home to Japan, I bring back my mother's homemade ones. After all, I am from Wakayama, where Japan's best umeboshi is made....
This is a personal post about being lost in culinary hell and finding the path home again with a little help from my Japanese friends. In case someone out there might be in the same situation that I was in, I hope this helps and...
After our Berkeley backyard ume foraging adventure, Yoko, Sylvan (of Peko Peko) and I met up six days later to start pickling our umeboshi (pickled plum). Hooray! Umeboshi is the rice accompaniment of choice in Japan--the image of the sour little...
On a hot day in summer, when you don't feel like cooking or baking, yet feel the need to create something yummy isn't an easy task. That's when I rely on agar agar to make cold dessert. I've made mizu yokan before...
PREFACE Summer Slurp Series, Pt. 1: Nikumiso Udon Summer Slurp Series, Pt. 2: Hiyashi Chuka (Cold Ramen) The one (and only) thing that I miss about the disgustingly humid temperatures in Tokyo is the arrival of cold noodle...
