A gleaming school of herring greeted me upon my arrival on U.S. shores yesterday. After landing from Tokyo, my first errand after dropping off my bags at home was a visit to my local fish monger (Monterey Fish Market). Winter...
Photos by Jazmine Livingston On a cold December night, just days before Christmas, we hosted Peko-Peko for a night of HOT noodles! Sylvan and Hayato showed up with two big boxes of hand-pulled udon, plus roasted duck and leaks for garnish....
It's chilly out! Come by on Thursday for a bowl of udon, hand-pulled by Sylvan Brackett of Peko Peko. He will most likely be serving the soup with roasted duck and mushrooms. Sylvan's udon are some of the best I've...
It all started with a vision. Three guys, slaving away at Chez Panisse for years, decided to open a ramen shop in Oakland. Hot damn! The East Bay needs nothing more than a GREAT ramen shop, and the Food Gods know it. They...
In the spring of 2012 I suddenly felt the urge to not spend a depressing summer in Copenhagen. Previous years had been a mixed pleasure of monsoon rain, heavy floods, grey skies and Antarctica beach temperatures. I seriously needed a shot of California. Coincidentally the...
I've been really into harusame (bean thread noodles) ever since my grandma sent me home with some two years ago. With a quick soak in some warm water, these noodles are ready to be fried or boiled, depending on what kind...
After all this talk of fancy dining, 4-star service, Le Bernardin and the lack thereof, I'm bringing it all back to what we're all about: SOUL. Umami Mart is all about love and sharing and laughter and how food plays a great role in...
We all have those comfort dishes that are close to our heart, and transport us back to childhood when biting into whatever it may be. For me, a bowl of chicken udon from Gombei always makes me tear up with nostalgia. Originally a little...
When it comes to matters of eating out, I am pretty inflexible. Since I will travel long distances for good food, I get pretty upset if I don't get what I had originally intended. By nature, I am quite stubborn (classic Taurean trait), and I...
Here's something I dragged out of my photo archives. It's from my trip to Kerala, India back in 2007. We spent two days and one night in the backwaters on a houseboat -- probably one of the most glorious experiences of my life! One thing...
Remember when Yoko posted that pornlicious article about how to make ikura-don (salmon roe over rice), topped with a raw egg? Well, one night, she invited me over for dinner and she made ikura spaghetti!!! What a gluttonous noodle feast in a bowl. The al...
I should confess that I have never really been a fan of tsukemen (ramen with dipping sauce). Shouldn't ramen be in a piping hot broth, brimming with scallions and chashu (pork) and menma (bamboo shoots)? Tsukemen just always seemed so WRONG to me, despite the fact that...
São Paulo has the second largest Japanese population outside of Japan (about 650,000+), but since my arrival here I've been pretty bummed by the lack of good Japanese restaurants. Thank God for the Koreans! Koreans immigrated to SP with promises that Brazil was the country of the...
*Nahoko Morimoto is a Tokyo-based photographer. Her work has been featured in Brutus and Vogue Japan.
Spaghetti alla Chitarra prepared by chef Dan Kluger at The Core Club. He is now the chef at ABC Kitchen in NYC. Photo by Erin Gleeson.
I woke up to an email this morning with the subject line: "You're so ahead of your time!" Bryan's good friend Rob was informing me that March is National Noodle Month, and forwarded me this article about the celebrations in LA. So what the...
Sakura's noodle report from Bangkok earlier this week had me craving for a bowl of bah mee nam here in the Bay Area. I scoured the city's Thai restaurant menus but did not find anything comparable to Sakura's favorite noodle dish. But, fear not, as an awesome...
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.
Umamimart is celebrating 5 years this month with a celebration of noodles and how delightful that I get to talk to you all about one of my favourites: bah mee nahm (Thai noodle soup). When I lived in Bangkok, Thailand, from the...
