Shochu Gumi is our quarterly shochu subscription service with members throughout the US. Join today! We are thrilled to spotlight Saga prefecture this month, with extra special bottles from this region in southern Japan. Located in Kyushu, Saga is...
I eat a lot of instant ramen. I've cut down a lot – I used to eat it once a week, living in NYC in my 20s on a non-profit museum paycheck. But even now, as I begin my 40s, I'd say I make myself a bowl...
Cooking time: 5 minutes.The Japanese have perfected the art of lazy cooking. Instant ramen, instant white rice, instant consomme, instant miso soup complete with tofu and green onions. Where do you think I get it from?So the other...
Sorry for disappearing for so long since my last post-- had a couple of weeks full of extreme work situations. Having said that, I still bake every weekend, but just haven't have time to post any of it. Since I found the delightful...
This is a whole new level of ReCPY, everyone. I've created many baked goods in the past, but nothing compares to this. I heard Iron Chef had an episode on natto, and Morimoto made some kind of dessert with natto soaked in...
I once saw a recipe on Tastespotting using rice flour instead of regular flour to make muffins. I tried making them and gave them all away, without even try one. The lucky person who tasted it told me I should sell them....
Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 250 members throughout California. Join today! Koji is a mold used to make sake, shochu, soy sauce, mirin, and miso. Koji is the word for the mold spore itself, as well as the...
Photos by Kelly Ishikawa It's been 10 years since Yoko and I went to Japan for the Open Harvest project. We spent three jam-packed weeks with our pals from Ramen Shop, Rintaro, Kronner Burger, and The Perish Trust, visiting farms, markets, wineries,...
This month for Sake Gumi, we are featuring the Kid Shiboritate sake. We are also inviting the maker of that sake, Heiwa Shuzo, to host a brewery tour and sake tasting with us on Zoom! They are a small...
Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 250 members throughout California. Join today! The theme for this month came to me as I watched the bees buzzing in my backyard and 2021 was fast approaching. After learning about each of the sakes...
Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout California. Join today! These sakes have all been cooped up, as they age – just like we have this year. That’s why I feel like it's timely to explore jukuseishu, or...
Shochu Gumi is our quarterly shochu subscription service with members throughout the US. Join today! To kick off the New Year, we had an event on Zoom in which we talked about these shochus, learned to make some groovy cocktails, and...
Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout California. Join today! We're seeing a shift these days of brewers making sakes that are higher in acidity and experimenting with using different kojis and yeasts to create more sour...
When the coronovirus hit, it was winter 2020. In the sake world, rice is already planted and harvested by the time winter rolls around. The last step is to use all of that rice for sake-making. But with the coronovirus, orders for sake...
20 years ago, I moved to Italy for a year – living first in Siena, then Padova (here I am above at Lake Como). I had daydreamed about Italy since high school, after watching Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty (the modern day film equivalent would be Call Me By Your Name),...
We are so excited to announce our very first Zoom cocktail event with our great friend Chris Lane, bartender extraordinaire and currently the Skurnik Wines West Spirits Specialist.Ever wonder how to use Japanese whisky in cocktails? Which whisky to use?...
In preparation for the Sake Gumi Magnificent Miyagi theme, I've been sipping on dry and clean sakes from Miyagi all month. It's been a year since I visited the prefecture, and I've been reminiscing on the times I had there by looking...
In preparation for the Sake Gumi Magnificent Miyagi theme, I've been sipping on dry and clean sakes from Miyagi all month. It's been a year since I visited the prefecture, and I've been reminiscing on the times I had there by looking at...
Miyagi cuisine (l-r): oysters, Katei Gyutan Yaki, Buttered Bamboo Shoots Sake Gumi is our monthly sake subscription service with 200 members throughout California. Join today! Miyagi Prefecture was one of the hardest hit areas during the 2011 Tohoku Disaster which included a...
As a performer, occasional creator, and avid listener, music is often the backdrop (if not the focal point) for any activity in which I lose myself. Be it trying the longest possible execution of a new recipe, drinking with friends or hitoride (by myself), the music selection is as...
