Kayoko and I test every product we place in the store. We have to love it, use it, and find a place for it in our kitchens. This means that while it needs to look good, it also has to be easy enough for me to understand within the first five minutes of opening the […]
Author Archives: Yoko Kumano
May 25, 2016
Japanify: Crabshroom Rice
I wanted to make something simple and mouthwatering for the Canned Crab Challenge. Sarah’s Snow Crab Jeon is a tough act to follow, so I also wanted to make something that could potentially complement her recipe. So to pair with her protein-heavy dish, I decided to come up with a carb dish. I had tried […]
May 15, 2016
Sake Gumi News: Spice it up with Sake! (May 2016)
May sakes ship today for Sake Gumi, our monthly sake subscription club. If you like what’s on deck here, you should join! The days are longer, the bees are starting to store their honey, and the lines at ice cream stores are stretching around the block here in Old Oakland. This can only mean one thing – […]
April 15, 2016
Sake Gumi News: Rice Rice Baby (April 2016)
April sakes ship today for Sake Gumi, our monthly sake subscription club. If you like what’s on deck here, you should join! To celebrate the start of rice-planting season in April, we are highlighting the most popular sake rice Yamada Nishiki. Why is it the most popular rice for sake brewing? Because of its ability to absorb […]
April 11, 2016
Japanify: How to Make Matcha
The first time I learned how to make matcha was from my grandmother, Baba-chan, in Tokyo. I was in second grade when she first showed me how to make matcha. I quickly forgot about it when I moved back to California in fourth grade. Oddly enough, while I was listening to industrial music in my […]
March 15, 2016
Sake Gumi News: Tohoku Springs Back! (March 2016)
March sakes ship today for Sake Gumi, our monthly sake subscription club. If you like what’s on deck here, you should join! On March 11, 2011, the Tohoku region was hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. As if that wasn’t enough, a tsunami that hit a maximum height of 133 ft, traveling 6 miles inland, caused […]
March 3, 2016
Japanify: Yuzu Kosho Avocado Toast
Here’s a simple twist on the very popular dish, Avocado Toast. It’s all the rage. Since I knew that yuzu kosho and avocado go so well together, I decided to incorporate yuzu kosho into my new breakfast routine. This is what I came up with: yuzu kosho avocado toast! This only takes five minutes to make […]
February 29, 2016
China Diaries: Chen Mapo Tofu
High on our list of things to do in Chengdu was eat mapo tofu at the restaurant chain that started it all — Chen Mapo Tofu. No one can say for sure if they truly were the original restaurant to create the dish, but everyone just assumes it by now. Any taxi driver in Chengdu […]
February 23, 2016
Upcoming Event: Hinamatsuri (Girl’s Day) Party this Sunday
Growing up, I was lucky enough to have a full ohinasama set displayed in my house every year. An added bonus was that my mom practices kimekomi ningyo (the art of applying clothing on dolls), so our family set was hand clothed by my mom. It took her over a decade to complete the whole set including […]
February 22, 2016
Building Umami Mart’s Very Own bGeigie by Safecast
One of the most crucial stops of our visit to Japan in January was Safecast HQ in Shibuya. As you may know, Umami Mart is holding a fundraiser TOHOKU SPRINGS BACK, an event commemorating the Tohoku/Fukushima disaster in 2011. We are marking the 5th year since the earthquake and ensuing nuclear power plant disaster — instead […]