Umami Mart

When I crave comfort food, this is my go-to dish. It’s quick, easy and cheap. The key to a successful miso-eggplant dish is fresh eggplants. The vibrant purple color of Japanese eggplant contrasts well with the redness of the miso. The dish is sweet thanks to the miso and sugar so it will satisfy an […]

Thanksgiving dinner has become such a tradition in my household, and we hosted an early Thanksgiving dinner over the weekend. I am off to Florida now to enjoy the sun, beach, and a hassle-free Thanksgiving (if the TSA would just hire HOT men/women at the airport body check points, people wouldn’t complain so much, right?). […]

The Gohan Society is a non-profit organization bridging together US and Japan through food. Their programs are quite intricate and very educational.  For example, they had a series on “how to use fish” courses, targeted to professional chefs, from filleting the whole fish to fresh eel butchering to ike-jime. The students, from Wilie Dufresne (WD […]

PREFACE Tivoli Eating Aesthetics, Part 1: Munchin’ in the Dark Oh what sweet temptations lie there in the window, luring you in, exploding like fireworks in your braincells and making you feel… giddy. Candy speaks to all ages and cultures–  in one form or another we all have a set of sweet teeth to be […]

My in-laws visited from Tokyo last week. I think my mother-in-law thinks that there are no Japanese products available in the states and brought us half a suitcase-full of food. Poor, unfortunate Americans. Turns out that half of the stuff she brought for us is available in the U.S. including Nagatanien‘s Otona-no Furikake, or rice […]

Aubergines are one of my favourite vegetables and I will always choose an aubergine dish if I can at restaurants (except if there’s beef, and I have to admit baba ganoush still defeats me). And nothing goes better with aubergine than oil. Life is tough. I grew up with a mother who cooked something different […]

As I promised, this week I am sharing my chicken shiso coRn ball recipe this week. I’ve made chicken meatballs many times for parties. I usually use it as mini chicken sliders with a piece of shiso leaf, with a slice of cucumber. But I kicked this up a notch this time, and served it […]

Is it really the last day of Sloth Season? Say it ain’t so! Sigh. Totally not fair considering the Bay Area has been a shroud of fog, gloom and sweater-weather all “summer”. In Dante’s Inferno, San Francisco is not unlike the third circle of hell, where the gluttonous are punished in eternal rain and relentless […]

Although this month is designated for sloth, I don’t work Thursdays or Fridays this month so I have too much free time on my hands. I can’t think of anything else to do but stay in the kitchen. People think I’m a social butterfly, but in reality, I am a loser who stays in the […]

For those who are curious to eat more responsibly in the seafood arena, mackerel is an ideal option. For the rest of us who don’t care about being responsible, mackerel is also an ideal option because of its salty-savoriness that’s addictive and a great complement to a glass of shochu. Succeeding last week’s Japanify for […]