March 31, 2011
Before the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, Sendai was a city that made my favorite miso. One tablespoon of Sendai miso goes into my dashi every morning for a breakfast consisting of miso-shiru, rice and umeboshi. In recent weeks, Sendai has come to symbolize much more to me than just a great producer of miso, […]
February 17, 2011
Mottainai is said in Japan when something perfectly usable is abandoned or sent to the trashcan. In the past ten years, Japan has seen a trend in awareness regarding waste and reusing whenever possible. It’s ironic that this has become a trend because the idea of reuse goes way back and is intrinsic to Japanese […]
January 20, 2011
When I was five, my family moved from the heart of the Silicon Valley (Cupertino) to the heart of Tokyo (Aoyama). Although it probably would have been a dream for trendy tots and tweens like Suri or Tavi, I was a tomboy who liked my suburban swing set in Cupertino and despised the high-rise buildings […]
November 18, 2010
In an effort to demystify Japanese cooking, today’s Japanify post is a first in a series I will call “Japanify Ingredients.” I’ve drawn inspiration from some questions I’ve received from friends, for example: “I bought rice vinegar to make sushi one time, but it’s just sitting in my cupboard doing nothing. What else can I […]
September 30, 2010
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 […]
July 26, 2010
Summer is here. A very fucking uncomfortably hot summer is here. I am not young enough to go out to the beach and lay out all day any more, which pisses me off. However, staying young-looking requires me to wear a lot of sun screen. What is it to get old? It’s not fun at […]
July 22, 2010
I was always baffled by tamari. I had never used it until one of my friends and faithful readers of UM suggested that I should write about tamari vs. shoyu (soy sauce) on Japanify. So this week, I purchased San-J brand’s Tamari (I chose that brand because I happened to have San-J brand’s Organic Shoyu […]
July 21, 2010
In Umamimart’s three year history, I can’t believe we’ve never devoted a post to Japanese mayonnaise. We reference this stuff all the time, but have never really covered it. Blasphemy! Japanese mayo is more tart than the regular American version. This is because vinegar is added. And don’t forget the ever-important, save-all: MSG. NO WONDER […]
July 6, 2010
PREFACE: Ingredients + Recipe Prep + Boil I’m not sugarcoating this. I need you to understand what a truly, utterly, and horrifyingly HUGE PAIN IN THE ASS this entire project is. When browsing the I N T E R N E T for recipes, no one ever tells you that this is such a life-consuming […]
July 2, 2010
This is one of those projects that I always think I can handle, but it just turns into dread, and ultimately only goes to prove what a huge procrastinator I am. Since I picked up the plums from Christi a week ago, it’s just been this nagging thing that’s been clawing at my brain EVERY […]