Umami Mart

(Don’t have time to make Japanese curry from scratch? Check out Yoko’s Easy Japanese Curry recipe.) For two months, Kayoko and I at curry for dinner almost every night. As our “How to Make Japanese” curry event in San Francisco’s 18 Reasons approached, we stewed our way to a curry that was rich and full […]

“I hate Tokyo.” S’s face was perfectly serious. “Sapporo is so much better — less people, nice weather, great seafood, lots of snow… and Tokyo sucks during the summer.” I’ll never hate Tokyo but you can’t argue with a Sapporo boy on that last point. Hokkaido is one of the best places to be during […]

Hambagu (hamburger) curry rice with an over-easy egg and a touch of fresh cream. Our uncle’s curry shop Hungry Ajikawa has been around for 35 years. HUNGRY AJIKAWA 2-17-8 Misaki-cho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo T: 03-3261-5323

As we continue to celebrate the almighty noodle here, I give you one of my most delicious, yet absurdly lazyass recipes in my repertoire: curry udon. I love making Japanese-style curry in the winter, it is so soul-warming, with all the carrots, onions, meat and potatoes. But living alone means getting bored of having the same […]

The Japanese have many dishes that originated somewhere in the world, but recreated it in such a way that fits to their taste. Curry, from India, is a good example. Japanese curry isn’t the same curry as the kind from India. It’s a lot sweeter, and thicker. Hamburger aka humbagu is eaten without buns (very […]

I’ve been pretty sickly lately. Two weeks ago I caught some awful stomach flu (or food poisoning? whatever) and as I laid in my bed for 72 hours in a sweat pool of misery, starving but unable to keep anything down (nay liquids, tmi), all I truly desired was a bite of… katsu curry. This […]

It’s been a while people, and I hope you’ve all been having a blast (as I’m sure you have). I, on the other hand, have had a slightly manic time especially since the worst thing that can happen to a food blogger has occurred. I may be allergic to seafood. NOOOOO! And to compound my […]

Let’s get back to the basics this week. Everyone loves Japanese curry, right? Like any family recipe, there are various ways to make this– it’s the best comfort food, especially in the wintertime. Since I’m traveling to Japan for the holidays, I made a huge batch for my bf for when I’m away. The basics […]

This week’s ReCPY features pork. Pork is a very versatile meat, and a lot more flavorful than chicken. Dark chicken meat is great, but Americans usually prefer the dry and boring breast meat, which is really uncool. Pork, however, keeps its moisture pretty well, unless you totally over cook it. I was craving something curry […]

While my laziness usually outshines my brilliance in the kitchen, once in a while the stars align and I come up with a dish that is pretty damn awesome (but still in line with my laziness- I keep it real!). I found Japanese eggplant (tends to be slender with softer skin than the chubby American […]