March 5, 2012
Not that I’ve ever beaten anyone up, but I think macaron-making is somewhat similar to the mentality of a wifebeater’s wife. You get so fed up with the multiple failures, from all the physical and mental abuse, and you want to leave him, but when you are about to say goodbye for good, he becomes […]
March 1, 2012
On paper, nagaimo sounds like a miracle food. Nagaimo is a type of yam with hardly any calories, while simultaneously lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. It’s also full of potassium and fiber and ideal for the diet of a diabetic. And that list doesn’t even include its most popular benefit. It’s been said that during the […]
February 29, 2012
Confession: I’m kinda tired of Asian food. Maybe because I eat it every day. So when my Mile High Dining Club friend declared he wanted to throw a Moroccan inspired dinner I was totally there. Moroccan, African and Arabian are probably the less trendy food cultures compared to the Italian, French and Japanese kitchens these […]
February 28, 2012
“Made of Win†Bourbon is one of my favorite spirits to make and drink cocktails. Sadly, it is not used in many pre-Prohibition recipes due to rye whisky’s popularity during the golden age of cocktails. After Repeal, bourbon gained popularity as it became more available but was often just substituted for rye whisky in the […]
February 27, 2012
I’ve been reading on many Japanese blogs that people are stuffing sticky rice inside a whole chicken, which absorbs all the good stuff from the bird, and makes a very nice sticky rice accompanying a perfectly roasted bird. I was going to roast the whole bird, but realized I would be the only one who […]
February 23, 2012
Karasumi (or bottarga) is salted and dried mullet roe. It comes in two sacks and are hard, like a candy bar. Its deep, oceany, salty flavor is reminiscent of caviar. But the texture is not like caviar, because it’s a dense mass of eggs dried in the sun, it is chewy and sticks to the molars […]
February 22, 2012
“Oshibori Udon” is a famous udon from the Shinshu district of Nagano prefecture. It is delicious with spicy grated daikon. My friend made this batch! *Nahoko Morimoto is a Tokyo-based photographer. Her work has been featured in Brutus and Vogue Japan.
February 16, 2012
Feeling out of the loop can make you feel old. I was feeling that way on Sunday night when I didn’t recognize a third of the bands and artists that took the Grammy’s stage. I didn’t know when Maroon 5 ended and Foster the People began… it was all just so confusing. By 10 o’clock, […]
February 14, 2012
Japan is filled with weird desserts. A lot of influence comes from the west, but we somehow incorporate Japan-ness into western desserts. For example, castella came from Portugal and somehow the recipe changed a bit and one of the ingredients now is mirin (sweet sake). Or choux filled with red bean/whipped cream mix. Ichigo daifuku […]
February 13, 2012
Our neighbors recently invited us over for kebab night. In California in February, it’s easy to grill outside and I’m convinced everything tastes better when cooked outdoors! This was a seriously flavorful meal: beef kebab served with a plate of herbs (radishes, mint, green onions), homemade baba ganoush (made from grilled whole eggplants), rice purposefully […]