Umami Mart

In Japan, everything is made easy for busy housewives who have to raise kids, clean the house, yet also have to cook and make dessert. You throw things in a microwave and five minutes later, you can a serve main course to your hungry kids and demanding, asshole husbands. I was recently given a simple-to-make sakuramochi […]

After reading Moto’s post about making anko (sweet bean paste), I began to reminisce about my visit to a wagashi (traditional Japanese confectionary) shop in Koishikawa, Tokyo called Ikko-an. All of the wagashi are made by hand by the owner Chikara Mizukami, while his wife works in the storefront. He has made it a point […]

My most recent obsession is making anko (sweet bean paste) from scratch. As I wrote in my strawberry daifuku post a couple of weeks ago, using bean paste as dessert doesn’t really exist in the west. But I am trying to find ways to mix this into my future baking. After all, it’s gluten-free, and […]

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 […]

Chestnuts signify the presence of winter in many cultures. Although I’ve never actually tried chestnuts roasted by an open fire, I have tried the Japanese version of chestnuts simmered in simple syrup, or kuri no kanroni. However, I had never taken the initiative to prepare a chestnut dish because the task of peeling always seemed […]

By Kenji Miura I celebrated Christmas in Japan by making wagashi, or traditional Japanese sweets. Santa is shaped out of shiro-an (white bean paste). The holly is made out of ogura tsubu-an (red beans boiled with sugar, skin-on). The tree is comprised of shiro-an and kanten (agar agar). The kinton (mashed substance, in this case the […]

Although we don’t see many kudzu vines taking over large patches of land in the west, it is often referred to as the “mile-a-minute-vine” in the South. It all started in 1876 when someone thought it would be a good idea to introduce the kudzu plant from Japan to the U.S. Instead of providing some […]

Japanese snacks are wacky. From matcha-flavored Kit Kats, to dried squid covered in chocolate, to using beans for desserts, the country is filled with surprises in the sweet tooth department. I’ve seen a DIY sushi-making video, and it was very intriguing. I think the idea is very educational, scientific, and simply fun. Apparently though, the […]

My trip to France was my first international experience ever. As much as I tried to prepare, there really is just no preparing for the unknown. From walking a mile underground in between each subway line to the reality of the hotel rooms, everything seemed to be more difficult than I had anticipated. What do […]

On a hot day in summer, when you don’t feel like cooking or baking, yet feel the need to create something yummy isn’t an easy task. That’s when I rely on agar agar to make cold dessert. I’ve made mizu yokan before using the same method, still it requires blending the mixture to make it […]