Umami Mart

Sometimes when I’m lazy, I order delivery. And sometimes when I’m lazy, it will be during the middle of the day. When these powers combine, I seek comfort in the lunch special. KHAO SARN My love affair with Thai food began in 2001, when I first tried pad thai and since then, has blossomed into […]

Remember my post about making a Japanese cheesecake? It’s a simple recipe, but very difficult to retain the fluffiness because of all the egg whites. Although it rises high during baking, but it shrinks down like an old person once you take it out of the oven. It’s like taking Viagra before baking: it performs […]

I bought a sac of shirako at my local supermarket for 90 yen (85 cents). I never knew that shirako was so cheap since I had never had the balls to prepare it until now. Shirako is the seminal fluid of fish who shoot their sperm onto roe. It is served in many different ways […]

My new favorite ice-cream product is Chocobari. The closest translation for the Japanese word “bari” in English is the onomatopoeia “crunch.” I first knew of Chocobari in the summer months when they were running ads for it on TV. I couldn’t find the actual ad I saw on Youtube, but here’s one I was able […]

My husband and I took a stroll around Tsukijishijo (Tsukuji Fish Market) yesterday after running an errand in Ginza. I used to work near Tsukiji and never had the privilege of spending a day-off there. It was the same Tsukiji I went to on my lunch breaks, but it makes it a lot more exciting […]

Yoko has since moved out of her little studio in Shimokitazawa, but I remember taking this picture cause her stovetop cracked me up. ONE BURNER!!! I mean, really, why would anyone need more than that, right? Pretty inconceivable for Americans. Where would Hideko’s precious coffee machine go? This here picture captures the entire width of […]

After trying two Kit Kat flavors available in Japan with gag-inducing colors: light aqua for the Ramune Kit Kat and salmony orange for the Mango Pudding Kit Kat, I was seriously relieved to see that the Caramel Pudding Kit Kat was poo-colored just like the OG chocolate Kit Kat. As I busted open the package, […]

While rummaging through my fridge the other day (fine, fine, my parent’s fridge) I was delighted to find a hefty package of myoga. SCORE! It’s so difficult to describe, this myoga. Vegetable? Herb? Spice?? They grow in the ground, so maybe it’s just simply a bulb?? Colors: A gorgeous spectrum that moves from bone-white to […]

Newest omiyage (gift) in the Akabori household from Japan: green tea Baumkuchen from a patisserie in Dojima, Osaka called Mon Chouchou. From the website, it looks like it is a relatively new shop (2003), that takes its inspiration from the old world of Osaka, calling Dojima the “New York of Japan.” Of course the most […]

Kanpyo is a curious food – shaved calabash gourd. You can buy kanpyo dehydrated in white strips. You must prepare the dehydrated strips and marinate them to get them ready for the most common kanpyo dishes like futomaki rolls and side dishes. I wanted to make unohana – a mixture of tofu pulp and vegetables, […]