Umami Mart

Shortribs, potatoes and dduk (rice cakes). Savory, comforting and down right delicious. The oils bubbled on the sizzling hot stone platter throughout the entire meal. This feast felt like celebration for kings and queens, family and the closest of friends. Sun Nong Dan 3470 W. 6th Street at Alexandria Los Angeles T: 213.365.0303

After living in Oakland for nearly five years, I am jumping ship and moving across the Bay. It’s crazy. I haven’t really come to grips with it yet, as I’ve been so busy packing/ moving out/ moving in/ unpacking/ selling furniture/ buying furniture/ trying to settle in; all while remembering to eat, stay hydrated and […]

If any of you are lucky enough to have a friend who is a farmer in Northern California, you know what I mean when I say that they are the rockstars around these parts — the Beyoncé’s of the food game. Meet my friend Kristyn as she holds a Mexican gherkin, a tiny cucumber berry […]

The 100 Year Punch is a cocktail that features a couple of unique ingredients that highlight the Korean heritage of its creator, Daniel Eun (who also created the #8 cocktail). Baekseju (also spelled Bek Se Ju) or “100 Year Wine,” is a rice and corn based Korean wine flavored with ginseng and other herbs. Apparently it […]

São Paulo has the second largest Japanese population outside of Japan (about 650,000+), but since my arrival here I’ve been pretty bummed by the lack of good Japanese restaurants. Thank God for the Koreans! Koreans immigrated to SP with promises that Brazil was the country of the future — and Brazil still strives towards this dream. […]

I love the pucker-your mouth tartness of naengmyeon–cold buckwheat noodles with cucumbers, hard-boiled egg and pickled Asian pears, doused in a chilled vinegar broth. Like craving ice cream when it’s snowing out, I do love this during the cold winter months. Thanks to Chungtech for introducing me to Sura. They have noodle specials every day! But […]

Japan is known to take ideas from other countries and adapt them for their own. From castella to ramen to hambagu, the Japanese menu is full of food items that could not exist without outside influences. Many of these foods have deviated so far from the original, clouded in cuteness, mildness or sweetness that they […]

Remember when I made kimchi fried rice? It has become my staple meal when I feel ultra lazy. Read: ALL THE TIME. So how panicked was I when I went to the kitchen yesterday to take out all the precious ingredients out of the fridge, but then realize that I was missing RICE. Epic FAIL. […]

I am happy to announce that Korean Cuisine, a cookbook I photographed, has just been published. The author is chef and food writer/educator Yongja Kim. I developed a new found LOVE for Korean food because of this book, and I hope you will, too. For two weeks last fall in a kitchen in Greenwich Village, […]

Looks like we’re celebrating carbs here at UM, as this rice post is back to back with Yoko’s mugi-toro don! Ain’t nothin’ wrong with carbs, people- get over it!!! Kimchi fried rice is my new favorite dish to cook up at home- it takes seven minutes to make from start to finish (I timed it), […]