Umami Mart

The other morning I woke up with the worst hangover I’ve had in two years. I remember drinking shochu the night before like I was drinking water. I clearly ended up mixing up the two halfway through the night because they both looked the same, yet the shochu tasted better. The upside is that I […]

When I was but a spring chicken who had just graduated from university, I went on a backpacking trip to Italy with one of my friends. It was hot, we were young and Italy was a marvelous cacaphony of ancient ruins, art & culture and food. From Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum to Irving Stone’s biographical […]

Microwave cooking is big in Japan. Just like buying panties from vending machines. People do it all the time and there is no need to be ashamed when doing it. One of the most genius ideas I acquired while living in Japan was microwaving a potato. Japan has these cute little jagaimo (potatoes) that make […]

Kayoko here, filling in for Yoko. From here on out, just call me (Ka)Yoko. By now, I’m sure you know what ponzu is. I don’t even have to explain it to you. In fact, it’s such a part of our colloquialism that I don’t even need to italicize it! Oh you know, it’s that tangy, […]

Since my last post on an early Thanksgiving dinner, I went down to Fort Lauderdale, soaked in a lot of sun, darkened up the way a real Asian guy should look, then came back to a freezing NYC. I am depressed. I want more sun. I was going to write about my food experiences in […]

Aubergines are one of my favourite vegetables and I will always choose an aubergine dish if I can at restaurants (except if there’s beef, and I have to admit baba ganoush still defeats me). And nothing goes better with aubergine than oil. Life is tough. I grew up with a mother who cooked something different […]

London is scorching this week and what better way to spend a weekend than by getting a bit of sunny goodness with an absorbing book at Waterlow Park, next to Highgate Cemetary where my father’s hero, Karl Marx, is buried. I get to use my brain, immerse myself in a story and work on my […]

It’s sugar snap pea season! These beans are so sweet and only need a minute in the frying pan, which means it’s perfect for us LASYASSES. Remember when I wrote about chinese sausages, aka lap cheong a couple weeks back? Let’s add those, and a clove of garlic. Deveining, or “stringing” the peas is the […]

Spare me the formalities and let me present to you: The Cold Tofu Salad. – Cold tofu, the kind you get in the square plastic container in the refrigerated section of the store. Your best bet is to get the House brand, which is at many markets now (I personally like the medium firmness, although […]

This dish so easy, I’m almost embarassed to write this. I mean, everyone needs to eat their vegetables, even lazy people, right? I got these oyster mushrooms at the Chinese market for $2! Use whatever mushrooms you prefer– I love the array of colors, shapes and sizes you can find at the farmer’s market, although […]