Umami Mart

In Hong Kong, one of the places my friend S insisted we try was one of two highly-rated restaurants serving Shanghai crab. Lucky for us, we were at the tail-end of the Shanghai crab season. I love crab but hadn’t tried the Shanghai variety before. As she’s an adventurous soul, she took us to the […]

By Anna de Castro Just when I thought February in NY could not get any dreamier (and by dreamy, I mean cold, slushy, and awaiting 6-8 more inches of snow), word came that a Bay Area favorite was making its way east, to shed a bit of light on our blustery season. Ramen Shop Oakland […]

Aloha from Kauai! Yoko, Washi, Johnny, Keisuke, Jay, Rie and I have been lucky enough to spend five nights in Hanalei Bay — a picturesque town on the North Shore, surrounded by staggering mountain ranges and captivating turquoise waves. It’s truly paradise here and we are having a blast ringing in the first week of […]

Sometimes when I eat out I’ll come across a dish so awful, I occasionally fantasise about bringing the bowl to the kitchen, pouring the contents into the sink and then storming out of the shop, leaving glitter and rainbow dust in my midst. What actually happens is that I eat it and then quietly leave, […]

Soyez le bienvenu au cours de cuisine Française contemporaine. Aujourd’hui nous allons faire un ragoût aux champignons bourguignon délicieux, champignons bourguignons.* And that is the extent of my French lingo skills. Although I use to live in Paris for a while, my French never stayed inside my head. So now my French consists of rather non-mentionable phrases […]

Last Friday, Kayoko hosted a girl’s night at her house. While our other halves sulked around the house or went away for the weekend into the mountains, us girls gorged ourselves on beef, pork and chicken balls. It was also my birthday, so my sister surprised me with my first Baked Alaska. Cocktails, beef, ice […]

When it comes to waiting for food, New York is turning into Japan. The Cronut for example, a pastry mashup of croissant + donut created at the Dominique Ansel Bakery, is apparently so good that people line up at 6am to score the precious two pieces per person. There is even a Craigslist black market […]

Mytilus edulis, also known as the common mussel, is a medium-sized edible “marine bivalve mollusc” in the family Mytilidae, or simply, mussels. I sure most of you have had Moules-frites when in France, but the dish is actually from Belgium, and dates back as far as the 1700’s. Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, […]

I’m in a flurry of packing at the moment. Actually, Yoko and MOTO had to come over and help me pack since I just can’t seem to get it together. The movers come tomorrow and my days of single living are about to become a faint memory. I am 33 years old and have lived […]

One of my favorite things to find at the fish counter is sujiko (fish roe). Its appearance is fleeting so I end up getting pounds of it to take advantage of the situation. I swear I could never get bored of ikura. It might possibly be one of my favorite foods, ever! For every half pound […]