Umami Mart

One of the things I keep coming across when reading English literature of the early 20th century is reference to something called ‘the Gentleman’s Relish’. Often in stories similar to those of P.G. Wodehouse or Evelyn Waugh where lazy gentlemen are served gentleman’s relish spread sparingly on hot buttered toast by their butlers. How so […]

Still on a quest to find excellent tan tan men in the Bay Area. Tan tan men is ramen with ground beef and cilantro, in a spicy hot soup– I used to eat it all the time in Tokyo. Here’s a bowl I had last week at Himawari Ramen in San Mateo. Descent, but my […]

Hi everyone, Kayoko here, filling in for Yoko’s column today. Yoko has set the bar quite high for tips, techniques and recipes on Japanese cooking, so I really thought hard about what I would be writing about. I browsed through all my Japanese cookbooks and magazines for ideas, and even consulted with some folks about […]

Some people love the availability of innumerable options and possibility; Flea markets, Walmart, The Cheesecake Factory. And while there are some occasions where I enjoy the limitless options and “but what ifs” that tend to come along with sitting down to a proper meal at a new and exciting restaurant, generally I don’t have the […]

Ah, summer. Nix that– the dead of WINTER here in the Bay Area. We’re below the Equator, didn’t you know? But for the sake of conversation, let’s say it’s summer. And summer means cold noodles, right? Thanks to Yoko, ya’ll are equipped with the definitive recipes to making your very own tsuyu. Japanify, holla! If […]

It’s the tail end of July and we’re still experiencing hot! Hot! Heat! in London. So what better way to chill out than with a slight twist to my all time favourite noodle, the tempura udon. London’s finally got a bona fide udon-ya in the guise of Koya which serves some truly sublime sanuki udon […]

After living with my parents for the last year and half, I forgot how difficult it is to cook for just yourself. Aside from it being a little lonely (I like to cook for other people!), it takes a lot of planning and coordination. Grocery shopping for one is an artform that could take years […]

The first time my husband found a bag of Capellini at a grocery store in America he said “It’s like sōmen.” Indeed, sōmen is about the same thinness as capellini and takes about the same time to boil – 3 minutes. But unlike capellini, sōmen is always eaten cold in the summer in tsuyu broth […]

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 […]

Piggybacking on Yamahomo’s drunk cooking post, this week’s Japanify introduces techniques for making instant ramen that will please drunks. After a long, explosive night of dancing, my husband prepared Sapporo Ichiban instant ramen. An avid eater of Sapporo Ichiban instant ramen in his native Japan, my husband was ecstatic that Sapporo Ichiban was also available […]