Umami Mart

Back in April, we had a very special Umamiventure— Marcel (we call him that here), a dude who has been making ramen out of his home for the last year and a half, invited Umamimart over to try it. Fifteen of us showed up and gathered in his living room as he toiled away in […]

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 […]

Cold noodles are one of the best things about the summer. My favorite cold noodles are soba noodles. When it’s hot outside and steaming rice sounds like the last thing I want to do, I can always rely on soba noodles. But there have been more than a few times that I find that my […]

This Umamiventure report, a love letter to ramen from the old world to new, is written by special guest writer Wen, originally posted on her blog, We Eat Everything. All photos by Wen. A recent New York Times article about exploring Tokyo via its ramen shops left me desolate, homesick, and hungry. I whined to […]

Let’s say I know this guy. We’ll call him Marcel. Marcel is a ramenaholic. You think you love ramen? Oh no, not like Marcel loves ramen. Marcel has traveled to Japan multiple times to meticulously research the art of ramen. The broth. The noodles. The pork. This dude is so obsessed, that he pulls his […]

Two words: RAMEN TRUCK. Is this not the raddest thing you’ve ever heard? Cause it should be. I know, I know, the food truck scene is so The 00’s. Ramen is now borderline boring to blabber on about (there are only so many ways I can get creative about describing noodles in broth with pork […]

Will it be shoyu? Miso? Tonkotsu? 大もり= Oomori = Super Size Me? Side of fried rice? Gyoza? An extra egg? Extra slices of roast pork? Choose button carefully– there’s no turning back! Drop your yen into the machine and the ticket will print with your order. Take ticket to the dude behind the counter, who […]

1.) Chopsticks holder-thingy. 2.) Chopsticks to lay on #1. 3.) Cup for soba broth. 4.) Little container of housemade broth, to pour into #3. 5.) Dish of green onions and wasabi. To be added to #3 (only after #4 is poured in). 6.) Pink salt for Exhibit 7. 7.) Maitake tempura. How autumnal! To be […]

My partner recently went to Niigata-prefecture in Japan for the weekend. He brought back a gift of hegisoba for me. At first glance, hegisoba looks just like the cheapo 178 yen soba I buy at the local supermarket, but upon closer inspection, there seems to be more grainy specks of black and grey. Hegisoba is […]

You read it right – 88 cents (or yen). I have mastered the art of cheap bastardism, and come up with a meal that could be the favorite for both my taste buds and my wallet. In a city like Tokyo, where you expect to spend $30-40 for a dinner out with friends, here’s a […]