Umami Mart

Yoko and I could not be more thrilled today — we are dubbing it SAKE GUMI DAY. We’re finally launching our sake club! IT IS HERE! We’ve been having a lot of fun since we opened our Bottle System in April — it’s been really wonderful to be able to share sakes and beers from Japan with […]

With the opening of our bottle shop, I have been exploring the world of sake. Daiginjos, Junmais, Yamahais, Namas, I’m trying them all. While tasting all of the different sakes, there is one particular trait I’m always looking for: would this be good in a cocktail? Tis a very important question. Through all the sakes I’ve tasted so […]

Sake is one of those things that really makes you appreciate locality. It’s like the meyer lemons in Berkeley. It’s totally cliche and played out, but local food traditions are a sight to behold. The fact that they are native to their land, makes them thrive and produce in abundance, giving the locals many, many […]

In 2011, we visited Hakkaisan, a sake brewery in Niigata. As one of the most well-known breweries in Japan, it was a wonderful experience to walk through the vast facilities, hosted by the production master, Mr. Nagumo. You can read about our visit here. Yoko and I never thought we would visit this part of Japan again, […]

Since this month commemorates Umami Mart’s Japanese beer and sake shop debut, here is another post on sake-related cooking. Sakekasu (sake lees) is a quintessential Japanese ingredient because of the concept of mottainai (no waste!). Japanese people try not to waste anything. For example, after squeezing soy beans when making tofu, the leftover scraps (called okara) can be […]

During our visit to Aoki Brewery in Niigata, we were told that the three most important factors of brewing sake is the rice, the water and the people. The rice that breweries use for sake-making are not the usual grains you find at the grocery store — they use special rice strains like Yamadanishiki, Koshitanrei, Ohmachi, […]

Kayoko and I go to Niigata every February. Our friends in Tokyo gasp in horror, “Why would you go somewhere so cold? In the middle of February?” The reason is kind of simple: it’s low season and getting around is cheap and less crowded. And the cold is not actually that bad. The locals are […]

Hi, I am back. It’s been quite a while since I last posted. Umami Mart has been crazy for Kayoko and Yoko, and I’ve been creating recipes non-stop and teaching cooking classes which has been occupying most of my time. However, having heard the great news that Umami Mart is selling sake and beer, I couldn’t help […]

Every time I go to Japan, I am exposed to new foods, new regions and new friends. Even though I lived there for five years and visit every year, there is still so much to discover. Sometimes I think about how I want to travel to other countries and discover new cultures and lands, but […]

When people ask Yoko or myself if it was “always in the plan” to turn Umami Mart into a brick and mortar shop, the answer is always “no.” We do get this question quite often. But back in 2007 when we started our blog, I was living in Brooklyn and Yoko was in Tokyo, on […]