February 24, 2012
Sakura’s noodle report from Bangkok earlier this week had me craving for a bowl of bah mee nam here in the Bay Area. I scoured the city’s Thai restaurant menus but did not find anything comparable to Sakura’s favorite noodle dish. But, fear not, as an awesome Thai spot recently opened up in the Richmond called Amphawa Thai […]
February 17, 2012
IÂ love the pucker-your mouth tartness of naengmyeon–cold buckwheat noodles with cucumbers, hard-boiled egg and pickled Asian pears, doused in a chilled vinegar broth. Like craving ice cream when it’s snowing out, I do love this during the cold winter months. Thanks to Chungtech for introducing me to Sura. They have noodle specials every day! But […]
February 8, 2012
Pho ga dac biet is a special chicken noodle soup at Ao Sen, my favorite pho joint in the East Bay. They serve boiled chicken on the side, bone-in and skin-on, with a florescent orange ginger sauce. It is comforting when you are sick, and warming on dreary rain-filled days. The new Ao Sen location in […]
February 1, 2012
Happy February, everyone! Umamimart turns 5 years old this month, and I thought it would be fun to celebrate NOODLES! We’re all fans of noodles here, and there are pages and pages worth of posts, since 2007 (!), dedicated to the almighty noodle on Umamimart. The column name “Great UM Noodletown” is an homage to […]
January 17, 2012
Yoko and I have been invited to give a presentation at the world-renowned Pecha Kucha forum next Tuesday 1/24 in San Francisco. The theme is “chaos”, and we will be speaking about our experiences in Japan last year in regards to food and radiation. In the typical Pecha Kucha style, it will be a rapid-fire […]
January 6, 2012
I was fortunate enough to peek into the Peko Peko kitchen this last weekend, while they were preparing all 40 boxes of their highly coveted annual osechi bentos. What a crew! Sylvan had about five people working the kitchen — peeling, dicing, de-shelling 40 Dungeness crabs… wow. Sylvan and his right-hand chef Yuko took me […]
December 23, 2011
For the last four years, Sylvan of Peko-Peko catering in San Francisco has been making osechi bento sets for the first of the year. Osechi, as you know from Yamahomo’s annual posts (here and here), are foods that are traditionally cooked for the new year, that are consumed for good luck. There is a special […]
October 20, 2011
“After September 6th, everything will make sense,” a friend told me. She’s referring to New Years Day of the Mayan calendar. It was supposed to be a comforting prediction, but I prodded her with questions. So, the Mayan calendar was developed thousands of years ago by a civilization known for their advanced math, writing and […]
September 1, 2011
I must admit that Washi and I have more-than-healthy appetites and the lunch boxes at the Edible Schoolyard event did not satiate our piggie tendencies. After our pleasant, healthy sandwich meal, we decided to check out the latest the Financial District had to offer in terms of ramen. Thanks to a tip from my brother-in-law […]