Umami Mart

Let’s give thanks for everything we eat today. Photo by Kelly Ishikawa, a San Francisco-based photographer and the co-owner of The Perish Trust. 

Photo by Erin Gleeson.

Whenever I take a test, I always make associations between certain things in my life so that I will memorize keywords. Sometimes the explanations get really long but sometimes they come to me very quickly and concisely. Sometimes associated words come to me when I am not studying a test, which is the case for […]

Photos by Thomas L. Young One dollar street tacos at a busy intersection in downtown Los Angeles is about as old school as you can get. On the corner of Mateo and 7th street, in front of the Mexican restaurant La Reyna (Est. 1974), is a taco stand run by one guy on the grill […]

I visited my mom recently and she served me one of the best breakfasts I have had in a long time–tai chazuke. Chazuke is short for ochazuke, a common method of enjoying rice in Japan. A bowl of rice is topped with condiments and hot tea or dashi is poured over it. Tai chazuke is […]

Photos by Derek Dercep. I am currently writing this post from Lake Muskoka in Canada. My friend OWNS a freaking island here. Apparently, this lake is ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for summer vacation destinations. Screw the Hamptons, this island is so much better!!! (Although I’ve never been to the Hamptons). Life is good, […]

When I say Liguria, I’m talking about the Ligurian coast in the Italian Riviera. Topographically different from the rest of Italy, the coastline is scattered with mountainous cliffs that drop straight down into the ocean, and hidden beaches are nestled away in unspoiled coves. Idyllic Santa Margherita and Portofino were the two stops for us […]

My sister is married to a wonderful man, whose mother also happens to be an exceptional cook. As a Malaysian diplomat’s wife, the prime minister preferred her cooking to going out to restaurants whenever he rocked into London. She’s that good. The injection of Indian and Chinese influences are especially evident if you ever visit […]

Frying has always been something I was afraid of. I remember my grandma frying whole fish in a huge wok of oil. It took brawn and a fearless attitude toward unpredictable flying specks of oil traveling at high speeds. I will never be half as tough as my grandma, and I still don’t have the […]

Fishcakes, such as the Homo Sausage, chikuwa and kamaboko, are some of my favorite foods. It usually weirds people out in the States because of its “processed” figure; but I really enjoy its chewy, rubbery texture, and its flavor of the sea. I’ve always loved fishcake (as does Kayoko) and it’s very disappointing that there […]