Umami Mart

One of my favorite spots since moving back to the San Francisco Bay Area is the Tomales Bay Oyster Company. I read about the TBOC on Umamimart while I was still living in Tokyo. It was a long wait until I was finally able to make the beautiful drive along Point Reyes National Seashore to […]

I was recently on a little Caribbean island off the coast of Honduras for a friend’s wedding. This conch soup was made for the bride and groom the day after their wedding and served at a big family brunch.  Friends had caught the conch and picked coconuts on the island for the broth. It was […]

Cutting a block of raw fish was intimidating for the longest time for me. I know for a fact that I am still not doing it like the pros because 1) I don’t cut with a sashimi knife and 2) I’ve only cut raw fish about 5 times. Cutting, plating and serving sashimi at home […]

The French are famous for their cuisine and although it seems a daunting task to find the diamonds amongst the gazillion eateries in Paris, we had our trusty mother– with her Japanese travel guides– who took us seemlessly from one good restaurant and bistro to another. She likes to do her research before travelling and […]

This title might be deceiving. You know I cook a lot, from lazyass to the it-will-take-all-day kind. But fish is something I’ve never explored much. As I mentioned last week, something about the eyes, the mouth, and the flesh freaks me out. In Japan, where fish supply is abundant, most people buy fish whole, and cut […]

Lake Tahoe is a bit of a nightmare during the height of the summer. The lake is a dream but South Lake Tahoe is swarming with slot machine hungry tourists from both sides of the border (California and Nevada). We stayed at the Marriot and I had no complaints, especially because we stayed in a […]

Thursday, another start of a four-day weekend, was spent in the kitchen. It was gorgeous outside, and it would have been a perfect day to lay on the beach, but all the travel, sand, and that return trip with sand stuck in your butt crack didn’t sound too attractive, so I decided to devote it […]

For those who are curious to eat more responsibly in the seafood arena, mackerel is an ideal option. For the rest of us who don’t care about being responsible, mackerel is also an ideal option because of its salty-savoriness that’s addictive and a great complement to a glass of shochu. Succeeding last week’s Japanify for […]

I love sardines – canned or fresh. My addiction started as a child when my mother would serve sardines from a can with a dab of kewpie mayonnaise. Packed with protein and fun to eat, they are also better for big blue because they are low on the food chain. When you can get your […]

This was originally supposed to read “Octopus, Shrimp Avocado Salad with Kewpie-Wasabi Dressing,” but the octopus part did not happen. After reading a recent string of octopus posts on Umamimart including Tokyo JUNKtion: Corpse Candy, ¡Viva España!, Umamiventure #26: San Pedro Fish Market (LA), ReCPY: Best Octopus(sy) in NYC and Raw Octopus from Tsukiji Market […]