Umami Mart

During midsummer, tradition is to have unagi (freshwater eel) on specific days. The days are called doyou no ushinohi (土用の丑の日) to provide a nutritional treat, as well as to help survive the hot season. Unagi carries a lot of “stamina” nutrition, such as vitamins A and B-complex. The ancient Japanese diet, like today, was mostly vegetables […]

Heat saute pan with olive oil, add napa cabbage, sauté for 30 seconds. Add mentaiko (spicy cod roe), chili flakes, and half of the shirasu (baby anchovies). Once slightly cooked, add pasta, stir and plate. Garnish with microgreens, shirasu, mentaiko and fried ginger (slow-fry ginger in olive oil until color and all liquid evaporates; ginger […]

By Haan Ridell Dill (Anethum graveolens), also known as “Lao coriander” depending on where it is grown, is a lovely herb very much used in Scandinavia. I LOVE DILL, a fantastic thing we all have growing here in our back gardens. Pytt I Panna, is a very typical Swedish dish which roughly translates to “put whatever […]

The Japanese dish hambagu derives from the Hamburg steak. Hamburg steak is the patty of a hamburger. Hamburg Steak were usually served with a side of potatoes in Germany. The Americans put the Hamburg steak in bread — hence the hamburger. The Japanese appropriated the Hamburg by serving it with rice, of course. Eventually the Japanese […]

By Steven Sharafian I spend a fair amount of time making tsukemono (pickles). I focus mostly on quick-pickles that only take a couple of minutes to prep and have a short curing period. This seemed to flow into the idea of pairing carrots with carrot shochu. It’s a pretty simple quick-pickle: peel and section the […]

Zac was born at the end of last year, so for the last eight months CH and I have been super busy being (can I say awesome?) parents. We do our best and as a result he seems to really like us, the rest of the family, and pretty much anyone or thing we pass […]

Don’t we all have that certain staple food, drink or condiment in our lives that is devastating when it cannot be found in the kitchen? For some, it is Sriracha, or cream for their morning coffee. Or a cold can of beer. For Johnny, it’s Kashi cereal (GMO-free only) or Mountain High plain yogurt. For me, […]

Welcome to a special edition of Kayo’s Kitchen: Live from Hopkins Buffet! For those who follow our Instagram, you may have asked yourselves, “Where is the Hopkins Buffet?” Well, it’s Yoko’s house of course! God forbid she should name her place something bore-a-thon like Yoko’s Kitchen! I tested out a new cocktail creation recently in […]

I have memories of gyoza from when I was in kindergarten. My grandma would invite my mom and aunts to her house — and they would wrap dumplings all day. My cousins and I would run around, play in the pool and take Oreo and orange juice breaks throughout the day. When the sun began […]

As you’ve seen from my previous posts, my current apartment has a nice-sized balcony, which gets wonderful sunlight. I make the most out of this luxury by hosting barbeque dinners, and make my own dried mushrooms and umeboshi. When you have outdoor space, you gotta grow some vegetables, right? Here are my babies: I brought back shiso […]