June 23, 2011
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 […]
June 20, 2011
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 […]
June 2, 2011
Smelt. Fried, they are a great accompaniment to a pint of beer. Grilled and served with a bowl of white rice, they complete a Japanese breakfast. They also win the Cheap Bastards’ Choice Award, since they average $3.50/lb. The “Wakasagi” variety of smelt were introduced from Japan to the San Francisco delta in 1959 as […]
May 27, 2011
*Dear Martians, please welcome the newest addition to the Umamimart Familia, Jerkey. She is based in LA, and a good friend of Umamimart writer Sarah Nevada and Yoko’s cousin (and loyal reader) Tomo. We first met at the San Pedro Fish Market Umamiventure, back in June last year, and she is a huge pizzahead. She’ll […]
May 26, 2011
I admire killers. I admire butchers, mongers, soldiers and… Dexter. I admire them for the balls and boobies they possess to kill with confidence–without squealing or being a hesitant little sissy. They don’t do things like “name” their kill–like I did for my two soft-shell crab buddies Rod and Todd. I am a total squealer […]
May 16, 2011
I went to Miami for my birthday this year. I didn’t do much besides reading, lounging by the pool, drinking piña coladas, and eating. It was 90ËšF every day, sunny, dry, and my allergies disappeared while I was there. For those of you who suffer from severe allergies each spring–with stuffed-up noses, eyes and ears–the […]
March 3, 2011
Go to any sushi restaurant in Japan and notice that “ikura” or salmon roe, is either written in katakana or hiragana. I was curious as to why it was often written in katakana–the alphabet designated to loanwords. I asked the master at Sushi Danran about this curiosity. He told me that “ikura” イクラ comes from […]
January 24, 2011
Sylvan Mishima Brackett is the mastermind behind Peko Peko, a Japanese catering service in the Bay Area. After working as Alice Waters’ assistant for SIX YEARS (dude must have the patience of a Zen master. Just kidding, love you Alice!), he apprenticed in a soba shop in Saitama, Japan, then came back to the Bay […]
January 17, 2011
I am from a town so rural, you wouldn’t believe it. Although Japan is portrayed as a metropolitan, clean, and simple city to Westerners, that’s not how real Japan is all about. Whenever I say I am from Japan, first thing people usually ask is, “are you from Tokyo?” This is pretty stupid, since it’s […]
January 5, 2011
We don’t have that many traditions left in our royal kingdom of Denmark, and the European Union is certainly making a big effort trying to convert the entire countries of Europe into one gigantic, bland mess. The EU is just like throwing everything you find in the fridge into the food processor: nothing good will […]