March 13, 2013
INGREDIENTS 1.5 pounds large shrimp, head and shell left on, rinsed well (I used Ridgeback shrimps from Santa Barbara) 3 (12-ounce) bottles of Japanese lager beer (I used Sapporo) 1 cup water 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon coriander 1 teaspoon black peppercorns 1 lemon, halved 2 coins of galangal […]
February 20, 2013
GyÅ«-don w/ tokyo negi, chive points, tofu and shichimi RECIPE Serves 2 1/2 lb thinly sliced beef 1/2 block tofu (cut into 9 pieces) 1 stick of tokyo negi (you can use regular green onion or yellow onion) 3/4 cup of beef stock or dashi 2 tbl sake 2 tbl mirin sweet cooking sake 3 […]
February 13, 2013
Awabi (abalone) is a luxurious clam. When it is eaten raw, it tastes faintly like the sea, but its crispy texture is what stands out the most. It is delicious, but almost impossible to find on sushi menus as they are so hard to obtain due to strict California laws. On the Northern California coast, […]
February 6, 2013
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Keisuke aka Kid Skwid, my beloved brother. He has recently been promoted to sous chef at the famed Spago restaurant in Beverly Hills. Congrats, K! And lucky for us, he will grace the pages of Umami Mart regularly, with simple yet fancypants recipes taken from his impressive home-cooked breakfasts on his Instagram feed (@kidskwid5). Make […]
January 17, 2013
Last week, I shared a bowl of nishin soba with you, and I asked you to not to throw out the egg and sperm sacs. I have two recipes that will have you wondering why people would ever throw them out in the first place. Personally, I look forward to the herring shirako and kazunoko […]
January 10, 2013
A gleaming school of herring greeted me upon my arrival on U.S. shores yesterday. After landing from Tokyo, my first errand after dropping off my bags at home was a visit to my local fish monger (Monterey Fish Market). Winter is a cornucopia of goodies for seafood. Crabs, oysters, salmon roe and herring are just […]
December 20, 2012
Taking half an hour out of my schedule to slow down and warm up has been possible these past few weeks thanks to this simple soup. The arrival of matsutake mushrooms is here and I couldn’t be more excited. This year at my local market, they have sorted the mushrooms by #1s and #6s. If […]
December 11, 2012
Life is busy these days. With the shop in full holiday swing, it’s hard to find time to cook. But Yoko and I are good about taking turns bringing bentos — it’s nice to take the time to plan out what to make next. The key is to make a big vat of something so […]
November 20, 2012
Last week, Sakura wrote about chirashi sushi in London, a dish you can find at many Japanese restaurants throughout the world. I grew up in Kansai so when I was young, our chirashi (called bara-chirashi or gomoku chirashi) consisted of cooked root vegetables like bamboo shoots, carrots and yams — all mixed with sushi rice, […]
October 25, 2012
I am posting a recipe for negitoro donburi for the pure fact that this is the most delicious thing to make in under 5 minutes if you have cooked rice on hand. If your fish monger sells toro pieces for cheaper, grab the opportunity to make this dish. If pieces of toro are not available, […]