Umami Mart

Fish is still something a lot of people are scared of in the States. Heads, guts, scales, filleting — there are a lot of processes involved before you can eat a piece of fish. It is the same process for meat or poultry, and I am sure butchers go through a lot of steps to serve […]

Whenever I go see my 92 year-old grandma and have a conversation over tea, she drops all kinds of wisdom bombs on me. And she does it so casually, I never really notice the impact her words have on me until I am on the freeway, driving back to Berkeley. Last week, she said “I […]

Myoga madness continues as I experiment with the harvest from my sister’s myoga plant. Last week, I topped raw myoga on tofu. This week, I make a stir fry with myoga and slices of pork shoulder. I am very inexperienced with cooking mammal meat and quite intimidated when it comes to preparing chunks of it. […]

If you have been to Japan, you’ve been to MOS burger, the best burger chain. Apparently it is coming to the U.S., which will be great.  Their burgers — from the regular MOS burger with bolognese sauce, to tonkatsu burger with cabbage, to real-deal teriyaki chicken to rice burgers — are made to order, so they […]

Remember when Yoko posted that pornlicious article about how to make ikura-don (salmon roe over rice), topped with a raw egg? Well, one night, she invited me over for dinner and she made ikura spaghetti!!! What a gluttonous noodle feast in a bowl. The al dente pasta had been lightly sauteed with garlic and tossed with […]

My partner Washi recently got a job as a salaryman. This may not seem that odd until you consider the fact that he is living in Berkeley, California and to qualify as a salaryman, you are usually employed by a Japanese corporation. I will miss his face behind the bar at Ippuku. And I will […]

There was an egg festival in my bowl of rice the other day. I placed a raw egg yolk on a mound of ikura (salmon roe) on top of my steaming hot bowl of rice. The orange hues are sexy and appetizing, glimmering in my bowl. No matter how many times I have ikuradon (ikura […]

I’ve been reading on many Japanese blogs that people are stuffing sticky rice inside a whole chicken, which absorbs all the good stuff from the bird, and makes a very nice sticky rice accompanying a perfectly roasted bird. I was going to roast the whole bird, but realized I would be the only one who […]

Karasumi (or bottarga) is salted and dried mullet roe. It comes in two sacks and are hard, like a candy bar. Its deep, oceany, salty flavor is reminiscent of caviar. But the texture is not like caviar, because it’s a dense mass of eggs dried in the sun, it is chewy and sticks to the molars […]

By Kenji Miura Shiokara is a fantastic savory condiment to your favorite glass of shochu. This particular shiokara is made with surume ika (Japanese Common Squid or Pacific Flying Squid). INGREDIENTS 5 fresh squid 2 tbsp salt METHOD 1. Clean the squid. (Here’s how via Kyoto Foodie) 2. Cut the legs and ears (the triangular portion […]