Umami Mart

Summer is here. You know how I know? Christi called me last week and said, “We’ve got plums coming out of our ying yang, from the trees in our back yard. Will you come take them?” Yes, this is the same Christi who handed me bags of apricots last year, with which I made jam. […]

When you think of tahini, it’s all about middle eastern cuisine, right? For sauces, hummus, and even cookies, it gives everything a nice sesame flavor. Although it has an exotic name (sounds like a beach in tropical island, doesn’t it?), it’s basically just sesame paste. You can buy sesame paste at the Japanese grocery stores […]

Today is National Donut Day! I woke up this morning in high anticipation for this and walked over to my local donut shop, Colonial Donuts. Love me a glazed donut first thing in the morning. According to Wiki, this day was created by the Salvation Army in 1938, to commemorate the ladies who served donuts […]

There are quite a few breakfast sandwich recipes in Japan that uses natto. The natto & cheese on toast sounded pretty good. Put natto and cheese on bread or an English muffin and toast it, I guess. But it is too straightforward and not my style. I wanted to push natto’s culinary limit. When I […]

This is a whole new level of ReCPY, everyone. I’ve created many baked goods in the past, but nothing compares to this. I heard Iron Chef had an episode on natto, and Morimoto made some kind of dessert with natto soaked in Coca-Cola or something. The thought of natto mixed with something sweet made me […]

I am still MO-ing. Just like many of my other endeavors, I have the tendency to keep tackling something until I am satisfied. I think I am nearing the end of this MO-Journey. There are endless ways to create MO-Desserts, and as I said last week, you can substitute regular flour with rice flour for […]

My obsession with rice flour continues.  As I mentioned in my last post, I think I can substitute flour with rice flour for any recipe.  It may be too subtle to taste the difference for some, but others are very distinctive, such as MOffins.  Warning: if you don’t like sticky textures, you may not like […]

Sorry for disappearing for so long since my last post– had a couple of weeks full of extreme work situations. Having said that, I still bake every weekend, but just haven’t have time to post any of it. Since I found the delightful MOffin recipe, I’ve been obsessed with rice flour. The texture, as well […]

Wine bar meets patisserie? Yes, please! Especially when it involves Pichet Ong.  Imagine a place where you can sit either with a book and cappuccino in the afternoon or with friends and Cabernet in the evening. Reminiscent of a mini Parisian brasserie, the walls are decorated with antique mirrors and the leather booths are cozy. […]

I once saw a recipe on Tastespotting using rice flour instead of regular flour to make muffins. I tried making them and gave them all away, without even try one. The lucky person who tasted it told me I should sell them. A long time has passed since then, and I decided to make them […]