Umami Mart

It’s sugar snap pea season! These beans are so sweet and only need a minute in the frying pan, which means it’s perfect for us LASYASSES. Remember when I wrote about chinese sausages, aka lap cheong a couple weeks back? Let’s add those, and a clove of garlic. Deveining, or “stringing” the peas is the […]

Spare me the formalities and let me present to you: The Cold Tofu Salad. – Cold tofu, the kind you get in the square plastic container in the refrigerated section of the store. Your best bet is to get the House brand, which is at many markets now (I personally like the medium firmness, although […]

This dish so easy, I’m almost embarassed to write this. I mean, everyone needs to eat their vegetables, even lazy people, right? I got these oyster mushrooms at the Chinese market for $2! Use whatever mushrooms you prefer– I love the array of colors, shapes and sizes you can find at the farmer’s market, although […]

Just after dusk the other day, it was cold, but the farmers market at Union Square in New York was bustling. Shoppers sipped steaming apple cider and perused more baked goods than vegetables. I came across the largest golden beet I’ve ever seen and bought it for $1.50. It’s about 10 inches long and looks […]

I just got back from 2 lovely weeks at my family’s house in Sonoma County. They have an amazing year round garden, and even though it’s California, things get sparse in winter. This winter is especially cold, and the frost that came suddenly last month wiped out what was left of the outdoor tomatoes. Mom […]

Strolling through the farmer’s market the other morning, I finally felt that autumn is here. The colors of all the fruits and vegetables are earthier; all the greens and orange hues, bolder. It’s my favorite time of year- break out the hats and scarves, yay! I started going through the butternut squash at one of […]

Got these adorable little eggplants the other day at the farmer’s market. They are about as long as the iPhone (per Yamahomo’s consistent size proportionalizer), and look like cute chubby nubs. The color is, as its namesake describes, golden with dark brown streaks running up its skin. I have found little about them on the […]

Kanpyo is a curious food – shaved calabash gourd. You can buy kanpyo dehydrated in white strips. You must prepare the dehydrated strips and marinate them to get them ready for the most common kanpyo dishes like futomaki rolls and side dishes. I wanted to make unohana – a mixture of tofu pulp and vegetables, […]

I finally had the guts to buy a goya because there was a half-cut goya on sale for 50 yen at my local supermarket last week. I had always envied my Okinawan friend who could nonchalantly cook up Goya-Chanpuru. Until last week, goya was much too intimidating for me to take up. Goya is a […]