April 9, 2012
In Japan, everything is made easy for busy housewives who have to raise kids, clean the house, yet also have to cook and make dessert. You throw things in a microwave and five minutes later, you can a serve main course to your hungry kids and demanding, asshole husbands.
I was recently given a simple-to-make sakuramochi kit. With
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March 19, 2012
My most recent obsession is making anko (sweet bean paste) from scratch. As I wrote in my strawberry daifuku post a couple of weeks ago, using bean paste as dessert doesn’t really exist in the west. But I am trying to find ways to mix this into my future baking. After all, it’s
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March 5, 2012
Not that I’ve ever beaten anyone up, but I think macaron-making is somewhat similar to the mentality of a wifebeater’s wife. You get so fed up with the multiple failures, from all the physical and mental abuse, and you want to leave him, but when you are about to say goodbye for good, he becomes very kind
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February 27, 2012
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 would eat any
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February 14, 2012
Japan is filled with weird desserts. A lot of influence comes from the west, but we somehow incorporate Japan-ness into western desserts. For example, castella came from Portugal and somehow the recipe changed a bit and one of the ingredients now is mirin (sweet sake). Or choux filled with red bean/whipped cream mix.
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February 6, 2012
Congrats to UM for being around for five years! I still remember my first post on Peking duck back in 2007 (after constant harassment from Kayoko to write for her), and over the past five years, I’ve written over 200 posts. When we started, it was
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January 30, 2012
One of my favorite restaurants is Kajitsu, as I’ve written a couple of awesome reviews about the place. Chef Nishihara is simply a genius. His creativity and flavoring, using only vegetables (it’s a vegan/shojin restaurant), is just amazing.
I saw an article in last week’s Times Magazine, where Mark Bittman cooked with Chef Nishihara.
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January 23, 2012
I had the privilege to fly first class to Japan. Don’t ask me why, let’s just say I am a lucky person. Don’t judge me, I am only doing this to show how things are being done up there.
Don’t we all wonder how the privileged few have luxurious full flat seat, all you can drink/eat, three windows per seat, two
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January 16, 2012
Happy New Year! I can’t believe the holiday season passed so quickly, and now we are in 2012. Soon we will be bitching about the hot summer.
I was in Japan for the holidays, and had quite a few good food moments. I am really thankful to iPhone since I can now take pictures anywhere (and pretty decent
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December 5, 2011
Chicken noodle soup, whatever the reason maybe, is often eaten when we are sick. I have no idea why. I don’t think there’s any anti-cold medication in it, nor is it medically proven to cure illnesses whatsoever. I guess it’s simply the comfort of its flavor, clear soup, with healthy vegetables, along with the filling
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