By Azusa | Published:
September 30, 2009
Fall has been slow to arrive in Los Angeles, but that didn’t stop me from making this milky miso soup. The salty miso, sweet kabocha, and creamy broth were nothing but a recipe for comfort. I liked it so much I might switch to making milk misoshiru in the fall and winter months, and back [...]
By Azusa | Published:
September 27, 2009
It so happens that a teeny tiny onigiri/omusubi shop In New York validated some of my long-held views.
Oms/B has a beautiful selection of omusubi. This isn’t your run-of-the mill umeboshi or okaka. The selection is vast and imaginative. Take a look at their menu—it’s not easy to settle on just three. For a quick, on-the-go [...]
By Azusa | Published:
September 22, 2009
Tamagoyaki makes me nostalgic. For picnics, instead of potato salad and barbecue chicken, my mom would make musubi and pack tamagoyaki and takuan pickles, each in separate aluminum foil packages. We’d eat without utensils and lick the takuan juices before they dribbled down our hands. We’d nibble at the rice that would stick to our [...]
By Azusa | Published:
August 27, 2009
If you’re watching your weight, don’t bother. Mimicking an alfredo sauce, the robust flavor in this recipe comes from bacon (Mmm, bacon…) and the richness of shiitake. There’s no butter or parmesan cheese, but I assure you the taste (or fat content) isn’t compromised. The concentrated flavor of dried shiitake holds up well with the [...]
By Azusa | Published:
August 13, 2009
The first words to come out of my mouth when I finished my meal at Soba-Ya was, “I want to come back here.”
On our trip to New York, we came armed with a 7-paged list of restaurant and things to do, mostly suggestions from friends and research we’d done ourselves. Soba-Ya wasn’t at the top [...]
By Azusa | Published:
July 16, 2009
Obon in America is a curious thing. To me, they’re more like natsu matsuri—a summer festival—than a traditional obon. I wonder how obon in America evolved (and continues to evolve) over the years…
In Japan, obon is observed from July 13–15, a time when families come together and welcome home the spirits of their ancestors. I [...]
By Azusa | Published:
July 15, 2009
Fellow eggplant lovers, hope you give this a try. This recipe is similar to an amazing miso eggplant dish my mom makes, but differs in many respects. Hers is boldly salty and sweet, rich, and hearty. This one is mild, delicate, and delicious. I used shiro miso (which is sweeter than red miso), so [...]
By Azusa | Published:
July 7, 2009
If you’ve ever had matcha the traditional way, you’re familiar with its bitterness. Made by stirring vigorously with a bamboo whisk, the frothy drink compliments the sugary sweets usually served with it. The matcha latte we made over the weekend is a simple recipe from a book we bought a couple of years ago in Japan [...]
By Azusa | Published:
July 2, 2009
I’ve never cooked a cucumber before. Does it turn soggy? Does it turn soft? I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea, but the photo in the book was working hard to sell me on the idea. I love eggplant and all things spicy so decided it was a go.
My love for this recipe are [...]
By Azusa | Published:
June 29, 2009
We kicked off this summer’s obon season at Senshin Buddhist Temple on Saturday. Everyone packed Senshin’s parking lot, moving in synchronized fashion as they danced bon odori. The people who live across the street from (in this South Central neighborhood) were in their front yard, curiously watching the festivities from a distance.
This was my first [...]
