Blog
new posts weekly, hopefully…
Taiyaki
Last week I made a dish my mom enjoys so this week I decided to make one that my dad especially loves! I present to you: taiyaki! It’s a fish-shaped cake that’s filled with red bean paste. But you can fill it with any filling you like such as nutella, custard, and even peanut butter! There’s different styles of taiyaki but I like my mine super crispy on the outside yet chewy on the inside. In Korean, we call these guys bungeoppang (붕어빵)!
Anmitsu
My mom told me about an anmitsu that she ate in Japan that she really enjoyed. So since it was her birthday soon, I decided to make her this delicious treat! If you didn’t know, anmitsu is a Japanese desert made with agar jelly topped with an array of delectables such as syrup, fruit, red bean paste, and shiratama dango. It’s so refreshing to eat during the summer! And even though it’s the end of summer, it’s still been pretty hot here in LA.
Ujikintoki
One of my favorite things I’ve had during my recent trip to Japan this summer was definitely ujikintoki. It was so refreshing in the scorching heat. Now that I’m back in Los Angeles, I crave this matcha shaved ice more and more each day. So I decided to make it myself! Here’s my attempt. :)
Hiyashi Chuka
As a kid, one of my most favorite dishes to eat during the summer was (and still is!) hiyashi chuka. This is a Japanese cold ramen dish with Chinese influence; it also directly translates as “chilled Chinese!” It features cold ramen noodles covered with an array of different toppings such as cucumber, egg, ham, and tomato. It’s then drizzled with either a soy sauce-based dressing or a sesame dressing, which I prefer more. This dish is so refreshing and I would definitely recommend you to try it!
Fruit Sando
I love japanese egg sandos. They’re super popular and often bought in 7-11s in Japan along with their sweeter cousin: the fruit sando! I realize that fruit sandos are basically cake. The milk bread acts as the cake layer surrounding lightly sweetened whipped cream and fruit. How can you go wrong with these? They look pretty yet they’re so easy and simple to make!
Okonomiyaki
Have you heard of okonomiyaki? Its a japanese savory pancake dish consisting mainly of cabbage and batter. Its a highly customizable dish where you can add toppings and things from your fridge. In fact okonomi means as you like and yaki means grilled. So you can grill what you like.
Salt Bread
소금빵 (sogeum-ppang) has been super popular in Korea. It’s a salt butter roll that is super simple but beautifully highlights the plain flavors of butter and salt. I had some on my trip to Korea last year and loved them! They’re based on 塩パン (shio-pan) from Japan and are so good fresh. That’s why I wanted to try making them on my own and I’m so glad I did! :D
Strawberry Matcha Latte
I have been making this drink everyday lately. It’s so good. Whenever I go to a cafe or boba shop and they have strawberry matcha latte, I always have to get it. I love it so much. So I thought, why not just make my own? So I did! :D
Japanese Egg Sandwich
I love tamago sando. It’s so so easy to make yet so delicious and packed with flavor. I would always request my mom to make this sandwich as a kid and eating this sandwich always brings me childhood memories of nostalgia. :)
Shiso Orange Ice Cream
I had a phase where I loved to make different flavors of ice cream. I struggled a lot, encountering ice creams that were too icy or flavor combos that were unpalatable. One flavor combo that I randomly made and fell in love with is this one. Shiso and orange. It’s so good! If you like mint ice cream and citrus, you should definitely give this one a try. :)