Taste Test: Trader Joe’s versus Shirakiku Chicken Karaage

I'm not gonna string you along. Trader Joe's Chicken Karaage ($6.49 per 18.97 oz. bag) doesn't measure up as either karaage or chicken nuggets/fingers. Before we get to the taste test, let's take a look at Trader Joe's version on its own. So, the bag does say it's Japanese-inspired, leaving some room for variation.…

ByMichelleAugust 7, 20230Comments

Product Review

We Tried Trader Joe’s Mochi Cake Mix

A few weeks ago, Trader Joe's promised it'd be rolling out a gluten-free Mochi Cake Mix as part of its new Spring and Summer products. It's in stores now for $3.99 and we tried it. What Trader Joe's didn't say in the initial announcement was that it would be "Hawaiian inspired," flavored with coconut milk powder. A…

ByMichelleApril 26, 20195Comments

Book Reviews

Hate to Want You by Alisha Rai | 5-Star Review

In Hate to Want You, Olivia Kane and Nicholas Chandler’s families have been intertwined for generations. Their grandfathers started a grocery store together and then a series of tragedies put the store solely in the hands of Chandlers. More importantly, it drove a wedge between sweethearts Olivia and Nicholas. But the spark, make that inferno,…

ByMichelleAugust 9, 20170Comments

Not About Food

Never Again

Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Descent, from the National Park Service's Collection of Historical Documents. In 1940, my grandma was a 21-year old maid in Los Angeles. She worked for a family the Jefferson Park neighborhood and her name is listed with theirs in the Census. By the time President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive…

ByMichelleFebruary 19, 20170Comments

Cooking Main Course Recipes

GINGER MISO CHICKEN BURGERS

Summer may be winding down, but grilling season is far from over. I've been obsessed with burgers and really, anything on a bun lately. While nothing beats a classic beef hamburger, my a-ha this year is that chicken thighs actually make a better burger than turkey. And if you're willing to go an extra step, grind your…

ByMichelleAugust 19, 20160Comments

Book Reviews Cooking Recipes Salads Side Dishes

The Easiest Zucchini Salad You Will Ever Make

Simplicity is a hallmark of Japanese home cooking. Sometimes, it's simplicity to the point where you actually have to ask yourself, how does this require a recipe? Often, it doesn't. Most of my grandma's "recipes" were like that. Take the scribbled list of ingredients and figure it out. This list is adapted from a recipe…

ByMichelleJuly 21, 20160Comments

Main Course

Rice & the Ramen Renaissance

Ramen is going through something of a renaissance, a resurgence. Whether on the kitschy side with ramen burgers or the explosion of ramen joints in NYC, most notably Ivan Ramen on the Lower East Side, the food world is paying attention again to those squiggly noodles in broth. And for the first time in years, we’re seeing new entrants to the ramen market on grocery store shelves, like Lotus Foods’ Rice Ramen.

ByMichelleMarch 12, 20140Comments

Cooking Recipes

The Rule of Fried Rice

Grandmas are liars. There, I said it. Look inside their recipes boxes or the careful cursive recipes on scraps of paper stuck inside other cookbooks and you’ll know their dark hearts. Lists of ingredients, no amounts, sometimes no instructions. These lies aren’t intentionally meant to deceive. Or to maintain an illusion, like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. These lies are lesser crimes, crimes of omission. But lies nevertheless. Like with my Grandma’s Fried Rice.

ByMichelleMarch 2, 20141Comment

Book Reviews Cooking Recipes Side Dishes

How to Fold Gyoza

A thousand cranes are said to bring good luck, grant a wish and/or otherwise give good ju-ju. For our wedding we folded 1,000 red, orange and yellow cranes. When I say we, I mean mostly me, my mom and my aunties. On my lunch breaks at work, I sat in the breakroom, folding, folding, folding. …

ByMichelleJanuary 14, 20143Comments

Baking

Soft and Chewy Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Miso Cookies

It always makes me laugh that instant ramen is (dis)regarded as college food. It’s the savior for the days when you’re so broke you drink Keystone Light and survive on a 33 cent pack of noodles. You couldn't possibly eat it because...you like it. But as with so many foods from my childhood, maybe initially…

ByMichelleAugust 19, 201310Comments