We begin a new series on Japan! In fact, this series will be divided into two parts, mostly because I visited Japan TWICE since moving to Hong Kong. Ha ha, Japan is quite close now, only a 4-5 hour flight away, so I’ve taken the opportunity to visit as often as I can (since I…
Search Results for: totoro
Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory – Totoro Cream Puff
This is the thirty-first post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Please scroll to the bottom to see all the other posts in this series. Hello Totoro cream puff! It had been my goal for years to visit this cute Totoro-themed cafe and try its signature Totoro cream puff. It’s the only cafe that has…
Totoro Eggs
My church has a program called Meals for Moms where volunteers sign up to make food for parents who have just had a baby or adopted a child. I sign up pretty regularly. I enjoy cooking, and it’s a nice way to help a sleep-deprived mom not have to worry about dinner as well! Typically, I…
Totoro Soy Sauce Eggs (Totoro Eggs)
Starting about three months ago – 83 days ago to be exact – I began a fun little series on my social media accounts which I tagged with the hashtag #Totoro100Days. My goal was to post a Totoro a day, sort of a photojournalistic record of all the Totoro things that I have amassed or…
Totoro Valentine Cookies (Matcha)
Do these cookies look familar?If you’re a long time reader of this blog (and I mean several years long), you maybe recognize this because I made another version of them back in 2011 (has it already been that long??). For some reason, shortbread cookies have been on my mind a lot lately. Surprisingly, I’ve been baking…
Birthday Totoro and Domo Fun
We interrupt the Tokyo – Kyoto – Osaka series just briefly for a fun post on some Japanese anime inspired dishes I made for my birthday. Yes, today’s my birthday. It’s been interesting looking at my blog and seeing what I’ve done in past years to celebrate. Time flies so quickly, it’s kind of crazy! Back…
Totoro Cookies
This post is part of a larger series: An Asian Twist on a Traditional Holiday Meal. Other posts in this series include Chinese Oven Roasted Duck, and Keroppi Cookies. I’ve always been a sucker for matcha (green tea) cookies. Until now, I never even considered trying to make them myself. Instead, I would purchase them…
Totoro Rice
Totoro rice is part of a larger Japanese character based meal titled “Kyaraben on Steroids” featured in August’s Foodbuzz’s 24-24-24. Click here to see the entire meal. Here is the tutorial for Totoro Rice. First, you must make the gray rice by mixing ground up black sesame seeds with rice. I typically use a small…
Totoro Rice Crispy Treats
I made these treats as part of a larger Japanese character based meal titled “Kyaraben on Steroids” featured in Foodbuzz’s 24-24-24 in August 2009. Click here to see the entire meal. Make Rice Crispy Treats according to the package instructions except stop at the step before you press the marshmallow-rice mixture into the pan. Instead,…
Totoro Bento #2
Just for fun, I had some leftover rice, orange chicken, and snap peas, so I whipped up a bento for lunch tomorrow. ©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen All Rights Reserved
Totoro Bento
I was inspired by Anna the Red and her awesome bento making skills. Here is my first attempt. ©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen All Rights Reserved
Easter in Japan – Trip Report
We kick off a new series about Japan! Despite the fact that I am now a 5-hour flight away from Tokyo (as opposed to a 12-hour flight in the past), I still only managed to travel to Japan at about the same rate as before, roughly once a year. In 2019 Bryan and I traveled…
50 Posts in 50 Days – Take 2! Exploring Hong Kong in 2018
Time flies! Back in January of 2018, after my first 100 days in Hong Kong, I took a challenge upon myself to write 50 blog posts in 50 days. It was modeled after similar challenges I had done in the past (31 posts in 31 days in May of 2014; posting every weekday for the month in…
Tokyo Shiba Tofuya Ukai – Tofu Kaiseki at the foot of Tokyo Tower
This is the fourth post in the extended Japan Series 2018. Other posts in this series include Totoro, Fall Foliage, and Tofu Kaiseki , Potsura Potsura – Japanese modern izakaya, and Sushi Ya with Takao Ishiyama plus new Sushi Ishiyama At the foot of Tokyo tower lies an unlikely oasis tucked away from the hustle and…
Sushi Ya すし家 with Takao Ishiyama plus new Sushi Ishiyama 鮨 いしやま
This is the third post in the extended Japan Series 2018. Other posts in this series include Totoro, Fall Foliage, and Tofu Kaiseki and Potsura Potsura – Japanese modern izakaya. This post describes a meal I had at Sushi Ya Chef with Takao Ishiyama back in November of 2017. Little did I know at that the…
Potsura Potsura Tokyo – Bib Gourmande Izakaya ぽつらぽつら
This is the second post in the extended Japan Series 2018. Other posts in this series include Totoro, Fall Foliage, and Tofu Kaiseki. If you’re looking for something that’s casual yet a bit different from the traditional izakaya, noodle, or sushi joint in Japan, consider Potsura Potsura (ぽつらぽつら), a modern izakaya that focuses on fresh…
Happy New Year! A look back at 2017
Happy New Year! Oh what a year it’s been. I feel like I’ve been so busy with my cross-global move from Boston to Hong Kong that I haven’t really had time to reflect upon this past year. For sure the move has made 2017 the most eventful year (maybe ever) in my life. I’ve only…
PAGU Cambridge – Japanese Spanish fusion
PAGU in Central Square is finally open! I have been anticipating this restaurant opening forever. I’ve known Chef-owner Tracy Chang for several years now. She first reached out to me back in 2011 (right after I won Project Food Blog). It was a time when I was just getting serious about food blogging and she was…
Sun Tung Lok Hong Kong – 2 Michelin Stars
This is the thirty-fifth post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Please scroll to the bottom to see all the other posts in this series. Luxury Chinese. It’s not something I’m really exposed to here in America. When most people think of Chinese food, they think of cheap take-out, tiny hole-in-the-wall joints, or dim sum….
Din Tai Fung Hong Kong
This is the thirty-fourth post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Please scroll to the bottom to see all the other posts in this series. Yes, here I am, seeking out Din Tai Fungs around the world again. There’s just something I love about this Taiwanese dumpling chain that has now spread pretty far…
Tim Ho Wan Hong Kong (Central Station)
This is the thirty-third post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Please scroll to the bottom to see all the other posts in this series. In 2009, a chef from Hong Kong’s 3-Michelin starred restaurant Lung King Heen, Mak Kwai-pui, decided to open up his own restaurant in Hong Kong’s Mongkok region. Called Tim…
Fu Sing Seafood Restaurant Hong Kong
This is the thirty-second post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Please scroll to the bottom to see all the other posts in this series. Welcome to Hong Kong! Bryan and I arrived in Hong Kong after five lovely days in Japan. This was the last stop of this crazy 3-week trip we had…
Has It Been A Year Already? Birthday Reflections
Today’s my birthday. And what a crazy, eventful year it’s been! I’m shocked that it has already been one year since I stepped on a plane headed for Milan en route to Alba, Italy. In some ways that felt like yesterday. In other ways, I feel like so much has happened. I started a new…
Sushi Yoshitake (Tokyo, Michelin 3 Stars)
This is the thirty-first post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Please scroll to the bottom to see all the other posts in this series. It’s been two years since Bryan first visited this tiny, 7-seater, 3-Michelin starred sushi restaurant during a business trip to Tokyo. I’ll never forget it. He called me from Tokyo raving…
Hiking Mount Takao (Takao-San}) Japan
This is the twenty-fourth post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series and the first post in Japan! Please scroll to the bottom to see all the other posts in this series. It’s been my wish forever to hike and enjoy fall foliage on my birthday. Hiking is one of my favorite activities, and I always…
About Me
Who is Tiny Urban Kitchen? Hi! My name’s Jen and welcome to my blog! Tiny Urban Kitchen was born out of a tiny urban kitchen in my tiny urban condo located between my alma mater and the other school in Cambridge. Despite the size, I till managed to do tons of crazy kitchen experiments there –…
Chinese Braised Peanuts
At my church there is a program called Meals for Moms. Whenever a new mom has a baby, church members sign up to provide a week’s worth of food for the family. This allows the new family to have one less thing to worry about during those trying first few months of parenthood! I’ve been signing up…
New Series! Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Trip
Happy New Year! This is a continuation of my post reflecting on 2015, A Look Back at 2015, Part I. This is Part II, and essentially is a very condensed summary of my three week around-the-world trip. It’s hard to fit three weeks worth of content in a reasonably-sized blog post, but I’ll try my best! Bryan had…
Greetings from Europe and Asia!
I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday! So sorry I haven’t been posting as much. I have been traveling for two weeks straight throughout Europe and Asia. I thought I would be able to catch up on blogging during my flights in between my trips. Who would have thought that jetlag would totally…
Hojoko at Fenway Boston
This article was original published in TheFenway.com as an article titled “Rock & Rolls: Sake and Sushi hit the Fenway“. This blog version takes the original article and expands upon it, both in terms of my own thoughts as well as additional photos of dishes! Fenway just got a lot more exciting. On August 6th, the…
Sushi Kanesaka Palace Hotel (Tokyo)
Bryan, my husband, often travels for work. Occasionally, armed with his trusty little Sony camera (affiliate link!), he will take photos and send me his thoughts on some of the more note-worthy restaurants he has visited. Other posts I’ve written for places he has visited (but I have not!) are Sushi Yoshitake (3-Michelin stars) in…
Eating Around the World at Epcot World Showcase
This is the first post in the Weekend Getaway to Orlando series. I remember loving Epcot Center my first time visiting Disney World, back when I was in middle school. My mom, sister, and I took a quick four-day trip down to Florida to visit all the parks. At the time, the Disney classic filsm…
La Mer Honolulu
We begin our Hopping the Hawaiian Islands series which details our recent trip to Oahu, Maui, Hawaii (aka the Big Island), and Kauai. The series will pretty much go in chronological order, starting with the first island we visited: Oahu My first sighting of Oahu – the view was so stunning I almost gasped out loud…
Happy New Year – A Look Back at 2014 (Part II) – Recipes + Boston restaurants
Making authentic Malaysian chicken curry at a cooking class in Kuala Lumpur This is Part II of a two-part series summarizing my look back at 2014. The first part of the series can be found here: Happy New Year – A Look Back at 2014 (Part I) Travel Cooking + Recipes Where did all the recipes…
Happy New Year – A Look Back at 2014 (Part I) – Travel
Celebrating New Years at home with our homemade Ginger Lime Jalapeno Beers! Happy (Belated) New Year! Another year has already gone by and we’re in 2015 now. Sometimes I look at that number and it still looks foreign to me . . . like it’s far far in the future (like in the movie Back…
New series! Hopping the Hawaiian Islands
Seeing a crazy intense rainbow in Maui from the dive boat Aloha! Can you believe the New Year is just around the corner? I hope you all have been enjoying your holidays up to this point. I am kicking off 2015 with a new series on my recent trip to the Hawaiian Islands. About two…
Recipes
Special Series Photo Gallery of Chinese Recipes A Culinary Tour Around the World – Sous Vide Style 8 Ways to Use Up Your Farm Share Veggies Chinese New Year Recipes Soups French Lentil Soup (Lentille du Puy) with Bacon and Fennel “Creamy” Kabocha Soup (with a kick!) Maple Butternut Squash Soup Spring Pea Soup Celeriac…
Visiting Japan
Jiro, Jen, & Bryan at Sukiyabashi Jiro Japan is one of my favorite countries in the world. I fell in love with it when I lived in Tsukuba as a college during a summer internship. Since then, I’ve traveled back numerous times (usually tagging along on one of my husband’s business trips). As a result,…
Index of Worldwide Travel Blog Posts! (ex-US)
ASIA JAPAN Check out the Japan Eating Guide SUSHI Sukiyabashi Jiro Sushi Yoshitake (2015) Sushi Yoshitake (2014) Tsukiji Fish Market Sushi Ya (dinner) Sushi Ya (lunch) Sushi Bun Updated Kyubey – a revisit in 2017 Updated Kyubey Review – 2010 (Project Food Blog Round 9 winning entry) Kyubey/Kyubei – 2009 Sushi Mizutani Sushi Sawada Sushi Taku Sushi Mitani Daisan Harumi…
Asian
Check out (and click through) the gallery on top, or scroll to the bottom to see a full index of all the Asian recipes on this site! Mustard Greens Sauteed Chinese Watercress Spicy Pork with Sour String Beans Chinese Chives and 5-Spice Tofu Crunchy Broccoli Stem Salad Tea Eggs Simple Winter Melon Soup Traditional Winter…
Chef’s Gallery {Sydney, Australia}
This is the third post in my Eating Down Under series. Other posts in this series include Din Tai Fung, Sydney, and Three Fun Food Finds Unique to Australia.This is also day 30 of the 31 Days 31 Posts Challenge. We had just landed in Australia after close to 30 hours of sitting in airplanes and airports….
Heart Shaped Bacon Wrapped Pork Loins (with yuzu noodles & 65 degree sous vide egg)
I’m having way too much fun playing with heart shapes this week.I’m sort of in shock that, in all these years, I never tried to make any heart-shaped food. It’s no secret that I love “playing” with food, creating fun shapes, designs, and characters. A simple search for Totoro on the blog will give you a…
Carrot “Fries”
I am swimming in carrots.My CSA, Siena Farms, had an extremely healthy season for carrots. It was immensely fun – throughout the weeks we tried all different varieties of carrots: purple ones, yellow ones, orange ones, Mokum carrots, Laguna carrots, Bolero carrots, and more.Even though my CSA deliveries technically ended on November 18th (more than…
Is it December already? Where I ate in Boston in November
Happy December! Time surely does fly, doesn’t it? Can you believe 2013 is almost over? I feel like I’ve been neglecting Boston for awhile, between all my Japan posts, Sonoma posts, and then the recent nod to New York. It almost appears as if I’m never at home . . . which is so not…
Ouch – My Hurting (but Healing) Wrists
I was so excited about the Thailand posts right when I arrived back in the US. Like I said, I couldn’t wait to share with you all that I had experienced on my trip. And then the pain hit. You see, up until a few weeks ago, I was working like a mad-woman. We had…
Omotesando Koffee
This is the eight post in the series titled Tasting Tour of Tokyo detailing my recent trip to Japan. Other posts include Kikunoi Akasaka, Rokurinsha, Mikawa Zezankyo, Kaoriya, Sushi Sawada, Sushi Aoki, and Street Foods in Tokyo. Is there really such thing as a “best kept secret”? After all, good secrets in the food world are hard to keep, and hidden gems quickly…
“Street Food” in Tokyo
This is the seventh post in the series titled Tasting Tour of Tokyo detailing my recent trip to Japan. Other posts include Kikunoi Akasaka, Rokurinsha, Mikawa Zezankyo, Kaoriya, Sushi Sawada, and Sushi Aoki. The idea of street food in Japan may almost seem like a oddity. After all, it’s considered quite rude in Japanese culture to walk while you’re eating. Even though…
Chili Chocolate Domo Cookies
I have always loved Domo. Domo is the mascot for NHK, one of Japan’s broadcasting television stations in Japan. He’s brown, furry, and looks like he would be mean (those teeth!), but in fact he’s quite endearing and not scary at all. Domo loves Japanese potato and beef stew but hates apples, due to something…
Tasting Tour of Tokyo
Bryan travels a lot for work (did I mention he recently hit the two-million airline miles mark?) In fact, we recently calculated that he has spent the last 7 weeks (out of 12) on the other side of the world. Interestingly, he’s spent most of that time in countries that walk and drive on the…
Uni Shooters
Did you hear? I was beyond excited when I found out that Cambridge would be getting its own H-Mart (Korean grocery store). Really? Finally! Super convenient access to a wide variety of fresh Asian vegetables, tofu, various types of sashimi, soup bases, etc. Altough we don’t really cook that much Korean food at home (with…
Chinese Eggnog Tarts
This post is part of a larger series: An Asian Twist on a Traditional Holiday Meal. Other posts in this series include Chinese Oven Roasted Duck, Keroppi Cookies,Totoro Cookies, Taro Fries, Chinese Long Beans with Garlic, and Kabocha Pumpkin Mochi Cake I’m a huge, huge, huge custard fan. I love French crème caramel and the…
Kabocha Pumpkin Mochi Cake
This post is part of a larger series: An Asian Twist on a Traditional Holiday Meal. Other posts in this series include Chinese Oven Roasted Duck, Keroppi Cookies,Totoro Cookies, Taro Fries, and Chinese Long Beans with Garlic I’ve found that baked mochi is almost always a universal crowd pleaser at potluck parties, especially if many…
Stir Fried Chinese Long Beans with Garlic
This post is part of a larger series: An Asian Twist on a Traditional Holiday Meal. Other posts in this series include Chinese Oven Roasted Duck, Keroppi Cookies,Totoro Cookies, and Taro Fries. Have you ever seen Chinese long beans? It’s got a ton of alternate names, such as the Snake Bean, 豇豆 (Chinese), or even…
Taro Fries
This post is part of a larger series: An Asian Twist on a Traditional Holiday Meal. Other posts in this series include Chinese Oven Roasted Duck, Keroppi Cookies, and Totoro Cookies. I have a horrible weakness for any sort of fried “potato.” Whenever I go to Garden at the Cellar, I can’t help but finish…
Keroppi Cookies
This post is part of a larger series: An Asian Twist on a Traditional Holiday Meal. Other posts in this series include Chinese Oven Roasted Duck, and Totoro Cookies. I was obsessed with Keroppi when I was in school. I loved going to Sanrio stores to see what cool new Keroppi stuff I could buy. My sister and…
Foodbuzz 24, 24: An Asian Twist on a Traditional Holiday Meal
I love this time of year. There’s something about spending time with family, visiting friends, and listening to (and singing!) Christmas songs that fills me with so much joy. I love the holiday lights that begin to appear; I love the spirit of generosity that everyone has; and I love the countless opportunities to meet…
The Worst Pictures You’ll See on this Blog
Moving is hard work! I apologize for the lack of activity on this blog this past week. It has been nothing short of absolute craziness. I spent about 2 weeks packing up 10 years worth of built-up stuff, and then proceeded to spend the entire weekend trying to unpack to a level that was at…
Giveaway Winners! {Seamless Web}
Il Panino Express Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Snow piles have shrunk in Boston just a tiny bit as the rain over the weekend melted some of them down. I’ve actually had a chance to go out for a run! There are icy patches and puddles here and there, but it’s actually not…
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone! What did I do all day? Enjoyed a fantastic lunch full of all my favorite foods, including Bryan’s mom’s famous CHE pumpkin cakes, leftover dumplings from our delicious meal yesterday at Din Tai Fung, and several other fantastic homemade dishes. I am loving the warm, California sunshine here. Yes, we were so fortunate! We…
Holiday Baking Ideas!
I’ve never spent a holiday in Boston. Ever since college, I’ve been flying somewhere for the holidays. For years I went straight home to Ohio every Christmas. More recently, Bryan and I shuttle between Ohio and California to visit the families on both sides. This means that I have never been in my own kitchen…
Greetings from Tokyo!
Greetings from Tokyo! Bryan and I are here because Bryan had a business trip out here, so I decided to tag along. I absolutely love Japan, and what better way to spend my birthday (yes, today’s my birthday) than in one of my favorite cities in the world? This afternoon I trekked out to Kappabashi, Japan’s premier…
[VIDEO] Rice Crispy Critters and Sushi
Look Ma! I’m on television! OK, not exactly . . . but I got to make my first video a few weeks ago! How2Heroes, a Cambridge-based company with an excellent “How To” site devoted to food-related instructional videos, contacted me several weeks ago and asked whether I would be interested in making a video about…
Tiny Urban Tidbits #5 – My Astronaut Husband
There’s a term in Chinese used to describe businessmen whose families live in the US but who have businesses in Asia, and thus are always flying back and forth. Tai kong ren is a play on words because it sounds both like the word for “astronaut” but also sounds like the words for “No wife”…
Haiti
I know so many of you have donated to the Haiti Relief effort already. Others, like me, may still be waiting. Waiting to decide whether to give, how much to give, where to give . . . If you feel moved to give, I urge you not to wait too long – it’s easy to…
Happy New Year!
Happy 2010! What a year it has been! With “Tiny Urban Kitchen” officially born in September, the Foodbuzz Festival in November, and meeting new blogger friends in New York, it’s been a whirlwind year for this little blog. Thanks so much for your support and readership this past year. I really enjoy and appreciate all…
Hello Kitty Rice Crispy Treats
After successfully tackling Totoro Rice Crispy treats, I decided to make these cute Hello Kitty treats for my little cousins this Christmas. Here’s the detailed tutorial on how to make them. Thanks to my mother-in-law for snapping some pictures of me while I was making these!IngredientsRice Crispy Treat:6 cups Toasted Rice Cereal (e.g. Rice Krispies…
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone! I spent a part of my holiday making these cute treats for my little “cousins” (they are ages 2-9 but technically are part of our generation – you know how big families were a generation back). My “aunt” (who is close to my age) had seen my post on Totoro Rice Crispy…
A New York Birthday
Oh New York, how I love thee, especially thy food. This begins a five-part mini series on some of the amazing food I enjoyed in New York City during a short trip we took there during my birthday. I won’t give away all the details yet, but I can give you a hint of what…
Recipe Index
Hi everyone, I have finally created a library of recipes in a more organized fashion. Hopefully this will make the recipes a bit easier to nagivate. Please explore and check out some recipes from the archives! I will be making a similar index for restaurants soon as well. At some point I may make a…
Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Kyaraben On Steroids (キャラ弁)
Ever since I was a child, I have loved Japanese animation (“anime”) characters. More recently, I started discovering the world of “kyaraben” (or “charaben”), which is derived from the longer phrase “character bento.” Kyarabens are elaborately decorated boxed lunches comprised of food made to look like famous characters. When Foodbuzz asked for proposals for 24,24,24,…
Inarizushi
Inarizushi is part of a larger Japanese character based meal titled “Kyaraben on Steroids” featured in August’s Foodbuzz’s 24-24-24. Click here to see the entire meal. Inarizushi is popular picnic food in Japan. It’s easy to carry, tasty, and healthy. Ingredients:Sushi riceInarizushi tofu skins You can typically find inarizushi wrappers in Asian grocery stores. Here…
Bryan Bento
As I was talking on the phone with Bryan today, I asked him what kind of bento I should make tonight. I had made a totoro bento the night before. He said, “make me!” . . so I did. ©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen All Rights Reserved
About me
Who is Tiny Urban Kitchen? Hi! My name’s Jen. Tiny Urban Kitchen was born out of my tiny urban condo situated between my alma mater and the other school in Cambridge. My tiny urban condo came with a tiny urban kitchen, hence the name of this blog. It was bit tight at times, but over…