Freddy's Harajuku

Miso Caramel Apple Dumplings

First time I had apple dumplings was living in Boston; my friend Tina made them for us when we were having a baking night together back in freshman year of college. I literally had no idea what an apple dumpling was, come to find out, they were these parcels of baked dough, stuffed with caramelized…

Chocolate-Hazelnut Fondant

It felt like forever ago that I made a chocolate fondant, so I wanted to make one as we start getting closer to the holidays, and I wanted to make some more festive or celebratory desserts. Chocolate fondant is comforting, because it is a decadent chocolate lava cake-type of situation. In this case, I went…

Pork and Mushroom Chowder

This is the perfect dish to embrace two of my favorite savory ingredients in pork belly and mushrooms. Even before I lived in Boston, I always liked chowder for some reason. The idea of a warm, creamy soup with fun, random ingredients running through it was just reminded me of congee, but super Westernized. That…

Kimchi Chicken Cacciatorre with Kale Polenta

This dish was really meant to be a homey meal, hence why it kind of looks like a giant pile of slop in a bowl. Those kinds of dishes are indicative of the fall/winter, being super cozy, comforting dishes that are ugly-delicious. In this case, I wanted to do chicken cacciatorre, an Italian dish consisting…

Pumpkin Pie Taiyaki

Ever since I bought a taiyaki pan, I only ever used it once. And not even to make traditional taiyaki batter! Hilariously, back in college, I did make taiyaki a few times when I borrowed a classmate’s pan. However, I did not own a pan of my own until 2023, and even then, I totally…

Earl Grey-Sesame Duskull Tea-ramisu

I will be honest in that while I absolutely adore the Hoenn region, the Duskull line wasn’t something that I would say I particularly cared for. Of the various Ghost-types in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, I was more partial towards Sableye or Shedinja because of how unique each of them were. With Duskull, they are…

“Scarecrow Cake”

This is my autumnal version of my dreamy hummingbird cake. For this variation, I replaced bananas and coconut with pumpkin, pineapple with raisin, and pecans with pepitas. Initially when I was testing this recipe, I tried to just use my carrot cake recipe, but subbing out the grated carrot with canned pumpkin puree. But that…

Lamb Stew with Yogurt Dumplings

This lamb stew came about because I got a bone-less leg of lamb, and was kind of struggling to figure out what to do with it. You see, if the meat came with the bone, I could make a gorgeous lamb stock, or even a meat pie. And the bone itself would be able to…

Gluten Free Pear-Almond-Kinako Cake

This cake came about from me having a bunch of pears from when I went apple/pear picking with friends, and trying to figure out how to use them up. My original plan was to do a pear-almond pancake, but I was really jet-lagged, having just gotten back from Asia, so breakfast foods weren’t really something…

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Chorizo Chickpeas

This dish is the perfect thing to eat on a cold, rainy dish. I made these chorizo-stewed chickpeas because I wanted this hearty, comforting stew. What I love from a textural contrast standpoint is that there are smoky chorizo bits and nutty, creamy chickpeas, swimming in a slightly spicy broth. That when paired with a…

Figs, Aerated Kefir, and Poached Egg Salad

So I won’t lie, this was basically a re-hashed plated dish version of the fig-arugula flatbread I made before, but instead of mascarpone-feta, I made an aerated kefir(drinkable yogurt), and replaced the flatbread with brioche soldiers. Oh, and I put a poached egg in there, just to add more richness. What initially inspired this dish…

Cereal Milk Cake Doughnuts

Cereal milk always takes me back to working at Milk Bar. I’ve been on an on-and-off air fryer cake doughnut kick lately, so I figured, why not try making some air-fried cake doughnuts using cornflakes? While traditional cereal milk involves toasting cornflakes then steeping that into milk, you can consider this recipe a cheat-method of…

Fig and Honey Phyllo Pie

This phyllo pie is a revisitation of the apricot-almond tofu pie I made a year ago, but this time, featuring figs and burnt honey! I love baking tarts with my homemade phyllo, just because it gets really crispy and flaky as it bakes. In the case of this recipe, I did make some substitutions. Instead…

Orange Blossom-Peach Malvapoeding

Malvapoeding(a South African baked cake soaked with a custard-cream situation) is one of those desserts I make infrequently. Not because I don’t like it(they are soaked fluffy sponge cakes that are very addictive), but mostly because they take an infuriatingly long time to bake for such little cakes – most cupcake-type baked goods are done…

Pork and Cabbage Potstickers

I will never live down getting sent home in Masterchef: Back to Win over dumplings. I literally teach dumpling classes, so it’s actually traumatic, even if the filling for my potstickers weren’t traditional(and before anyone asks, hell no would I ever go back to Masterchef to try to redeem myself on these, because honestly, they’d…

Fig-Prosciutto Flatbread

Whenever I think of figs in a savory dish, prosciutto and cheese immediately come to mind. I’m not one to shy away from a charcuterie board – honestly, one of my favorite combinations is a punchy cheese, a cold cut, and the fig jam. So in a lot of ways, this flatbread pays homage to…

Pink Peach Mille Feuille

I just had to make some fun pink peach desserts whenever white peach season rolls around. It’s so fun to take the peach peels, turn those into a simple syrup, and then simmering white peaches in those until they take on the pink color from the syrup itself. They are such a pretty garnish, and…

Ruby Kiwi Pate Choux

I first came across ruby kiwis in Taiwan in April, and they fascinated me. Now we have all seen green and probably all seen the yellow/golden kiwis, but reddish-pink ones sounded like an alien concept! The flavor of a ruby kiwi was just a bit sweeter than a regular one, but besides that, it tasted…

Aomori Apple Tartlets

Whenever I think of Aomori(which is in northern Japan), I think about the apples. Aomori apples are notorious for having a sweet, perfume-y smell, and a soft, juicy texture. So like the best version of a Fuji apple. I got super lucky that my local Japanese grocery store was carrying these, so I figured, why…

Chocolate Buttermilk Doughnut Bars

Whenever I get doughnuts on the weekend, one of my personal favorites is a buttermilk old-fashioned bar. These rectangular, craggy on the outside, fluffy and light on the inside doughnuts are just so addictive, just because there is so much textural contrast in one bite! I wanted to try making an air-fried version of those…