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…
Tag: sesame
Apple-Brown Butter-Sesame Cake
This cake was the result of me making caramelized apples, and wanting to do some fun things with them. I was attempting to make a tarte tatin(whomp whomp) and if that wasn’t foreshadowing enough, I basically ran out of butter to actually make one. So with the butter that I still had, I decided, instead…
Koji Sirloin with Miso Risotto
This recipe is my East Meets West take on steak and risotto. I wanted to make a risotto with steak and kale, which is something we might eat for dinner for a special occasion, but using some Japanese ingredients to give it a new identity and keep things new and different. So with the steak,…
Black Sesame-Milk Oolong Roll Cake
This cake was a fun reunion between me and a friend from middle school, Inna. Inna and I had been friends during middle school and high school, and while we did hang out a lot with the same people, and had similar interests(video games, anime, baking), we weren’t necessarily the closest of friends back then….
Semolina-Tahini Cake with Biko and Coconut
While I was going through my sugar fast, I was craving basically everything with sugar. This dessert specifically was one of those sugar-deprived fantasies I conceptualized around two desserts that are notoriously sugar-laden. One of the inspirations was basbousa, an Egyptian semolina cake that is baked with tahini for a nutty texture, and is normally…
Olive Oil-Tangerine-Sesame Cake
It’s funny to see the rise in popularity with olive oil cakes, especially here in Los Angeles, over the past 4 years. It’s almost as if post-pandemic, that became the “it” cake in the city. You would be amazed to see how many bakeries and cafes sell a variation of it, and almost all are…
Sourdough Garlic Cream Buns
One of the many triumphs in my sourdough experiments were these sourdough garlic cream buns. This recipe was directly inspired by both the everything milk buns that were occasionally sold at EatDomi and the trending bloom bagel. In both cases, it is a round piece of bread that it cut to have wedges on top,…
Marbled Sesame Cheesecake Brulee
So I was scouring the internet, and found this gorgeous rectangular cheesecake with a bruleed top, that was sold by the popular Japanese brand, Mr. Cheesecake. That store features these rectangular slabs of cheesecake with a caramelized top and a custard-like center – think like a more aesthetically pleasing basque cheesecake. What was cool was…
Asparagus-Sesame Gazpacho
I purchased some asparagus with no real idea on what I was going to do with them – usually when I think of asparagus, I think of it as a side to a steak or a piece of fish. I did make an asparagus and ricotta pita years ago with my friend Ann, but I…
Crab Cake with Kale Salad
Whenever I purchase lump crab meat, I feel like there is always a doomsday timer floating over my head, making sure to remind me that if I don’t make something/eat this crab meat quickly enough, it will go rancid and my entire fridge will smell for it. These crab cakes were my solution to using…
Chili Crisp Chicken Lollipops with Japanese Pickles and Kale-slaw
For a hot minute, I have been trying to make wings using my air fryer. I love ordering wings whenever we get takeout from our local pizzeria – compared to almost every other cut of chicken besides the thigh, wings have a ton of flavor. They are annoying to eat, and you probably will have…
Crab and Chili Crisp Bagels
These bagels were a complete and utter brain child. I heard about Montreal style bagels – bagels that are boiled with a little bit of honey and have a soft, chewy crust – and wanted to make my own! However, a bagel on its own, while tasty, can be a little one-note, and I wanted…
Pomelo-Sesame-Blueberry Entremet
A while ago, I went to Tokyo for fun – we only had two full days in the city since flying to and from took a day each way, but we made the most of our two days, seeing Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo Skytree, several Pokemon Centers, Harajuku(my personal favorite), and we also visited Teamlab Planets….
Black Sesame-Blueberry Swirled Baked Cheesecake
So I made the (can be seen as some as a) mistake of purchasing a Costco container of blueberries, and the consequence of doing that is now I have more blueberries than I know what to do with. I personally have always loved blueberry compote or jam on top of a baked cheesecake, so my…
Milk Tea-Sesame Semolina Cake
I came up with this recipe because I was craving semolina cake. This cake was initially inspired by the Middle Eastern semolina cake called basbousa – a dense semolina flour-based cake that is usually baked with ghee and tahini, which gives it this nutty, toasty flavor profile and a dense, rich texture, and the baked…
Charsiu Milk Buns
Charsiu is comfort. Back when I was a child, I was an EXTREMELY picky eater. All the caps were needed there to emphasize how I basically wouldn’t eat seafood, certain kinds of fruits(pineapples, mangoes, and blueberries) and vegetables(bitter melon understandably, lettuce, gourds of any kind, and squash), and randomly coconut flakes(but I would still eat…
Black Sesame Hotcakes
I have been on a real hotcake kick lately. Hotcakes are pancakes, but fatter and thicker. They are very popular in Japan, and are often ordered at cafes! When I was in Kyoto, I was able to get some at the hotel we were staying at, and they were super fluffy and tender. So I…
“Chicken and Dumplings”: a plated dish
This dish is a revisited version of a recipe I made a few years ago, but as a more composed plated dish. The dish itself was what I made for a collaboration dinner at Mader Lao in Oklahoma, with my friends Gabriel and Dara(from season 12 of Masterchef!). I offered to do the entree, which…
Persimmon-Osmanthus-Sesame Gateau
This is definitely one of those recipes where if you do not have patience, it will not come together. Some of my recipes employ processes that may take hours, even days to do. That applies in this case too. For starters, let’s talk about persimmon. Persimmon is an autumnal to winter fruit that comes in…
Blood Moon: a petit gateau
For this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, I wanted to do a few different kinds of moon cakes. Some more traditional, and some, a new interpretation of the term “moon cake”. In this case, I wanted to do not one, but two petit gateau, both moon-themed. One would be inspired by the full moon, but the other,…
Freddy's Harajuku 