What I've Been Cooking Lately

It's been a while since I've posted about my cooking, but I feel like lately it's been worth mentioning. With the warmer weather there's so much summer produce already available - peaches, cherries, corn on the cob. I enjoy those all so much more now that they're only available during a specific season. I've also been trying out a few Japanese recipes here and there. It might be a terrible excuse, but I rarely cooking Japanese food because it's so readily available, and I always think that nothing I could make would taste as good or be as authentic. But the last three recipes I tried all came out really well!

Oyakodon - Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl

Fancy Brunch - Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Gyudon - Beef and Sweet Onion Rice Bowl

Shiso Pasta - Shiso is a Japanese herb with a flavor similar to mint and basil

Prosciutto and Cherry Salad - Recipe from My Little Expat Kitchen

The Japanese dishes come from Japanese Soul Cooking.

See other JSC recipes:

Yakiudon
Mabo Dofu
Sapporo Soup Curry
Sesame Karaage
Omurice
Tan Tan Men
Pork Gyoza
Ebi Chili
Japanese Soul Cooking Review

Korean Beauty Products (and food) in Shinokubo

Korean beauty seems to be blowing up, both in Japan and in the US right now. Have you heard about it? A few months ago I jumped on the bandwagon, and I've been absolutely loving it. (And I'm super low maintenance) Korean beauty dictates a ten-step skin care process (and I'll be honest, I'm doing about half that) and involves all sorts of fun and interesting products that are usually packaged very adorably.

Raku and I decided to try this out together, so a couple of months ago, we did some research, made our shopping lists, and headed out to Shinokubo, the biggest Korean neighborhood in Tokyo, to do some shopping. 

The two big stores we hit were Skinholic and Skin Garden which carry a wide variety of brands but there are tons and tons of cosmetic stores that you can wander into. If you make the trip to Shinokubo, it's not complete without some delicious Korean food. We highly recommend Ondoru. Even on a rainy weekday we had to wait twenty minutes to get in, but it's always worth the wait. Later, for dessert we bought cinnamon honey hotcakes at a stall across the street from Skinholic.

Ultimately, we didn't end up buying that much that day because we couldn't find some of the products we were looking for, and prices in the shops were generally higher than we found on Amazon or Iherb (but the shipping from Korea took close to two weeks, so it's a trade off). But it's still fun to walk around the neighborhood, enjoy the food, and check out the latest products. If you're looking to do your own research SoKo Glam has a wealth of reviews and information. And wherever you are, have an idea of what the prices should be before you walk into a store.

We've been going for a couple months now with our products, and really enjoying it. I've noticed a lot of improvement in my complexion, and hoping that continues.

My photography skills don't do this deliciousness justice

Ondoru - always worth the wait

Skinholic, a little smaller but a little nicer than Skin Garden

Hotteok (Hotcake) Stand

Honey Flavored Hotteok - there are lots of sweet and savory options

My Korean Products

Skinholic
Hours: 10:00-8:00
Phone: 03-5272-0909
Location: 1-12-15 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Map

Skin Garden
Hours: 10:00-10:00
Phone: 03-5291-1808
Location: 212 Kyakunincho, Shinkuku-ku, Tokyo
Map

Ondoru
Hours: 11:00 am-1:00 am
Phone: 03-3205-5679
Location: 1-3-20 Hyakunincho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Map