“Journaling my way through an umami rich recipe book. One delicious meal at at time.”

For my 40th birthday, I bought myself a cookbook. Not just any cookbook, but Umai: Recipes From a Japanese Home Kitchen by Millie Tsukagoshi Lagares.

I don’t usually buy cookbooks because space is tight, I’m picky, and I rely heavily on the library. But this one stopped me in my tracks at Dymocks . I’d never heard of Millie before, and this was the last copy on the shelf (at the time, they have since restocked!).  I flipped through it and instantly wanted to make almost everything. Nothing felt too hard or too fancy. Just the kind of comforting Japanese home food I always want to eat.

So I’ve decided to cook through the whole thing, cover to cover (not in order). A bit of a Julie & Julia moment, but with dashi, miso, soy sauce splashes, and a trusty Muji bamboo tray. Here’s my plan for the weeks ahead:

📆 At least one recipe a week 
🥟 From family favourites to izakaya-style dishes
🥢 Rotating through my ever-growing stash of bowls, plates, and chopsticks
🍱 Trying to plate some meals in full teishoku style
📊 Of course there’s a spreadsheet
🇯🇵 Also using this as a way to learn more Japanese
📸 And yes, I’ll be documenting it all

This journal project gives me a reason to keep showing up in the kitchen. I’ll be sharing updates, thoughts, the process and extra behind the scenes footage on my blog.

I started with a 5kg bag of rice from Hokkaido purchased from Hinoki Japanese Pantry along with a top up of the essentials. 

Welcome to #CookingUmaiCoverToCover
Let’s cook the WHOLE. DAMN. BOOK!