• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Umami Days

Umami Days

Meaty with a dash of veggies

  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch / dinner
    • Snacks
    • Vol. 2
  • Kitchen
    • Kitchen how-tos
    • Cooking ingredients
    • Kitchen tools
  • Food Tales
    • Edible Garden
    • Dining
  • Newsletter
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch / dinner
    • Snacks
    • Vol. 2
  • Kitchen
    • Kitchen how-tos
    • Cooking ingredients
    • Kitchen tools
  • Food Tales
    • Edible Garden
    • Dining
  • Newsletter

Kitchen tools

We don't own a lot of specialty tools to avoid kitchen clutter. But the ones we consider essential and non-essential but still highly useful, we make an effort to care for to make them last. Included in this section are tips for buying a wok and how to choose the ideal mortar and pestle.

Mortar and pestle made of unpolished granite

Mortar and pestle for the home kitchen

Stone or wood? Polished or unpolished? Smooth or coarse? We've gone through dozens of mortars and pestles, and here's what we learned.

Read more →Mortar and pestle for the home kitchen
Tajine going in the oven

Tajine pot: buying guide, seasoning and care

Tajine is an earthenware pot traditionally used in Northern Africa, including Morocco with which it is most often associated. Tajine is also the generic name for any dish …

Read more →Tajine pot: buying guide, seasoning and care
The correct way to use an empanada maker / molder

The correct way to use an empanada maker / molder

Making empanda by hand is not a skill developed overnight. Newbies may need a bit of help initially by learning the correct way to use an empanda maker / molder.

Read more →The correct way to use an empanada maker / molder
Applesauce and walnut ice cream in cone

How we make ice cream

We've been making ice cream at home for over ten years and an ice cream maker has been indispensable to us. Can you make ice cream without one?

Read more →How we make ice cream
How to use onigiri mold

How to use an onigiri molder

How to make uniform-sized and shaped onigiri? Unless you’re a seasoned cook well trained in Japanese cooking, you use an onigiri molder! Here’s what it looks like and how …

Read more →How to use an onigiri molder
Non-stick baking pan

Lower the heat when baking with dark-colored pans

If you've ever wondered why your cakes, cupcakes muffins seem to get overbaked all the time, it might have to do with the color of your baking pans.

Read more →Lower the heat when baking with dark-colored pans
Muddled cocktail drink with Limoncello

How to use a cocktail muddler

A serious cocktail enthusiast should own a muddler. Not as a bar ornament but as a tool for crushing fruit, herbs and spices. Pulverizing them in a blender just won’t do. …

Read more →How to use a cocktail muddler
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Next
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • No AI
  • Contact

Created by a human for humans · Copyright © 2025 Connie Veneracion · All Rights Reserved