I don’t know how to begin this story, but I know it starts with my grandmother—the Japanese one. Actually, she’s Japanese American. More specifically, she’s nisei. Not only was she the best cook I ever knew, she was also one of the most creative people I’ve ever seen in the kitchen. Once when I was a teenager she made hot dogs with asparagus in homemade teriyaki sauce. It was one of the best dishes I’ve ever tasted in my life, and it was the first and only time she ever cooked those foods together.
Let me back track. Stockton, California, where my grandm…