torakris

well I am off to join my husband in front of the tv, no we are not watching the ever popular NHK battle of the singers, he is watching the K-1 battle between Bob Sapp (one of the biggest sports names in Japan) and Akebono the former sumo champ. This should be an interesting fight..... for more info look here http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/25/sports/o...JAPA.html?fta=y

Today the 31st of December is called omisoka in Japanese. Rather than going off to parties, this is a time to be with family. The last of house cleaning and osechi preparation should be done and the evening will probably be spent in front of the tv watching the red and white singing battle on NHK. Close to midnight most families dine on toshikoshi soba, the name given to soba that is eaten on the last day of the year. The long strands of soba show hope for a long life. At midnight many people head off to the local temple to hear the ringing of the bells. Called joya no kane, the bells are rung 108 times. Temples sometimes pass out a drink called amazake, a sweetened fermented rice wine, that is one of the most disgusting things on earth (in my opinion! ). We never make it to the temple because the kids can't stay awake that long, but we did enjoy our toshikoshi soba for dinner. The most popular way of preparing it is with shrimp tempura or kaki-age (sort of a tempura of mixed vegetables and seafoods). Like everyone else at my neighborhood, I purchased these two product at the supermarket where they had a special stand set up. This one of my favorite days of the year to shop because many supermarkets will be closed the first 2 to 3 days of the new year and need to get rid of the perishable foods, so I can get most meats, fish and vegetables fro 1/2 off. When iw as at the store this evening, I smashed my head on the corner of a shelf as I was reaching for some bread and now have a huge lump on my forehead. dinner the tempura, kaki-age, scallions, and some purchased pickles the completed product, with ashitaba soba (ashitaba is a type of green), the soup is homemade You may have noticed I often serve things on my cutting board...... This is because I am lazy I also have a tiny kitchen with no dishwasher so I try to use as few dishes as possible.

We have had a couple nad cow incidents here in Japan, it caused a lot of restaurants that focused on beef to go undera dn many prepared foods that contain even things like beef essence were pulled from the shelves and are now back "beef free". A lot of people were (and still are) avoiding beef here, I have not and never will. Beef rules! just wish I could afford it.....

Those little fish are great!. I have some niboshi, bigger fish that are used for stock making, in a 500g(1lb) bag that my husband and son (age 3) have managed to work their way through in about a week....

I am planning on an early dinner, so we are just sort of snacking our way until then. first off, some grilled mochi with soy sauce and nori the kids are also having some Campbells vegetable alphabet soup. This is one of the dishes I have just finished preparing for the osechi tomorrow, a kinton made with dried apricots. kinton is a sweetened puree of satsumaimo, the Japanese sweet potato, it is normally served alone or with some chestnuts added.

I am another Madhur Jaffrey fan, I have about 6 of her books, here Asian stuff is pretty good too!

forgot to post my breakfast! I jus quickly made some scones with cranberries (fresh) and orange zest, we also ate some ponkan, a type of citrus fruit. and in between then and now I had a handful of cheetos, my son has discovered my hiding place for them......

buri daikonis a dish of simmered buri (yellowtail) and daikon, read this thread to find out what we are talking about: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=33811

I know now! By the way they were the cheapest ones on the menu, half the price of the Kumamotos and at least 100yen ($1) cheaper then the next cheap one. YOU DID NOT make buri daikon ....???!!

Here are some pictures of the mochi pounding process (with some English to help!), the bottom shows the kagami mochi ("mirror" mochi because of its shape) that is a common decoration in homes during the New Year's holidays. The kagami mochi consists of a small circle of mochi on top of a larger circle of mochi topped with a mikan (mandarin orange) or daidai (another type of citrus). http://www.powerlabo.com/oe/contents/mochi.html

what would you like to know? Last year the Washington Post had an article about them. For the most part they were described as New Years desert cakes. Yet, earlier in this thread they were used in what sounded like a savory dish. Now I am totally confused. What are they made of and how are they used? MOCHI I am going to break the mochi discussion into 3 types of mochi "dried" mochi "fresh" mochi mochi like things made from mochi flours Both the "dried" and "fresh" mochi are made from the mochi rice (glutinous rice called mochi-gome), this rice is steamed and then pounded until it is smooth. A long time ago most households pounded their mochi, nowadays it is more common to buy it in a store. These "dried " mochi are hard and mostly commonly seen as rectangles or circles. They can be used either in savory or sweet applications, because they are hard they need to be softened and the best way to do this is to grill them. This can be done on a special grill over a gas flame, in a toaster oven, or even is a fry pan. When grilled they puff up to close to twice their size, you want it nicely browned (not blackened like my MIL always does!). The grilled mochi can then be dipped in soy sauce, wrapped in noria dn eaten as a snack, it is also common to sprinkle it with kinako (sugar sweetened toasted soy flour) for a sweeter snack or it can be added to a sweet soup like dish or adzuki beans called zenzai. Some people prefer it softer and boil it or microwave it. Very hard mochi that has cracked is often deep fried and eaten as a snack. The "fresh" mochi is that, that is freshly pounded and basically eaten soon after being made. This is very soft and is often formed into rounds and eaten topped with an adzuki bean puree, kinako, grated daikon and soy sauce. Mochi hardenes quite quickly and in the olden days this handmade mochi that hardened was used in the applications above for "dried" mochi. Then there are the mochi flours that are made from ground mochi rice, these called joshinko, shiratamako and mochiko are mixed with water to form a paste. They are then boiled and used mostly in Japanese sweet style dishes.

$18? And we're complaining they just raised prices to $10.50. It helps put things in perspective. A year ago I was talking to my sister on the phone and I was telling her that I had just seen my second ever in Japan because the movie theatre near our house has a special every Thursday were women can enter for only $10. I was so excited about it and she was like ONLY? $10.............. And if some theatres the $18 won't even get you a seat! You need to fork out $25 for a "reserved seat", the first movie I went to in Japan was so crowded there were people sitting on the floors and aisles............ I ahve also seen some places that have "couples" seats for $60 (for 2 people) that are sort of like a booth surrounded on 3 sides by walls and with a small table. this is one of the main reasons we have cable......

Please feel free to refer to me as Princess Kristin....... I won't mind

for the "real" meal we went just down the street to Le Aladdin, they advertise as specializing in a sort of fusion of Arabian and Turkish foods, but I felt there was more Japanese style foods than anything else, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing! Of the 3 restaurants of this group that i have now been two (in 3 days!) I like the food here best, the atmosphere was also incredible, all the wall were tiled in gorgeous patterns, a lot of the tables were "tent-like" being surrounded by material swirling down from the ceiling, all of teh statues, light fixtures, etc added to the Arabian feel. My husband said he felt like he was at Disneyland..... We were given a small appetizer as we sat down that consisted of 3 small dishes holding a simmered hijiki (type of seaweed) dish, a tamago do-fu (chilled tofu like egg dish) and bean thread noodles and chicken with a very lemony sauce. All threee were very good. then we ordered a Japanese style fresh spring roll that consisted of crab, scallop, mizuna (a green), pickled gobo (burdock root) and a couple other things, it was served with two dipping sauces --awanori (seaweed in a pureed form) and kani miso-mayo (basically crab guts mixed with mayo) both of these are much better than they sound! Next was a dish of garlic bread and gorgonzola sauce (sort of like a gorgonzola fondue) and avocado slices wrapped in chutoro maguro (a good cut of tuna) dotted with horseradish and then wrapped by the diners in a piece of nori (seaweed laver) and dipped in soy sauce. we followed that with a beef tangine and hot stone pot with a beef tendon, onions and a poached egg that was all mixed together our final main dish were lamb chops with a curry sauce I enjoyed the meal with a drink called a belly dance consisting of cassis, frambois and cranberry juice (not sure of those spellings), served with fresh raspberries and bluerries on top. Dessert! my husband had the soy milk creme brulee (that was incredibly creamy) and I ahd the dessert sampler with 6 kinds of goodies We never got to see the movie becasue the tickets sold about 10 people before us! We did save our selves close to $18 a piece, the current price for movies in Japan, I guess we will wait for the video.... The overnight thing didn't happen either, because my friend's son came down with a fever,t ehy called just as we were heading back to the car, so the timing worked out well. The really good thing is that because the kids were so disappointed in not sleeping over, they offered to try it again!! EDIT: oops I posted the picture of myself twice!!

what would you like to know?

Our dinner last night started off at the Gumbo and Oyster Bat in the My City building just above Shinjuku station. The two restaurant floors (7th and 8th floors) are called Shun Kan and there are A LOT of nice restaurants up there, there are a couple I would like to try. Here is a picture of the place it looks a lot nicer than the name depicts: http://happy.woman.excite.co.jp/shunkan/02/excite04.html Sorry no pictures from here. We just wanted an oyster appetizer before our "real" meal. We went to the right place! We had the oyster sampler platter for 2 (I had a coupon for two free glasses of wine when ordering this) It was 10 pieces for about $45..... There were 5 kinds of oysters Makaki from Miyagi (Japan), this was huge and was my husband's favorite Pacific oyster from Seattle Kumamoto oyster from Seattle (this was the most incredible oyster I have ever eaten!) Pacific oyster from New Zealand (I really didn't care for the flavor on this one) Cat's Eye Oyster from Tasmania These were all served with fresh lemon juice and a cocktail sauce with fresh horseradish grated on top I wanted to order just a couple more of the Kumamotos but at $6.50 a piece I decided to go for something else instead. So we ordered the Seafood sampler which consisted of a shrimp cocktail, steamed mussels and steamed clams, these were all served with a spicy BBQ sauce, that I didn't care for and I felt it was too strong for the seafood. We season instead with lemon juice and salt, and cocktail sauce for the shrimp. We then went to the next place.......

It is almost 8:00am so I should really get some breakfast made! I am currently drinking a large tumbler of iced coffee (what else is new! ) and I will post pictures from our WONDERFUL dinner last night after breakfast.

My kids have a good understanding or English, but Japanese is definitely their main language. My husband's English is pretty basic so it is mostly Japanese in our house, I speak English to the kids and they reply in Japanese.... They can switch easily though, and will speak English on the phone and when we travel to the US, they do not have the vocabulary of their peers int he US. It does take a lot of work on the parent's part to keep it up and i am currently working on reading English with both of them.

hmm. we haven't had anybody do one from southern US yet, have we? I was thinking the the same thing.....

The iced coffe I drink is made at home, I brew up a large pot of coffee and then I put it in the refrigerator and drink it for a couple days.(much less if my husband is here! ) You can buy a lot packaged coffees here, from hot or cold cans/bottles in the vending machines/convenience stores/ basically any shop to 1L (1 quart) cartons of it in the grocery stores next to the milk. I worry about what is in them to which is why I prefer to make my own, it is also cheaper and tastes better!

it's an informal (from what i gather ) Happy New Year! Gus is right that does mean Happy New Year, but in Japan it wouldn't be said until the New Year has actually started, so you won't hear it before the 1st. It is also the greeting you will use whenever you meet up with anyone (neighbors, friends, co-workers, family) for the first time after the new year has started. If it is before the new year and you want to wish someone a Happy upcoming year then you would say "Yoi otoshi-wo" Yoi means good and toshi is year, it sort of translates as "I hope the upcoming year is a good one" or "Happy New Year" .

monjya-yaki is one of my favorite foods! It is the Tokyo shitamachi version of okonomiyaki, but it is thinner and runnier, that may sound gross but it is really a wonderful thing. the varieties are also much better than what you would find with okonomiyaki, they are only served in monjya-yaki restaurants. Some of my favorites include a pork and kimchi one and one with mentaiko (spicy cod roe) and mochi. Like okonomiyaki it is do it yourself at your table. Tsukishima (Tokyo) has a monjya-yaki town with over 50 shops in one small area, there are also a lot of shops in the Asakusa area. here is a picture: http://www.tokachi.co.jp/chai/9912/okonomiyaki/04page.html I have tried to make this at home at it just doesn't turn out the same.....

we have finished lunch, today my husband made some fried rice, one of his specialities. Since we are down to nothing in the house he added onion, scallions, carrots, cashew nuts and egg. Mine, my husband's and Julia's (age 6) were drizzled with sriracha. We are off now, we are going to drop the kids off at a friend's house and my husband and I are going to Shinjuku (in Tokyo) to see a movie, probably Last Samurai, and then go out to dinner. There is an oyster bar I want to check out and then I want to go to Le Aladdin a restaurant in the same chain of those restaurants I went to in Shibuya a couple days ago. This sounds like I go out a lot, but this is very unusual. my husband and I in the 8 years since our eldest was born have gone out in Japan with out children a total of 3 times, well this will be the third.... Babysitters are not a common thing and to get a babysitter means a professional which will cost you a minimum of about $15 and hour per child. Some people are lucky and have in laws that babysit occasionally but my in-laws won't. It isn't that common for married couples to go out once they have children and when they do the children are usually brought along. I babysat for my friend (she has one son) a month ago and she offered to trade and watch my three. If things go well they are planning on spending the night......

I am from Cleveland, Ohio, but I have been living in Yokohama for 9 years. Like Sinbad said I wouldn't waste your money on a fancy oden restaurant, I would just drop in to the local conbini for a lunch or late evening snack. Most izakayas that I have been to in Tokyo were about 10 years ago and most of them were the tiny places that seat about 5 or 6. Unfortunately I remember no names and wonder if most of them are still there, my favorite izakaya by my house just closed a couple months ago. Have you ever had monjya-yaki? I really think this is one of the most underappreciated foods in this country, by both the Japanese and the tourists.

I became interested in Japnese when I was 20 and trying to impress my then Japanese boyfriend (a different guy, not the one I married ). We later moved in together and he didn't like to eat too many foods other then Japanese, so I learned fast. I cooked almost nightly for about 3 to 5 of our Japanese male friends who lived alone, we were all college students. My kids eat different foods almost daily and I don't think they even grasp the concept of "American" food versus "Japanese" food versus "Chinese" versus "Italian", to them it is just food and they really don't have preferences, they love nabe (hotpots) as much as they love pasta. Some times I try to give them things I loved as a child, they are rejected pop-tarts quickly, but that was good for me as I got to eat the whole box. They do like Mac and Cheese though. Ok I just turned around and asked my kids if they could name some Japanese foods, Mia (age 8) quickly shouted out "tamago" which means egg, followed quickly by tomato. Then I asked her to name some American foods and she said "pizza". Julia (age 6) just stared at me.....