Kentucky fried chicken & strawberry shortcake

[mona]

Is that Pocky I see on Kaori's cake?

[Hiroyuki]

Pretty close. Strawberry-flavored Fran of Meiji, if I remember right.

http://open.meiji.co.jp/sweets/chocolate/fran/index.html

[Min]

Hiroyuki,

I love how your kids decorate their own cake..it sounds like a great way to cultivate their interest in baking I will apply this tip when i have my own children. I spied Hello Kitty chocolate candies on your daughter's cake!Excellent choice, daughter!

Back to topic, i am with the majority on this one.I find traditional fruit cakes too sweet and rich for my liking.

[smallworld]

No ranting from anyone?  I'm kind of disappointed...

←

Sorry to disappoint you, Hiroyuki.

But I like to think us eGulleters are a fair and balanced bunch of people, without unreasonable prejudices. So we may be occasionally grossed out by some of the unusual foreign-inspired Japan foods (the odd uses of ketchup and mayonnaise, for example), but more often than not, we like the unique way Japan adopts non-Japanese foods and flavours.

Now, about cake. I'm not a big cake fan and don't like whipped cream at all. But Japanese cake (I'm talking about cake in general, not just Christmas cake) is way better than Canadian cake. A million times better. The cake itself, and the topping- if you've ever tried canned cake frosting or fake whipped cream, then you'd know what I mean.

As for Christmas cake, well, the discussion can't go much further until you answer this: Have you ever tried a fruitcake? How about a North American yule log?

[torakris]

I am really with smallworld on this one,

Japanese sweets blow the socks off anything from North America.....

That being said though I have never eaten Christmas cake, I am a Christmas cookie girl.

I do find it interesting though that my Japanese friends are always shocked to hear Americans don't eat strawberry shortcake on Christmas, they all assume it is an American thing for some reason....

[helenjp]

Torakris, my experience is the opposite...arriving from the land of the midsummer fruitcake, I discovered that Japanese people expected me to be baking mounds of cookies at Christmas, American-style. Ever willing to please, I indulged in a few nice books of cookie recipes...

Fruit cake. I don't think I've ever eaten a bought one. Richness and sweetness are infinitely adaptable, and of course, you don't want a chiffon-cake sized chunk of the stuff anyway! Necessity being the mother of invention, in Japan I use finely shredded citrus peels and fresh ginger, and don't bother trying to find fruits such as currants that I hate anyway...result...I end up shipping out several small Christmas cakes in addition to the one I make for the family!

I don't use icing or marzipan, just press fruits into the top, and spend 2-3 weeks dousing them religiously with alcohol before sending them off. Don't tell, but dousing with ginger ale or CC Lemon works pretty well too!

[Syrah]

Strawberries are in season here right now, so I am thinking this might be an interesting idea for Christmas particularly at the inlaws since MIL cannot stand traditional fruit cake. I am however a fruit cake lover, so I will make that as well..

[naguere]

I thought a 'Christmas Cake' in Japan was any girl over the age of 26 who was not married

[torakris]

I thought a 'Christmas Cake' in Japan was any girl over the age of 26 who was not married   

←

yes that too!

Although it is not an official holiday the Japanese tend to celebrate Christmas, especially in a commercial way. The Japanese celebrate Christmas Eve by eating a 'Christmas Cake' which the father of the family purchases on his way home from work (or his wife does in the case where he has to work on Christmas Eve). Stores all over carry versions of this Christmas cake and drop the price of it drastically on December 25th in order to sell everything out by the 26th. This has resulted in a rather interesting expression in which young girls are referred to as a 'Christmas cakes': marriageable until their 25th birthday and requiring heavy discounts to get married after their 25th birthdays.

from:

http://tanutech.com/japan/jxmas.html

though I have to admit it isn't a phrase that is heard that much any more....

[Hiroyuki]

>i was hoping for some rants too! if christmas cakes are generally strawberry topped sponge cakes, they seem pretty innocuous. what is there to rant about? i am honestly clueless. are christmas cakes controversial, deserving of rants?

Why do the Japanese celebrate Christmas when they are not Christain in the first place?

Why strawberry short cakes?

Christmas day is not the birthday of Santa Clause!, etc. etc.

Just imagine!

>I love how your kids decorate their own cake..it sounds like a great way to cultivate their interest in baking I will apply this tip when i have my own children. I spied Hello Kitty chocolate candies on your daughter's cake!Excellent choice, daughter!

It certainly is a good way to spend a birthday. My children do enjoy making their own. We use store-bought sponge cakes, though. I hope we can make pizza together some day.

>Sorry to disappoint you, Hiroyuki.

But I like to think us eGulleters are a fair and balanced bunch of people, without unreasonable prejudices. So we may be occasionally grossed out by some of the unusual foreign-inspired Japan foods (the odd uses of ketchup and mayonnaise, for example), but more often than not, we like the unique way Japan adopts non-Japanese foods and flavours.

I really am disappointed. Do we need to be that civilized? Sometimes a heated discussion can liven up the forum, don't you think?

>As for Christmas cake, well, the discussion can't go much further until you answer this: Have you ever tried a fruitcake? How about a North American yule log?

No, never. My wife is a fan of fruitcakes, though.

[torakris]

ok, Hiroyuki,

so why do the Japanese eat strawberry shortcakes on Christmas Eve?

and when you were a child did you think Colonel Sanders (from KFC) was Santa Claus?

[Hiroyuki]

ok, Hiroyuki,

so why do the Japanese eat strawberry shortcakes on Christmas Eve?

←

Are you serious? I thought you knew that. The answer is in the link you previously provided:

Another food tradition is a "French-style" strawberry shortcake with a plastic fir tree stuck on top. It was introduced 70 years ago by Fujiya Co., a big Japanese confectionery concern, as a kind of variant of plum pudding. Guilt-ridden fathers would often take this treat home to children after staying out late drinking in hostess bars. Cake shop staffers, shivering in the cold night air, use megaphones to hawk the cakes to drunken businessmen.

from http://classes.yale.edu/anth254a/article_bank/WSJ_911217.htm

Another description:

Take one bite of a strawberry shortcake and it is easy to understand why this delicious balance of sweet fresh whipped cream, ripe strawberries and fluffy sponge cake is considered the ideal combination. However, this does not explain why strawberry shortcake has become synonymous with Christmas in Japan. That was the result of concerted promotional efforts by cake shops, most notably that of Fujiya, to aggressively market their cakes via newspapers, radio and TV during the Christmas holiday seasons from the 1950s onward.

from http://paley.diaryland.com/020717_21.html

An interesting description of Peko-chan of Fujiya:

http://neatstufffromjapan.com/features/abo...n/peko-chan.htm

and when you were a child did you think Colonel Sanders (from KFC) was Santa Claus?

Do you think I'm stupid? (I know you are joking, and I know there are those who think so.)

[Hiroyuki]

I thought a 'Christmas Cake' in Japan was any girl over the age of 26 who was not married   

←

yes that too!

Although it is not an official holiday the Japanese tend to celebrate Christmas, especially in a commercial way. The Japanese celebrate Christmas Eve by eating a 'Christmas Cake' which the father of the family purchases on his way home from work (or his wife does in the case where he has to work on Christmas Eve). Stores all over carry versions of this Christmas cake and drop the price of it drastically on December 25th in order to sell everything out by the 26th. This has resulted in a rather interesting expression in which young girls are referred to as a 'Christmas cakes': marriageable until their 25th birthday and requiring heavy discounts to get married after their 25th birthdays.

from:

http://tanutech.com/japan/jxmas.html

though I have to admit it isn't a phrase that is heard that much any more....

←

My perception of the phrase is that women 24 years of age or younger sell like hot cakes, but become worthless once they have turned 25. I think my perception is common to the Japanese. This stems from the fact that the Japanese consider Christmas Eve the most important time of the Christmas season.

Anyway, I couldn't care less about this phrase. My wife was 32 when we got married.

[Hiroyuki]

Today, o-yuugi kai (a kind of show) was held at my daughter's nursery school. At the end of the o-yuugi kai, each child was given a Christmas cake.

[torakris]

Today, o-yuugi kai (a kind of show) was held at my daughter's nursery school.  At the end of the o-yuugi kai, each child was given a Christmas cake.

←

wow!

I am leaving in about 30 minutes for my son's oyuugi-kai (called a seikatsu happyo-kai at his school though) I know we won't be getting anything like that......

[Hiroyuki]

OK, everyone. I'm sure that many of you have already decided what to do about your Christmas cake this year.

My family are going to make just another one, topped with whipped cream and lots of strawberries. We're thinking of using a store-bought sponge cake, but we may change our mind to making pan cakes at home instead. And I'm thinking of making a chestnut cake too. We have a lot of chestnuts in the freezer, which my parents sent us this fall.

I'm going to post a picture or two of our Christmas cake. And, of course, anyone is encouraged to do so.

[Norio]

Kentucky Fried Chicken Christmas 2004:

http://www.kfc.co.jp/xmas2004/index.html

this year they are selling a whole roast chicken, I have never seen this before..., stuffed with mushrooms and parmasean cheese for only 5250 yen ($50)   

←

What's the "Wafuu Chicken Tender" like? What makes it "wafuu?"

[Hiroyuki]

Kentucky Fried Chicken Christmas 2004:

http://www.kfc.co.jp/xmas2004/index.html

this year they are selling a whole roast chicken, I have never seen this before..., stuffed with mushrooms and parmasean cheese for only 5250 yen ($50)   

←

What's the "Wafuu Chicken Tender" like? What makes it "wafuu?"

←

On behalf of torakris,

「和風チキンテンダー」：やわらかい国内産の鶏胸肉をサクサクした衣で包んだスナック感覚の商品です。

醤油、しょうが、白ごまなどを使い和風テイストに仕上げています。

Partial translation:

Soy sauce, ginger, and white sesame seeds are used to give it wafuu taste.

form here

http://japan.kfc.co.jp/news/news041105kfc.html

Edit to add:

Sounds yummy, but karaage may be more delicious...

Edited December 17, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[torakris]

Kentucky Fried Chicken Christmas 2004:

http://www.kfc.co.jp/xmas2004/index.html

this year they are selling a whole roast chicken, I have never seen this before..., stuffed with mushrooms and parmasean cheese for only 5250 yen ($50)   

←

What's the "Wafuu Chicken Tender" like? What makes it "wafuu?"

←

the only information they give about it is that it has a special BBQ sauce.... no indication at all of what makes it wafuu (Japanese style).

[Hiroyuki]

At my daughter's nursery school, they will serve Christmas cakes on 22nd for oyatsu (3'clock snack) together with barley tea. Isn't this cool? (They usually serve some kind of snack together with a pack of milk for oyatsu.)

At my son's elementary school, they will serve cakes (not necessarily Christmas cakes) on 21st. Each pupil can make a choice from among three types (strawberry, chocolate, and marron) and custard pudding beforehand (not on the spot on that day). He said he selected the chocolate cake and added that the chocolate cake was the most popular in his class (25 pupils) and only one selected the custard pudding.

I have just made some chestnut paste for use in making a chestnut cake later this week.

[melonpan]

I have just made some chestnut paste for use in making a chestnut cake later this week.

though this may seem ridiculously obvious (mash boiled and peeled chestnuts?) do detail how you are making this. i, for one, would love to know... (and the chestnut cake too!)

[Hiroyuki]

I have just made some chestnut paste for use in making a chestnut cake later this week.

though this may seem ridiculously obvious (mash boiled and peeled chestnuts?) do detail how you are making this. i, for one, would love to know... (and the chestnut cake too!)

←

I'm sure you don't want to know...

My parents have several chestnut trees in one of their fields and send us a lot of chestnusts in the fall, often peeled and boiled previously by my mother. I just mashed such chestnuts, adding some sugar and margarine (not unsalted butter ). I left some of the chestnuts un-mashed for use as decorations.

[Hiroyuki]

According to this survey, 72.6% of the respondents eat a Christmas cake on Christmas.

Christmas provides a good excuse for easting cakes, doesn't it?

Last Saturday (Dec. 18), Saturday Night Chubaw featured a Christmas chocolate cake. Unfortunately, as of today (Dec. 20), the English version of the site has not yet listed it.

[Hiroyuki]

We made two Christmas cakes on Christmas eve, strawberry sponge cake and chestnut cake. My kids did almost all the decoration.

My wife said the chestnut cake tasted better but the rice crackers, which I used for the foundation, didn't match. (I thought the idea of using rice crakers was cool.)

It sounds silly for me to say this, but I've got to say this,

"Merry Christmas, everyone!!"

[melonpan]

hey... how about that recipe for the chestnut cake? even a link to a recipe in japanese would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

and while we are at it, i invite anyone reading to post actual recipes for xmas cakes. i know they are usually just sponge cakes with freshly whipped cream, but i dont think it hurts to ask does it?