New Year’s Eve

The year of 2011 is close to the end.

Matto and I are having guests and having dinner at Coquette (http://www.coquette-nola.com/) on New Year’s Eve and then we will probably watch a countdown at Times Square, New York, on TV at home.  I will write about our experience at Coquette later.

Today I would like to introduce how Japanese celebrate New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

In the U.S., New Year’s Eve is one of the big party days.  People get together with friends and celebrate by the use of alcohol and fireworks.

On the other hand, New Year’s Day is the biggest family celebration day in Japan.  As an example New Year’s Day in Japan is an equivalent to Thanksgiving or Christmas in the U.S.

http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2125894159192306938/2129109394783672903

When I was in Japan, I had never had a year that I didn’t spend time with my family on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

In Japan, most people get off from work for 6-8 days before and after New Year’s Day.

Kids generally get a 2-week winter break from December 26^th to January 5^th.

For the coming new year, our biggest job is to clean our whole house, known as “O-Soji”.   We organize closet spaces in the entire house, clean the windows, power wash the outside of the house, wax the hard wood floors, clean the bathrooms, clean the kitchen etc…..Cleaning at  this time of the year is really intense in Japan.

On New Year’s Eve we watch a traditional TV show at night, called Ko-haku Utagassen.  Each TV station plays special New Year TV shows all night of New Year’s Eve and all day on New Year’s Day.

http://cookpad.com/recipe/706864

Traditional New Year’s Eve dinner is Soba (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soba), also known as Toshi Koshi Soba. There are several sayings for eating Soba on New Year’s Eve but in general we believe that eating Soba brings us happiness for the upcoming year.

Buddhist Temples ring their bells 108 times at midnight on New Year’s Eve. This tradition is called joya no kane which means "bell rings on new year eve's night”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_Eve#Japan)

We would go to our temple, greet the monk, and participate in ringing bell at night.

Volunteers usually serve hot soup to guests who visit the temple.

We don’t participate in ringing the bell every year but I love the experience whenever I go.

http://honeypotter.wordpress.com/2011/02/page/2

After the countdown, my family would go to bed.

New Year’s morning, we would get up and eat breakfast. We eat Zoni (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zōni) as a traditional breakfast for the new year.

Zoni is a miso soup containing rice cakes (Mochi).

http://justjennrecipes.com/category/holiday/new-years-day/

On January 1^st, we receive a lot of greeting cards from friends and family. These cards are called “Nenga jo” which are similar to Christmas cards here. 

After breakfast, we would first go to a shrine in our neighborhood.   Each neighborhood has a shrine and we believe that it protects our house and family.  So we go there to pray for our happiness in the New Year.

And then we would visit our temple to give the monk a New Year’s greeting.

http://www.tokyotopia.com/japanese-new-years-eve.html

Next we would go to my paternal grandparents’ house and see our relatives for lunch.

Here we eat Osechi, another traditional New Year’s food (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi).

Each dish in the container (called Jyu-Bako) has a special meaning to celebrate the New Year.

Here are some examples… (refered from Wikipedia)

▪                Daidai (橙), Japanese bitter orange. Daidai means "from generation to generation" when written in different kanji as 代々. Like kazunoko below, it symbolizes a wish for children in the New Year.

▪                Datemaki (伊達巻 or 伊達巻き), sweet rolled omelette mixed with fish paste or mashed shrimp. This symbolizes a wish for many auspicious days. On auspicious days (晴れの日, hare-no-hi), Japanese people traditionally wear fine clothing as a part of enjoying themselves. One of the meanings associated with the second kanji includes "fashionability," derived from the illustrious dress of the samurai from Date Han.

▪                Kamaboko (蒲鉾), broiled fish cake. Traditionally, slices of red and white kamaboko are alternated in rows or arranged in a pattern. The color and shape are reminiscent of Japan rising sun, and have a celebratory, festive meaning.

▪                Kazunoko (数の子), herring roe. Kazu means "number" and ko means "child." It symbolizes a wish to be gifted with numerous children in the New Year.

▪                Konbu (昆布), a kind of seaweed. It is associated with the word yorokobu, meaning "joy."

▪                Kuro-mame (黒豆), black soybeans. Mame also means "health," symbolizing a wish for health in the New Year.

▪                Kohaku-namasu (紅白なます), literally "red-white vegetable kuai," is made of daikon and carrot cut into thin strips and pickled in sweetened vinegar with yuzu flavor.

▪                Tai (鯛), red sea-bream. Tai is associated with the Japanese word medetai, symbolizing an auspicious event.

▪                Tazukuri (田作り), dried sardines cooked in soy sauce. The literal meaning of the kanji in tazukuri is "rice paddy maker," as the fish were used historically to fertilize rice fields. The symbolism is of an abundant harvest.

▪                Zōni (雑煮), a soup of mochi rice cakes in clear broth (in eastern Japan) or miso broth (in western Japan).

▪                Ebi (エビ), skewered prawns cooked with sake and soy sauce.

▪                Nishiki tamago (錦卵), egg roulade; the egg is separated before cooking, yellow symbolizing gold, and white symbolizing silver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi

We eat and talk just like Thanksgiving or Christmas in the U.S.

One different thing from these American holidays is that only kids get special gifts from adults.

Kids normally get money from relatives as New Year gifts, called Otoshidama.

It is handed out in a special envelop called “Pochi Bukuro”.

The amount of money varies depending on the family, normally 3,000-10,000 yen ($38-$129).

When kids are small, parents usually open a bank account under kids’ name and save the Otoshidama each year for their future needs.

I used to receive Otoshidama from my relatives until I graduated from college. I saved most of my Otoshidama since I was 0 year old and used the money to come to the U.S. to attend graduate school.

http://ties-bonding.blogspot.com/2010/01/otoshidama-and-new-year-holidays.html

In the afternoon my family would next go to my maternal grandparents’ house for dinner.

My father’s and mother’s relatives live in the same city, so it is pretty busy for our family to visit both of families on the same day during a holiday season.

That’s our family tradition for New Year’s Day.

And then January 2^nd is the biggest shopping day in Japan just like Black Friday in the U.S.

New Year’s Day used to be my favorite national holiday when I was in Japan.  One day I will take Matto to Japan for a New Year season!!!

Buche de Noel

As I promised, our first Christmas cake is here :)

I chose a Buche de Noel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bûche_de_Noël) as our first family Christmas cake.  The cake was inspired by one of my friends who made a similar cake last year. Buche de Noel is a famous Christmas cake in Japan.

When I decide to bake a particular item, I normally start looking for a recipe from CookPad (cookpad.com), the most famous Japanese cooking recipe website.

Japanese desserts typically have less sugar and are not as sweet as American desserts. Most importantly, they have fewer calories than American desserts :)

The Buche de Noel recipe starts with making a sponge cake.

I used this recipe from CookPad (http://cookpad.com/recipe/214995)

Ingredient

6 Large eggs

90 g Sugar

60 g All purpose flour

Whipped cream (I used heavy cream)

Strawberries

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 356 degree F (180 degree C)
2. Separate egg yolks and whites into two different bowls
3. Add half of sugar into yolk bowl and mix them until the mixture turns light yellow color.
4. Add flour and mix them until the mixture get smooth
5. Next, whisk egg whites and make meringue.  When egg whites get stiff then add the rest of the sugar and mix well.
6. Add the 1/3 of egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and mix with a spatula
7. Add rest of egg whites into the mixture and mix more.
8. Cover a 30” x 42” baking sheet with parchment paper
9. Put the mixture into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.  Cook it until the surface turns golden blown.
10. Remove the sponge cake from the oven and let it cool
11. When the sponge cake is cooled, spread a thin layer of whipped cream on baked side. The side with cooking sheet on will go outside.  Make sure not to put whipped cream at 1 last inch
12. And then place sliced fruits on the whipped cream

13. Start rolling the cake from the cream side (In the picture, I started rolling the cake from the bottom side)

14. Cut the rolled cake into desired size and put icing (I used whipped cream dyed with food colors to make it look like a log)
15. Sprinkle cocoa powder to cover the cake
16. Next prepare strawberry Santas (http://cookpad.com/recipe/305701) I draw eyes with a black gel pen, but you can also use a chocolate chips, black sesame seeds, or puppy seeds.
17. Decorate the Buche de Noel with the strawberry Santas

The most difficult part of making this cake was that I couldn’t put cocoa powder on sides of the cake evenly.

If you look at my cake carefully, there is a lot of powder on the top of the cake but not as much on the sides.

It might have been easier if I used chocolate icing instead………

Overall, I loved how it turned out and Matto loved it, too :)

It is tasty!!!

Wish you all a Merry Christmas and eat a LOT ;) 

Christmas Kurisumasu

Christmas is coming!!!!

Today, I would like to talk about Christmas traditions in Japan.

“How Japanese people celebrate Christmas”

You may think of Christmas as a family holiday because Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year in the U.S. Family gets together to celebrate, have a huge party, eat a lot of food, exchange gifts……..and of course watch football!

But Japanese people don’t celebrate exactly the same way as American people do.

I am going to talk here about my Japanese Christmas experiences and opinions. Other Japanese people may have a difference of opinions. 

85-94% of the population of Japan adheres to either Buddhism or Shintoism.  Today more than 70% of Japanese people would say that they have no personal religion.

For example, historically Japanese culture has been strongly influenced by Buddhism.

I was raised by strict Buddhist parents and grandparents, but it doesn’t mean I am a strict Buddhist. 

While growing up in Japan I had never seen any churches or been exposed to the Christian religion.  The only thing that I knew about Christmas was “it is Jesus’s birthday” and “Santa is supposed to bring me a gift”.

In Japan Christmas isn’t a national holiday, meaning we don’t get a day off from school or work.

Christmas is just another day.

Usually on the night of the 24^th my family (parents, sister, brother, and I) would have dinner together and eat a cake for dessert.

Typically the type of food that we would have on Christmas eve would be, fried chicken (from KFC), sushi……etc.  We would never have a whole turkey mainly because grocery stores don’t sell it, and more importantly our oven wasn’t big enough to put a whole turkey (Remember, everything is bigger in Texas, but everything is smaller in Japan!!)

In Japan cake is a really important item for Christmas!! Unlike in the U.S. Japanese people don’t eat pie or cookies for Christmas. The cake has to be a whipped cream-icing Christmas cake  (Christmas is the busiest day of the year for bakeries).

Attached pictures are some examples of Christmas cake that bakeries sell in Japan.

http://sweets0141.up.seesaa.net/image/Xmascake.jpg

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img.blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ybi/1/b8/20/aoisuzu1981/folder/78433/img_78433_401140_0%3F1235661288&imgrefurl=http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/aoisuzu1981/401140.html&usg=__Wrce_ZUcCfx-uIgrF4Fn_7M7IsQ=&h=368&w=490&sz=89&hl=en&start=9&zoom=1&tbnid=uMqi_rPS20ZzoM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&ei=4UjxTozMFNSUtwfR093RBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%25E3%2582%25AF%25E3%2583%25AA%25E3%2582%25B9%25E3%2583%259E%25E3%2582%25B9%25E3%2582%25B1%25E3%2583%25BC%25E3%2582%25AD%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1

http://www.cafeblo.com/choco_revo/img/145/l000085113_00.jpg

At night when we were sleeping, Santa would bring us a gift and put it next to our pillows.  Why next to the pillows?? Because in our house we only had a 10-inch tree and it wasn’t big enough to put presents under.  Actually I didn’t even know the gifts were supposed to arrive under the tree.  I always thought Santa placed gifts next to people’s pillow until I came to the U.S.

In the U.S. Santa comes to people’s houses and places gifts into stockings that are hung above mantel.

As a kid somehow I knew about this, so I used to put my socks (that I wore) next to my pillow.  Santa didn't place my gift into my socks, so I realized that my socks weren’t big enough.  The following year I switched my socks to my Dad’s clean underwear so Santa would be able to fit my present in :P

In the U.S. Santa comes into the house through the chimney.

Most Japanese houses don’t have chimneys.  I used to ask my mother where Santa came from, and she would answer me, “From the window. We unlock the window for Santa for the night.”.  Somehow this used to make sense to me……

Around 6^th grade, Santa stopped bringing me presents…… my mother said, “you are old enough you don’t need presents anymore”.

Christmas is the day for kids to take an advantage of

But we still got a Christmas cake :) I told you cake is a big deal!!!!!!

When I became a high school student, Christmas became a whole different day. It was not Santa’s day anymore.

In Japan, if people have a boyfriend or girlfriend, they celebrate, eat a romantic dinner and exchange a gift.  If people don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, it is just like any other day.

It sounds like Valentine’s day, doesn’t it?

Yes, it is.

Christmas is an excuse for couples to have a romantic date in Japan!!!!!!!

In my opinion, I love Christmas in the U.S. better because Santa still brings me gifts :D

But I miss Japanese Christmas cake…….

So Matto and I decided to start a new family tradition for Christmas and we are going to make our own Christmas cake!!!!!

Our 1^st Christmas cake is coming up :)

A dessert that Matto doesn't eat (a rare event!!!)

Matto and I went to an Asian Market in Kenner on Sunday.
The purpose to go there was just to buy soy sauce, but I have never bought just one thing whenever I go there ;-)
So................. I bought a bunch of goodies :D

I was looking around the store and I found a bag of Azuki beans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azuki_bean)!
In Japan, we eat a lot of Azuki bean desserts.

I suddenly started craving Zenzai----------------------------------------------!
Zenzai is a sweet soup made with Azuki beans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_bean_soup) served with a couple of Mochi (rice cakes).  Zenzai, also known as Oshiruko, is one of the traditional winter desserts that many Japanese people like :)

The main disadvantage as a Japanese person living in the U.S. is that I can't easily get some of the delicious food that I am used to eating in Japan :'(


Luckly, I love cooking and totally don't mind trying to make things that I love to eat :)
If I can't buy it? I''ll just make it!!!!

The Azuki beans that I found at the store were only $1.50.  So I said, "Why not?"
I also bought Mochiko (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_flour) to make my own Mochi.  I could have bought a bag of Mochi, but I was too cheap ($1.70 Mochiko vs $5.50 a bag of 10 Mochi......mmmmm, Mochiko won!).

So....last night I started to cook my first batch of Zenzai!


Oshiruko (Zenzai)
http://cookpad.com/recipe/486313

Ingredients

Azuki beans 200 g
Sugar 135 g
Salt 1/8 tea spoon
Water

Mochiko 1/3 cup
Water

Recipe

1. First, put Azuki beans in a medium size sauce pan and add 4 cups of water
2. Bring the water to a boil and then drain the Azuki beans (water turns light brown)
3. Next, put the Azuki beans back into the pan and repeat steps 1&2 for two more times
4. Then put the Azuki beans back into the pan again and add water until covering the beans
5. Boil the beans and water at low heat and keep adding water when the water boils off

6. Next, boil the beans until they get soft (about 2-2.5 hours)
7. Add sugar to the beans and cook until the sugar dissolves (Don't stir!)
8. After that add salt and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes
9. Remove from the heat and place the soup in a fridge overnight
(Next day)
10. Take the soup from the fridge and reheat over low heat
11. While heating the soup, prepare Mochi from the Mochiko. To do this, in a separate bowl, add Mochiko powder to a small amount of water
12. Keep adding small amounts of water until the Mochiko mixture gets to the hardness of an earlobe (Matto found this part really weird, but the point is to bring the mixture to a consistency of the squishiness of your earlobes.)
13. Next in a separate pan, bring water to a boil. Drop a table spoon of the Mochiko mixture into the boiling water and scoop it out when it floats.

13. Finally, serve the soup and Mochi in a small bowl



To be honest.............I should have bought a bag of Mochi instead of Mochiko :(
It was good.......definitely the soup was delicious!
But the Mochi made from Mochiko was.......not so good :(

Sometime, being cheap isn't a good idea.......



Mmmmmmm, I miss home (well, I miss Mochi obviously!)

Zucchini, Zucchini, Zucchini........

I always buy the same vegetables....., like broccoli, asparagus, tomatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage etc....
It is just because I don't really know how to cook the other veggies :(

Japan is an archipelago, and we have a limited amount of supplies.  So our country has to rely on a lot of imported vegetables.
Growing up in Japan, I haven't had opportunities to eat some of the vegetables or fruits that I see in the U.S. such as zucchini, squash, mango, guava, and brussel sprouts.
They are just some examples of vegetables that I see here, but I never had a chance to eat them in Japan.
Of course, we can purchase some of the stuff, but they are really expensive.

I was tired of eating the same vegetables over and over, and my hubby, Matto, was also tired of the vegetables.
So I bought zucchini to try something new!!!

Do I know how to cook zucchini?
Of course, not :(


Here comes my new best friend, TasteSpotting (www.tastespotting.com).
I am addicted to this website.  I frequently try to cook some of the recipes from this website, and most of the dishes that I have tried are pretty good!



My zucchini transformed into.........

Zucchini Fritters

http://thehealthyfoodie.net/2011/12/08/zucchini-fritters/

INGREDIENTS
(Makes 12 fritters)

• 450g Courgettes, grated
• 30g Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Bacon, cut into a bite size
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 tbsp Whole Wheat Flour
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Pinch Chili Flakes

Directions

1. Cook bacon in a frying pan, and remove from heat.
2. Squeeze the courgettes in a dish towel to remove excess water, then combine with the Parmesan, eggs, flour, cooked bacon, salt and pepper and chilli flakes.
3. Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan and add 2 tablespoons of the mixture for each fritter.
4. Cook three fritters at a time for 2 – 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown, then keep warm while you cook the remaining fritters.

I modified the recipe and added bacon in it.  Bacon gave the recipe more juiciness and added additional flavor to it, and it turned out great :)

Served with butter rice (rice, frozen veggie, butter, and chicken bouillon), red potato & carrot.
They tasted so good, but my picture does not tell a lot :(

How can I be a better photographer????

I'm officially a blogger (in English.....)

Hello,

I decided to start a blog.
I have been blogging in Japanese, but this is my first English blog that I created.
There are several reasons that I decided to start a blog in English. My first goal is to introduce food that I like to cook and eat in the greater New Orleans area, and second introduce interesting comparisons that I found in American-Japanese languages and cultures.

The title of this blog, Englishoku, is a word that I combined from "English" and "Shoku (food in Japanese)".
Hope this blog attracts your interests.


First, I would like to introduce myself.

I am a researcher living in the greater New Orleans area.  I am originally from Japan and moved to the U.S. for my graduate study.  I met a wonderful guy (now my hubby) while in the graduate school, and we now own a cute dog, Coco, together.

To be continued........ with delicious food :)