“Okuizome” (first meal) is the Japanese traditional ritual that parents perform around the 100th day after the birth of their baby along with their family and relatives (sometimes friends, too) to wish the baby will never starve by sharing a celebratory meal.
The celebratory meal is in the traditional “one soup and three dishes (一汁三菜）” style and generally consists of Osekihan (rice cooked with red beans), whole grilled fish such as snapper, soup, Nimono (simmered food), and pickles, which are eaten with celebratory chopsticks made of willow.
We prepared Osekihan, Chikuzen-ni (simmered vegetables & chicken), Miso soup with shijimi, Simmered snapper, Pickled plum.
Menu :
– Japanese rice with mixed grains
– Ginger pork
– Cabbage and jako fish stir-fry
– Eggplant steak topped with bonito flakes
– Japanese omelet with jako fish [Recipe]
– Natto *Fermented soy beans
– Cucumber and eggplant pickles
– Muscat
Despite the origin from China, ramen is now a most representative dish of Japan. There are three components of ramen. Soup is made with dashi and seasonings like soy and miso. Chefs develop their own recipes for their soup by combining multiple ingredients, such as pork bones, chicken bones, kombu (kelp), dried fish, vegetables and herbs. Two other components are toppings and noodles. These vary depending on the ramen shop and the region it is produced. Noodles are usually egg noodles and can be thicker or thinner. You can see the dynamic performance of shaking noodles with using noodle strainer at the shop. Ramen toppings reflect the local food culture. Seasoned eggs called Ajitsuke tamago is a must! The classic flavors are miso, salt, soy sauce and tonkotsu (pork bone-based thick soup). Ramen is regionally diverse. Tonkotsu is popular in the south, whereas Shoyu ramen (soy sauce-based ramen) is popular in Tokyo.
The other day, I went to Nippori area and visited this ramen shop. The name of this shop is Burari (ぶらり). This shop is located in a narrow alley. If you don’t look its location in detail, you may passed the entrance of the alley.
They offer three kinds chicken based ramen only. Those are Torisoba (clear chicken soup ramen), Chicken paitan ramen (cloudy chicken soup ramen) and Tsukemen (dipping ramen). I tasted all of them and my favorite was Torisoba because I could taste the simple, clear but rich flavor from the soup. Read More
One of my son’s favorite foods is Soboro Donburi. Soboro means “stir-fry ingredients until being scrambled” in Japanese. You just need egg and meat. That’s all! I usually use chicken but you can also use pork and beef if you prefer. Since this recipe is so simple and easy, I cook this dish whenever my son wants. You add sugar in egg so this dish looks like between sweets and meal. (I think that’s why he likes!)
If you want to add more color (let’s say Green color ) and nutrition, I recommend to add boiled and chopped spinach, mitsuba trefoil, green beans, asparagus etc. How about decorating them between chicken and egg? Please try it out!
In this vlog, I will introduce seasonal drink that I found at the Starbucks and then one of the famous Japanese garden in Tokyo. This place is called “Hamarikyu gardens”. If you are in Tokyo or planning to come to Tokyo, please visit this garden and have a relaxing time with matcha tea. Enjoy the video! YUCa
In this video, I’ll introduce how to make Miso dengaku with konnyaku. Do you know Konnyaku? Konnyaku is made of special potato and has gummy texture. The only nutrition is fiber so it is used as a diet food. I hope you are available to buy this ingredient at the asian supermarkets in your town. In this recipe, we use a dark brown miso which has rich and thick saltiness. This miso sauce has rich flavor and goes well with various ingredients like tofu, seafoods and vegetables etc. Enjoy the video and please try it out!!! Read More
On their new year’s special program, they will feature 25 news and cool activities in Japan and rank them and discuss its secrets. (Oh no!!! I feel excited and also nervous…50:50) .
If you are/will be in Japan, check out this program on the 1st of January, 2020 from 22:00! [Japan time]
Don’t miss it!!!
