Lunch on 06/01/08

As my daughter had been ill for a couple of weeks, I had to look after her constantly. Even after she recovered from illness, she was asking for my attention all the time (I suppose she got used to the idea of having me round all the time.) It was getting too much for me, and I decided to take a break from it all.

I wanted to go somewhere I can't go with my daughter, but I ended up going to my usual -Piccadilly Circus. I'm sure you can recognise this place! Recently it was on the film "Bridget Jone's Diary" (one of my favourite films!)

There are many Japanese shops around the area, and I go there to buy Japanese books, food and so on. There is a Japanese-style karaoke box in the area as well!

I was going to treat myself with a nice meal at a nice restaurant, but instead, I bought a nice lunch box from Japan Centre and ate it at St James's Park.










Tempura and freshly made sushi bento!


I was shopping at Japan Centre, and there was a sushiman making sushi there. He was putting the freshly made sushi in lunch boxes to sell. When I passed the man to go to the cashier, he said to me "wouldn't you like a nice delicious lunch box?". I took a quick look and then my eyes were glued onto them. My original plan was to go to a nice restaurant, but I changed my mind and bought a lunch box. I enjoyed my lunch looking at the view in the photo above. It was nice and peaceful. I really enjoyed my time on my own.

Dinner on 05/01/08

Menu: chicken soup with kelp; rice; umeboshi puree

This was the first chicken soup I made this year. I just love this soup! It's the same taste as my favourite chicken soup with daikon, but this time, I used carrots instead of daikon as I didn't have daikon this time.

My daughter loves seaweed (nori, aonori and kelp etc.) and kept asking for more.

Dinner on 02/01/08

Menu: Osechi Ryori chikuzen-ni; *kohaku namasu; black beans; king prawns; kinton

I decided to make osechi for the first time this New Year. It was a spontaneous decision, and I only used the ingredients we had at that time. For kinton, we normally use chestnuts and sweet potatoes, but we didn't have chestnuts, so I just used sweet potatoes. Can you see the orange thing on the left? That's kohaku namasu (sweet & sour carrots and daikon.) I cut the top off a satsuma and used it as a bowl. I've seen it done that way somewhere, and I gave it a go. In chikuzen-ni, I used dried shiitake, carrots, daikon, mange tout and chicken. It's extremely easy to make as long as you have the right ingredients and **hontsuyu (the soup base for noodle.) To marinate the king prawns, I used rice vinegar, sugar and orange zest (the same taste as kohaku namasu.)

I made it while my husband was playing with his scalextric at his parents', and by the time he came home, it was ready to be eaten. I put the lid on and asked my husband to open the lid. He was very impressed with it, and we all enjoyed it.

*kohaku means red & white.
**Japanese Hontsuyu Soup Base for Noodle - 12 oz x 2 bottles

Lunch on 01/01/08

This is Ozoni I cooked on New Year's Day. As I mentioned before, my Ozoni is Kanto style. I used steamed chicken, grilled mochi, lightly boiled daikon and choi sum (bought from a Chinese market, and I don't know the name in Japanese.) I sprinkled orange zest on top. For the soup, I used dashi stock and a few drops of soy sauce. It's really simple, but tasty.

I showed this photo to my family, and my mum was very impressed with it. She told me that she felt happy to have a daughter who enjoys cooking, and that she was proud of me. Those comments made me extremely happy :-)

Dinner on 31/12/07

This is Toshikoshi soba (well, udon) we had on New Year's Eve. I wanted to try to make Okinawa soba here in England, but as everybody in the family was ill, I thought there's no point in making it. Maybe I can try this year.

We bought a bag of frozen udon from a Chinese market, and had it for supper. My husband wanted to have it as simple as possible (he wasn't feeling well) and didn't even want spring onions on top. The udon in the photo was mine. I love udon! It was made in Japan and tasted really nice. This udon is popular amongst my Japanese friends living in England. I used Hontsuyu to make soup for the udon, and simply sprinckled some spring onions on top. Really simple, isn't it.

This is Hontsuyu I mentioned earlier.
Japanese Hontsuyu Soup Base for Noodle - 12 oz x 2 bottles

I use exactly the same stuff. It's really useful, and you will be able to make all sorts of Japanese dishes with it. I've made the soup for udon/soba from scratch, but I use it when I want something easy to cook. Besides, it may be too difficult for the people who are unfamilier with Japanese cooking (it's not too hard though.) Many Japanese people have this soup base in the fridge and use it often. You can use the same soup for soba (but not for Okinawa soba) as well.

Osechi Ryori (お節料理)

On New Year's Day, we have special New Year foods called Osechi. Again, there are many variations of Osechi. The interesting thing is that each Osechi dish has a special meaning such as wishing someone a long life, happiness, wealth, good health and so on. If you are interested, click here for more details.

This photo was taken on New Year's Day in 2003, when my husband and I went back to Okinawa. Most of the dishes in the photo are typical Osechi, although yakitori and the dish on the blue plate are not. We also had a soup called Nakami-jiru(with pig's intestines) which are commonly eaten on special occasions in Okinawa. We really enjoyed the Osechi which my mum prepared.

Ozoni (お雑煮)

Ozoni is eaten on New Year's Day in Japan. There are many variations for this soup in different regions. Traditionally in Okinawa, we don't have Ozoni for the New Year, but I grew up with having this soup on New Year's Day. My mum used to live in Tokyo when she was young, and she has carried on this Japanese tradition. Therefore, our Ozoni is Kanto-style, which is a clear flavoured soup. We use steamed chicken, daikon, komatsuna, and of course, mochi!! A yellow thing in the middle is called yuzu.

Toshikoshi Soba (年越しそば)

Traditionally, we have noodles which symbolize longevity on New Year's Eve hoping for the health of the whole family in the coming year. Soba means buckwheat noodles, but some people have udon, and in Okinawa, we have Okinawa soba for this occasion. Depending on where you are from in Japan, different types of noodles are eaten. I heard that udon is eaten as Toshikoshi soba in the Kansai area. The area called Sanuki(in Kagawa prefecture) is famous for its udon, and people there have Sanuki udon. We are supposed to eat the noodles before the new year coming - it's considered to be bad luck if you don't.

*Toshikoshi means crossing over from the one year to the next.

Happy New Year!!!

明けましておめでとうございます。
(Happy New Year in Japanese.)

It's 2008 now! I can't believe it.
How was the year 2007 to you? To me, it went really fast.

I wanted to update this blog more often, but it wasn't easy for me to find time as I've got really active two-year old daughter. Unfortunately, we all became ill after Christmas, and my poor daughter is still unwell. Fortunately she is on the way to her recovery.

I will write about what we had on New Year's Eve and New Year's day soon.

Thank you very much to the people who visited my blog last year. Hope you all come back to visit me in this new year. I'm looking forward to many new visitors to my blog. I will try to update this blog more often than last year.

Hope the year 2008 will bring you happiness!

２００８年が皆さまにとって素晴らしい年となりますように。。。
今年もよろしくお願いします。