My father diseased 19 years ago the day before the Christmas eve. To remember him I made sukiyaki dinner at home last night. My Dad never helped my Mom in the kitchen, who cooked meals for my father’s patients and family, including two nurses who stayed with us, almost entire 365 days. But there was one occasion when he took in charge of cooking our meal. It was the sukiyaki meal which my family enjoyed at the end of every year – December 31st. My father did not...
Read MorePhotos of gomame (dry baby sardine) and finished dish
Here are the Before and After...
Read MoreCandid baby sardine (Osechi ryori No. 1)
Tazukuri is a candied whole baby sardines. To prepare this dish you need gomame (dried baby sardines), which can be found only Japanese food stores. The reason why baby sardines are the part of celebration is that in the past sardines were important fertilizer for rice paddies, so they symbolized good harvest, therefore prosperous year. Cannot find Japanese dried baby sardine? Come up with alternative – which food item represents prosperity in your culture? Here is...
Read MoreI terribly miss Japanese New Year
Next year will be my 14th year of living in America. “Kooin Ya no Gotoshi” This is the Japanese version of “Time Flies”. In the past thirteen years I did not celebrate the New years in the way in which I was raised and cherished – visiting a local temple before midnight of December 31st and listening to a temple bell tolling one hundred eight times; savoring a special New Year’s Feast, Osechi ryori, and ozoni (rice cake soup) with family...
Read MoreFIRST PEAK
Finally let me slowly give you a peek into my new book, whose name is not yet finalized. It is a book about Japanese meals made easy for American Kitchen by using prepared (home-made) two Japanese stocks (you can substitute them with chicken stock or vegetable stock) and four Japanese sauces (no substitution), Japanese preparation techniques and ingredients which you can find at your local food stores and supermarket. In the next several months I will post here some...
Read More