Asari miso shiru is so good it could be a meal on its own. The last time I made this soup was when we hadtemaki sushi (hand-roll sushi). It definitely goes best with sushi but it’s also great with leftovers. My mom and I had the soup with leftover baked sea bass on Friday for lunch and it turned out to be a good meal. We found fresh katsu asari (manila clams) at Marukai – – they were on sale – – yay! These are...
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On Saturday, April 3, 2010 Big Onechan and I colored eggs with our baby nephew Q, Auntie M and Bebe Dada. Bebe E was taking an extended nap and woke-up as soon as we were finished – oh well. We ended up with a beautiful basket of colorful eggs. :) What do you do with all of the hard-boiled eggs that you colored for Easter? With our colored eggs, I decided to make deviled eggs. My mother-in-law made some yesterday with chopped...
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I love St. Patrick’s Day because of corned beef! This year, we celebrated on Friday March 19, 2010 and invited my brother and his family, my BFF, and Aya-chan over for dinner. I cooked three 3-pound corned beef slabs, purchased on sale at Albertsons for only 0.97 cents per pound! Woo-hoo! Keeping with my mom’s Japanese tradition, I made rice too. SHOPPERS TIP: I’ve found that corned beef goes on sale at the local...
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For Bebe E’s first Hinamatsuri I decided to make Sakura Mochi for dessert. This is a traditional Japanese confectionery or wagashi that is traditionally eaten on Hinamatsuri. This was my first attempt at making mochi (rice cake). As a teen I used to help out every December at our temple’s mochitsuki (mochi pounding ceremony), but I was only responsible for shaping the mochi into little round patties. That wasn’t...
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When I was growing up, I remember Hinamatsuri, or Girl’s Day, as a special occasion that my parents celebrated every year. Hinamatsuri, also known as Japanese Doll Festival, is celebrated annually on March 3rd. The dolls are thought to fend off evil spirits and pray for the healthy growth and happiness of girls. When I was born, my maternal grandparents in Japan sent a complete set of Hina-ningyo (ornamental dolls) to my parents....
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