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New Year's Prep--Kuromame today!

12/31/2014

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PictureKuromame for good health
A quick post between cleaning/cooking.

We do not host New Year's, and have been doing a lot of cooking but not so much cleaning. So far, the pantry, my Tupperware shelf are done, but get this, my children have cleaned our their rooms! I expect the rest of the house will be clean by Chinese New Year. 

Love the multicultural reprieve!

I've started a batch of kuromame in the crock pot this morning, and it's not too late for you. If you start your crock pot at the stroke of midnight, it will be ready for New Year's eating in the morning.


We are also in charge of bringing a salad to New Year's--my Mom's Japanese coleslaw. Note that I've updated the recipe because Nissin no longer makes the pre-flavored noodle packages. Switched out to the ramen snack packs.

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We'll be eating cha-soba with the seasonal fancy kamaboko tonight, and probably mochi for breakfast. For long life and full bellies!

And one that note, making one last push for the Feeding My Ohana Virtual Food Drive. We will add matching funds and additionally, Second Harvest has a donor who will match funds today as well!

Stay safe all and happy new year of the sheep!

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Crock Pot Kuromame--in time for New Year's!

12/31/2013

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PictureWrinkle-free, worry-free kuromame
On this last day of 2013, I bid farewell to canned kuromame. 

For the record, my mother and aunty do not make it from scratch, writing it off as "too much humbug." 

Enter Aunty Google. Lots of complicated advice. Most require sitting by a hot stove for about 8 hours. And having a specialized piece of equipment called an otoshibuta a wooden cover that you put on top of the kuromame. Another old-school traditional recipe called for adding 3-4 rusty nails.

Most include dire warnings of unsightly wrinkles forming. This will result in eternal embarrassment at New Year's gatherings. 


Consider yourself warned. Now seek the protective magic of the crock pot. Decidedly un-Japanese, but makes for darn-near-perfect texture. And no wrinkles. Or cracks, also an embarrassment.

I used the Honolulu Star Advertiser to start. Anyone who is a print subscriber can download the original recipe. I made adjustments because I didn't want use a bag and a half of dried kuromame, and the original sounded it like it would make A LOT of kuromame. I also added a finishing sauce to intensify the flavor.

Click here for what I did. You still have time to make this for New Year's.

Wishing you and your ohana a healthy, happy 2014!

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Happy New Year of the Dragon

1/2/2012

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Happy New Year of the Dragon. 

From 12:00 midnight January 1st until January 3rd, it's all about Japanese traditions. Here's not only what's been going on, but why. For this, I need to recognize my long-time friend C2, who did the homework on the meanings of all the New Year's food. All I knew was that we are supposed to eat it. 
Midnight, January 1st
We eat toshikoshi soba (means "year-crossing") so that literally the first thing done in the New Year is together with your family, in your home, and in the hope of a year of good fortune. The idea of being in Times Square on New Year's just doesn't compute for me.

Soba are buckwheat noodles and symbolize a long healthy life and a prosperous family. We add kamaboko, or fish cake, with special New Year's designs. This year, I have ume (plum) branches and blossoms, and kotobuki (寿) kanji. Plum symbolizes new beginnings, purity and sweetness. Kotobuki doesn't have a direct translation, but has a rejoicing/celebratory sense with a wish for longevity.
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Ozoni for breakfast
Breakfast January 1st
 On New Year's morning, the traditional breakfast is ozoni, a clear hot soup with mochi, mushrooms, soba and then whatever particulars a family includes. One of my friend's ozoni actually includes hot dogs, definitely an Americanized version. Ozoni is supposed to help nourish you throughout the year.

Rest of the Day, January 1st
We spend the day with family and friends and pick our way through lunch, dinner and assorted bowl games. Here are some of the traditional New Year's dishes and what they symbolize:

Sekihan (red rice): sticky mochi rice and azuki. In keeping with a red (azuki)/white (rice) color scheme, it is a celebratory food. This is one of my favorites.

Kuromame: black beans simmered in shoyu and sugar. You're supposed to eat one bean for each year of your age to ensure good health for the coming year and general long life.

Kobumaki: rolled seaweed tied with gourd. Sounds like Japanese "rejoice" (yorokobu, 喜ぶ) and symbolizes joy.

Datemaki: a sweet rolled scrambled egg. It's supposed to look like the sun, another celebratory food.

Gobo: julienned seasoned burdock root. The tough texture symbolizes the Japanese way of life and perseverance.

Nimono/nishime: boiled root vegetables. Includes lotus (renkon), cut so that the holes show, symbolizing that you can see the year ahead; bamboo shoots (takenoko), symbolizing fast growth, and carrots cut into the shape of a plum blossom for fertility.

Tastukuri: dried salted sardines (anchovies) for a good harvest.

Satsuma: mandarin oranges, put on top of the mochi (for good luck) and eaten for a good life.

Wishing you all the good health and happiness for 2012. Eat Well. Be Well.
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New Year's Traditions 2: Soba, Champagne and a Clean House

1/1/2011

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Happy New Year of the Rabbit to all! This week has been all about the Japanese tradition (superstition?) of cleaning up for New Year's. We thoroughly clean the house--we're talking dusting baseboards, trips to Goodwill, rotating mattresses, cleaning up longstanding scuff marks on the floor (with a toothbrush!) and vacuuming places that no one ever sees except for when cleaning for New Year's. My cousin reminded me that you also need to take out all the trash and brush your teeth. This is supposed to get rid of the all the old/bad/unclean spirits in the house and literally start clean. Culturally, it's very interesting that the Japanese the word for "clean" is also the same as "pretty" (きれいな).

New Year's also means Japanese/Hawaii hybrid traditions. Last night, we had soba and champagne at midnight, while watching Dick Clark. My cousins did the same and rolled some sushi. In Hawaii, we'd also be shooting off firecrackers and watching Japanese TV. Growing up, I never knew anyone who went to fancy dress-up New Year's Parties. It was either at home or at a close family friend's house. 

We display special plastic encased mochi decorations that are never actually eaten--on our cars and the kitchen counter. These will stay up until Chinese (Lunar) New Year's. This is for good luck. Later, I'll get some paper 'omamori' (good luck symbols) to place in our bedrooms and over entry doors. All part of good luck for the New Year and out with the bad or worse, unclean stuff from last year.

For breakfast, we had soba, tangerines, and mochi. I went for my new-traditional mid-morning jog and later, we'll all head over to a dear friend's house for more traditional Japanese New Year foods. 

New Year's Soba
1 package soba--this is not a meal, it's tradition
Hon Tsuyu (1/2 cup to about 6-8 cups of water). Do not use the proportions on the bottle, it will be much, much to salty
Kamaboko slices
Green onions or mizuna (optional)

Heat up soup base to boiling. Drop the soba in the soup base until tender, a few minutes. Ladle into individual bowls. Add two slices of kamaboko and green onions or mizuna if desired. Slurp loudly and sip champagne.
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New Year's Traditions 1: Super Kamaboko

12/29/2010

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Kamaboko with matsu (pine) design
 When I was a kid, we went to church on Christmas, then to my Grandma's for lunch, which always included ham, teriyaki meat, some kind of fried chicken, sushi, sashimi, and Aunty's snowball cookies.  

However, Christmas really seemed like the signal to start cooking for New Year's. Like most "mixed plate kids" we knew that 'calendar' New Year's was for mostly Japanese food, while "Chinese" new year was later for mostly Chinese food. Either way, it was good eating.

While I still don't cook the New Year's foods (thanks to a friend who has taken on this responsibility/honor), we do keep a few traditions.

First--New Year's means fancy kamaboko. Kamaboko is steamed fish cake. It's about 9 inches long, half cylinder and comes on a wooden block. For New Year's, there are 'special' kamaboko like what you see here--sho-chiku-bai (pine, bamboo, plum). These represent the virtues of inner strength, longevity and resiliency, and beauty and optimism in adversity.

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Kamaboko with ume (plum) design. These are available only during New Year's



More New Year's traditions as the week goes on.
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    I love to eat, so I had to learn to cook. This is my personal reference and I use it daily. Looking forward, when I turn a profit, 95% of net profit will go to programs to feed the hungry.

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