Green Tea Lattes

My sister told me one of her favorite drinks now is a Green Tea Latte.  Check out how to make one.

Green Tea Kit Kat Bars!

Whenever my cousin comes to visit me once a year, I always try to have a new fun food to share with her.  She always knows the latest on candy.  I consider her a candy connoisseur. So this year, I found this bag of mini Kit Kat Candy bars that came in regular Milk Chocolate, but also Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate.  I really liked the White Chocolate ones so when my cousin came to my house, I was excited to show her my new finding.  Alas, she had already seen the candy and then she told me about Green Tea Kit Kat Bars that I didn't even know existed.  So now I have got to try those!

Sushi Poppers

Well,  I have to say, I have not seen anything like this before.  Sushi Poppers.  Looks like you can order them frozen as well.  Not sure how good it would taste after being defrosted.  I am used to eating Sushi freshly made, but gotta love the fact that anyone can market their own idea.
 

Pocky

When I was growing up,  I only remember one kind of Pocky.   It was a pretzel stick dipped in chocolate.  Japanese candy tends to not be as sweet as American candy but this was one treat I did like because the chocolate was sweet.

My cousin, a connoisseur of candy and sweet treats, brought over to my house one day, a ton of different kinds of Pocky.  I was amazed at all the variations they have now: almond and chocolate, strawberry, white chocolate, bitter sweet chocolate.  We tried them all and had a blast.  In Japan, they have even more flavors.  Who would have thought all the flavors you can put on a pretzel stick?

If you want to try this out, they sell these in Japanese markets like Mitsuwa and Marukai.

Know your Seaweed

I always remember eating onori (seaweed) so I can't even say when the first time was that I ate it.  I grew up eating Japanese onori with plain rice (all children seem to like this) and onori plain or in sushi.  It wasn't until I was an adult that I was introduced to Korean seaweed.  Now,  I would say I prefer the Korean seawood to eat just plain or with just white rice.  It is a bit more oily and more seasoned with salt. There is a particular kind of Korean seaweed, my family likes to eat because it comes in bite size sheets that can wrap around small balls of white rice and the serving size is great to pass out to kids.

Packets in Japanese Food

Just a friendly word of advice,  often in Japanese food like, onori (seaweed), there is a little packet that contains a dry powdery or grainy substance that is often in a gray or white packet that is used to keep the food dry.  This packet is not food and should not be opened or eaten.

When you eat Japanese noodles, the packages often contain a packet of dry seasoning that you open and put on noodles that have been boiled in water and the seasoning creates the noodle broth.

Well, one day, a relative of mine told me that a person, who shall remain nameless, ate a bowl of noodles but commented that the seasoning tasted a little weird. Well, my relative realized that the "person" put one of the packets used to keep food dry on the noodles. So my relative got excited and called poison control and was told it was okay, but that you really are not supposed to eat that stuff!  Just so you know...

Slurp Noodles!!!

I couldn't believe it when I was told you can loudly slurp noodles when you eat them in Japan.  In fact, the louder you slurp the better, since the slurping means you think the noodles are absolutely delicious.  Next time you eat a bowl of Japanese noodles slurp away, it is a compliment.

Chocolate Omochi - Sweet Treat!

One of my favorite treats is freshly-made chocolate omochi. My cousin makes this at his store Fugetsu-Do.  The chocolate is so rich and creamy and the omochi (rice cake) is so soft.  I have yet to meet a person that didn't like it.  If you are a chocolate lover, you must try this!  I think it is so sweet that my cousin named this omochi after his son. He calls it "Korey's Mochi".

Bunny making Mochi in the Moon

One night, when I was a child, I remember being in a car with my family when we noticed there was a full moon.  My sisters and I were all gazing at the moon and my mom then asked us if we saw a bunny making mochi when we looked at the moon.  I had never been asked that before.  I had only been asked if I saw the man in the moon.  My mom said if we looked closely we could see the bunny pounding the rice and making mochi. I believe I did see that bunny making mochi (rice cakes) that night.   Source of picture above: Wikipedia                                        

My mom told me that Fugetsu-Do, the Japanese Confectionery store owned by my relatives has the logo of a bunny in the moon.  I thought that was cool!

Anko vs. Unko

Omanju

My mom once handed me an English newspaper clipping and said you have got to read this obituary. It was about a person that had made omanju ( a Japanese sweet bean-filled rice cake).  The obituary also described how omanju is made and that a sweet reddish/brown bean paste is put in the omanju.  Unfortunately, there was a typo in the newspaper and instead of using the word "Anko"  to refer to the sweet bean paste, the newspaper said "Unko", which is a human bowel movement.  We all had a good laugh about that one.   The newspaper later said they had a correction, the word should have been "Anko" but they did not say what "Unko" meant.

Botan Rice Candy

When I was in elementary school,  I remember eating Botan Rice Candy and sharing it with my friends. My friends would always ask me, "Are you sure we can eat the paper?"  and I would assure them we could. We were all fascinated that you could eat the paper surrounding the chewy candy.

Japanese Markets in the United States

When you crave Japanese food that is hard to find in regular markets, here are some great places to go.

Marukai
The Marukai in Gardena, California, is the original store and is the store to go to if you can. That store has a great variety of food, furniture and Asian decor at great prices. Its fun to go shopping at Marukai. You do have to have a membership card or you can buy one for $1 as a day pass.  I have been to the stores in West Covina and Cupertino in California, but one day need to get to the Gardena store!

Mitsuwa
At Mitsuwa, I really like their fresh fish and the store products are what you find in the markets in Japan.  You can forget you are in the United States when you shop there.

UC Berkeley Students Make World-Record California Sushi

On November 8, 2009, UC Berkeley students and campus employees created a World-Record 330 foot California Roll (sushi rice, onori, avocado, cucumber and faux-crab meat).  Go Bears!

Pinkberry with Mochi Balls

Pinkberry frozen yogurt, the original flavor, with mochi balls and blueberries is delicious.  Be sure to ask for mochi balls when you go there as they don't always have them on display.  Yummy!

San Jose Tofu Company

If you want to have the best TOFU ever! The place to go is the San Jose Tofu Company. The Tofu is so fresh and delicious.

175 Jackson St
San Jose, CA 95112-5108
(408) 292-7026

I Love Umeboshi

One of my favorite foods is Umeboshi. It is a Japanese pickled plum that is sour but is delicious with white rice. I just learned a little while ago that it now comes in a squeezable bottle, which is just great, so you don't have to eat the whole plum!