Post on Jan 17th

Not sure if you all saw the Post on Jan 17th "How to Deal: H.A. Style" as it got posted late.  Well written post by HappaExperience95.  check it out.

Nikkei Matsuri - April 25th

Every year the Nikkei Matsuri Festival is held in San Jose, California in Japan Town.  When I was growing up we would go almost every year and I plan to go this year.  It is the 33rd year of the festival in San Jose and will be held on April 25, 2010.

The Nikkei Matsuri-San Jose Japantown  (Japanese-American Festival) embraces the local community's love and appreciation of Japanese-American Culture and Heritage.

In 1976, as part of America's Bicentennial celebration, the City of San Jose encouraged local ethnic communities to sponsor festivals to share their culture.  The Japanese-American community responded with a successful festival which is now, the Nikkei Matsuri-San Jose Japantown.

They have great Japanese food, love the tempura, and arts and crafts and Japanese music.  Check it out!

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.

Don't Pour Your Own Drink in Japan

I think it is an interesting custom in Japan to never pour your own drink if you are sharing a bottle of sake or tea when out eating with friends or family.  It is considered very rude.  If you want more to drink, like Sake for example, you ask those with only a little Sake in their cup, if they would like more and they, in turn, should then check to see if you would like more. It is a roundabout way to get what you want, but it does ensure you are looking out for others as well.

I went out to lunch with a friend at a Japanese restaurant the other day and I found myself pouring tea for myself and it felt weird for a moment, but then I remembered I was in the United States, phew!

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".

How to Deal: H.A. style

If you're not Japanese American, think about the last funeral you went to. There was probably a lot of crying and black. Lots and lots of black. Black dresses, black coats, black slacks. Mostly black. Along with the black clothes, you pobably saw black metaphorically as well. The black cloud that hung over the church (or wherever the ceremony had been held) and dark expressions on the faces of each attendee. Darkness. The unknown. That is part of what makes death so frightening. What will happen next? We as humans are programmed to feel fear.

If you are Japanese American, I would like you to picture the last funeral you attended (Hawaiians too). When you think about it, what do you see? Do you see black? Do you see anguish? Unless you are a very strange H.A., you probably see more colors. Bright colors. Flowers and different colored mochi. You might see your grandmother smiling with the deceased's spouse.

When you first see the contrast between the two, you may think of Japanese Americans as heartless people who do not respect death. I like to think of us as a step ahead. We see death as peace. We don't see anguish and defeat, we see the love and joy the deceased had lived . We see good times and our loved ones finally at peace. Through death we don't see pain or defeat or agony.

We see peace.

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!

Happy New Year! - Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu!

Happy New Year! For Japanese Americans this is one of the most important days of the year. There are many traditions we follow and special foods we eat.

In my family, we have a tradition of eating a special soup before we eat anything else on New Year's day.  The soup is called Ozoni.   There are different varieties.  This is a fish stock soup with mizuna (green vegetable) and omochi (white rice cake).  At the Japanese American church my sister goes to they have Mochitsuki in December - an event where the omochi is made.  Toasted omochi with shoyu (soy sauce) and sugar is also delicious.  Sometimes though, we will just microwave the omochi.   We drink the soup to have good luck in the New Year.

Bacon and Chopsticks

"How many chopsticks does it take for a Japanese American to change a light bulb?" Well I don't know about that but I do know that my mother can cook anything with chopsticks. So can my grandma. And my aunties. Chopsticks are THE most essential part of Japanese American cooking. Maybe because Japanese cooking is "fussy". Maybe it's because we have small, skinny fingers. Whatever the reason, I know chopsticks, or ohashi, are the most important part of cooking.