© Tessa Lykins PhotographyItadakimasu. Japanese blessing before eating, their version of bon appetit. Or, how my friend Shannon's dad remembers it, "eat the duck and mouse".
A few weeks ago, Patrick and I were lucky enough to experience some true Japanese cuisine. Tomomi, a friend of ours, brought a few of her friends and some amazing food over to share. We had:
Nabe: Basically is a bunch of vegetables, turkey meatballs, tofu, and fish all cooked in a pot over flame. One pot meal shared by many. There are a few ways to make it; with dashi powder, soy sauce, or miso. Patrick and I tried making it again last week and tried using a wok instead of the traditional nabe pot. It turned out fine, and aparently you can even use a normal saucepan as well.
Sushi: Sushi rice topped with fish, seaweed and a multitude of other things. Americans hear "sushi" and automatically think of those picture-perfect, bite-sized tidbits...not always the case with sushi.
Tako yaki: Cooper, Tomomi's boyfriend, bought a tako yaki maker in Japan when he visited and wanted to attempt this cute little dish. Tako yaki literally translates to baked/friend octopus. Because in Montana octopus is ridiculously expensive, Cooper decided to use dried shrimp instead. I have no idea what went into the dough for tako yaki (green onions, ginger and few other random ingredients are my guess), but the process was fun to watch. The tako yaki maker/grill has a bunch of half circle molds that you pour the dough into. Then, as it heats, you take chopsticks and roll it into little balls. This is assuming everything goes right. The combination of a sticky dough, first time making it on his own, and a foreign appliance used in an American kitchen caused somewhat of a dilema and we became creative in how we finished cooking it (on the stove in a pan - Tomomi saved the Tako yaki!). Maybe next time Cooper :)
We ate, and ate, and ate...and managed to eat more. I don't know how these little Japanese girls do it, but they stuff it in! Naomi made us a green tea cake, constructed of crepes piled on more crepes filled with green tea creme. Lots of eating, lots of talking and learning about Japan. To our Japanese friends (and the American ones as well) -Dōmo arigatō!
Resources:
Omori, A., (2008). Bridging the gap between chopstick usage and manners. The Daily Yomiuri, 528. Retrieved on January 12, 2009, from the LexisNexis Academic database.
Japanese Phrases, http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/japanese_language/japanese_phrase_basic.htm
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