New Year's Day breakfast 2020

We started 2020 with a quiet New Year's Day meal.

As with other years, we had ozoni soup with rice cakes, kuromame black soybeans, datemaki seafood omelet, tataki gobo burdock root in sesame vinegar dressing, shrimp, lotus root in sweetened vinegar, grilled saikyo-zuke black cod, and so on. It was simpler than usual, mainly because the meal was meant to be for us only. No guests were involved this year, since my father passed away last fall.

Dinner, August 29, 2019

My first real meal after saying goodbye to a wisdom tooth three days ago.
Still nothing crunchy or tough to chew, but it had enough variation compared to my recent diet of somen noodles or rice and bean curry soup (all easy to eat with half a mouth).

• Gohan / steamed rice
• Shishito no ebi-tsume tenpura, nira no hana no tenpura / shrimp-stuffed shishito pepper tempura, garlic chive flower tempura
• Yakinasu no surinagashi / grilled eggplant soup with myoga ginger bud, shiso perilla leaves and cucumber flower
• Nagaimo no achara-zuke / pickled Chinese yam in spicy sweetened vinegar
• Kabu no shinodamaki / Japanese turnip and thin deep-fried tofu rolls in broth
• Karashina to mini tomato no ohitashi / mustard greens and grape tomatoes in light broth
  

Osechi New Year's Day breakfast, 2019

Once again this year, a smallish, basic lineup of osechi perfect for a breakfast for two.

Finding good fish is always a challenge in our town despite its location on the seacoast. Yet this year it was a case where a series of problems can lead to an amazing solution. Earlier in December following several days of power outage, we made grilled kasuzuke salmon out of defrosted salted salmon fillets, and it struck me that the taste of the fish, which was a bit dry due to my mistakenly grilling it slightly too long, would probably go really well in ozoni soup. Tom agreed that the taste would be a great match, and we bought a fillet of sockeye salmon for the ozoni. As it was previously frozen, I salted the fillet to extract excess moisture from the flesh and marinated it in sakekasu sake lees for two nights while preparing our ozoni to the semi-final flavoring stage. On December 30th, grilled kasuzuke salmon was added to the soup, which was simmered to blend the flavors, chilled overnight, and simmered again with the last flavor adjustment on the 31st. And after all that, we were rewarded with one of our most successful ozoni ever on the January 1st.

Dinner, November 28, 2018

When I happened to come across information on an exhibition of lacquerware made in Joboji, Iwate Prefecture, it was clear that dinner that day would feature their bowls. Joboji urushi ware was one of the first lacquer tableware I bought for myself back in Tokyo more than 20 years ago.

• Gohan / steamed rice
• Gobo to shimeji, menuke no misoshiru / miso soup with burdock root, shimeji mushrooms and grilled rockfish
• Koyadofu no ageyaki to ebi no horenso-an-kake / fried freeze-dried tofu and shrimp with light dashi sauce with spinach
• Hijiki no itameni / braised hijiki seaweed
• Tomato no amazu oroshi-ae / tomato with grated daikon radish and sweetened vinegar
  

Dinner, November 11, 2018

Last month, I took the opportunity of an unexpected opening in my work schedule to visit my parents. My parents are in their late 70s and early 80s and have some health issues, and I wanted to see how they are managing their everyday routines. Recently, conversations over the phone often have some blank spots or do not really make sense, requiring some effort and imagination to figure out the real story. Seeing them in person was the fastest way to understand the situation.

Lunch, May 13, 2018

Multiple experiments in one meal.

• Gobo to satsumaage no donburi / burdock root, deep-fried fishcake and enoki mushrooms over steamed rice
• Kabu to usuage no misoshiru / miso soup with Japanese turnips and thin deep-fried tofu
• Fuki no amazuzuke / Japanese butterbur in sweetened vinegar
• Yaki-papurika no shoga-zoe / roasted red bell pepper with grated ginger

Dinner, April 17, 2018

The furled fronds of seiyo meshida [Western lady fern] are already up. Harvesting is as easy as snapping their stems, but they do take some time to clean. Still, they are one of the freshest harvests we can hope for, as they are growing right next to the creek in our field.

• Kinki no taimeshi modoki / fisherman's rice with channel rockfish
• Asupara-iri kakitama misoshiru / egg-flower miso soup with asparagus
• Renkon no ebi-hasamiyaki, gin-an-gake / sauteed lotus root with shrimp, with thickened dashi sauce
• Seiyo meshida no goma-ae / Western lady fern fiddleheads in sesame dressing
• Saishin no okaka-ae / yu choy sum with bonito flakes
• Tomato / tomatoes

Dinner, January 31, 2018

Living on the coast does not necessarily mean easy access to fresh fish here. Simple grilled or steamed fish was what I wanted to pair with seri okowa bitter greens mixed in mellow steamed sweet rice. For some weeks, however, we have been out of luck finding very fresh fish from local stores. Rather than compromising on fish quality, I decided to change my menu plan.

• Seri okowa / steamed sweet rice with water dropwort
• Yudofu / hot tofu in kelp stock, served with citrus soy sauce
• Kyabetsu to hakusai, kiriboshi daikon no tamago-mushi / steamed egg with cabbage, napa cabbage and dried radish
• Yaki renkon to shiitake no gomaae / grilled lotus root and shiitake in sesame dressing
• Murasaki tamanegi no amazuzuke / red onion in sweetened vinegar

Osechi New Year's Day meal, 2018

Our New Year's Day meal was smaller than in other years, yet consisted of all of our favorites.

People say that holiday seasons are uplifting. For me, it is the last week of December. The feverish mood at grocery stores and shopping arcades in Japan toward the end of the year is infectious. Both sellers and shoppers are in high spirits, all hoping for an auspicious start to the coming year. Here in the US, a somewhat similar ambiance is seen at Japanese grocery stores that often carry better quality ingredients and special items for the New Year's Day celebration.

Dinner, October 4, 2017

A quick trip to Seattle for my passport renewal provided the chance to realize that we have probably been living in a small town (to be more specific, outside of a small town of 20,000 people) a bit too long. Nothing more than a standard modern elevator in an office building looked stunning, and we were actually surprised at our own impression. We did have a couple of occasions to ride in those fast-moving modern elevators in tall buildings while we were visiting Japan a few years ago, and offices in Tokyo where I used to work had multiple elevators at separate sections for lower, middle and upper floors. But today we were like lost tourists from the countryside in one of the tallest buildings in downtown Seattle, where we rode elevators with well-groomed adults who seemed to work somewhere in the building or were visiting for business. Needless to say, we rarely share elevator rides with people in ironed shirts, pressed pants or polished shoes in our town. 

Put simply, we live in what some people might call the boonies.

• Okara-konnyaku no nikumiso-fu soboro to iritamago no gohan / steamed rice topped with sweet & spicy ground soybean pulp konnyaku and scrambled egg 
• Renkon to surimi no manju, kinoko to shugiku jitate / lotus root & fish dumplings with mushroom & garland chrysanthemum soup 
• Kabu to kikka no amazuzuke / Japanese turnip and chrysanthemum flowers in sweetened vinegar 
• Daikon, ninjin, age no itameni / daikon radish, carrot and thin deep-fried tofu saute simmered in broth 
• Saishin no gomaae / yu choy sum with sesame dressing

Lunch bento, September 22, 2017

We had a day off due to a sudden job cancellation, and since nice sunny weather was expected, we decided to go up the road to the top of Blue Mountain in the Olympic National Park.

• Onigiri / rice balls
• Menuke no yuan-yaki / grilled yuan-sauce marinated rock cod
• Tamagoyaki / plain omelette
• Kyabetsu to hakusai no okaka-ae / steamed cabbage and napa cabbage mixed with bonito flakes
• Shishito no sotee / sauteed Japanese peppers
• Konnyaku no itameni / braised konnyaku yam cakes
• Satoimo no nikkorogashi / baby taro root in broth
• Kabu to usuage no nimono / Japanese turnip and thin deep-fried tofu in broth
• Murasaki tamanegi no amazuzuke / red onion in sweetened vinegar

Dinner, July 7, 2017

We had a decent lunch out at an Italian restaurant. Both of our dishes were pleasantly tasty and not heavy. We were able to finish each portion without feeling stuffed to the gills and were still able to think about what to have for dinner when we left the restaurant. Around here, not feeling overfed after a meal out is amazing.

As we had good news from Tom's doctor and a package from my parents, we decided on an experimental dinner to test dried hotaruika firefly squid (Watasenia scintillans).

• Iri-kurodaizu gohan / steamed rice with roasted black soybeans
• Endomame to satoimo no surinagashi, hotaruika-dashi-jitate / English pea and baby taro soup with firefly squid broth
• Okara tamago to horenso no bataa-joyu itame / stir-fried spinach and egg with soybean pulp, soy sauce butter flavor
• Zukkiini to shiitake, satsumaage, tomato no yakibitashi / grilled zucchini, shiitake mushrooms, deep-fried fishcakes and tomato in light broth

A few days before this year's tanabata Star Festival, one of our wishes came true.

Dinner, May 13, 2017

My father's birthday marks the end of a rash of spring birthdays among our friends and family. Thinking of a warabi bracken dish he made while visiting us here years ago, I took the opportunity to cook something using warabi and a couple of other things he hopefully would like to eat. Then I realized I do not really know what he likes, other than miso soup, tofu, usuage, sashimi, pork, beef, and strong-flavored dishes in general. Following ubiquitous advice, he tries to eat lots of vegetables for his health.

• Asari to gobo no takikomi gohan / steamed rice with clams and burdock root, topped with mitsuba and nori seaweed
• Satoimo to shiitake no misoshiru / miso soup with baby taro root and shiitake mushrooms
• Gomadofu / sesame tofu
• Kabu to usuage no nimono / braised Japanese turnips and thin deep-fried tofu
• Fu champuruu / Okinawan-style stir-fry with gluten cakes

My warabi dish idea was a miso soup with gomadofu, but the gomadofu became too soft to maintain its form in soup ... Instead, it became a small side dish with wasabi.

Osechi New Year's Day meal, 2017

Finally, I was able to make a tasty reduced-sodium version of ozoni soup, ganmodoki to warabi no nimono tofu patties and bracken simmered in broth, and ebi no umani shrimp in broth. This marks a big step forward from previous years' osechi.

I skipped making chrysanthemum flower-cut kabu Japanese turnip marinated in sweetened vinegar as we could not find the vegetable, but I missed the sweet and fresh taste of kabu, which provides a nice contrast to other dishes and works great to refresh your mouth. The appearance of plates and bowls when placed on each tray seemed to lack something as well. The bright green camellia leaves that accompany chrysanthemum flower-cut kabu usually tighten the overall scene, and without the leaves, the picture looked a bit fuzzy. You notice how important something is only when it is not there.

Breakfast, August 17, 2016

Summer is finally here, and local corn has started to look appetizing. Weeks of chilly days up until mid August have already turned the giant leaves of the maples partially yellow around our house. Before we lose the warm weather, we had a breakfast featuring a couple of summer vegetables.

• Tomorokoshi gohan / steamed rice with corn, topped with julienned shiso perilla leaves (209 kcal; 79 mg sodium)
• Mini tomato to nira-iri nattojiru / miso soup with fermented soybeans, cherry tomatoes and garlic chives (80 kcal; 231 mg sodium)
• Zukkiini to tofu no yuzukosho-itame / stir-fried zucchini and tofu, yuzu citron pepper flavor (78 kcal; 60 mg sodium)
• Horenso no ohitashi, kuko no mi-zoe / spinach marinated in light broth, with goji berries (16 kcal; 30 mg sodium)
• Hijiki no itameni / braised hijiki seaweed (17 kcal; 79 mg sodium)

Total calories & sodium content: 400 kcal; 489 mg sodium  (For Tom: 608 kcal; 523 mg sodium)

Breakfast, January 1, 2016

Every year, while taking care of final prep for the big breakfast on January 1st, I harvest several camellia leaves in our garden. I plate the glossy green leaves with chrysanthemum-cut kabu turnip served with grilled fish and scallops as a part of the osechi New Year's Day meal.

My parents' house in Japan is surrounded by sazanka [sasanqua] winter-blooming camellia hedges, and their red blossoms give us a striking show during the holiday season. I always loved to see them blooming against a blanket of pure white snow through windows framed with shoji paper screens. Nowadays my parents don't get much snow, and this view of simple beauty with its contrasting colors is largely a memory from the past. So the camellia leaves I pair with kabu are a memento of a lost scene. 

Lunch, June 25, 2015

A bento can be the solution to making a lunch date with a busy friend. Forget about driving around to find a parking spot, hoping to get a table or waiting for food to arrive to fill your hungry stomach!

• Sekihan / steamed sweet rice with azuki beans
• Sake to hijiki no itameni / sauteed salmon with hijiki seaweed and broccoli
• Ninjin-iri tamagoyaki / omelet with grated carrot
• Fuki no gomani / Japanese butterbur in sesame-flavored broth
• Shirataki to jako no itameni / stir-fried konnyaku yam noodles, carrot and green pepper with dried young sardines
• Tofu, soramame to ebi no yuzukosho itame / sauteed tofu, fava beans and shrimp with citrus pepper
• Biitsu no amazu-zuke / beets in sweetened vinegar

Breakfast, May 21, 2015

Last week, Tom got off one of his three medications. His heart is pretty much functioning normally again (!) except for one condition that seems to stay with him.
The doctor complimented him on his diet, which made me happy.

• Steamed rice with toasted sesame seeds (130 g in photo; 218 kcal; 1 mg sodium)
• Kakitama oroshi no misoshiru / egg- flower and grated daikon radish miso soup, with seri water dropwort (51 kcal; 255 mg sodium)
• Iridofu / scrambled tofu with bracken, burdock root, carrot, yu choy sum, king oyster mushroom and egg (137 kcal; 131 mg sodium)
• Fuki to age no gomani / Japanese butterbur and thin deep-fried tofu in sesame-flavored broth (88 kcal; 102 mg sodium)

Total calories & sodium content: 494 kcal; 489 mg sodium  (For Tom: 594 kcal; 541 mg sodium)

Breakfast, January 1, 2015

Once again this year, we had our typical ozoni soup with rice cakes and osechi special dishes for New Year's Day. When we have guests, I am tempted to make something different just for fun. But with ozoni and osechi, my focus has been to maintain the taste, which is largely supported by the quality of ingredients and the many little simple steps involved in preparation.

My ozoni and osechi prep usually starts on December 27 or 28, and our fridge is filled with small containers by the evening of the 31st. Large containers go to our near-freezing basement or outside shelves, and they all wait to be served on the morning of January 1st.

Breakfast, September 8, 2014

For the past one year, our first choice for breakfast has been oatmeal. Every day Tom has been cooking rolled oats with equal amounts of water and whole milk, and we put our preferred toppings when we eat. The main drawback is that we get really hungry before 11 am.

I have been excited about an upcoming trip to Japan recently, and by 5 am, my eyes were wide open. So I decided to cook a Japanese breakfast to start our week.