Now... I have to admit that I'm struggling to get time to blog, so this is a little disjoint. However, as I'm the only one really reading the blog, I guess it doesn't matter too much. So let's get back to our post-Children's Day celebration. Our daughter, C-chan's first... but of course, she wasn't enjoying the food (except several hours later through the breast milk, if that counts).
In some parts there's also a tradition of eating mochi, or rice cake however, we don't have that tradition in our family. Whilst we didn't really have time this year (with our daughter C-chan still taking up most of our spare time), T-chan did put together a simple though delicious temakizushi (or hand-rolled sushi)... ably assisted by L-kun. Nothing exotic... but it's always a fun family meal.
Ingredients are simple... freshly cooked rice (I'll talk about recipes later...) cut nori or seaweed...
A selection of cold fillings... we went with Atlantic Salmon, cucumber and crab-sticks.
With a simple tuna filling...
A beef filling...
And an ebi (prawn) filling...
Not to mention some natto... fermented soy beans. Sounds nice doesn't it (can anything fermented be bad)?....really?
My wife tends however to also describe them as rotten beans.... and they are a Japanese institution (especially in Hokkaido). Me - well, I prefer my food NOT to be rotten. Even if it's described in warm glowing terms. IT'S STILL ROTTEN! And I have to say, not only are they oozy and gooey... but they also have a very strong flavour as well! A lot of people compare them to a Japanese version of the Australian savoury spread Vegemite (which people either love or hate). I'm not sure which side of that analogy should be more offended however...
Now this photo's not meant to show how extravagantly elegant the temakizushi is... it's not that sort of dish. Rather, it's just the sort of thing you whack together, dip in some soy sauce, and throw down the hatch.... and have a lot of fun doing it...
And don't forget, whilst appearance is always an element in Japanese food, when you're family's home alone you can always be as messy as you want.
What it lacks in terms of sophistication, it more than makes up for in terms of deliciousness and ease. What's more, you eat the serving plate. What more could you ask for?... An empty rice dish....
And a satisfied grin....
And the great thing is that you can generally come up with ingredients for temakizushi from just about anything... including rotten beans!
Wherever you are, whatever family traditions you hold - it's always a joy having a nice family dinner together. And it's always nice to have a day to reflect on how lucky we all are with our children, which we often take so readily for granted.
And this was C-chan's first Children's Day... next year, she might be enjoying some good temakizushi with us!
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