Music at Matsuri on Mobara

Well this is a little late (by a couple of weeks)... which says something about how busy I am right now, and also how distracted I've become. Still many of those distractions are positive, so I don't mind so much. Now every year around this time there's a bit of a Japanese Festival called Matsuri on Mobara down at the Mobara Park in Mawson Lakes. Mobara being the sister city to the city of Salisbury. If you want, check out last years post...

Like last year, I have to say the highlight was Noriko Tadano on the shamisen... but this time she had a friend, George Kamikawa. Now Noriko plays a mean shamisen - but George is just as talented as a blues singer - and their song set all had a distinctly Southern US feel to it. Definitely not what you'd expect from such a traditional instrument.

It's a good combination of east...

and west... but both with a distinctive Japanese flavour.

Noriko has been somewhat of a treat for Australia - having been performing with the shamisen since the age of 6 she's more than adept at knowing how far to take the instrument, and when to jump into hyperdrive into a whole other space. She's recently been transitioning the traditional instrument into a wonderful fusion music. She won the Head Judges Special Award in the 2009 National Japanese Shamisen Competition in Hirosaki.

George has been in Australia since 2001, busking his way through Melbourne with a gritty blues style. He even won the 2004 Country Music Busking Championship at Tamworth - not something you'd perhaps expect from a lad from Japan. Still - there's plenty of surprises here.

Press the PLAY button below to listen to one of the more traditional sounding samples, called Vertigo, from their latest album, "Staircase to the Moon".

Vertigo by Noriko Tadano

Unfortunately for all the Adelaide folk that loved the music, both Noriko and George are from Melbourne, and they travelled over the border for the festival (and to visit family). So welcome back to Adelaide Noriko, and hope to see you next year!  

And George, who had his first Mobara festival this year - hope you enjoyed it and that we see you again too!

Even though the sets are energetic - there remains a wonderful stillness to the music

And the two of them really rocked it during the day with some energetic pieces.... and that shamisen was well and truly given a run for its money. Unfortunately - Noriko's second set in the afternoon would have to be missed as I had to depart early for a trip to Melbourne for work. On a Sunday *sigh*. So I only had bluesy songs to enjoy... with the one sort of Japanese flavoured song, Sake Sake Sake! Not a bad song - and it was certainly thirsty work.

To give a flavour of the days duet, I've included a shared video from the ABC that highlights one of their songs. In fact this was one of the songs that they played.

Well - it's been a busy few weeks, and we just attended the 2011 Adelaide Christmas Pageant today... so lots to blog about...

All Hallows Eve - A Tale Tricks and Treats

 

Well - Halloween is over for another year... and although it's not a particularly big deal here in Australia, it's gradually gaining momentum. Somewhat reluctantly in many quarters I might add. Indeed, there's many people that view the whole Halloween thing as being just too American! Indeed, I'm sure that Halloween has become somewhat of a corporate-lead experience these days in the US, but I believe even now at it's heart it remains based on the fun of being a child again. I won't get into the debate about the rights or wrongs, but instead talk about our experience of it.

Actually Halloween (potentially) comes from the old celtic tradition known as Samhain... which links into the newer Catholic tradition known as All Saints Day (the special day to remember all the Saints that didn't quite get a day for themselves... there are only 365 days in the year, you know). Anyway... All Saints Day (also known as All Hallows) is celebrated on the 1st November - and hence the 31st October was known as All Hallows Eve... which became Halloween. Even the 'Trick or Treat' tradition dates back hundreds of years in Europe - but the first recorded reference in the US only dates back as far as 1919 (or so Wikipedia tells me). But there's no doubt about it - the uptake and extra meaning that the US have placed on trick-or-treating has certainly given Halloween it's special flavour... if you discount the rather schlocky horror movies of the late 70's/80's by the same name). By the way - it's also becoming popular in Japan as well... but the Japanese do love any excuse to have a festival!

Well - that's the history lesson... now on to 2011. For the last week or so L-kun has been talking about Halloween... and wanting to do something (like have a Halloween picnic). Well, we left our run with costumes a little late, so L-kun had to make do with some stuff we had laying around. 

Anyhow, last Sunday (All Hallows Eve eve), we caught up with my family... and it was the perfect opportunity for L-kun to practice his T'n'T technique. He gets out of the car expectantly... time for business! Now remember, L-kun, it's all about confidence... just knock on the door and yell out, "Trick or Treat".... L-kun knocks on the door expectantly... ready to yell out... but no sound can be heard.

Alas, everyone's out the back, and L-kun's practice run falls flat. Kawaisou! 

Still, L-kun always enjoys catching up with family - and there were plenty of goodies to keep his belly full (not least of all Grandma's biscuits).

And when we got home... there was something special waiting for L-kun for dinner. A special smoked salmon and avacado rice cake. Ooooh, spooky. And delicious.

And that wasn't all... there was a beautiful plate of scary eggs and carrots - combined with lovely yakitori flavoured chicken meatballs and broccoli. Strangely enough, many kids are scare of broccoli - but L-kun absolutely loves it.

And whilst the proof is in the eating, they also say a picture's worth a thousand words.

As is the case every year, just as we're sitting down for dinner - the kids arrive for trick or treat. Some try really hard, others - not so. But what it did was remind L-kun about what he missed out on last year (we thought he was a little too young to try trick or treating). This year however, at a whopping 4 years old, he was more than big enough.

So we set out - Mummy and Daddy standing well back so that L-kun could show his courage.... which didn't get him far... as he couldn't even approach the first two houses (being too nervous). The first door he did go to, L-kun knocked so softly that I think even he couldn't hear it... with a trick or treat... no one answered. Next door... Mummy and Daddy moved a little closer, and the knock was just that little bit louder. No answer (of course - who answers the door if everyone trick-or-treats?) On the third door - the door opened... L-kun jumped back (L-kun, it's the people on the other side of the door that should be scared!). Still, the lady was very kind and gave L-kun some candy. He was so happy that his courage had been rewarded.

Successively he was getting braver and lounder... and before long he was running up to doors with a KNOCK KNOCK TRICK OR TREAT! But it was getting late, and a walk around our block was enough for his first T'n'T. He didn't want to stop, but he was satisfied.

And once he was home, it was time to get out the spoils of his work, and do what all clever boys want to do. Count it. Gotta make sure you know how much candy you're putting away. Just in case.

And once you've counted it... then you may as well eat it!

But watch out... who's that behind you L-kun. It's Mummy making an extra special Halloween cameo performance! And she looks like she wants to eat a little more than just your candy.... bwaaarrrgghh!

So in the end, I would have to say that we felt that the whole Halloween, and especially the Trick or Treat, was a great success. It was good in that it was:

• a source of much expectation for L-kun... and like all festivals, it's nice to mark special events throughout the year
• it also showed him about how to approach other peoples houses (and we discussed the safety issues about this - especially when meeting strangers)
• it was so fantastic to watch his confidence grow and grow - as he became more courageous
• it's a good time to talk about how to handle when things don't go the way you want (like people not answering, or worse yet... not having candy). The last point was a lesson for L-kun, as he started to say 'that's not good' when there was no candy on offer. Needless to say, mummy and daddy had a few words to explain why that wasn't appropriate.
• but most importantly it was a fun evening... even if a little quiet here in Adelaide.
• oh... and did I forget to mention the candy (which he can have one a day....)

So I hope you all had an extra special Halloween this year. And that you didn't have too scary an evening!

Yakitori Recipe - BBQ Bliss

One of my all time favourite dishes is yakitori.... or grilled chicken. This is a wonderful meaty dish (actually, as I look back on the recipes that I've posted, I realise just how much of meat-lovers we are). It's been a common companion in our time together, although I have to admit that we don't tend to cook it ourselves. Which is a shame, as it's really quite easy.

The first thing to do - is make the skewers of chicken, onion etc...The thing to try to remember is that if you're going to use wooden skewers, it's best to soak them for a good ol'time... to avoid them spontaneously combusting on the bbq. Ok... I most probably didn't soak them quite long enough on this occasion. Another word of advice. Use free-range chickens. They're tastier, and your meat-eating soul will be all the more salved for it.

Of course the great thing about yakitori is the yakitori sauce... which is really easy to make.

Ingredients:

Approx 70 ml soy sauce

Approx 50 ml mirin

Approx. 1 Tablespoon Sugar.

Just add the ingredients into a small saucepan and put on a medium heat until the liquid reduces to 2/3 the original volume... then voila, you have it. Simple yakitori basting sauce.

In terms of yakitori themselves, well, other than chicken on skewers, you can also try a few other variations - two we tried this night was asparagus wrapped in bacon (yumm-o).

And here's a simple but tasty one - chicken skin. Yes, that's right. chicken skin. I know - healthy isn't a big concern at this point.

But to prove that we weren't wasting bits of the chicken... then you have the good old chicken wings. With all of these things you should cook lightly on the bbq first, and only then apply the yakitori baste... otherwise it will tend to cook/burn too quickly. At least that's our method - I'm sure there's many others. You paint the yakitori (and chicken wings) at least twice. My technique is to fill a flute glass with the sauce and then just dip the skewers in quickly. Simple.

So that's our recipe for yakitori... a Japanese delight and a must-eat food (especially of an evening if you've had a bit to drink... in fact, nothing like combining those two activities).

Happy eating. ?:-)

Note: The last thing I was going to do was plug my new Recipe Collection page, which I'm sure you would have missed on the top right hand side pane. This is just a collection of the recipes that I've been adding. We don't do many, but they're all favourites of ours. Have a look when you get the chance!... and in the mean time, enjoy thinking about yakitori!