About My Book 4

     Hello. Today, I want to tell you about chopsticks. Japanese may use them almost every day.

     According to the book I am reading, “A pair of chopsticks is the only utensil used to wat Japanese food. Even in the case of a multi-course meal, the same pair of chopsticks will be used throughout the meal”.

     Moreover, we can learn how to use chopsticks in this book.

     1.    Put one chopstick at the base between the index finger and the thumb, using the ring finger to support the lower part (skinner side) of the stick.

     2.    Use the tips of the thumb, index and middle fingers to hold the other stick like a pen. Now the tip of the middle finger is between two sticks.

     3.    Pivot the upper stick up and down towards the stationary lower stick.

     At first, it is difficult for some people to use chopsticks. However, I am sure that if you try again and again, you will be able to use them well.

     There are some important points you should keep your minds.

One is that never stick chopsticks upright into rice. Chopsticks standing up in a bowl is bad luck related to death in Japanese superstition.
Two is that never transfer food from one pair of chopsticks to another. In Japanese funerals, surving relatives pick up and transfer bones after the cremation into the urn in this way.
Third is that not to use chopsticks to move bowls or plates and not to pierce food with chopsticks.

     I hope chopsticks will be more and more prevailed. And I want more foreigners to try to use them.    

Recent Eating Report 3

     The other day, I went to Enoshima with my friends. Enoshima is a tied island protruding into Sagami Bay from the Shonan coast in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture. And it is famous for delicious food from sea. So we ate Kaisendon at Fujinami (藤波). Fujinami is one of the most famous stores in Enoshima. Kaisendon is rice with the young of sardines and onion and raw tuna mince.

 

 

      Then, the atmosphere of the store was calm. And the seat we sat on was the drawing room (座敷). We could feel relaxed.
      The price of Kaisendon was 1600 yen. Other menus were also about 1000~2000 yen. It seems relatively a little bit expensive, however, we could choose ingredients freely for Kaisendon. So I think it offsets the price.
      I recomend for all seafood lovers to visit Enoshima and Fujinami. Moreover, if the weather is good, we can see beautiful Mt. Fuji. When I went there, the weather was very good and I could see beautiful landscape and take this picture.

 

＊If you want to go or know about this store (Fujinami) more, please look at this site. 　
 →http://www.cityfujisawa.ne.jp/~shouten/shop/eno012/eno012.html

Food for All and Second Harvest Japan

・What are their main activity/events?

Food for All

→Food Bank activity (intermediate food surplus and food shortage)

Second Harvest Japan

→Food Bank activity, the support for the Great East Japan Earthquake or Harvest Kitchen (the activity to provide hot food for homeless people).

 

・How do they deal with the problem of food waste?

Both Food for All and Second Harvest Japan do Food Bank activity.

In Food Bank activity, it is dealt with processed food such as canned goods, fresh foods such as vegetables or fruits, disaster prevention stockpile, grains such as rice or bread and frozen foods. They cope with food manufacturer, wholesalers and importers and urge them to donate surplus food.

There are a lot of merits. For example, one of them is that it is possible to reduce the number of food waste. Another one is that it is good for the environment.

Actually, the number of dealing food is increased to 3152 tons in 2012.

 

・How would you be able to help/volunteer for these organizations?

First, I can donate money. According to the Second Harvest Japan, if I donate 1000 yen, it is possible to provide ten times the amount of money equivalent foods.

Second, I can donate foods. What we can donate is the same as what is dealt in Food Bank activity.

Third, I can donate time. Many kinds of activities are introduced such as packaging, delivering or distributing foods. Everyone, who is over 12 years old, can participate. There are many things we can do and it seems to be the easiest donation to try of all these three.

 

・Which group seems to be the most active?

I think it is Second Harvest Japan. It is because various kinds of activities are reported. Once we see their site, we can understand the concrete number and their activities in detail.

→http://2hj.org/

Newspaper Article

 

I chose the article “For Pets, It’s Fat Thursday With Pies, Dressing Under the Table”. Actually, I don’t have pets in my house and I am not good at animals. However, this time, I want to know about pet well.
 

In this article, it is said that recent pets are apt to be obesity. It is because they eat high-calorie food. Owners give pet food freely. This has been paid attention as a problem. In my opinion, it is natural that pets want to choose and eat their food freely as the same as human do. We also sometimes tend to choose our eating habit without considering our health. Many delicious foods have a high-calorie.

 

But when we see the future, our eating habits are very important. Eating habits make our body. So pet owners should choose and restrict their food for their future. High-calorie food should be given occasionally.

 



Result of the Food Quiz

 

I mistook 6 questions.

First one was “What is foie gras?” The correct answer is “The liver of a duck or goose that has been fattened a certain way”.

Second one was “Which fork is the salad fork?” The correct answer is “It’s usually the outermost fork to the left of the plate”.

In this site, we can learn more about western dishes.

→http://www.jp-guide.net/manner/ya/yousyoku.html

Third one was “What is allspice?” The correct answer is “A special spice, usually found in South America or the Caribbean, which tastes like a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves”.

Forth one was “Which is not technically a berry?” The correct answer is “Strawberry”.

This was the most surprising. It was the first time I learned about the “berry”. I found out that “berry” simply means small fruits containing a lot of juice, not having a shell like nuts.

Here we can learn more about berry.

→http://www.kudamononavi.com/zukan/berry.htm

Fifth one was “What is prosciutto?” The correct answer is “Thinly sliced, dry-cured Italian ham”.

Sixth one was “What type of dessert is a Whoopie Pie?” The correct answer is “All of the above---It's bready, so it's a cake. It's filled with icing like an Oreo, so it's a cookie. It has pie in the name. It's definitely a pie”.

Through this quiz, I could get some new information of food.



About My Book 3

Hello. Today, I want to tell you about the etiquette and manners which are written in my book.
First point is “entering”.
When you enter Japanese house, you should take shoes off. Sometimes, waiters offer you a pair of slippers. You can use them except in a tatami room.
According to the dictionary, tatami is a straw-made floor and one of the bedding materials which are commonly used in Japanese-style room. The size is different depending on the religions, but usually, its size is in the 180cm×90cm inside and outside.

If you want to learn about tatami more, please look at this website.
→http://www.ehow.com/facts_5005759_what-tatami-room.html

Second point is “seating”.
In a tatami room, guests are most likely to be offered the upper position or kamiza. The kamiza is the space in front of the took-no-ma, the niche where flowers and art are displayed. The closer the position to kamiza, the higher the rank of the seat.
On casual occasions with friends, no one cares about formal positioning. However, for a formal business dinner, you should keep this basic positioning rule in mind.
Seiza is the formal way to sit in a tatami room.

Third point is “polite expressions for before and after eating”.
Japanese people say “Itadaki-masu” before they eat. It literally means “I’m going to receive”. On the other hand, they say “Gochisosama deshita” when they finish wating. It means “Thank you for the great meal”. These phrase show appreciation to the host and also express general gratitude for the food. I’ve been grew up in Japan and I also have been taught naturally to say these phrases.

We can learn some points of Japanese manners. Why don’t you try these?

Recent Eating Report 2

On November 3, Culture Day Holiday, I did Fuji-five-lakes-tour with my friends. The weather was very good.

And near Yamanaka Lake, we had lunch. I ate Hoto which is local cuisine of Yamanashi Prefecture. It is a kind of flour noodles with vegetables cooked in a soup of miso.
 

 

 

Which I ate was with many kinds of vegetables (carrot, Japanese white radish, burdock, Chanese cabbage, pumpkin and taro).

This was cooked in good stock and very delicious.

 

 

My friend ate a bowl of rice topped with tempura. Tempura is a typical Japanese cuisine which is fried seawood or vegetables dipped with mixture of flour, eggs and beaten juice.

.

 

 

Also many kinds of ingredient were used such as shrimp, squid, sweet potato, eggplant and lotus root.

We could enjoy eating Japanese traditional food.

 

It was a happy and wonderful day(^○^)

 

 

 



Introduction of Japanese Foods (Video)



I miss JAPANESE FOOD! 日本の食べ物が恋しい

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8Kp7s4AWH20" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I think this video is good to support my topic because many Japanese dishes are introduced.

For example, there are natto, ramen, yakisoba, sashimi, gyouza, onigiri, edamame, Japanese alcohol, omuraisu, takoyaki, curry rice and of course sushi.

She described them in detail.

Moreover, because this video is made by Swedish girl, we can learn how foreign people think about Japanese food.

She also mentioned local special foods.

In Japan, there are many kinds of local specific foods. For example, in Yokohama, Syumai is famous. In Nagoya, Miso katsu is famous. In Tochigi, Utsunomiya-Gyoza is famous.

You can learn many things from this video!!!



About My Book 2

In Japan, there are some specific holidays.

Today, I will write about New Year’s Day (Shogatsu).

New Year’s Day is the most important holiday in Japan. It’s similar to Christmas Day in Christian countries.

And, during New Year’s Holiday, we eat many kinds of special foods.

1.      Toshikoshi-soba

On New Year’s Eve, we eat this. This is buckwheat noodles. The long and skinny shape of the buckwheat noodle represents longevity,

2.      Zoni

This is soup with nochi, vegetables, and meat or fish. It is served for New Year’s Day breakfast and can be served through all the New Year celebration days. The flavor and ingredients of the soup vary according to religion and family tradition. For example, Tokyo-style is clear soup and Kyoto-style is miso soup.

In my house, my mother is from Yokohama, so we always eat clear soup zoni.

3.      Osechi-ryori

It literally means holiday food. Osechi-ryori includes many item represents a specific wish for the new year, such as for a healthy life and longevity. They are usually neatly packed in a jubako.

Typical osechi items are…

l  Kuromame (sweet black beans)

"Blister" originally, the word which means strong and health.

And in Japanese, beans are called “mame”. “Mame” mean serious and hearth. Then, both working seriously and living healthy are hoped.

l  Namasu (Japanese radish and carrots pickled in vinegary dressing)

It is a combination of red representing the joy and the white representing the clean-sacred. Since radish take root in the earth, it is means to prosper firmly the foundation of the house.

l  Datemaki (sweet omlets)

There is such a theory that hopes the cultural prosperity as scroll.

l  Kamaboko (savory fish cake)

We eat both red and white color kamaboko. Kamaboko symbolizes the "sunrise". Red represents happy and joy, white represents the sacred.

l  Kuri-kinton (chestnuts with sweet potato paste)

It is compared to treasure that golden. And hope the rich year.

l  Konbu-maki (cooked vegetables and mushrooms)

It is for family development that is also used to mirror ornament of New Year good luck. In Japanese, kelp is “Konbu” and rejoice is “Yorokobu”. Then, there is a play on words, with Konbu-maki meaning “kelp” and “rejoice”.

 

    In this site, you can learn more about Osechi-ryori.

>http://www.kibun.co.jp/knowledge/shogatsu/osechi/iware.html

 

4.      Nanakusa-gayu

It is rice porridge eaten on January seventh for yearlong health. It contains seven kinds of seasonal vegetables. It is also a healing meal after the New Year’s feast,

 

These special foods have their own meanings. I think it is good to understand each meaning and enjoy New Year’s Holiday more.

Recent Eating Report

My sister and I went to Ootoya which is one of the most famous Japanese restaurants in Japan. Ootiya has also opened in New York, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Indnesia and Shingapore.

In Ootoya, we can enjoy many kinds of Japanese food. For example, the menu using bonito, black vinegar or arranged tofu. If you are interested in Ootoya's menu, please click here (https://www.ootoya.com/menu.asp?tcid=1).

Today, we ate Hirekatsu-don. Hirekatsu-don is stewed with fried filllet and beaten egg.

And miso-soup was also served. Miso is a fermented food of Japan made by fermenting grain. It has been known as the main source of protein in the Japanese diet for a long time.
It can help us to keep healthy.

This Hirekatsu-Teisyoku was very delicious. I recommend you try to go there and enjoy eating.

About My Book

The book I chose is "Dining in Japan". This book consists of four parts.

In the first part, many kinds of Japanese food are introduced. For example, sushi, tempura, sukiyaki, yakitori, kaiseki, udon, okonomiyaki, takoyaki and so on. Also, about Japanese specific holidays are written. For example, it's said that during New Year's Holiday, Japanese eat zoni (soup with mochi, vegetables, and meat or fish), osechi-ryori and nanakusa-gayu.

In the second part, takeout dining such as bento, sandwiches and Japanese convenience stores are introduced.

In the third part, there are many recipes which are related to Japanese ingredients. For example, how we can make plain white rice (gohan) or sushi rice (sumeshi). Also, Japanese traditional foods, salted fish and dried fish are explained. For example, shio-jake (salted salmon), himono (sun-dried fish) and shirasu (salted and boiled small sardines) are. Moreover, we can learn about Japanese soup stock (dashi) and its recipe.

In the forth part, we can learn about etiquette and manners. For example, tatami is common in Japan. But, for many foreign people, tatami is unaccustomed. So, in this book, how people should act according to Japanese unique custom.

This book is mainly written for foreign people who are interested in Japan or who will visit Japan. However, I think for many people (including me), there are some unknown things about Japanese food. So, I chose this book and I want to get new acknowledge of our national food.