Day trip to memorable and important place for me. I’ve been visiting the National Azabu supermarket since I was a child. I found this supermarket from teen magazine I was reading when I was elementary school student. (Wow, almost 30 years ago!)
When I visited this store for the first time, I was so shocked to know there was such a place in Japan. I felt that I was in another country! Then, I was fascinated by the scent, the interior, the foods and the goods that I have never had. This experience definitely opened my mind and made me eager to understand other cultures in this world. After coming back to my hometown in Fukushima, I slowly became interested in learning English.
Since I love this supermarket very much so I occasionally visited there after I came to Tokyo for studying and living. What is more, I even worked for them before starting my business. Because I thought this was the best timing and the last chance for me to work there.
Don’t forget the strong passion and impactful memories you have in your mind! I believe those will guide you to the next level!
Menu : – Miso soup with turnip and sweet potato – Japanese rice [Recipe] – Kimchi – Turnip and Shiso pickles – Natto & Raw egg yolk – Stir-fry veggie and pork with garlic – Yellow peach – Barley tea
Did you enjoy the “Live” cooking class on YouTube on Saturday? I hope you made some of onigiri already. After the class, My family and I visited the park in our neighborhood and enjoyed eating onigiri (that I made during and after the class) under the Sakura cherry blossoms. This year, this will be our first and the last time to go and see Sakura trees.
Do you like Wagyu (Japanese beef)? I DO! Actually, I am not a big meat eater but I enjoy Gyu-don because I use good quality Japanese beef. As you see, the main ingredients are beef and onion. So simple. There are so many gyu-don shops here in Japan. For me, Gyu-don is a comfort and satisfying fast food. The cooking process of this dish is very simple. Please choose the good quality beef as much as possible and simmer until the sauce and the juice from beef and onion all blend. In this recipe, I put mitsuba leaves on top. This is a Japanese parsley and has unique minty flavor. To add extra flavor (and happiness!), I recommend to add soft-boiled or seasoned egg on top. If you are interested in making the seasoned egg, please check here. Enjoy Gyu-don!
In this video, I’ll introduce how to make Hamaguri no osuimono (Cherrystone clam soup). Osuimono is a type of soup and has very delicate flavor. The flavor from the clam is really important and key for this soup. To add fancy color, I put some pieces of wheat gluten that we eat quite often here in Japan and also mitsuba leaves. Mitsuba is a Japanese parsley and has unique bitter flavor. We have this soup on special occasion. Guess when? Enjoy this soup recipe video and please try it out! Read More
Happy Girls’ Festival 🎎✨ The 3rd of March is the traditional and representative spring event day called “Hina-Matsuri” in Japan.
Hina-Matsuri means Girls’ Festival! There is a tradition if the baby is a girl, the parents of the mother give a traditional dolls called Hina-kazari (Traditional dolls of Emperor, Empress, their servants and accessories on the tiered stand) to their daughter’s family. This day, parents having daughter invite their families and friends to celebrate this event. They display Hina-Kazari and serve guests traditional dishes, like Chirashi-zushi (garnished sushi), hard-shell clam clear soup, hishi-moshi and hina-arare (pink and white grilled piece of rice cakes).
When I was a child, my parents invited the Hina-Matsuri party for me and my younger sister every year. So this event reminds me of my childhood and I loved it.
It was my daughter’s first girls festival day today. I made a clear color soup with using cherrystone clam and chirashi-zushi. She cannot eat them this year since she is 4 months old… 👶🏻 Hopefully, next year!
Zunda mochi! For sweets lovers, don’t forget to taste this local sweets in Sendai city. This is a mochi covered with crushed and sweetened edamame beans. Zunda mochi is so popular in this area, so you will see many zunda flavor products at the station or convenience stores etc. (Even KitKat product!!!)
