from Tokyo, 2009

Christmas is really a commercial event in Japan. Money-spending often goes on here and there; grown-up couples love fine dining with silky champagne, friends enjoy food and booze in scruffy-but-vibrant restaurants, boys and girls plan a romantic time in Tokyo Disney Land or other hot spots, and Santa parents rush into toy shops for their kids gift.

The 25th is no holiday though we’re nationally off on 23 December because of the Emperor’s Birthday. Restaurants, shops, business and transportation run normal. Coupled with Christmas light-up as well as winter sales, I saw many people hanging around the street this year as well. The difference from past years during this festive week was, however, that Tokyo was “economically” quiet without the shopping craze... Alas!

My Chiristmas? Well, it was relatively simple. While Mom cooked stress-free roast beef which was marinated in a soy-based sauce for twenty four hours (not so strict as Jack Bauer time), I made snowy potato gratin for its accompaniment. A bottle of daily wine somewhat gave a festive finish, but that was weekday dinner, anyway.

Today is oh-misoka (New Year’s Eve) and we’re still straddling between Christmas and New Year. In Japan, to celebrate the New Year is more family-oriented with a traditional feast at its centre. Each household thus dedicates this transitional period to not only cooking but cleaning up every corner of their houses. It’s also time to say farewell to Christmassy decors. With manpower of 120 million Japanese, all the places of the nation are changed into the formal and crispy ambience to welcome the coming year. Ture.

... Well, time to go back to my kitchen. Happy New Year!!


PS (long)..
I almost forgot to mention the Japanese equivalent to British “Christmas Pudding” or French “bûche de Noël” on Christmas day. Thaaat’s ”Shortcake”!

Inspired by American strawberry shortcake, the Japanese version is made of a light, soft sponge crammed with strawberries. Being all covered with fresh cream, it’s surmounted by a crown of strawberries.


To be honest, this cake is available throughout a year, also recognised as sweets classic since my childhood. Plus, many other puddings from traditional bûche de Noël to the latest developed by imaginative chefs appear voguish in recent Decembers. However, as long as the colour hue of shortcake looks like symbolising ho-ho-ho Santa Clause flying over snowy mountains, it will remain Christmassy, I believe.

yam is yum

Potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams... All are familiar root vegetables in Japan too, but my favourite is “yamaimo” literally meaning “mountain yam”.

Yama-imo (or called yamato-imo locally) is a fist-shaped yam which has been consumed in Japan since its pre-historic period. To fully enjoy the extreme stickiness as well as soupiness in texture, we often “grate” the yam, a bit diluted with dashi (fish broth) and traditionally eat it pouring over boiled rice mixed with barley. The yam is digestible enough to be eaten in raw, thus, plays a supporting role in need of another quick savoury in the kitchen. Nice.

Cooked yamaimo is also tasty as represented by “isobe-age” (deep-fried yamaimo wrapped with dried seaweed), one of popular menus served in “izaka-ya”, a Japanese gastronomic pub. Though I like the flavour myself, my family finds fried seaweed smells fishy, so the following recipe is my twist for minimalists. No matter who you are, that’s easy-peasy to cook.

PAN-FRIED YAMAIMO NUGGETS

* Makes around 15
150g yamaimo (available in a Japanese grocery. Frozen? I don’t approve, really)
Vegetable oil
Salt or soy sauce, to serve

1. Peel yamaimo and soak it in lightly-vinegered water for 10 minutes to eliminate the bitterness.

2. Grate the yam in a bowl. I don’t recommend using a food processor because the yam gets watery. Go with a hand grater for this small portion.

3. Take a teaspoonful of the yam dough, then place it on a tray. Repeat with the remaining dough until you have around 15 pieces. This is definitely a two-teaspoon job as the grated yam is so sticky to handle with a single utensil.

4. Heat the generous amount of vegetable oil in a frying-pan. When the oil is hot, drop the pieces on the pan with an oiled spoon (or spoons), and fry them turning a couple of times. When they’re browned and crisp, lift them out of the pan and drain on kitchen paper.

5. Serve straight away, accompanied by salt or soy sauce.

Tips:
1. Don’t skip the process of #3. To avoid burning, the dough should be neatly divided before frying.
2. The cooked yam gets rubbery when cool. Serve while hot!

You’ll enjoy the dual texture: elastic inside yet crispy outside. Plus, it tastes like a freshly-made rice crackers. This yam is real yum. No joke.



FYI, on this photo is “yamaimo”, usually available in vacuum-packed at a supermarket. We also have “naga-imo” (long yam), which not only sounds but also looks similar with yamaimo. Being more watery as well as lighter, it’s good to be eaten in julienne.