New Year’s Food 101: Morimono

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Originally uploaded by cathy.ikeda

I’m not sure what the symbolism of this arrangement of items are or even if it’s from Japan. I know that this is a local Hawaii custom from plantation days so we do it too. The items, from left to right are yoken (sweet bean paste), kamaboko (it should be green, but this pink one had a matsu in it which was cool), and I have gobo (long llife) tempura. I’m also supposed to have tangerine slices (but people wanted to take the tangerines home) and kanten (red and green agar). KTA had the kanten, but I think it’s kind of gross, and after paying $10 for one block of yokan (!), I was not about to pay for the two blocks of kanten, especially since I’m not sure what this is for besides to make pretty. If somebody knows, please inform me.

Japanese Food 101: Kuromame

Kuromame

Originally uploaded by cathy.ikeda

Kuromame means black beans in Japanese, and it is another New Year’s food. Grandma Ikeda usually makes this for us, but if you have access to an Asian store, kuromame is sold in cans. Kuro (black) mame (beans) is simmered in a shoyu sugar broth. We usually have it with kuri (chestnuts), but I’m not sure if that’s a really Japanese custom or just a local plantation tradition.
The Japanese word for beans, mame, also means “working like a bee.” So, by eating kuromame, it’s hoped that in the new year, we can enjoy good health so that we can continue to be productive. Our family also reads this as a fertility thing, but we eat it anyway.

Next blog: Japanese Food 101: Red fish

New Year’s Food 101: Kobumaki

Konbu maki

Originally uploaded by cathy.ikeda

Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu (Happy New Year)
Now that it’s officially 2009, I wanted to share some of our traditions so that our kids don’t grow up without knowing why we do what we do.
Grandma Hughes’ job is to bring the kobumaki. It’s one of my favorite dishes and it’s a must have for New Years. Kobumaki is made with seaweed stuffed with pork and wrapped with kampyo (gourd strips). It’s cooked in a shoyu sugar broth and it’s eaten for HAPPINESS in the New Year.

Here’s hoping for happiness in 2009 for you and your family.
Tomorrow on New Year’s Food 101: kuromame.