That one time in Japan I served food at a festival....

Finally another update in the "That one time in Japan" series!

This time is when I served food at Kashima Elementary's festival. I believe is was a fundraising festival, but to be honest, it was in December and I didn't speak much Japanese then.

I was woken up one Sunday morning and my host mom said she was going to a festival ( for Japanese learners, 祭り=まつり= matsuri) at the local elementary school and asked if I wanted to go. I said sure, figuring it'd be a quick trip and definitely not realizing what an interesting day it would prove to be.

Once we arrived, I took a look at the stalls, which were filled with your typical festival foods and some activities for the kids. After the typical gaijin in a small town-craze, I was roped into helping sell food with random people my host mom knew. I was helping sell two dishes - some kind of mochi ball-thing and soup. The food, as yummy as it was, was not the reason this day was so much fun.... it was the four ojiisan's I got to work with!

When people would come to buy food, they would obviously ask who this crazy blonde gaijin-san was, why I was there, where I was from, etc. One of the guys spoke decent English, so he would help translate for me. Their answers were either I was their daughter, their mistress, sister-in-law, wife, cousin, twin, and very rarely, an exchange student. Sometimes they would say things in English which caused some confused faces of customers, but everyone working at the booth knew the game and would laugh together.

It was one the funnest days I had in Japan, and definitely one I will not forget!

I only managed to get one photo that day, but it was definitely the most important - a photo with my host mom and the ojiisans! (click for larger image!)

It was during this festival that I apparently said I would do the Japanese Speech Contest (I don't remember this) but regardless, that story is for another time.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

So... I have moved yet again!!! Now I am living with my boyfriend (and his family) just outside of Baltimore. I moved in at the end of July after hashing and re-hashing out the details and I do not regret it!

To say I disliked my last job was a severe understatement. BS Call-center work is so not for moi. BUT!! Since moving in, my boyfriend and I have gotten a lot closer and our relationship has improved 150%! I think couples often worry that moving in together can ruin a relationship because some couples are better apart than together. Luckily we are not shaping up that way.

We've started cleaning his room and making room for me, which is a huge step forward I think. I don't have all of my clothes, etc. because we still are shopping for some storage options. But I have a lot of ideas so I'm hoping it should be taken care of soon.

And speaking of ideas, I've been on this cooking binge lately. We've been dieting and exercising together and have just about stopped eating like crap (like we used to) but all I've been wanting to do it cook, cook, cook!

So tomorrow, I am going to cook for my boyfriend. I haven't decided what, so I'm going to look through The Food Network's recipes on their iPad app on the bf's iPad and through a couple of my cookbooks. My boyfriend said he also wanted to get red velvet cake mix, so we're going to make cupcakes.

I have a couple reviews to do of sushi/Japanese restaurants we've been to. I also want to do a "Japanese Food Lover's Guide to NYC" with reviews of restaurants, bakeries, cool stores, etc. that my boyfriend and I have found on our travels.

For anyone interested, I do have instagram - @stacywahh . And hello nippon!! 's Facebook fan page (that I created and haven't really updated) can be found here.

I'm doing a design overhaul so I will hopefully be simplifying the design to make it more user-friendly. But for the mean-time, who doesn't love that Pop Sister (RIP) scan? :]

焼き肉PARTY!

Hello everyone!!

For all of the Americans out there, how was your fourth of July?

Mine was really fun because I had a yakiniku party with my boyfriend! For those who don't know, yakiniku is japanese for "burned meat", which is considered korean style BBQ! And one of my favorite foods!!!!

I have tonnnnssss of pictures for posts but it's been hard because my boyfriend usually takes them on his iPhone4 and never sends them to me (>_<) Buutttt! we recently signed up for a joint box.net account so we can share pictures, documents, etc more easily. Very happy about that!

There are some Korean BBQ restaurants that you can go to but they are usually expensive and there isn't as much meat like there is when you do it at home. For around $70 in meat/supplies, you can have enough food for 4 people PLUS leftovers! Awesome, right?!

So now you may be wondering how we accomplish having yakiniku in the home and it's very easy:

Buy a yakiniku-style grill.

I have this one which is only $40 on Amazon! AI think any table top grill will work good but I wouldn't recommend outdoor ones because then you can't enjoy sitting around the table cooking together ^_^

Find thinly cut meat.

I think it's best to get this from a Korean or Asian grocery. Normal grocery stores usually don't sell meat cut thinly but I strongly recommend this because it's easy to marinate, cooks quicker and it's also easy to eat with chopsticks! We buy beef brisket, thin sliced pork that we marinate in Korean BBQ sauce, chicken tenders, honey-smoked bacon that I wrap asparagus in, and whatever else we splurge on (haha).

Some of the meat we purchased. A - Thicker cut pork, B - Not sure of the marinade, but it tasted like kimchi. The English label said "Pork Butt", haha. C - Marinated beef. Not sure what part, but I do know it was good.

Find sauces/marinades. 

For dipping: Standard soy sauce is good. I also really like sesame seed oil with a little salt and pepper. Could also use hot sauce, miso-flavored dressing or sauce, teriyaki sauce, etc. This is a really good place to be creative!

Marinades: Korean BBQ Sauce (not sure of the brand we use, I will update it once I find out the name), Teriyaki sauce, Yakitori sauce, Sesame/miso dressing, 

Plan out drinks.

This can be a fun part too. We usually add in some sort of Japanese drink, either Oi! Ocha, Ramune, or something. This time we had Kirin Light Beer (I just turned 21!! Yay! Have yet to be carded anywhere though (x_x;;) )

A - Taiwanese Apple Soda (called Apple Sidra in English?), B - ACE Hard Apple Cider. Veryyyy good. Not too strong so lightweights like me can drink it. D - Kirin Light Beer. Not as strong of a beer flavor so manageable. E - Stella Artois. My boyfriend's pick and one of his favorite beers. I think it's Belgian?

Just realized I forgot C in that picture, hahaha!

Enjoy with family and friends!

I've done yakiniku in Japan with host families and friends, and in America with Ricky and his family. It's always such a fun time to share with others. I hope you will get the chance to as well!!

*** I do have to mention though, that for all the deliciousness that is yakiniku, cooking it at home means you're left with the cleanup. Cleaning the drip pan after it hardens is the worst!!! Makes me elbows hurt x_x hahaha.

So, time for some pictures....!

Us while cooking. Not a great picture of me, but I still like it! ^_^

If anyone is interested, I could give my tutorial on how I make the bacon asparagus wraps that are AMAZING. Probably most awesome part of Yakiniku!

Thanks for reading!!!

xoxo