Japanese Italian restaurants serve absolutely delicious dishes! So if you are there now, please give it a try. My personal favourites are located in Kamakura. Many restaurants are located right by the ocean and some are located in special alleys. Overall, restaurants in Kamakura have a very romantic feel...Perfect for date nights!
Just remember to give the Italian restaurants a try while you are in Japan. Don't shy away from it! Map of Kamakura and all it's Italian restaurants are at the end of this post. So, here's a quick and easy cream pasta recipe. All you need is for 1 serving:
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"Hatsumode" is a term we use in Japan when we visit the shrine for the first time in the New Year. People start lining up at to pray for a good New Year even before the countdown. Many people go during the day of the 1st. If not, the day after. The good part about going on the 1st or the 2nd is that you get to enjoy all the food stands. If you go later on, those stands may be closed but you won't have to suffer the massive crowd. This year I went to Yasukuni shrine located in the middle of Tokyo, right by the emperor's palace. We went on the 5th so the crowd was gone and luckily all the food stands were still there. "E-ma" (絵馬) - When you go to pray to the shrine or when your wishes have come true, you give the "ema" to the shrine to show your appreciation. In the Nara period, people considered horses animals which the gods used for transport. However, since horses were expensive, people started to draw horses on the wooden boards instead to give to the shrines. Now, we not only draw horses, we can draw other animals too. This year, since it is the year of the horse, the photographs show all horses. People were bowing before entering the shrine and when leaving the shrine too.
Who likes Empanadas?
Who likes Gyozas? Who wants to hear about a fun, delicious twist on a gyoza? Most of us who access this blog love curry (I hope). Especially Japanese Curry. Today, I decided to wrap up Keema curry in the Japanese Gyoza dumpling wrappers! Why, you ask? Because, I was craving for a snack somewhat similar to an Empanada. Unfortunately, it's very hard to find frozen Empanadas here in Japan, but dumpling wrappers are very cheap! These delicious dumplings were super crunchy and crispy on the outside. The curry inside and the wrapper itself matched perfectly too. Pairs great with wine or beer. Great appetizer or finger food for parties! Keema curry, for those of you who have not tried it yet, is basically stir fried minced meat with curry spices. It's not runny like the traditional Japanese curry. It's more like paste. That's why I thought it would be a great idea to wrap it up with Gyoza wrappers! I bought the ready-made Keema curry but I plan to post a recipe for it soon as the ready-made kind may be hard to find in the US....If you cannot find the ready-made curry but want to try this a.s.a.p, I highly recommend for you to cook some minced meat and add some salt, pepper, curry spice and maybe even some cumin? Steps
That's it. If you decide to use ready-made curry/meat like me, it takes less than 20 minutes. 15 minutes of it is just waiting for it to cook in the oven... Enjoy! Happy New Year! Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! I hope that the year 2014 will be an year full of great fortune! I've been spending the last few days of December in Japan. Will be heading back to San Francisco in a few days. New Years in Japan is always wonderful during the New Years as it is spent eating great food with family and most of all, it's the week I feel most proud to be Japanese. Visits to shrines are always fun. Revisiting Japanese traditions are something to treasure, always. "Toshi Koshi Soba" - Soba which you eat on New Years Eve or New Years Day! To wish for a "long" life...Just like buckwheat noodles. "Osechi" - Boxes packed with foods wishing for luck and prosperity for the New Year. Each dish usually has a meaning. Our family usually pre-orders at a department store but some families make their very own boxes!
Our family eats this the morning/lunch of New Years Day and will finish it in the next day or two. Click *Read More* to see more... :) |
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