New Trend in Japan.. Wasabi Donburi?

Posted February 25th, 2014 in Food, Japan | 4 Comments »

chicken don

 

When you hear the word “donburi” you’d imagine many kinds of donburi dishes… oyako-donburi, ten-don (tempura-donburi), una-don (unagi-donburi), katsu-don (katsu donburi), kaisen-donburi etc etc.  There are many types of donburi dishes in Japan and I can’t count how many…

Donburi is one of the quick and easy dish you can have at restaurants or home – and has been one of the most popular lunch menu for office workers to grab during the short lunch break.

My favourite is oyako-donburi!! …but I also like ten-don, una-don….  hmmm writing this makes me really really hungry!!

Now, in Japan, there is a new kind of donburi dish called “wasabi donburi”.   It sounds like something you’d have to eat as a penalty of the game :p  But it appears to  be delicious!

As the name indicates, the key item is wasabi.  Wasabi donburi actually is a very simple dish – just a bowl of steamed rice, katsuo-bushi (bonito flakes), wasabi and soy sauce.

fresh wasabi

 

Sounds weird??  If you love wasabi you must try this!!

You will need fresh block of wasabi for this dish.

Imagine this…

Freshly steamed rice in a bowl.

Sprinkle katsuo-bushi.

Freshly grate wasabi and place on top of rice.

Pour the best quality soy sauce..

wasabi donburi

And eat as you mix the wasabi into rice…

Hmmmm it does sound yummy to me!!

🙂


Hot Japan Festival in Forrest Chase

Posted February 23rd, 2014 in Perth WA | No Comments »

Japan Festival 2014

Were you there??  There was a Japan Festival held in Forrest Chase in Perth from 2pm until 7pm yesterday.  It was a HOT day, especially that I’m 24weeks pregnant and also had a huge headache from the cold I’d caught few days ago I honestly didn’t want to get out of air-conditioned room in my house.  But I pushed myself to head to the city just because I wanted to eat okonomiyaki (saucy savoury pancake) and kaki-gori (snow cone).

photo 2-2 copy

 

As I expected, there were so many people at the event.  When we arrived there was a cosplay competition going on on the stage.

There’re huge queues around the stalls.  Because the water fountain was on, people had to queue around the water area and I couldn’t see where the okonomiyaki stall was at first.  We walked around, and first my son played super-ball tsuri ($2).   You scoop floating super balls from water using a catcher made with thin paper.  Once the paper is broken you are out.  You could get maximum 5 balls and when my son caught 5 balls he broke the paper using his fingers :p  Anyway he got 5 balls!

We decided to queue to get some food.  It was so hot so we wanted to get kaki-gori first.  Huge queue…  The stall was also selling snack bags for kids and cold drinks.  We got kids snack pack, ramune (Japanese carbonated drink for kids typically seen in summer festival in Japan) and kaki-gori.  My husband didn’t want to queue so he went to grab hot dog which had no queue in front of the stall.  Okonomiyaki and takoyaki stalls had the longest queues :p

We noticed that Japanese consulate was giving away plates of yakisoba for free, so I queued there.  In the end I didn’t get to eat okonomiyaki 🙁

photo 3-1

 

Around 5pm it started to cool down a little.  Kids were crazy playing in the water area.  I wanted to listen to live music but decided to head home around 5:30pm.

 

 

photo 5-1

 

It was a fun event and I was amazed to see how many Japanese people (and people who like Japanese culture) are in Perth.  I thank all the volunteers who helped this event, and the people who contributed towards the Fukushima charity.


Japan Festival in Perth 2014

Posted February 15th, 2014 in Perth WA | No Comments »

A cultural festival to present a variety of Japanese culture, including foods, craftworks, martial arts, pop culture, anime characters cosplay, summer Kimono, games and origami for children, live music, dance, etc. We hope this event will strengthen the bonds of friendship between Western Australia and Japan, as well as the sense of community among the Japanese people living here!

Place: Forrest Place, Murray St Perth

When: Saturday 22 Feb 2014 2PM ~ 7PM

website

Imagine the delicious smell of okonomiyaki (savoury pancake with thick sauce), takoyaki (octopus balls), yakisoba (stir-fried noodle), Japanese curry etc etc.  Buying these food and Kakigori (shaved ice with syrup) from the stalls sure remind the memory of Japanese summer to people who’s been to Japan and experienced these fireworks and summer festivals.  We have last year and can’t wait to experience that in Perth 🙂

I’m sure kids can enjoy this event as well with these traditional Japanese festival games including fishing the water balloons, superball catching, yukata (summer kimono) dress-ups etc etc.  If you don’t have yukata here is the chance of getting one!

It happens to be my birthday as well (22nd Feb) so I’ll be taking my kid there and enjoy the matsuri!!

(photos from http://www.japanfestivalperth.com)


2014!!!

Posted February 8th, 2014 in Perth WA | No Comments »

It’s been quite a while since I updated Umeboss…  I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s Day 🙂

I used to write something down and share things with blog visitors few times a week (sometimes almost everyday!) before but now I’m finding it difficult sit in front of computer and write something with a soon-to-be-3-year-old-boy being around me.

I feel like I’m saying this all the time, but time flies…. it is already 2014!! And, February!!  This year Australia Day in Perth wasn’t that hot compared to the past years, and I really regret not going to South Perth to join the Australia Day event and watch fire works.

It is Chinese New Year at the moment (Chinese NY was 31 Jan 2014, but apparently they celebrate for 15 days) – In Japan we don’t have Chinese NY but here I do celebrate as my in-laws are half Chinese and also I have Chine friends 🙂  I had a traditional Chinese NY dinner with in-laws, and my son wore red Chinese dress.

I’m actually pregnant with my second, so no trip to Japan this year…  Instead, my dad (and maybe my mum if she can overcome the fear of getting on a plane) is coming to Perth around November to see his grand sons.  My son and I went to Japan for 2 months last year and now we are already missing it.  It was summer in Japan and we enjoyed all the summer festivals, including fire works and bon fire, and of course FOOD!!!  I miss sushi~~~ sashimi~~~

It makes me feel little down when thinking about no being able to go to Japan, stay in ryokan and enjoy delicious food and onsen (hot spring) and relax for at least another 2 years, but I’m sure it’ll come faster than I think.  Babies and toddlers are cute but 2~3 years old can start enjoying same things as you do so I will wait to have a nice relaxing trip to Japan until my second one turns 2..  Ahhh…. feels such a long time <3

I think this year, until I give birth to a baby, will be fairly a relaxing one because I actually stopped baking and am focussing on time with my son at the moment.  Doing Bagelier at home was great but I don’t think I can do things as I used to do if I have 2 kids… at least for the first few months.  So I decided to take a break.  Long break.  I don’t even know when I’m gonna reopen Bagelier :p  I am really thankful for all the customers and friends who have been supporting me doing this business and hope to get back on foot someday 🙂

At the moment I’m planning my son’s 3rd birthday party.  I wasn’t even thinking of doing it until my son started asking me about birthday cake etc… (I’m surprised how he knows it’ll be his birthday soon) so I thought I’ll throw a small party – just a morning tea at the park with friends and family.  Last year his birthday cake had Anpanman (Japanese cartoon charactor) but this year he requested a dinosaur.  The cake will be as usual – sponge cake, whipped cream, lots of fruits…. like Japanese cake.  Then I’m gonna put 3 dinosaurs on top (because he’ll be 3).

I’ve already made dinosaurs to put on top of cake 🙂  I hope he will like it!!!

(for how to make these chocolate dinosaurs, see my post here)