It all began with a work assignment from board member and Senior Elder UC#3:
[UC#3]
Much more work to do for WLBOTT:
- Ruminating on how truffles get harvested in France / https://www.davidlebovitz.com/truffle-hunting-in-france/
- India Holi festival
and connections between food and culture/religion
- Fish on Friday for Catholics (pretty sure it was just made up to ensure revenue for fisherman in Portugal or Spain…)
- Fasting during Ramadan
- Why are cows sacred in Hinduism and shouldn’t be eaten?
- Black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day in southern US
- Ozoni soup on New Year’s Day in Japan which causes choking deaths from the gelatinous mochi ball
[UC#3]
And the mochi thing is real:
[UC#1-SU]
Can I also submit my personal story about nearly choking on ozoni one New Year’s day at about age 8, breaking into tears at the table, and my father warning me: “If you cry on New Year’s Day, you’ll cry every day of the year!” That made me feel SO much better!
[UC#3]
UC#1-SU – I’d be interested in your New Years food traditions.
In [UC#3 SU]’s family, they would collect for a big open house party in
[redacted]. Downstairs was watching football, chips and dip, other unhealthy western foods. Upstairs was ozoni, char shu, sushi rolls, seaweed salad, gross root veggies like lotus root, and since it was the US Midwest, jello salad. A real mash up of traditional and American traditions.
My favorite hand food that doesn’t require to much skill to make is inari sushi – I make this for special occasions. We have good Asian markets in Houston so I can get fresh inari skins, etc
Inari Sushi いなり寿司
p.s. – I really hate mochi – will only eat a corner just for good luck.
[UC#3]
And while I didn’t forward it, one mochi new years article described where a family member used a vacuum to extract the stuck mochi from an elderly guest’s throat. I can see this getting added into a LG vacuum add.
Do Try This At Home: Ozoni
From the Just One Cookbook site:
Health Advisory
Should you be concerned about the sodium content of this soup, please keep in mind the VERY FIRST episode of Star Trek:
Hey, why did Canada get this two days before the US of A?
Rice Cakes (Mochi)
Again, thanks to Just One Cookbook:
On Amazon, there are lots of yummy mochi sweets:
Do Try This At Home: Inari Sushi
What Is Inari Sushi?
Inari sushi (稲荷寿司, いなり寿司), or Inarizushi as we call it in Japan, are made of sushi rice that we stuff inside seasoned deep-fried tofu pockets/pouches called Inari age. – Just One Cookbook
Texas crossover? Not sure how to equivocate this to Texas food. Maybe a cross between a fully maxed-out chimichanga and a jalapeno popper?
Do Try This At Home: Inari Age
Inari Age (稲荷揚げ, いなりあげ), pronounced as [Ee-NAH-ri ah-geh], are deep-fried tofu pockets (or sometimes called “pouches”) called aburaage that are cooked in dashi based broth, sugar, mirin, and soy sauce. – Just One Cookbook
Semi-Sequitur: The Otoshibuta (落し蓋)
The otoshibuta is a tool that we commonly use when making simmered dishes as it helps to distribute the simmering broth evenly and prevent evaporation. If you don’t have an otoshibuta, you can make it with a sheet of aluminum foil. – Just One Cookbook
Death by Mochi
Shopping? How does that work? Should we be concerned?
Curated Goggle Image Results: Death by Mochi
WLBOTT Wonders: What is the Tony Blair connection?
WLBOTT New Year’s Get-together
And where shall we celebrate New Years? Perhaps Mr. Kobayashi will invite us to his tree house!
[today’s New York Times]
