NABE / The first time, but not the last: so easy to make!

Ashamed to admit it, but in all my years of living in Japan, never once had I tried to make nabe (hotpot) stews. Of course I'd had the pleasure of eating it many times at friends' houses, but until a few days ago nabe was always the sort of thing that was made for small groups huddled around a dining table or kotatsu dining table. Never the sort of thing one would go through the trouble of making.

But actually, it was easier than I thought.

I think many people make the broth themselves, either from konbu seaweed or using miso as a base, but for those of us who have no idea of how to make a decent broth, there are instant soup bases that can serve as the base for the nabe hotpot.

The flavor I chose was "tan-tan goma" or spicy broth with sesame. It's based on a Chinese soup recipe from some part of China, quite spicy. While some people buy a lot of different kinds of vegetables to put in, I held off on variety given that vegetables at this time of year are unsually expensive. I bought sliced pork (shoulder, very tasty), mushrooms, tofu, green onions and bakchoy cabbage.

The package in the photo actually serves up to 4, but I chose to use only 1/2 for each sitting. Even then the concentrated broth held up fine against the vegetables and tofu, whose water content leeches out during the cooking process. After stewing the whole mix for about 5 minutes I turned off the burner and dug in. How delicious!

From others' suggestions, I reserved some of the broth for the next day's breakfast. I reheated rice in the microwave and the leftover soup in a saucepan, then threw the reheated rice into the soup. Not quite exactly "zosui" style porridge, but close enough and a great way to beat the cold wave that's rolled over Japan. (It was probably subzero in Tokyo last night!)

Okra and beef bowl

Fan that I've become of places that serve beef/pork bowls (gyu-don, gyu-meshi), on my way home from a concert over the three-day weekend, I stopped by a chain called Sukiya that serves ... beef bowls curry, sauce, or even .... okra!

It was really quite good and nice to have vegetables with the beef bowl, which after all is really nothing but slices of meat with starch ....

23 JAN / RUFUS WAINWRIGHT CONCERT

On 23 Jan, I went to see Rufus Wainwright in concert. Although he is known as a singer-songwriter in his own right, he has the peculiar distinction of having done a whole series of Judy Garland standards in Carnegie Hall, commemorating the concert that she did there more than 30 years ago.

His singing style is quite similar to Billy Joel or Elton John, but it's also clear he has a love of the Broadway standards and musicals from the '50s; the emphasis on singing, and clever lyrics, informs his work.

I almost didn't get to go to this concert: I had known that he would be touring as early as August, but I put off buying tickets until January, and when I went to the ticket machine to buy it -- alas! it had all sold out. (Touts I suspect buying up the last hundred tickets or so ...!)

I had almost given up hope, checking the ticket agencies each day fervently for available tickets, but none were coming. Finally two nights before the concert, I scored a ticket on an auction site, and after paying for it online I was given an confirmation number for the ticket, which had been prepaid by the auctioneer. I was able to go to the local Family Mart and issue the ticket, have it in hand for the concert. By all other means (post, delivery service) the ticket could've been lost or never sent; by being able to issue (print it out) myself I was sure to have a real (not forged!) ticket on hand before the concert.

And what a concert! As a broadcast on NPR said, he sings his heart out and the concert must've lasted at least two hours. There's a 10 minute intermission in the middle, but for a performance it's extraordinarily long and he does most of the singing. I suspect Dad might like his Judy Garland performances and I'll have to look it up on Amazon.

Here is the link to the page in Amazon for those who are curious:
http://www.amazon.com/Rufus-Does-Judy-Carnegie-Hall/dp/B000XMZJX8/

Mind you, he looks young but he has a fantastic voice ....

JAN LUNCH / Aimee Vibert / Michelin 2-star

Two-stars in a private establishment overlooking a garden: very likely this place is used for weddings or receptions. Elegant but also quite delicious.

Long Break Between Posts! Sorry! BUSY January

Almost a good two months since the last post. The whole month of January was an especially busy one for me and that's why I felt unable to post anything during the whole period. Mostly I was busy with work, as our company braced itself for earnings seasons and I helped to edit a whole slew of reports, checking the Japanese with the English as I was editing it. After three or for long reports, it's hard not to feel overwhelmed, and then, right in the midst of the reports, companies began to release their 3Q earnings, and suddenly there were two deadlines, the daily reports that had to get out (responses to results) and then the longer reports which needed more poring over. But the peak seems to have passed and I think the next few weeks will be better.

Today, 11 Feb, was another national holiday (Japan has increased the number of 3-day holidays in the last few years and so us salaried workers are benefitting from this change. I took the time to sleep in late, then go to a concert which is the subject of another post.

Tomorrow is work again but there's nothing like a short 4-day week!