Sushi with Michi...

Some of you may remember me writing about Michi (Umemoto san) last year- she kind of adopted us foreigners as her project. Last year she introduced me to many new things, including gifting me with her grandparents old kimonos, and taking me to many festivals. This year, she is eager to teach me many new Japanese recipes. She invited myself and the other teammate's girlfriend to make sushi rolls and mochi.

We made vegetarian rolls, with gourd, mushroom, imitation crab, cucumber and egg. Absolutely delicious! February third in Japan is a special holiday where the people invite spring in by eating an uncut, whole sushi roll, while facing South West. This is supposed to bring luck into your house for the new season. They also traditionally throw dried soybeans out their doors to chase the devil away. Such different traditions....

Afterwards we made mochi. She had prepared strawberries covered with black bean paste (back) and then we made mochi out of cornstarch, flour and sugar. This is a VERY popular dessert in Japan. We took the mochi and covered the bean/strawberry. This is a mochi ball.