冬至

Today is winter solstice. In Japan, winter solstice is called Toji and is celebrated with two main things: first, a bath with a yuzu; and second, eating a dish made of kabocha squash and azuki beans. The two things in combination is said to keep you healthy in the New Year and through the long winter. One of my goals for this year was to learn more about Japanese cooking for traditional celebrations, so I have those traditions in my family.

So I cleaned my bathtub and put a yuzu in. In the hot water, they release such a beautiful, relaxing fragrance. It was wonderful.



Then here's the azuki bean and kabocha dish. It was delicious, but a bit dense. Super filling!!



Finally, here's a shot of some of the varieties of yuzu I have right now. Two oni-yuzu, a bunch of tiny baby yuzu, and a few middle-sized, normal yuzu. I don't quite know what I'm going to do with them all. I made a yuzu miso dressing for cabbage salad, and I've made marmalade. I'll probably make some more marmalade soon. And I'll also make some more yuzu madelines at some point. First, however, I have to finish my nengajo and do my New Year's cleaning. Yikes!!!


Finally, to show you what a typical breakfast (and sometimes dinner) looks like now:

Rice with an umeboshi and two cloves of pickled garlic. A bowl of Sendai miso soup with a variety of vegetables--usually now, in the winter, I'm using shiitake, tofu, konnyaku, bean sprouts, carrots, sato imo, onions, and potatoes. I put in fish and potato cakes, other mushrooms, and eggs as the mood fits me and the vegetables are on sale. I also have natto topped with scallions--it is SO DELICIOUS with the scallions on top.
Finally, I finish with a dish that's a mix of grated nagaimo and daikon with moromi su (Okinawan black vinegar mixed with a titch of black sugar) and chirimenjakko (whole tiny baby fish). It's healthy, delicious, and filling. More than that, perhaps, it's SUPER EASY. Grate some veggies, serve the rice, heat the soup. And boom! Nice warm food to chase away the frigid chill of a morning without central heating.