Boys Festivity

May 5 in Japan is a national holiday, "Children Day," celebrating healthy growth for kids. While we celebrate for children in general, we also have a special celebration for boys. (Alternative celebration for girls are on March 3.) Families with boys often display warrior dolls and miniature armor in their homes. As our house is too small to keep these decoration set out, they took a photo and only kept the mini armor for a few days.

My 5-month old nephew is so big that he doesn't even fit in clothes for 1-year baby.

Peter Luger Burger

It's almost a sin not to try Peter Luger's burger when it's 2 minutes from our building. We can't afford $80 steak but we can happily get their burger for $8. Their burger was chosen for "Ten of the Burgers" by NYTimes.

We both ordered rare—let's do it right when you are in the best chef's hand. And it was grilled perfectly. Cheese melting to cover the meat all around, bun is firm enough to suck up the meat juice. Minimal yet very structured decoration and topping of fresh onion. At Peter Luger, the fries sit on the plate modestly, not overflowing, overwhelming like at most burger joints. The meat is so juicy with generous amount of fat that two slices of cheese don't even feel heavy at all. And the bacon! It's a piece of beautiful meat. It got my respect.

30-min wait for this would be nothing, especially if you'd appreciate the characteristic German bartenders.

Peter Luger
178 Broadway
Brooklyn, N.Y.  11211

Indoor Hanami Party

April is the time for hanami (cherry blossom viewing). Unfortunately, the weather didn't hold for the hanami festival in Brooklyn Botanical Garden we were planning to visit for a picnic. So we gathered at our friend's apartment—a large room with skylights through which we enjoyed the rain making abstract patterns. Everyone brought the dish already prepared for the day.

I made Onigiri (rice balls), Kara-age (Japanese fried chicken), Watercress Ohitashi. It wasn't like we planned but sake and delish food on Sunday afternoon was so much fun.

Dashimaki-tamago (Japanese egg omelet)

Ground chicken stuffed Shiitake mushroom

Shira-ae (Sweet tofu paste with vegetable)

Watercress Ohitashi

In response to my friends' request, here's the recipe for Ohitashi with watercress and shiitake mushroom. This is a really easy dish you can make in 10 minutes or a day in advance.

You can use spinach or any other green for this recipe. Just make sure to adjust the blanching time accordingly. Also, this is the vegetarian version, using seaweed broth only instead of fish broth that is more popular.

Watercress Ohitashi Recipe

Japanese Lingo Tip:
Ohitashi comes from the verb "hitasu (soak, marinate)." It's often made with spinach. Basically, blanched veggetable marinated in broth (usually bonito and seaweed broth). A very light appetizer served chilled.

Ingredients (for 3 - 4 appetizer servings)

• Watercress - 1 bunch
  
• Shiitake mushroom - about 5 caps sliced
  (You can do without mushroom or with other kind of mushroom: no problem)
  
• Seaweed broth - 1.5 cup (use 1 pack of broth powder)
  
• Soy Sauce - 2 tbsp (or to taste)
  
• Salt - to taste
  
• Mirin - 1 tbsp (if available)
  
• Toasted sesame seeds - (for topping if available)
  
• Sesame oil - 1 drop (if available)

1. Blanch watercress for about 2 minutes; chill it in cold water; squeeze water; roughly cut the watercress in half so it is easier to eat.

2. Boil 1.5 cup of water; add broth powder (see package pic); add soy sauce, salt, mirin and sesame oil. It could taste a bit too salty as you won't drink the entire broth and it tastes less salty when it's chilled. Throw in the sliced mushroom while the broth is still hot.

3. Put broth with mushroom, watercress in a bowl or container. Let it marinate for at least an hour or longer. Sprinkle sesame seeds for decoration and crunch.

Pizza at Home

We got a left-over pizza dough from our friends' pizza party. The fresh dough was a bit hard to stretch out after sleeping in our freezer for a while. Another drawback this time was the tomato sauce. We used the regular canned tomato sauce, which is a bit too watery for thin-crust pizza. At the party, my friend made the tomato sauce from the scratch, and that was very successful.

Anyhow, we gave a twist on the topping: Arugula and mozzarella with a bit of anchovy topped off with eggs; caramelized onion with mushroom and gorgonzola; and of course the classic basil and oregano (Thanks Dagmar for your comment!). The anchovy was too strong that it almost killed it completely. Caramelized onion and mushroom is such a gorgeous match. Highly recommended.