What is the one constant not just during Oshogatsu but throughout the whole year?
It’s not the toshi-koshi soba which
is usually only consumed right before the turning of the New Year. Sure, we may
consume soba during the year but not
with any regularity. It’s not the lobster or shrimp that symbolizes a long
life. And if you are consuming lobster on a regular basis throughout the year,
you probably aren’t reading this column. No, it’s also not the traditional osechi ryori cuisine laborious prepared
before the end of the year to last the first 3 days of the New Year. Unless we
want to be kitchen slaves for the rest of the year spending one week to prepare
meals that last just 3 days. And we don’t keep our kadomatsu or kagami mochi
adorning our homes throughout the rest of the year.
But most of us do have rice or a rice based products
adorning our dining tables throughout the year and just as the Nichi Bei Weekly
has kept the community connected, informed and empowered, so too has rice kept
the family connected as daily sustenance.
An Admission
I’ll fess up. I don’t consume rice anywhere as near in
the same volume as I used to. Partly because whenever I cook rice, I don’t
portion control my servings to eat just until I’m not hungry anymore. I
literally eat until I’m full. And because rice is the perfect accompaniment to
saltier items like furikake, shoyu based foods, tsukemono or even Spam, I’m consuming larger portions of side
dishes that aren’t exactly healthy options. So rice is cooked in the Tatsumoto
household maybe once every two to three weeks at most. In fact, those two 5
pound bags or freshly milled Hokkaido
rice I purchased from The Rice Factory back in May that was supposed to be
consumed by July for optimum flavor are still in my refrigerator – the Koshihikari is almost gone but the 50% Yumepirika is still about half full.
And the other reason why rice isn’t consumed regularly in
our household is the J-O-B. For starters, I normally leave the house about 5:45am
and don’t return until about 5pm. That leaves me about 3 hours for post-work
activities including cooking and eating dinner. Because rice needs to soak at
least 30 minutes and takes another 30 minutes to cook and steam, that leaves
only 2 hours to eat and get ready for the next workday. So we usually consume
either sandwiches or meals prepared over the weekend that don’t require rice as
the starch. But I still indulge in rice based “foods” on a regular basis.
The Fermented
Grain
Though we all refer to that elixir produced when steamed
rice is allowed to ferment as rice wine, the production of sake is closer to that of beer production. However, the multiple
steps required including polishing the rice grain down to just a fraction of
its original size (seimaibuai) along
with creating the koji starter,
preparing the shubo, the moromi and sandan shikomi make sake
production as elaborate if not more so than Champagne production.
So while I always have a glass (or masu if it’s available) of sake
at the stroke of midnight at the end of the year, I also enjoy sake throughout the year whether it’s a junmai for heartier dishes, ginjo for lighter foods or a daiginjo for refined cuisine. And I’m
not particular whether the sake is
honjozo with added brewer’s alcohol that gives sake a slightly longer shelf life and consistent flavor or junmai sake which simply contains rice,
water, yeast and koji. And I recently
have added nama-zake or unpasteurized
sake to my list of sake that I enjoy for their fresh, lively
flavors and fragrant aromas. And I still also keep a bottle or two of nigori or unfiltered sake around as I feel they pair
perfectly with spicier Asian cuisine due to the touch of inherent sweetness
from the particulates in the sake.
And I always have several bottles of awamori in my pantry – not as much to imbibe but as a cooking agent
as this Okinawan cousin of traditional shochu
is primarily made from rice but distilled to create a final beverage with 24%
(versus 16 to 17% in sake). Since shochu
can also be produced from barley, sweet potatoes, buckwheat and brown sugar, I
find that the final distillate from these foods give the liquor a much stronger
flavor whereas a distillate made from rice still gives it the flavor of sake just at a higher “octane” level. So
I use awamori to deglaze my cooking
vessels for Japanese cuisine, as a marinade for Asian foods and though I don’t
consume it as is, I also use it for various Asian inspired cocktails. And the
slightly higher alcohol level gives it a longer shelf life than sake after the bottle is opened.
And while I usually reach for that bottle of ginjo or daiginjo sake first, I’ve
also been known to occasionally indulge in Berkeley based Takara Sake’s
flavored sake, namely their Hana Fuji
Apple and Hana Lychee flavored sake.
With very low alcohol (8%) and mildness sweetness, these pair with the spiciest
of Asian cuisines and also are great to mix with vodka or other liqueur for
fruit based cocktails. Takara Sake also distributes a sparkling sake – Mio Sparkling Sake that’s also very low in alcohol
(5%) with subtle sweetness that pairs perfectly with spicy tuna sushi.
The Tradition that
Binds
So while consuming rice or mochi at the turn of the New Year may not keep the family together,
keeping these traditions alive does so more than that simple grain as it makes
us reflect on the past. Remembering those before us who shaped us and made us
become who we are today. And it also doesn’t hurt to occasionally put away
those electronic devices, especially during mealtime. I’ll admit that I’m as
guilty as the next when I feverishly photograph dishes served to me but I will
put the phone down once the photo is snapped and re-engage with those who share
my table. As the Japanese saying goes, Ichi
go, Ichi e or one time, one meeting literally translated as one chance in a
lifetime. Though we may share the same table with the same friends or family,
every occasion is unique and once it passes, it’s gone. So live for the moment.
And though I don’t consume as much rice as I used to,
here’s my Obaachan’s recipe for sekihan. I’ve always enjoyed sekihan – my Mom said it’s because I’m
half Kumamoto-ken where beans are a
favored menu item. Something about the earthy qualities of the azuki beans makes it pair with a variety
of okazu from fresh raw tamago to yatsumi-zuke from the old Tropics Market to one of my faves… unagi. Yes, there’s no fresh unagi in the 50th but even
that canned Hamanako unagi or vacuum
sealed from the former Shirokiya or Marukai Markets on hot sekihan seems to right all the wrongs in the universe…
Sekihan
3 cups mochi
rice
2 cups regular rice
1 tsp sea salt
½ cup azuki
beans, soaked overnight
Black sesame seeds (optional)
Boil the soaked adzuki beans for 30 minutes. Drain but
reserve the cooking water. Wash the mochi
and regular rice then add the reddish cooking water from the azuki beans to the usual water level.
Add the sea salt and let sit for at least 30 minutes. Add the drained azuki beans to the soaked rice and cook
the rice as usual letting it steam on low for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve sprinkled
with sesame seeds.
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