Friday, March 17, 2006

sakura

For some reason, Blogger’s system was down and I couldn’t get onto my blog...I was finally able to get on.

The weather the past week went from rainy to sunny, back to rainy...on top of that, cherry blossom season is almost here. Unfortunately, I will be going to Hawaii next week. The weatherforecasters predict the cherry blossoms to start blooming the day after I leave. “You can’t have it all”, my Grandmother would say. This is true, but at least I can enjoy the food before I go, right?

During cherry blossom season, many people save spaces under the cherry trees to have big picnic parties sometimes running late into the evenings. To sit under the cherry tree and view the blossoms is called hanami. Viewing them at night is called yozakura.

Companies, college groups and families usually send a person to save a space for their picnic. (The companies and college groups usually send the person lowest on the totem pole.) These people have to go REALLY early in the morning to save a space. If you walk through a park that has cherry trees early in the morning, you’ll notice plastic blue tarp lying under every cherry tree and the person who had to save the space sleeping on it. (Although, if it looks like a tent, then that's a homeless persons "home".)

Anyway, if you are ever in Japan during this season it is very beautiful. Sitting under the pink-ness of the cherry blossoms, eating your hanami bento (cherry blossom viewing boxed lunch), eating hanami dango (rice cakes on a skewer colored in the pink, white and green), drinking some sake, wine or tea all the while enjoying the conversation and company of good friends/family. There are even some who set up their karaoke machine to sing a little. Don't worry, even if you go alone, you'll still have a great time, just to see everyone having a nice time is kind of relaxing. (Be warned though: some people ruin this atmosphere by not being able to handle their alcohol(or knowing when to stop drinking), getting really sick and well, you get the picture.)

Still, for the most part, this is a very cheery time. After a drab, colorless winter, the soft pink flowers paired with a nice sunny day, is a nice way to welcome spring. And towards the end of the season, as the petals start to flutter off the trees, this is yet another wonderful experience.

Today, I bought a bento from Yonehachi. They are known for their okowa (steamed mochi rice (glutinous rice) with different toppings). Okowa is also known as sekihan. Sekihan is glutinous rice (mochi rice) with red adzuki beans which is made usually for celebratory occasions. When you buy Yonehachi's boxed lunches you are allowed to choose your okowa. (At their counter they have the boxed lunches all lined up next to about 5 different okowa.) I chose okowa with octopus, one with chestnuts & red beans and one with sakura flowers (cherry blossom steamed rice) and veggies. The cherry blossoms used in decorating food items are salted and preserved. This boxed lunch was very filling and delicious!

I also got hanami dango (rice cakes on a skewer colored in pink, white and green) by Fukujudo-hidenobu, a local Japanese confectioner in Tezukayama. They have a sales counter in the Daimaru Umeda store. Inside the pink rice cake is a sweet red bean paste the outside is coated with a rough sugar-like topping, the white rice cake has a sweet white bean paste and the green rice cake’s outside is made from yomogi(mugwort) and the inside has a sweet red bean paste. The rice cake was so soft and yummy!

I saw these Sakura macarons on their website and wanted to try them. I had never had macarons before, since they are rather expensive. These were made by a Kyoto confectioner, Malebranche. This was really tasty and not too sweet (are they supposed to be this big?). The macaron is coated with a little cherry liquer, the flavor isn't very strong, very light, inside, there is a light cherry flavored whipped cream at the bottom, raspberries and a pannecotta fills the middle. On the top there is a preserved cherry blossom and powdered sugar.

It was quite a foodie day.

Well, hopefully the weather will improve over the next week and warms up enough for me to see the tulips that I planted, bloom before I go...

Have a nice weekend!

18 comments:

Journal Actif said...

I'd love to see cherry trees blossoming in Japan someday. It must be quite a spectacle for the senses.
May be the science of predicting the trees' flowering time is not that exact and may be you'll get a chance to see it the day before you leave.
Now I'm hungry for japanese food!

Anonymous said...

Would be so nice to do something like this, sit under a blossomed tree. SO tell me, when is the best time to come to Japan? ANd you going to Hawai? Does not sound bad to me! ;-)

Anonymous said...

I don't know what I enjoyed reading more: your descriptions of the beautiful cherry blossom picnics (esp. of the person stuck sleeping on the tarp!), or of the bento from Yonehachi. Lovely and delicious!

Have a wonderful weekend!

K and S said...

Hi Zoubida,

Yes, I'm hoping that the weather will warm up so that I can see some blooms!

Hi Bea,

Best times to come to Japan is April/May and October/November. Summer is the worst time because it is very humid and very HOT!

Hi Tania,

Did I make you smile?

Thanks for stopping by!

Kat & Satoshi

Anonymous said...

Hi Kat,

You know I recently saw "Memoirs of a Geisha" and there is a scene in the movie where the cherry trees are all in bloom and it is breathtaking.

Will you be posting a photo of the cherry blossoms? That would be so beautiful!

We used to have a cherry tree in our backyard and the blossoms were white. It was so sad when my father had to take it down.

As always Kat you have such a special way of presenting beautiful cultural practices that make them so real!

Thanks for sharing that.

K and S said...

Hi Ivonne,

Thank you for your very kind words. If I'm not able to see the cherry blossoms before I go, I'll post a photo that I took 2-3 years ago.

Have a nice weekend.

bourgogne said...

i love sekihan mostly because it is a thing that reminds me of home growing up. (i usually need to add something to it which perplexed my mum).

K and S said...

Hi Bourgogne,

I like sekihan too because it has beans in it. Will definitely have to try to make it myself sometime.

Kat & Satoshi

p.s. what did you have to add that perplexed your mum?

Darlaing said...

wow you're fast! I JUST posted about avocado bread, and already have a comment from you!!

I think it is cool the Japanese have different words for viewing the cherry blossoms-- that shows it's an important part of the culture. Also, those macaroons look SOOO good!

K and S said...

Hi Darlamay,

Sometimes I think I may have too much time on my hands...

The macaron was really good. Starbucks in Japan has a chocolate one, will have to try it.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Kat & Satoshi

Anonymous said...

Kat,
We have some cherry blossom trees blooming here but I would really love to see them in Japan! That sakura macaron sounds delicious!
I have a question: have you heard of sakura liqueur? I had heard of sakura ice cream some time ago and that it was made with dried cherry blossoms or sakura liqueur, but I have not had any success tracking these ingredients down. Or would they perhaps just cherry flavor like for the macarons?

P.S. This is Anita - Blogger does not seem to be allowing me to put my name in!

K and S said...

Hi Anita,

Sorry you can't log onto Blogger.
The sakura macaron was really good.

I had never heard of sakura liquer until you asked. I searched on Yahoo Japan by putting in the chinese characters for cherry blossoms and alcohol. And it came up with "Kirsch Wasser". Maybe you can find this in your local store?

Have a nice weekend.

Kat & Satoshi

bourgogne said...

all kinds of stuff that doesn't usually go with sekihan like the umeboshi sprinkles (i don't know what that is called), flavored nori. i wish i could find the sticky rice here. i have to go to paris to get stuff like that. (but i haven't gotten that yet :))

K and S said...

Hi Bourgogne,

The umeboshi sprinkles might be ume furikake. In Hawaii, when we were growing up my mom would buy a 25lb. bag of rice. If you can get some in Paris, you'd be set for awhile...

Kat & Satoshi

Anonymous said...

Hello Bourgogne,

thank you very much for remembering me of the sakura. Last year at his time I'd been with a friend in Japan to chase the cherry blossom - by car driving from Kyoto to Tokyo the old streets over the Alps. That were two very inspiring weeks full of nice people and great stays in some Ryokans with sensational food. Unfortunately the cherry blossom just started when we left Kyoto and already ended when arriving in Tokyo - so we missed the parties. But on our last day whole Tokyo was full of flying cherry blossoms like snowflakes and butterflies - unforgettable. I am looking forward to come back to Japan at any time, its wondeful there,

K and S said...

Hi Sebastian,

Yes, the blooms of the cherry blossoms are nice to see. But the fluttering of the petals towards the end of the season is also very beautiful.

Hope you can make it back to Japan soon.

Kat & Satoshi

Anonymous said...

Oh, oh - sorry for confusing your names, Kat & Satoshi, and thank you for understanding whom I meant. Must be sakura-fever.

K and S said...

No problem Sebastian!

Kat