My latest Sweet Inspirations column shines the spotlight on the excellent modern confections made by the exceptional folks at Higashiya — especially those served at their store in Minami-Aoyama, which is called Higashiya Man.
Why the name? The story is up now on The Japan Times site here…
The full moon rises above the Tokyo skyline.
Since ancient times, the 15th night — jugoya in Japanese — of the September moon has been considered the most magical of all. All across Japan this is the evening for tsukimi (moon viewing).
Needless to say, there are plenty of special foods to mark the occasion, most of them sweet. Such as tsukimi manju (dumplings stuffed with sweet azuki bean paste), and a slew of other moon-themed confections.
Why the rabbits? All is explained in the latest newsletter from Elizabeth Andoh's excellent Taste of Culture (you can also sign up on her site for her cooking programs). Or head over to her Facebook page here…
Here's a screen grab as a taster…
But where to gaze at the moon if you're in central Tokyo?
You could do worse than check my Japan Times column tomorrow which is now up online here…
It's Unagi Day (again).
As posted previously, due to a quirk in the traditional calendar, the Day of the Ox falls twice within this year's midsummer doyo period. But second time around, everyone's a lot less hyped up about the occasion than they were on the first occasion (July 22). Myself included.
But I couldn't just ignore the weight of tradition, could I? So, instead of a full-scale meal of unagi kabayaki on rice, I decided to just tip my hat to the occasion with a light snack.
The perfect job for unagi-man.
No, it's is not some superhero or manga character along the lines of Kinnikuman or Anpanman,
It is in fact a nikuman-style steamed bun (manju in Japanese; baozi in Chinese), but stuffed with unagi eel, instead of the more usual pork or other meat. Five minutes in the steamer was all it needed...
It was pretty good, though (inevitably) the unagi filling was sweeter than I'd prefer — and it could have used some sansho to give it extra pep.
As you can see from the poster above, I got my unagi-man at my local Kinokuniya supermarket. Here's another source:
Happy New (lunar) Year of the Snake.
Instead of heading down to Chinatown to watch the festivities and then to feast, we decided to stay home and celebrate the occasion by adding a few (Japanese accented) Chinese dishes to our dinner...
Gong hei fat choi to one and all!
The stall outside Selan on Itcho Namiki-dori — a.k.a. Ginkgo Avenue — was selling special Ginkgo leaf-viewing snacks... nikuman buns...
…and pirosihiki (the Japanese version of pirozhki)…
…plus beni-kotobuki sweet potatoes, kept toasty-warm under heat lamps.
This is what everyone came to see... The display is over for this year, but mark your calendar if you're around Tokyo in early December — it's spectacular!
And this is the place to sit and contemplate them. Cafe Speira is closer to the trees, and quieter than Selan — though you do see plenty of tour bus action. A nice place to sit outside in early summer too.
Update: Since April of 2012, this vanue has changed its identity and is now called Shared Terrace Gaien Ichonamiki. It's run by the Afternoon Tea (part of the Sazaby group) which in my view is a good thing.
Food writer and restaurant reviewer for the Japan Times contact: foodfile (at) me (dot) com
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