Okonomiyaki is one of my favorite Japanese foods. Its a pancake type food, made from a batter of egg, flour, water and cabbage, fried up with veggies and meat, served with mayo and a dark/sweet sauce (and, unfortunately seaweed and fish flakes). This week, without planning it or anything, i ate Okonomiyaki nearly everyday.
Monday night i decided to make it at home for the first time. It was absolutely delicious. So delicious that i enjoyed the leftovers the next day for lunch. Then Tuesday evening, after shopping with Keiko, she convinced me to go to her house and scrounge up something to eat. Her mom laid a full dinner, of course, complete with okonomiyaki. Wednesday night i was in a rush to get to japanese class and had no time to buy groceries, so of course its Okonomiyaki again. And, since leftovers are like my rule at lunch, it was okinomiyaki lunch on Thursday. By this point i was a little less thrilled about my plans to have okinomiyaki with Keiko and Takashi, another teacher, on Friday night.
Luckily Thursday with the J-gparents was a break from okinomiyaki to make another of my favorite Japanese foods (kind of): GYOZA!!! Keiko and I got to learn how to properly stuff the wonton dough and fold it, and all together i think we made over 200 gyoza for 5 people. Seriously. But since dinner was nothing but gyoza and soup, it worked out okay. And i somehow beat through the veil of my post-gyoza food coma to remember to take a picture!Monday night i decided to make it at home for the first time. It was absolutely delicious. So delicious that i enjoyed the leftovers the next day for lunch. Then Tuesday evening, after shopping with Keiko, she convinced me to go to her house and scrounge up something to eat. Her mom laid a full dinner, of course, complete with okonomiyaki. Wednesday night i was in a rush to get to japanese class and had no time to buy groceries, so of course its Okonomiyaki again. And, since leftovers are like my rule at lunch, it was okinomiyaki lunch on Thursday. By this point i was a little less thrilled about my plans to have okinomiyaki with Keiko and Takashi, another teacher, on Friday night.
Yoshiko, Keiko, and Donata (an elementary ALT who used to teach at my school)
Then tonight i was saved from day five of okinomiyaki when the aforementioned restaurant was closed - although to tell you the truth i was still excited about okonomiyaki. Even just saying it is fun. Luckily the alternative was fabulous: my first ever Japanese buffet. I'm disappointed in myself for failing to get photos, but the spread was amazing. We're talking sushi, raw meat (for korean barbeque at the table!), chinese dishes, pastas and meatballs, fried snacks (french fries, gyoza, tempura shrimp, takoyaki, fried chicken, etc.), salad bar, fruit section, massive drink bar, and a dessert corner featuring at least 10 different cakes and a cooler of ice cream!!! 6 different hand-scoopable flavors. It was pretty heavenly and turned out to be a fun excursion.
My favorite thing about nights/weeks like these is that what i think is one event (ie: me going to Keiko's for a quick bite, dinner with Takashi, Donata joining us for Thursday dinner...) is really just the beginning of a tradition. Keiko's mother and father have now started planning a time for me to go with them to make pottery and welcome me for dinner whenever i don't have enough food in my house. Takashi said next time we have dinner he'll make sure the okonomiyaki place is open first. Donata, Yoshiko, Keiko and I have high hopes of a girls night at Cannery Row in the near future. And this is just a handful of examples. Every day it seems someone knew wants to let me into their life. And feed me :)
**recently i have been notified about the rudeness of using others' photos on my blog without properly crediting them. Apologies to anyone offended. i meant no harm, only put up the pictures to help explain to readers at home what was meant by okonomiyaki and gyoza. If you're confused you'll have to figure it out on your own **
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