Awarding Ceremony: Dishes for Niigata Rice

Hello! It is raining and cold today. I'm glad it didn't rain yesterday!!!

Yesterday, I attended an awarding ceremony. It was about the contest that asked for recipes which goes good with white rice of Niigata prefecture (rice is the principal product in Niigata).

As a special guest, Maron-san (famous food stylist) was invited to the ceremony, and he gave us some feedback! He was a friendly person like we see on TV! There were 255 entries, so I am glad that mine got a place! I took many pictures with him for a keepsake ;)

This time, we didn't have to cook, but chefs at the restaurant cooked our award winning recipes to try out. Mine is "Yam and Tomato Scrambled Egg" and received the yummy award!

Moreover, what surprised me was that I met the same lady for the 3rd time at this ceremony. Whenever I see her, I always feel like seeing my old friend! She is really a nice person. Also, I saw a lady who I met 3 years ago at the cheese contest. Isn't this amazing?

Then last but not least, my high school classmate was working at the reception desk! It was after more than 10 years to see her!!!
I think I was very right to take a day off from work yesterday :)

The prize for this award was $300 worth of sukiyaki beef! I don't cook sukiyaki at home, but I will this weekend when it arrived! Should be delicious ;)

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Stir-Fried Komatsuna and Crab Meat

Hi! Thanks for your concern! My cold is getting better after taking the cold medicine behind-the-counter :) It works when I don't expect that much, you know!

For lunch, I again had the $10 Fugu Chiri Nabe! The menu ends in February, so I was lucky to go there again!

Anyway, do you know komatsuna? It is called "Japanese mustard spinach" in the US supermarkets. I have a really easy & delicious recipe for you!

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Stir-Fried Komatsuna and Crab Meat

Difficulty: Very Easy
Time: 5min
Number of servings: 2

Ingredients:
200g (0.4lb.) komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach)
40g (1.4oz.) imitation crab sticks
cracked salt and pepper
2 tsp. sesame oil

Directions:
1. Cut komatsuna into bite-size and separate the stalks and leaves. Thinly tear up imitation crab sticks.
2. Heat sesame oil in a frying pan, and fry the komatsuna stalks until slightly softened.
3. Add the komatsuna leaves and the strips of imitation crab sticks in the pan and stir fry until leaves are wilted.
4. Season with cracked salt and pepper and serve.

You can substitute komatsuna with spinach. But you need to precook (boil) spinach to remove oxalic acid. Komatsuna contains less oxalic acid than spinach, so you can stir-fry without precooking.

My original recipe in Japanese is here.
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I had my eyelash extensions done again this evening! I just thought it costs almost the same as juke tower... Never mind!!!

I am going to take off from work and attend an awarding ceremony tomorrow! I hope it is something worth to attend...

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juke tower

Winter season came back again! The temp suddenly went down to 46F (8C). I see some cherry blossoms partly bloomed by mistake!

Anyway, besides Masseur Wellness (I'm still thinking), I want a water resistant MP3 player "juke tower" for my bathroom. It is battery powered and you can set your own USB memory stick containing your favorite music and play! What is good about it is that it is small enough to fit right in with shampoo bottles :) It is available in white, pink, red, and black. Don't you think it's cool? The price is about $100.

There are too many stuff I want!
Hmm... I need to think think and think... and sometimes I don't buy :(
I wish I could have enough money to get what I want when I want!

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