Before that, here's our Thanksgiving dinner:We don't get turkeys in Japan (unless we're looking to order one to be delivered) and even if we did, we don't really have the microwave space to cook it in. We did learn how to use our microwave as an oven, though. Apparently, you can put metal in the microwave when using the oven settings.
Our meal consisted of chicken, corn on the cob (from Hokkaido, Japan's northern-most island...where all the wheat, corn and cows grow), a butter croissant and mashed potatoes with creamy chicken-mushroom dressing.
It was just the two of us, so this was more than enough food. After dinner, Toshiko visited for tea and sweets.
Monday was Japanese Labor Thanksgiving. It's not a major
holiday, but Nat had the day off. One of her coworkers (who also happens to be our neighbor) went fishing earlier in the day and offered some of his fish to us. The three near-identical looking fish are horse mackerel and the reddish one is sea bream. The sea bream's fins are spiny and it has sharp teeth.This was my first time to clean or fillet a fish. I think I did pretty well, but I know I could have done a lot better. The first day, we ate two of the mackerel. I made a mixture of yellow miso paste, crushed garlic, grated ginger and sake. I spread the mixture over the fillets and pan fried them for a couple minutes, flipped 'em, fried them for a minute more and they were done! Mmmm!
The next day, we ate the other two fish. This time, I rubbed salt, pepper, paprika and thyme into the fillets and marinated them in olive oil and sake (white wine would work just as well, but all we had in the house was red wine and sake). They only need to marinade for half an hour to an hour. If you have other things to prepare for the meal, just let them marinate while you get everything else ready. Chop up half an onion and some garlic and start frying them in some alive oil. Place the fillets on top of the garlic and onions, skin-side down. Fry for two to three minutes and flip for one last minute. Delicious.
Sunday, we went hiking to see a waterfall near Miyazu with some of the English conversation group members. I'm sorry to say we forgot to bring our camera, so you won't be able to see how awesome it was (unless Nat gets the pictures off of her cell phone). Afterward, we went to lunch and did some shopping.
Saturday (yes, I'm taking you backward through time), Nat made spaghetti carbonara and we invited another one of Nat's coworkers (also our neighbor) over for dinner and movies. I made garlic bread and a salad. We watched Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and Moulin Rouge.
I think that's all of the things that we haven't had a chance to tell you about yet. They're not huge events, but they're what's been keeping us busy for the past week. Tomorrow, we're going to see an exhibit of wood block prints. I'm excited.
Obviously, since American Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in Japan, Black Friday doesn't exist here, either. It also helps that Christmas isn't nearly as big of a holiday as it is in the west (though they do celebrate it...with KFC and cake, from what I'm told; apparently, western holidays are supposed to be celebrated with western food). I went shopping today just because I could do it without fear of being trampled or mugged in the parking lot. Be safe, everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we are both very thankful for all of you!
Mexican dahlias
(These are much taller than me.)
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