It's not all about the California Roll...

My Japanese culture is a great part of my life, especially when it comes to food. When someone first sees me, they don't see the Japanese qualities, because I am only 25 percent, but my family says I have the appetite of a full-blooded Japanese man. There are many traditions that my family partake that do not all take place during the holidays.

In the morning, my Japanese grandmother will wake up at 7:00am and cook three cups of rice. My grandmother is very persistent when it comes to her rice cleaning.  Instead of just throwing rice in the rice cooker and letting it cook, she spends about 15-20 minutes cleaning rice the old fashioned way--washing and rinsing, washing and rinsing, over and over again, then letting the rice settle for another 15 minutes. All of that hard work does not go unnoticed. Just myself, I can eat 3 cups of rice or more per day, so much rice that my grandmother had to teach me how to cook and clean rice the traditional way.

There are so many Japanese dishes that involve rice. One of my favorite dishes Ojiya, which is typically made with rice stewed in stock, often with egg, meat, seafood, vegetables or mushroom, and flavored with miso or soy. The way we make in our home is just rice with miso, a cracked egg, and green onion. The consistency is comparable to porridge or a soupy risotto. This dish is my "chicken noodle" soup when I am feeling ill.

 Unlike typical American families, where their meals are centered around meats of different sorts, my family tends to focus on our rice and then have numerous dishes, scattered around the table. These dinners are not eaten everyday--they don't happen until about New Years. A long growing tradition in my family and throughout Japan is Osechiryori. This meal consists of many different types of traditional Japanese dishes. Think of really big  bento boxes but the preparation is immaculate. My favorite item in the Osechi dish is the toshi-koshi soba which usually served at midnight on the New Year. In my family, this tradition just involves two people , myself, and my grandmother. At this time we talk about the great things that can come of the new year and things that we would not forget from the previous years. To me, this is one of my most cherished traditions, and will carry this on to my children.

Over the years, as my grandmother grows older (she is 84 now), she has been trying to pass on old recipes from when she was living in Japan. Now days, there are many Japanese Americans who have either come to America or were born here, so it is typical to purchase pieces of Osechi pre-made or to buy the whole Osechi family dinner, which isn't for the faint of heart if you have a tight pocket. We have been making a few of our dishes at home and it wouldn't be unusual to find us in Central Market or Uwajimaya in Seattle, hunting for the rest of the traditional items.

As you can see, Japanese food consists more of just your mom and pop teriyaki and sushi restaurants. The food that I have grown up to love can now be found in many Asian districts around the world, but my favorite will always be the dishes that my grandmother has cooked for me and the family. Remember, when it comes to Japanese food, it's not always about the California Roll.