There was no day that I didn't eat rice during my stay in Japan.
My mother cooked
Kuri-gohan, or rice with chestnuts. My favorite! The combination of simple steamed rice;
Tamago-yaki, or a Japanese rolled omelette; and
Miso soup for breakfast was very traditional.
Healthy mixed grain rice, or
Zakkokumai with
Miso soup and fermented soybeans, or Natto together made a power breakfast!
Seasoned steamed rice with chicken, mushrooms, and carrots, which my mother cut in Japanese maple (
Momiji) leaf shape, was the main dish for dinner.
Miso soup was a perfect side dish.
Sprinkling dried mixed seasoning, or
Furikake over rice was a little trick to make simple steamed rice special. The
Furikake was the mixture of several kinds of dried fish and seaweeds. So good! Next time when I go back to Japan, perhaps I should bring the kind of
Furikake here. J would like it, maybe?
Of course, sushi's foundation is rice! I had
Futomaki for lunch.
Also, I had
Inari-sushi for another lunch. The
Inari-sushi from a particular shop in the local department store has been my best
Inari-sushi for years.
It seemed I asked my mother to make the same dishes whenever I come back to Japan these days, for example,
Oyako-Dombri - chicken and egg rice bowl simmered with soy-sauce based sweet savory sauce along with onion and
Shiitake-mushroom, garnished with
Mitsuba, or Japanese wild parsley.
It's almost true that I am made of rice!
