it's already a week into May!!!

 

Hello.

The wisteria in our neighbourhood park has started to bloom.

It's finally getting warmer (or rather, hot when the sun is shining) and it's the season when you want to sit outside and have a cup of tea.

An-an is doing well today, too.

Although Children's Day on 5 May has already passed, we will continue to make Kashiwa Mochi.

I saw on a Youtube news programme that during Golden Week in Japan, there was a huge crowd of tourists from overseas and domestic tourists during Golden Week. As usual, the Japanese yen seems to be flying low, and shopping in the UK is strictly forbidden to be converted into Japanese yen. You won't be able to buy anything 💦.

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This month's sweets.

Strawberry Daifuku

We make lots of these with delicious British strawberries!

Kashiwa Mochi

Koshi An (sweet red bean paste)

Miso-an

Yomogi tsubu-an

Young sweetfish

A sweetfish snack for early summer.

An-an's young sweetfish has yuzu-flavoured gyuhi inside.

　

We would like to make as many strawberry shortcakes and strawberry mille crepes as possible, but the cakes on display change from day to day. 

We are also currently taking orders for birthday cakes and anniversary cakes.

Please book early as cakes will be ready 7 days after we receive your order.

For reservations, please contact info@an-an.co.uk.

Basic prices (as of May 2024): 8" (20cm) shortcake ￡40, mille crepe ￡43. Additional charges apply for the use of matcha green tea and special fruits. A box fee is also added for Take Away.

For more information on the range of cakes, see Instagram.

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From the 21st to the 31st of this month, TOTO will be holding an event at their showroom in London, and they will be using an-an's Japanese sweets.

Oh, I think I need more explanations....

TOTO is famous for its Washlet. Yes, in the film "Perfect Days", which was also released in the UK this spring, there are many scenes where Koji Yakusho, who plays the leading role, is carefully cleaning the washlet.

TOTO said, they would like to invite a gardener to their showroom in London to create a Karesansui (dry landscape garden), where they would like to entertain their guests with an-an's three-coloured dango and tea. "How many dumplings would you like?" I asked him,

TOTO "300 dumplings"
an-an: "Oh, that's fine. If it's that many, we made them when we had a stall at the Japan Festival." 

So I visited the showroom in London. They showed us illustrations of their plans and told us that they could offer the guests freshly steamed three-coloured dangos during the event. 
So, business was concluded.

And a few days later.
TOTO: "It looks like 300 dumplings won't be enough, can you order 600?"
an-an: "Eh? Ah, well, we have made them before when we had a stall at Hyper Japan, so I think we'll be fine."

And a week later.
TOTO: "I was able to borrow a freezer to store the three-coloured dumplings before steaming.And it looks like it can hold 1,000 dumplings, so can I have 1,000 dumplings please?"
an-an: "............. One, I will make it (I haven't experienced this number yet 💧 Oh, dear...)."

And then an issue arises: can we get enough materials for 1,000 dangos?

To be continued in the next blog.

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And the information about the event will be this image. Everyone is welcome.

Many people want to bring the Japanese toilets by themselves...

There installation problem, and many people may have given up.

This is an opportunity to ask an expert. 

Please visit this event!.

February is a busy month!

 It's February!

According to the calendar, it's already spring.

Hum... the illustrations in my calendar are still very winter💦.

I could have found something warmer, like plum blossoms or Japanese nightingales.

I'm sorry, but I've been thinking to myself.

So on Saturday, the 3rd, we will be rolling a lot of ehomaki for Setsubun, the Japanese New Year's Eve.

Have you ordered your rolls yet?

If you would like to eat them as ehoumaki without cutting them, please request "do not cut" when you place your order.

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Now, February is Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day.

This Tuesday, six weeks before Easter, is Pancake Day, a day to use up eggs and milk before Lent, yet an-an is taking on a new challenge.

For some time, customers have been asking us about it, but we have been avoiding it for lack of opportunities.

The other day I practised and managed to get the fluffy mouth feel of a soufflé pancake for the fourth time, so I'm going to give it a go, although the shape is a bit unique. It is difficult to cook, and difficult soufflé pancakes that sink and lose their thickness as you just put butter on them or pour maple syrup on them. Let's give it a go.

Serving starts at 9.30 on the day.

We will start making the pancakes after we receive your order, so it may take a lot of time. Please understand. We will try to make as many soufflé pancakes as we can until closing time.

As well as butter and maple syrup, we are aiming for banana & chocolate, berries & cream and apple & toffee.... maybe, maybe...

I'll keep you posted on the details until the day of the event!

If we get it right on the day, we may continue with the soufflé pancakes the following day, Valentine's Day.

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On Thursday 15 Feb, we will close at 3.00pm.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

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On Sunday 18 Feb, we will be running a calligraphy workshop. More details on the Facebook event page. It's £15 per person and will run from 1pm-3pm. To register, please visit the Facebook event page.

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A Japanese sweets workshop or Japanese afternoon tea is planned for around the end of February. We will start accepting bookings as soon as the schedule is finalised, so please look forward to it - 💓

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So, be safe and healthy with Eho-maki this year.

It is almost spring... Setsubun with Ehomaki

There's a hell of a storm blowing across the UK here, I hope you're all OK.

In Brighton, due to the wind direction, the warm winds are coming in from the south, and we are having a bit of warm rain, which is a change from last week's freezing temperatures.

So, Setsubun is coming soon, and we will be making Keihomaki again this year, as we have received requests. We have four types of ehoumaki filled with seven delicious ingredients so that everyone can take in a lot of good fortune. Let's celebrate Setsubun by eating ehoumaki and mame-maki to bring in good fortune.

This year, on Saturday 3 February, the direction of blessings is

Slightly east of East-northeast 

Good luck finding it💦.

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Kaisen, ehoumaki £12

(Sushi prawns, squid, salmon, tobiko, smoked mackerel, seasticks and cucumber)

This made with some raw fish.

Classic ehoumaki £11

(Sushi prawns, smoked mackerel, cucumber, dashimaki tamago, dried tofu, seasticks and dried shiitake mushrooms)

Salad ehoumaki* £11

(Fried prawns, dashimaki tamago, lettuce, cucumber, kaiware daikon, carrot and spinach)

Veggie ehoumaki* £9

(Dashimaki Tamago, Koya-tofu, Cucumber, Spinach, Grilled red pepper, Dried shiitake mushroom, Dried radish)

*Vegetarian and vegan ehomaki can also be made using avocado and inari-age.

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If you make a reservation, you can pick up your food from 12.00 on 3 February until 5.00 pm.
If you wish to pick up before 12.00 pm, please specify a specific time.

Four types of ehomaki, each containing seven ingredients (seven gods of good fortune), will be sold uncut.

Face the direction of blessing and eat without talking so that the good fortune does not spill out of your mouth.

That's all.

We will prepare as many ingredients as possible, but we recommend ordering as far as possible by 2 February, the day before, as we may sell out.

You can be sure that your order will be placed by texting the café's phone number. We will send back a confirmation text as soon as we receive it.

Let's welcome spring in good health this year!

Since it's Saturday, you can also colour in devil's masks and make your own origami sampo~.

Happy New Year, 2004!

 This year, 2024 is,

Year of the Dragon🐉

It's cool!

But here's the illustration for the shop's calendar.

Click on it to enlarge it.

We hope it makes you feel warm and smily.

First of all, I would like to wish those who have suffered disasters and accidents since New Year's Day in Japan a speedy recovery and a little bit of life back to normal. We extend our condolences to those who have lost loved ones.

Even from within Japan, the infrastructure has collapsed and aid is not reaching us, so I think we will have to wait a little longer for aid from overseas. The Noto Peninsula and the surrounding coastal areas of Japan were one of the places I wanted to travel to, partly because of the opening of the Shinkansen bullet train. I made up my mind that I would definitely go there when the areas recover, while making a small donation now.

Thinking about this makes me think more and more that I need to travel to Japan soon. My hometown, Kobe, has also recovered after the earthquake, but the old, coasy downtown of Kobe has gone. The earthquake reconstruction has improved the earthquake resistance and safety, but on the other hand, I feel that my favourite Japanese townscape of the Showa era is now only in my memory.

I suddenly realise that this year will be 30 years since I came to the UK. With the help of everyone around me, my children have grown up and my youngest is reaching the age of 18.

I hope to be able to pass on to the younger generation what I have been helped with. Life goes around. I never forget to be grateful and thankful.

I guess this is my resolution for this year.

So, I look forward to seeing you again this year.

Brighton WaCafe an-an, Noriko

New Year's Day 2024
on the 8th.(a week late💦)

Community Party at Japanese garden at Hammersmith Park

Thank you to all those who came to yesterday's event at Hammersmith Park.

I found leftovers of the last batch of Mizu Yokan I made at the last minutes and I was rewarding myself.

It was fun to talk to all kinds of people in a relaxed atmosphere as it was a community festival.

Thank you to all the customers who told me how delicious the food was. Your comments are my driving force 💓.

Last year we sold out in a little over an hour, so this time we tried our best and brought 2.5 times as many wagashi as last year, but they really sold out in 2.5 hours.

The photo above was borrowed from the Embassy of Japan and the Japan Society.

I had asked my husband to take lots of photos, but once we started, I couldn't move for a long time and concentrated on packing the boxes.

I feel really sorry for the customers who had to wait in line and ran out of Japanese sweets. The people from the Japan Society are planning to organise some kind of event in the near future! We hope they will come up with something soon! We'll leave it at that.

I was worried about the rain forecast, which had come out just before the event, but it only sprinkled a little. Finally, I returned home to Brighton with a dazzling sunset.

Now, let's do our best to get the laundry and washing up done.

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Cafe an-an will be taking a week's Summer holiday from tomorrow. The next working day will be Tuesday 14, from 9am. Please note that we will be open from 9.00am on Tuesday 15.

🙇‍♀️

July Newsletter

Half of the year is now over and we hope you are enjoying this summer free from Corona.

an-an now has plans to pitch a stall at fairs and markets after so many years of absence. It's Japanese confectionery, Wagashi again. We are excited as we stearing the anko (bean paste) full of a huge sauce pan.

This Saturday, 8 July, I will hold a stall at the Summer Festival at Maeda Gakuen, a kindergarten ground in Acton, London.

If you are in the area, please drop by.

There will be a raffle and the prizes are amazing.

We will also have a stall at the Japanese Garden Festival in Hammersmith Park, Shepherd's Bush, London, on 6 August. This is organised by the Japanese Consulate and the London Japan Society and there will be lots of family activities to take part in. It's just a short walk from Westfield Shopping Centre, so please come along if you fancy.

Well, let's get on with this month!

My first ever football match! (what an eventfull night!!!)

Yes, I've lived in the UK for 28 years and this was my first time.

I finally got to watch my local Premier League team, Brighton Albion, play a football match at the Amex Studios!

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It all started when cafe regular Ms I said, "I have one ticket left over and I'm looking for someone to go with me. Are you interested?"  She also said it was because the match last September was postponed due to the death of Queen Elizabeth.

In fact, I've always wanted to see him play in person one day, as I was fortunate enough to have a connection with the support team of Mr. Mitoma and even received a signed uniform from him! However, Brighton Albion is strong this year and their popularity was exploding, and there were various restrictions on buying tickets. Moreover, the games were only at weekends and they were all sold out.

When I had half given up, I thought it was fate. It's true. The kick-off was at 7.30pm on a weekday night when I can just close the café and go to the stadium. I did not think another opportunity like this!

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As the day got closer, I found out that the match was a derby against A23's arch-rivals Crystal Palace, and everyone I spoke to said, "The first match you ever see in your life is a derby match, isn't that amazing?" and laugh bitterly. As I heard about the 'more things' in the past, I was reminded of what so-called British hooliganism is all about. It all ends with, "Well, that was an old story, though."

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On the day of the event, Chris, another regular who lives near the café, and his two sons agreed to go with us, so we met in front of the café to catch a train from the station, which was a minute's walk away. The first train was already full and we couldn't get on, so we took the next train down to Brighton station.

I was stunned.

There was already a long queue and we couldn't even get close to the platform for the train to the nearest station to the Amex Stadium. Anyway, there were police officers everywhere. And they are very heavily armed. I began to realise the seriousness of the situation.

Chris looked into my face and said, "This isn't usually like this. Normally you can change trains quickly and there aren't this many policemen."  I gradually understood the meaning of the smile one the previous day.

Brighton station was split up so that Palace fans and Albion fans didn't have to face each other. You'd think they were all happily singing Chant, but then it would escalate and end up in an abusive Chant that put down the Palace side. I did not want to see any Palace fans here. Chris was trying desperately  to stop his two sons to join the Chant while he looked after us not to get lost. I was soooo glad this English gentleman was with us. Otherwise... we did not make to the Stadium. 

And there was a moment when I felt this situation with nostalgy. What was it? What was it? This group of complete strangers, queuing up towards a single aim, crammed into a crowded train, and yet still happily engaged in conversation each other.

Ahhhh... It's Comicon. I thought that people are really same when it comes to the things they like. All were happy, anyway.

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Well, when I got to the stadium, watched over by a queue of police officers, it was already 10 minutes into the game started. After an hour and 15 minutes of queuing at Brighton station, Chris's face was so pale when he realised the train wasn't going to make it... It was unlucky. I really thought there was going to be a riot. Then we were lucky nothing happened.

It was hard to find our seats, so I just sat down in empty seats and said, "Oh, there's Mr. Mitoma over there", and when I pointed to him, he suddenly assisted in front of the goal. And just like that, Mr. March...

Goooooooaled!

The timing was so good that Mis I and I were screaming with joy for a while. It was so cool that we didn't mind going home at this point! It made our day! We believed that they were waiting for us. Thank you! 

After that, a lot of things happened during the game: there were two explosions from the Palace cheering side and a lot of smoke, the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and all the players were slipping and sliding around (including Mr. Mitoma...). There were two power cuts, and when the referee sent all the players back to the bench immediately after the second power cut. "Will be there going to be another replay? With a lead?" But the game resumed five minutes later. I was relieved.

Despite all that happened, the players continued to play the match perfectly. They were really good!

In the end, after 10 minutes of extra time, Albion won the game. Yay!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I brought a chicken cutlet (勝つ Katsu＝Win)Futomaki Sushi from my lunch box to watch the game for good luck. It might have worked? (lol)

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After the game, as I had expected to queue to get on the train again under the watchful eyes of a large crowd of police officers. The rain didn't bother us. Even Chant, sung in a loud, droning voice, sounds like a scene from a musical. However, it always ended with the F-word, after all💦.　

An eventful first football match for me was an unforgettable experience.

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Thank you, Mis I, for giving me such a rare opportunity.

Thank you Chris & his two sons for leading and taking me there like gentlemen from start to finish.

And to all the Albion players, thank you for making my first viewing with a victory.

It was fun!