All the events for the 10th anniversary have been completed!

It was a hard schedule and a real challenge.

Why haven't you heard from me for the past two weeks?

Because I was burnt out.

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Well, what I want most right now is time to do nothing, but the time for a break will come soon, and I will do my best to do what I can only do now! So I'm just slowly lifting my hips.

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Just a quick digest, I'll post some photos from the 10th anniversary event. I also got a lot of photos and videos sent to me via insta-story. Thanks a lot.

  

Ahhhh, it was fun!!!

To those who participated in the various events, to those who sent me messages of congratulations, and to the An-an regulars and staff who broke my decision to let go of the cafe with all my heart.

Thank you so much.

I have been able to run the cafe for 10 years. I thought that was enough.

But I have made up my mind to continue An-an for a little while longer.

The business style may change a little, but I hope you will continue to support An-an in the future.

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So, without further ado, I will be offering a summer vacation wagashi making experience for children and older children at the end of this month. There is a limit on the number of participants, but please try the experience of making cute wagashi.

The slightly shorter 1.5 hour wagashi workshop (mini) comes with tea and sandwiches. We will also talk about wagashi, if you are interested.

For tickets, please click here.https://fienta.com/children-s-wagashi-workshop-with-noriko

We look forward to seeing you there.

It's almost.... (cafe an-an's 10th anniversary events report)

 It is now the middle of July.

We have been working almost nonstop since the start of An An Cafe's 10th anniversary event.

First, let me start with a report.

Thank you very much for participating in the 4-day wagashi workshop that started on June 14. A total of 16 people participated. Everyone seemed to enjoy the event and the response was great.

Next, we are planning a junior wagashi workshop for summer vacation.

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We cooked a lot of Takoyaki on the Takoyaki & Okonomiyaki buffet to eat octopus on June 20, the summer solstice.

And here are some photos from the event. (Photo from a customer. Thanks.)
Jumbo okonomiyaki with a diameter of 30 cm... but it doesn't look so big on the griddle💦.

This is the centerpiece of the day, omu-soba...although it lost its shape quickly.

I threw in a few stones for the Ghibli Week coming up later this month.

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And on my 21st birthday, I had a birthday party inviting staff and friends from 27Boundary road. Some of the staff had already gone back to Japan and some friends had lost touch with them, but a lot of people came and we had a lot of great conversations. (Here are also photos from customers and staff. A big thank you!}

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We took a week off to recharge our batteries here.

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After that, I got to sell Japanese sweets at the Japanese Language Club of Brighton's Open Day on the 29th,

A week later, on July 6, I sold Japanese sweets at a used book sale at a Japanese language supplementary school in Croydon, and yesterday, July 13, I sold Japanese sweets at the Maeda Gakuen summer festival.

In a return to my original intention, I participated in three consecutive events involving children.

First love?

What is it now? Some of you may be thinking, "What's that?" But it is what I always have in mind when I make wagashi.

It is to introduce traditional and true wagashi, wagashi with meaning, to the land of England.

In particular, to let children and young people, who are said to be losing interest in anko (red bean paste), taste the true taste of anko.

We have been making anko from dried azuki and dried white beans in England for 16 years.

Anko is cooked with only beans, water, and good quality sugar.

Children who have tasted my wagashi since they were in their mother's tummy are now old enough to come to the cafe alone to buy them. I am very happy.

Wagashi have meanings.

For example, "wakayu" (young sweetfish) is a wagashi that imitates the shape of a sweetfish that climbs up a stream in May and is a prayer for strength and good health, and "mizunashi" (waterless moon), eaten on June 30, a day exactly halfway through the year, is a gairo with a triangle shape to keep bad luck away and red colored azuki beans on top to drive away evil spirits. It is very delicious when eaten cold.

The very popular sanshoku dango also has a meaning.

It is a wish for everyone to live a long and healthy life.

We have sold many Japanese sweets with such wishes.

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Now, for a change of pace, I am currently hard at work with Miss N, our baking staff, on an event to close out our 10th anniversary.

It is the Ghibli Rice and Ghibli World Afternoon Tea, which has been requested for a long time.

Our usual Japanese afternoon tea has only a plant-based menu, but this time we have two kinds, a pescatorian version and a plant-based version, as fish is inevitable.

Both are equally Ghibli's world!

We'll leave the details for a bit until the day of the event.

Limited to 10 people per day for 5 days. You can purchase tickets at this link.

https://fienta.com/cafe-an-an-ghibili-afternoon-tea

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It's almost... Have fun and do my best!

The Biggest Surprise Present (Cafe Tenth Anniversary Event)

We received an unexpected big 10th anniversary present.

What a surprise! We received an invitation to a reception for His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress! (I thought it was a spam and wondered why. (I wondered if it was a spam, and for a moment I thought my heart was in a rough spot 💧)

It was a miracle that I could exist in the same space as the Emperor.

See, he came so close to me.

I was already feeling like a chaperone.

This was my confession of what happened during my one-week vacation at the end of June.

Thank you very much to everyone at The Japan Society London.
And a commemorative photo with some of the people who have always been so kind to us.

It was a shame that Laura, who has been a bridge between An-an and The Japan Society London, was not able to join us on the day. We really appreciate it. Let's meet again!

It was a great 10th anniversary present.

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Extra

Unfortunately, Masako-san was resting at the hotel to recover from her long trip, so we were unable to meet her, but we took this commemorative photo in front of the hotel we passed on our way home.

I was not able to attend the parade the next day, but it was great to see her in such good health.

Happy Birthday WaCafe an-an

Well, well, well...

10 years.

I mean all year round, but it has finally been 10 years since I took over the shop and the chicken cutlet curry on the menu from OO-My at 27 Boundary Road in June 2014.

To be precise, I received the keys on 14 June 2014 and started operating on 21 June.

So this year, we are planning a lot of events to celebrate our 10th anniversary from 14 June.

Well, it's going to be a birthday month where we will look back over the past 10 years and respond to requests from our customers.

During the period from 14 June, from 9am to 3am (last order 2pm), the menu will be normal.

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Summer wagashi workshop on 14 and 15. Each is limited to six people and reservations are accepted.

Friday evening from 6pm to 8pm and Saturday from 3pm to 5pm for two hours. You will make fruit daifuku and seasonal confectionery. Anko (sweet bean paste) is included to take home so that you can make them at home. (￡30.00 per person)

On 16 (2pm to 4 pm), there will be a calligraphy and ink painting workshop. 

sorry cancelled 

On 18 & 19 Jan, summer wagashi workshop again. Each is limited to 6 people and reservations are accepted.

The workshop will last two hours, from 6pm to 8pm on both evenings. Participants will make Daifuku fruit and seasonal confectionaries. Anko (sweet bean paste) to take home so that you can make them at home too. (￡30.00 per person)

The 20th is the summer solstice, so we will have a takoyaki party to eat octopus. 

We will also grill okonomiyaki. We will be grilling in a trailer, so sunny weather is essential! Plant-based okonomiyaki, available. (Negi is unavoidable, so it can't be a vegetarian dish. Sorry!)

(All-you-can-eat from 5pm to 8pm. ￡30 per person)

21st and 22nd, from 3pm, Birthday cake buffet, 90-minute limit, with pancakes, Japanese sweets, cakes and pudding a la mode. There will also be nostalgic Showa sweets. (￡25 per person, including one drink). Sorry! 22nd is postponed TBA

25th to 29th June, Wacafe an-an is Closed.

29th June, Wagashi Sales at Brighton and Hove Japanese Club at St Paul's Primary School 

6th July, London Wagashi Sales at Croydon Japanese School 

(Cafe is open as usual)

13th July, London Wagashi Sales at Maeda Gakuen "Summer Festival" 

(Cafe is open as usual)

23rd to 27th July, Ghibli Afternoon Tea 

Max 5 tables each day. More details will be announced soon.

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All events at the cafe are by appointment only.

More details will be posted on the Facebook and Instagram event pages, so please read carefully before registering.

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We will be making lots of delicious treats to thank you all for your support!

I went to TOTO London with 1000 Dango

 A lot of days have passed, but this is the story of the day we delivered the dumplings and the day we visited the event.

Somehow the number of dumplings went according to our calculations and we ended up with about 1,000 and 20 three-coloured dumplings.

The three-day event period was 21~23 May, but the only day we could leave the café was Thursday, the 23rd, so the delivery was on Sunday, the 19th.

Eh? Do dumplings last that long?

If you are wondering, yes, they do not last long. An An's dumplings, which use no preservatives or moisturisers, taste best when they are freshly steamed. So, along with 1,000 frozen dumplings, I also brought a steamer. It was quite a big load, so I asked my husband to drive me in a big car.

　

It was a rare sunny day in May in the UK, so the two-hour one-way journey was nothing to be sneezed at. I enjoyed it very much.

When I entered the centre of London, there were many people! It was a Sunday and the weather was so nice that the streets were swarming with people... I would never have been able to drive. I'm glad I asked my husband to drive.

Oh, over there at Blackfriars station is St. Paul's Abbey.

And here we are at the TOTO Showroom. (Top photo).

　

The event space in the shop had already been decorated with a four-and-a-half-mat tea ceremony room, and a table space had been prepared for a miniature karesansui (dry landscape garden) making experience under the guidance of a professional gardener. Don't miss the miniature toilet that is firmly hidden away!

I was allowed to set up like this on the counter table next to it. Oh no, I was nervous.

When I explained how to steam, how to wrap the cellophane and how to fasten the cellophane with a handmade QR code sticker, he readily agreed and said, ‘I'll advertise it a lot’, to which the manager smiled. The dumplings were steamed on the spot and the director and his family tasted them and said they were delicious, which made me smile too.

I smiled too, and said, ‘Good luck with that!’ And then I hurried back home.

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On Thursday, the last day of the event, I went to pick up the steamer, and also to take a look at the Karesansui (dry landscape garden) workshop! I arrived at lunchtime to find that the workshop had already finished and there were dozens of dumplings left!

I was a fool to think that I would take the dumplings that no one had taken back home with me.

The steamer was also nicely packaged, and we put it in the cart and were on our way home. No, it was a bit annoying to leave without experiencing anything, so I decided to borrow the toilets.

What a surprise, there were three different toilets with washlets in the bathroom!

It's a showroom, so that's no surprise! We asked those who had experienced it for the first time to write down their impressions and put them up on the wall. They wrote: ‘I've never experienced anything like this!’ I can't use other toilets anymore’ and many other interesting comments.

I also had my first experience.

Tada-!

This is an oversized washlet with European specifications.

Too big to fit in an ordinary UK household toilet... 💦.

The stability is unbelievable. And the price is also not half bad.

In Europe, it's still slow to spread to ordinary households, but I hear that expensive washlets are being sought after in high-end hotels. I can see why! If the toilets are Washlet, I want to stay there even if it's a bit expensive. Subconsciously, Japanese buttocks are sucked into washlets.

Anyway, it was an event where I learnt a lot. Ah, it was fun.

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Finally, the warden's craftsmanship.

‘The steam was illuminated by the lights every time the lid was opened, and it was insanely live.’

I got some feedback from him. It must have been hard work for him to steam 1,000 sanshoku dumplings. How good a man is he✨.

instagram.com/toto.europe.uk/

Count down to a 1000 Dango

 Continued from previous blog.

"A thousand, I'll give it a go."

But when I looked in the freezer, I suddenly found that I had run out of frozen mugwort paste, which I had received as the last harvest of last summer. I had to think about what to do with the greens that would have to be skewered first!

The first thing I did was to contact Namayasai, the Organic Japanese vegetable farmer in Lewis who lets me stock mugwort every year.

Namayasai: "Well, the weather didn't improve this spring, so we're not ready to harvest yet. I'll have another look around the end of next week and let you know."

At that point, it was the end of March.Then, a friend of mine happened to come for tea at the shop and said, "I'm going to Japan tomorrow"! I'll buy it online from a Japanese wholesaler, so bring it back here for me! I plead with him. Even though he readily agrees, his return date is mid-April.

Anyway, as soon as I got it, I could start, so I just waited.

After several sunny days, Namayasai informed me that the crop was ready to be harvested, three days before my friend returned from Japan. I actually got the mugwort from my friend on 16 April and the mugwort from Namayasai on 18 April. Thanks to that, I got enough mugwort to make roughly 3,000 dangos! (lol).

First, we wash the mugwort and use only the tender leaves.After blanching the tender leaves, I make a paste with a blender and roll it up in batches to make yomogi dama (mugwort balls). They will be used to make Japanese sweets until next spring. I made three times as many mugwort dumplings as the amount in the photo.

Once that is done, it is time to make the dumplings.

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Here's a little bit of knowledge.

Three-pastel coloured dumplings are very popular here in London and South..

They are skewered in the order of green, white and pink from the bottom.

They are also popular as hanami (sakura picnic) sweets.

The green at the bottom represents the budding ground, the white represents lingering snow and the pink represents plum and cherry blossoms.

Another explanation is that pink (red) and white are good luck, while green is to ward off evil spirits (mugwort has also been used as a medicinal herb for centuries).

It is also thought that a play on words, with representing greeny summer(Natsu), white winter(Fuyu) and pink spring(Haru), and that the absence of autumn(Aki) is because there is 'no boredom(Aki-nai)'.

The pink colour is a plant-derived pigment, so it is suitable for both vegetarians and plant-based people.

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Without a commercial rice cake pounder, An An starts by steaming a mixture of rice flour and sugar. This is a labour-intensive process of steaming and kneading, steaming and kneading. Each morning, one kilogram of dumpling dough is made for three colours of dumplings at a time, making 3x50 dumplings. Electric dumpling machines are used in most Japanese confectionery shops in Japan. An An does not have such a luxury.

What do we use?

Ta-da!

A traditional wooden ball cutter (kyu-dan ki).

It's extremely heavy, but that weight makes a lot of round dumplings at once, which is great. A Japanese traditional confectioner recommended that I should buy one more than ten years ago, and I immediately bought it from Kappabashi, Tokyo. It seems that there are no longer any craftsmen manufacturing them and new ones are no longer available... How sad!

The 50 or 100 dumplings are brought to the café, and every day my helpers carefully skewer the dumplings one by one, cutting off the pointy ends to avoid injuring guests mouths.

So now we have 350 sanshoku dumplings to go!

If we make 250 this week and 100 next week, we will have achieved our goal!

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 an-an's three-coloured dumplings🍡

Ingredients; White rice flour, rice cake flour, sugar beets, kuzu flour, tapioca flour, mugwort, pink food colour (red beet).

All packaging materials are made from materials that can be decomposed in household compost. However, the solid bamboo skewers take a long time to decompose, so we hope they can be reused for something else.

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Everyone is welcome.

Many people are eager to bring toilets from Japan.

There may be restrictions on installing them, and many people may have given up on the idea here.

This is an opportunity to casually ask an expert. Please come and visit us.

Both dumplings and tea are free 💓