It's April fools. So I am very serious today.

I cannot remember when was the last blog any longer...

Thankfully, my Japanese cafe is getting busier...
Busier it gets, my careless mistakes happens more. Even I cannot hide it any more.

For example, it happened yesterday.

"I did not know such a nice Japanese cafe here! It's lovely"
It was a lovely comment from one of the customer.

Then after nice conversation with her, I finished off her order, Mix Katsu lunch, with a nice touch half bottle of sauce...

When I squeezed the bottle of Katsu sauce, the dispenser tip came off! Then the half-filled bottle became empty and Kasts were immersed by the sea of sauce.

I tried to make a new one immediately, but she maybe did not have time to wait for another one, so she asked me for some rice in a new box to go with and paid the full amount of money...

She was too nice.  I really hope it didn't cause her high blood pressure...

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Therefore, I am going to have a seriously serious day today, as I normally have really foolish days on 364 days a year. (Is this sentence English, by the way???)

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So, here is one thing I am seriously working for these few weeks.

There was a request on FB a few weeks ago.
"I cannot forget Nikuman I ate in Japan! Could you make it?"
So, I answered, "I will try to make it before Easter".
And I am now in trouble.

At first, I thought it just like steamed Usagi （Rabbit) cake. Yes, I underestimated the complication of its recipe.

The problem is the skin part. When I gather the ingredients, I was shocked.
I found "Strong flour" and "yeast", among the usual list of ingredients.

I have to say, I am really really not good at baking bread. I can bake cakes, I can make Japanese sweets. However, I have never succeeded baking bread ... Yes, any form of bread, which contains strong flour and yeast.

Here is the first attempt.


I used normal flour, but it came out really brown from my steamer.
As Rabbit cake is quite yellow using non-bleached flour, I expected a bit yellowish colour, but not as brown as this.
I checked on internet and found if the steamer temperature was too high, it come out  yellowish...So, I tried to put lower temperature next.

Here is the second attempt.

a bit lighter colour, but still very brown.
The first one was very light and fluffy texture, but this one came out with really heavy texture.

I still have the meet mixture, so I will try till I get it right. (and I don't know how many times I attempted by now.)

There is only a day left till the Easter.
Can I win?

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Aghhh! there is no time to write about April's sweets and plan before going to Cafe!
I will write another blog tonight... if I still have some energy.

Oden Night report

an-an had "Oden night" as "English/Japanese Language Exchange" back in January.
Well, never mind that "food" is more focused than "languages" in this case.

It was really fun and tasty night!

I made Western Japanese style Oden (Hot pot) in a biiiig slow cooker. All the attendees enjoyed the meeting so much as well as Oden. (You may see some of the unfamiliar food in the hot pot... I will explain later.)

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So, the question would be what is Western Japanese Style Oden?

Here are the list of what's in it.

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Western Japanese use Beef Shin.

I guess only Western Japanese use this meet.

The stock is from only Kombu Seaweed. Very light soy flavor, too.

Then, we throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker and leave for a few hours.

Moori (Japanese white radish)、
Satsuma age (Deep fried Fish balls)、
Atsuage (Deep fried Tofu in blocks)、
Konnyaku (potato Jelly)、
Kombu (thick meaty seaweed)、
Eggs、
Chikuwa (Fish cakes in bamboo shape)、
Potatoes

I think that's all.
Well, somebody said only Western Japanese Oden have Potatoes, too.

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If you are interested in having an Oden night, please contact me.
This is for 8 to 10 people.
with One drink (soft drink or tea) and rice.
About 3 hours from 7o'clock.
For pricing and other detail, please contact me directly.

I need to order the ingredients from various places, so please leave prenty of time (at least 10 days) to the night you want to have the Oden meeting.

Fast and Furious February.(Part 1- Setsubun )

February is the shortest month in the year, yet events are full on.
So I just feel I need to make schedule properly, February finishes when I realised.

Tuesday, 3rd February 
It's Setsubun.
Hung a sardine's head on a branch of Holly at the front door.
Japanese people dress some one close up like an ogre and hit him/her with crispy roasted soy beans!
... and shout "Go out, Ogre! Come in, Happiness!"
Eat the soy beans, same number of your age.

(Specially in Western part of Japan)
For the evening meal, we eat a special fat (about 6cm diameter) rolled sushi.... per person.
The sushi contains 7 items inside the sushi rice and the black sea weed sheet.

This year, the happiness will come from West South West (Ehou).
So we eat the whole rolled sushi without slicing looking towards the direction.... and no talking till you finish the roll.

According to our belief, by eating a rolled sushi in this way, we can take in 7 happiness from the direction. Strictly no talking! If you speak while you are eating sushi, some of happiness in the sushi slip out from your mouth.

If you would like to buy the special Rolled sushi, please let me know as soon as possible.
Traditional Setsubun Rolled Sushi and Salad with prawns and Japanese omelet.(￡3.90/roll)

Image is borrowed from

 http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2142167190969361701/2142167246970418503

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Seasonal Greeting

Dear customers and friends,

I have bought boxes of Christmas Cards and haven't written any... I am so sorry, but I have given up posting those now.

I had really exciting year as you all came to see me at my cafe.

There was ups and downs emotionally, but works of cafe always gave power. Sometimes I needed to make sweets night and day to forget everything, sometimes I was having so much fun talking with customers and burnt my important pans!

Anyway, I recognized I like cooking and baking more than I thought.

In 2015, I will make my cafe very relaxing. It would be lovely, if you feel your power is charged up when you leave my cafe.

I will be there till the last day of 2014, apart from 24, 25, 26 and 28th December.
I sincerely hope you all have lovely Christmas and New Year!

Noriko x

2015 is Sheep's year.

I am thinking about sweets shape of this round one.

Opening hours of Christmas and New Year's Day

After long recovery, I have just managed to get back on my feet again.

So now I can announce the opening hours and events for this festive period.

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Opening hours and events to come

Dec. 22nd(Mon）11:00－15:00 or 18:00　Pumpkin fair
　　 23rd(Tue） 11:00－15:00　19:00～Language Exchange 
　　 24th(Wed） Closed
　　 25th(Thu） Closed
　　 26th(Fri） Closed
　　 27th(Sat） 11:00－15:00 or 18:00
　　 28th(Sun） Closed
　　 29th(Mon） 11:00－15:00 or 18:00
　　 30th(Tue） 11:00－15:00　19:00～End of year Clearance
　　31st(Wed） 11:00－15:00　End of year noodles Fair
Jan. 1st (Thu） Closed
　　 2nd(Fri） Closed
　　 3rd(Sat） Closed
　　 4th(Sun） Closed
　　 5th(Mon） 11:00ー14:00　

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On 22nd, it's the Mid-winter Day. Japanese eat pumpkin on this day to hope good health through coming cold winter.
I will serve 3 course with pumpkin specially on this day!

Starter
 Spiced Kabocha pumpkin soup
Main
 Pumpkin Corroquets Lunch
Pudding
 Kabocha Pumpkin custard Tart or Kabocha Pumpkin Kintsuba

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On 23rd, it's the English/Japanese language exchange session in the evening.
This time, Theme is Christmas in Japan and England.

Let's talk about the difference between Christmas in Japan and Christmas in England.
Some typical Japanese Christmas foods will be served! (non-alcohol, please!)

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On 27th, I am planning to serve Wagashi afternoon tea.
You will get Sushi, Baked sweets, and Seasonal Jo-namagashi.
More information will come soon.

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 On 30th, it's a big cleaning time!
In the evening, I will polish the cafe to prepare the new year.
If  you are willing to help me, please come along. (-_')b

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31st is the big day in an-an.

I will sell mini-Osechi (New Year's Day bento box).
So many good luck items in the box for longing the happiness in the coming year.
If you like to order, please email me.
order@an-an.co.uk

here is some ideas... sorry in Japanese!
(You may find this information helps...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi)

£12.00 each for the special bento box.

I will serve Soba noodle in hot broth with tempra.
£3.38 for Eat in or Take away.

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Let's get ready for the happy healthy new year 2015!

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和 Cafe an-an
27 Boundary Road,
Hove
East Sussex
BN3 4EF

Learning till I die.

It's my Motto.

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Thankfully, my cafe is having more customers who are interested in what they eat.

Well, "Japanese Food" tends to be "Healthy food" in British people's idea. Some of the dishes are not healthy, but I could not help loosing words in some dishes.

For example, I could not say "yes/no" without any hesitation, when I was asked for the agreement to "Sushi is healthy, isn't it?!"

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Before I opened my Cafe, I had an idea of displaying a lot of small side dishes for sale...
But once I started checking the ingredients of ready made Japanese side dishes, I thought I should give them up.

There were so many unknown ingredients and chemicals... Some chemicals are come from natural source, but it's too hard to distinguish what is good and what is not so good by my limited knowledge of food.

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I am surprised by so many people who are suffered from some kind of allergy and food intolerance. They need to choose what they eat in the very limited menu out side of their house.

Luckily, I don't have any eating difficulties, but I needed to study about allergy as my son had to have a very strict diet without any nuts and sesame seeds.

I always carried Epi pends and anti-histamine Syrup in my bag whenever eating out with my son. He is now 10 years old and better dealing with the problem.

However, some problem happens time to time. Even if we make sure the dish does not contain any sesame seeds, my son's got a reaction. It was Gyoza dumpling in one of a Sushi Bar. I tried it and tasted Hoising Sauce. It contains Sesame seeds paste. I talked the shop manager, but she did not believe me as it was not listed.  We often disappointed when we order Cucumber rolls in most of Sushi Chains and Supermarket packs. Sesame seeds are always hidden in the rice...

I just want to make my cafe for those people to enjoy food safely.
I will be dead honest about what in the sauce I use. Please always ask me if you are in doubt.
It's not easy to make Japanese meals to show all, as most of sauces are not domestically made... it means I cannot make them from simple salt and peppers... But I will show the list of ingredients if you like.

Nuts, Sesame seeds, Eggs, Fish, Soy beans, MSG, Wheat and Gluten...

Endless list I need to check.
If you care about diabetics, even the list will be longer!!!

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One day, I had a customer who is a vegetarian with gluten intolerance.
At the moment, I could not serve any of usual menu for her.
She told me the way to get around this problem.
Just one ingredients I change, I can serve more menu to more people who has gluten intolerance!

It's Tamari Soy Sauce!

For me, Tamari means soy sauce for Sushi or Sashimi. Traditionally, Tamari is made only with Soy beans (normal soy sauce are made with about 50% Soy Beans and 50 % wheats) and rice.

These days, not only Tamari are made from 100% Soy beans, but i found it here.

I can prepare Sushi and Teriyaki Tofu lunch for her in my cafe. I can extend more...

Since I opened this cafe, I have learnt a lot about Japanese Food from my customers .
I re-investigate so many things which are regarded as "just Japanese Foods". How interesting!

I really want to serve food everybody can enjoy  without any concerns about not feeling well afterwords.

I will receive Brown rice soon. I shall start serving it, too.

November...

Unbelievably warm days... How are you doing?
It was very stormy outside today, but winds are not cold at all!
I could go out without a winter coat.
Very strange.

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Apology for taking random closing of an-an cafe in the past few weeks. It's been over 4 months since I started this cafe, I needed time to resolve a pressure of running this business by myself.
The trigger was ... maybe the accident happened at the beginning of  October.
I was very down and could not settle down at all. There were so many things need to be done, but I even could not know where to start with. I was also very anxious if I could carry on this business like this.

But I am fine now. I had some time to think about it. The answer was "No going back. No looking back.".
Sometimes, I will need to have some time off from this cafe to keep myself on the track. I will come back, so don't give up on me!!! Anyway, I will let you know when I will need time well in advance.
Now I should be ok at least for a few month, though.

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So, I already finished the first sales in November. It was at Croydon Japanese School HuruhonIchi.
Thank you for people and friends who bought my sweets. I am so sorry I could not make enough.
Actually, There are some sweets could not make the sales...

I am thinking about sales at some places in Brighton again... a little by little...。

November, 3rd（Monday・・・well, tomorrow？）Japanese toddler group (Cornerstones Church, Hove)
from around 10am. If the weather is bad, it will be postponed to 17th. Sorry for the short notice.

November, 8th (Saturday）Brighton & Hove Japanese Club
2:00 - 4:00 pm. If it is dry, I will be in the parking area. If it is wet, I will be in the main Hall.

November 18th (Tuesday）Japanese Cafe an-an
7pm -9pm  Japanese and English language exchange session. If you want to talk in Japanese, please join us. Maximum number of people is 8. Fee- £5.00 (One drink and nibbles)

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November's sweets・・・


Kintsuba.
You can chose Pumpkin or chunky adzuki beans.
Dorayaki (Pancake sandwich) 3 filling to chose.
Satsuma Daifuku (Mochi) is a Limited edition till Christmas.
Chestnuts cake is out of stock. But I will make it very soon.

If you want to buy more than 10 sweets, please make an order in advance.
Sweet are not delivered now. Only delivered by a courier, using next day guaranteed. Therefore, please mind the Courier delivery charge will be added separately.

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November seems to be another unstable months.. I mean weather.
Please take care of yourselves. We need to get ready for Christmas soon. ww