Leaving for Japan - Our Farewell Party
26 February 2008
The day of our departure to Japan is rapidly getting closer. Before we finally leave on March 9th (sooo excited!) Simon and I will enjoy a week of skiing in the Austrian Alps. This means that this is will most likely be my last post from Munich for the time being... I will be back with news from Japan as soon as we are settled in our new appartment and connected to the web.
In the midst of all the packing and various admin stuff which is currently keeping us busy we celebrated our farewell party last Saturday. It was really great to have so many friends over to say good-bye, so thanks to everyone for coming! And those who could not make it can find out now what they missed :-)...
In addition to ordering some maki rolls (sorry - no hand-made sushi yet, but certainly to come during my stay in Japan) I prepared different finger food which would probably qualify as Japanese fusion, some more and some less authentic, but in any case setting the right tone for our Japan party.
Japanese Fusion Party Snacks
Japanese Egg Roll Bites
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Sake-Stewed Taro Potatoes on Spinach Nests
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Sesame-Chicken Mini-Skewers
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The Japanese egg rolls, which you may know as a sushi topping, are probably the most "authentically Japanese" part of the snacks I prepared.
I got the recipe from a Japanese lady I had the chance to cook with on my first visit to Japan, now almost six years ago. I have since prepared
this dish every now and again as I really like both its taste and the texture, but only recently I actually bought the right tool to get the egg
rolls in perfect shape: a rectangular non-stick frying pan, in which you can roll the egg base to and fro so you get a nice, solid, homogeneous
egg roll. 
Just in time for our Japan party I discovered this 
Before frying the chicken bits for these cute little mini-chicken skewers I marinated them in soy sauce, some dark and tasty sesame oil, a few
spoons full of honey and quite a lot of ginger and sesame seeds. The pieces of red peppers were caramelized in the oven, and to add a little touch
of spiciness as a contrast to the brown sugar I seasoned them with Japanese assorted chili, a spice mixture which you often find on restaurant
tables in Japan, just as you find salt and pepper in the Western world. As most of the other Asian ingredients for this party I got it in the
Japanese specialty shop I had discovered nearby, and for the first time I actually had a look what this characteristic mixture contains, apart
from powdered chili peppers: orange peel, ginger, sesame seeds and seaweed.