This week’s number one single on the Japanese Jpop Oricon charts is Run For You by KAT-TUN.
KAT-TUN is a Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates (Johnny's) in 2001. The group's name is an acronym that was exclusively based on the first letter of each member's family name.
KAT-TUN debured in March 22, 2006 and since their debut, all of their single, album and music DVD releases have debuted at number one on the Oricon music and DVD charts.
Jyagariko (じゃがりこ) is a seasoned potato stick made from non-fried potatoes made by the Japanese snack company Calbee. My first experience with Jyagariko was the original salad flavour many years ago. This was followed by the equally famous Jyagariko cheese made from potatoes and cheese, which I will talk about in this post.
Jyagariko cheese is one of the most popular Jyagariko flavours and is really crunchy and crispy. I enjoy these because of the great cheese flavour which comes from the real cheese bits embedded in each stick. The cheese bits really enhance the overall cheese flavour and experience even more and make this more than the average potato chip. These are really delicious and addictive and are a must try snack from Japan.
Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido offers some of the country’s best snow and has been unaffected by the recent earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan.
Hokkaido’s winter season is November to early April with some ski resorts still having snow until early May. Sapporo is the cosmopolitan main city on Hokkaido, but does not get a lot of snow until early December. The best places are ski resorts like Niseko, Furano, Rusutsu and Kiroro.
Have you heard about the Nissan Leaf? The Nissan Leaf is Nissan’s electric car and was unveiled on August 2, 2009. The Leaf went on sale in Japan and the US in late 2010 and will make its debut across global markets from 2012. The great thing about the Leaf is it does not emit any CO2 when driven and doesn’t even have a tail pipe.
The Leaf also comes in handy in other areas. The electric car can also feed power from its battery back into a family home and run appliances for up to 2 days. Using the “Leaf to Home” system, the lithium-ion batteries of the car’s zero exhaust emission can be used as an emergency power backup. Great for any emergencies that pop up and that sudden loss of power. The system works by linking the car to the house’s electricity distribution panel. Power can also be fed the other way if the house generates its own electricity with rooftop solar. The Leaf batteries have a capacity of 24 kilowatt hours when fully charged, enough for two days for the average household.
This week’s number one single on the Japanese Jpop Oricon charts is Pareo wa Emerald by SKE48. SKE48 are an all-female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. They debuted in October 2008 and perform in the newly built studio at Sunshine Sakae in Nagoya every Saturday.
Gyoza or Japanese Dumplings are originally from China but have become very popular in Japan. This is a great easy recipe for Gyoza.
Makes 10
Dipping Sauce
• ½ cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp chili oil
Ingredients for Dumpling
• 60g minced pork or king prawns
• ¼ tsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 Chinese cabbage leaf, chopped
• 5 stems Chinese garlic chives (nira), chopped
• a pinch of salt
• 10 round gyoza wrappers or gow gee wrappers
• vegetable oil for frying
• ¼ cup water
Method
1. Prepare the dipping sauce by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Place all the dumpling ingredients together in a bowl and combine well.
3. Place a wrapper on a plate or board and, using one finger, wet round the edges.
4. Put 1 tablespoon of filling on the center of the wrapper.
5. Fold the wrapper over the filling, seal the edges together by pressing and making small pleats.
6. Repeat with remaining wrappers.
7. Heat a non-stick frying pan and add a little oil, swirling around the pan.
8. Lay a few gyoza side by side in one or two rows in the pan, and cook on one side until golden brown. Then using a spatula turn over one row all at once. Add water and put a lid on to steam.
9. Steam for a couple of minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
10. Serve hot with dipping sauce.
Note:
• You can buy already prepared gyoza dipping sauce at most Asian Supermarkets.
Pocky is a Japanese biscuit stick coated in chocolate. There are many different flavours of Pocky in Japan including Strawberry Pocky which made its debut in 1977. This is my favourite Strawberry Pocky and is called tsubu tsubu strawberry. It is strawberry flavoured chocolate with pieces of dried strawberry. It has a light sweet taste and is very addictive. I enjoy the sweat taste of the strawberry sometimes as opposed to some of the more bitter chocolate varieties.
Tsubu Tsubu Strawberry Pocky
This is what it looks like. You can see the pieces of dried stawberry.
