Happy New Year 2017!

Osechi Dinner at Home (Photo by Emiko)

Happy New Year! I wish everybody a wonderful year of 2017!


I had such a busy final month of last year. So, I didn't really get to prepare anything for Christmas including even a gift for Jason, my husband! On Christmas eve, I could finally start to relax and actually enjoy the holiday season. We were invited to our friends' home for Christmas dinner. Peggye made rotisserie whole ducks!


Kabocha soup by Jody.


The duck was so delicious!


I made mixed mushroom rice with double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san". Then, Peggye sprinkled a generous amount of shaved white truffles and folded into my donabe rice dish. Such a decadent holiday version rice! It was a really nice fun dinner party.


On the very Christmas Day, Jason and I enjoyed very relaxed home dinner. I roasted chicken in my classic-style donabe, "Hakeme", and it came out really fantastic. This is a recipe I contributed to Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop.


What's great about living in LA is we can enjoy outdoor BBQ cooking in the middle of the winter. Another evening, we grilled 30-day dry-aged T-bone steak in our Santa Maria BBQ Grill.


It was sooo good.


Then, of course, we did a lot of donabe hot pot dishes during the holidays. With black cod and oysters, I made sake-kasu nabe (sake lees hot pot). On New Year's Eve, I made kamo nabe (duck hot pot), and ended the meal with the shime (final) course of soba (I used black bean soba, made from buck wheat and black beans from Tanba, Kyoto), cooked in the remaining broth. Eating soba on New Year's Eve is a Japanese tradition and we call it "Toshikoshi Soba". We eat soba to pray for good luck and longevity. For kamo nabe, I used my Kyoto-style shallow donabe, "Kyoto Ame-yu".


On New Year Day, I spent busy time making "Osechi Ryori", traditional Japanese New Year dishes. Among many dishes, I made a couple of dishes in donabe. Chikuzen-ni is a root vegetable stew, and I made it in my classic-style donabe. Then, I also made roasted beef in my soup & stew donabe, "Miso-shiru Nabe". I should write the recipe for this dish sometime in this blog.


The following evening, we invited a few friends over for our big Osechi Ryori dinner to celebrate the new year.


I couldn't take any good photos, but luckily Chago and Emiko sent me some photos they took.

Here's the menu.

1. Hoshigaki, stuffed with moshio-butter and roasted pine nuts
2. Kurikinton (puree of satsuma sweet potato, topped with sweet chestnuts
3. Kamaboko (fish cake) with homemade ponzu and wasabi
4. Datemaki (rolled omelet with fish cake)
5. Smoked salmon with ikura (salmon roe) and yuzu yogurt topping
6. Tazukuri (roasted dried fish with walnuts)
7. Karasumi Daikon (daikon radish slices, stuffed with bottarga and shiso)
8. Buri (Japanese winter yellowtail) carpaccio with ao-nori seaweed sauce
9. Kuromame-ni (premium black beans from Tanba, Kyoto, in sweet broth)
10. Shichi-fuku Namasu (a variety of root vegetables, sautéed and tossed in walnuts-vinegar sauce)
11. Sukiyaki of beef and pork belly
12. Udon "shime"

Hew, I did make many dishes! I go crazy every new year.


Then, Yuko, who is a professional pattisiere made a special dessert for everyone. It was matcha "chou cream" cream puffs. It was so delicious.

I had such a wonderful New Year celebration with friends and feel all the good luck for 2017!

Happy donabe life.

Private Dinner at Single Thread

With the wonderful Single Thread team!

On the second evening in Sonoma was another special event hosted by Kyle and Single Thread team. The restaurant is not open yet, because the building is still under construction, but they hosted a special full-staffed dinner just for us at Kyle & Katina's house.


As soon as we arrived at the house, we were welcomed by their sommelier, Evan (a.k.a Pakkun) with an aperitif.


Kyle gave us a tour of the restaurant and hotel site. The last time I was there was back in February. It's getting close to completion, finally!


Then, we were guided to the rooftop, and Evan was there again to ambushed us with sparkling wine!


The first course was Wild Salmon, smoked in donabe smoker, Ibushi Gin. It was such a special way to start the evening.


We came back to the house and Chef Aaron was finishing the "hassun" course. So beautiful! The array of beautiful small dishes were named "Summer in Sonoma".


Sea Urchin - Smoked tofu cream, cucumber, and melon.


Foie Gras - Seeded sable, grape gelee, raisin and grape leaf.


Kyle brought our tagline-style donabe, Fukkura-san to the table. It was Black Cod - Charred alliums and vegetables from their farm.


Then, dashi was poured at the table.


Roasted breast of Sonoma Duck - Salted apple, delicate squash and brined onion.


Kamado-san donabe rice dish! Sonoma Grains - Duck confit, kabocha kasuzuke, and herbs. There were more than 30 different ingredients in this dish. It as so good that I had to go to the kitchen to ask for another big serving!


Beginning of the dessert courses by Chef Matt. Melon Sorbet - Armenian cucumber, coriander and versus tapioca. It was followed by Lemon and Miso Sorbet - Frozen chocolate mousse and strawberry.


Wagashi - Rose hip and raspberry, oolong, fig leaf and houjicha to end. The plate was decorated beautifully by Katina.


The wine lineup of the night.
2011 Iron Horse, "Russian Cuvee" Brut Sparkling (Russian River Valley)
2014 Rein, "Greenwood Ridge" Riesling (Anderson Valley)
2013 Grieve Family Winery, Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley)
2010 Novy Family, "Oley" Late Harvest Viognier (Russian River Valley)
2014 Liquid Farm, "White Hill" Chardonnay (Santa Rita Hills)
2013 Papapietro Perry, "Peters Vineyard" Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley)
2005 Verite, "La Muse" Bordeaux Blend (Sonoma County)
2013 Terre Rouge, Muscat a Petits Grains Vin de Nature (Shenandoah Valley)

The unforgettable night of truly amazing dinner by Kyle and the most talented team of Single Thread! This restaurant is going to make a new history in American culinary world. I am so grateful.

Happy donabe life.