New Years in Japan

January 7th, 2010 Today is the 7th, and in Japan that means it's time to eat nanakusa-gayu. Nanakusa-gayu is a rice porridge dish with 7 vegetables in it. I don't know what all the vegetables are, but one of them looks like a turnip and another looks like a daikon, which is a long, white Japanese radish. Wikipedia says the Japanese eat nanakusa-gayu at the beginning of the year to bring longevity and health. My wife says it's to settle your stomach after eating New Years food for six days. It tastes really bland, but I love it and look forward to it every year.

You can buy a pack of the vegetables at the store after New Years Day. We bought ours about four days ago. It's supposed to be eaten in the morning, but since I wake up before my wife everyday she made it the night before. So it was sitting there waiting for me in the morning when I woke up, but I was so sleepy that I didn't notice and ended up eating raisin bread toast instead. I work close to home though, so I was able to come home and have some for lunch. Glad I didn't miss it.