🍎Newsletter #6: Half Eaten Bento Boxes, Kobi Yamada Books, and Salty Salmon

Hello readers! 

The past 2 weeks have been filled with many highs and lows over here in my household 😳

Yes, the highs of realizing how adaptable kids are to new environments, and how quickly they learn - these are truly the joys of parenthood - but the lows of sleep deprived toddlers (no more naps at school!) and half eaten bento boxes returned with all the veggies intact - are the perfect recipe for a hangry 3 year old (and a sad parent). Been thinking back on how these highs and lows shift as the kids grow up (oh the newborn days!)...so while these experiences are *exhausting* / *enlightening* (you can pick your favorite word), I think they truly make all of us human.

Prioritizing incorporating Japanese culture in the month of September in NY, admittedly, has been a challenge. THERE IS JUST SO MUCH GOING ON!  I haven’t had time to check out Japanese books at local libraries. There are just so many PTA sessions, “Family Visit” classes, work related networking events, dentist appointments, and vaccine shots.  Feels like September is just that month where you power through - and sometimes we have to make ourselves the priority to get things done so we set the right ‘path’ for the rest of the school year, or the final quarter of the year (if you are into that “Q3, Q4” type of counting… )

So, I guess I’ve checked one thing off of my list which is to enroll my soon-to-be 4 year old to Saturday Japanese school. When I asked her what she most enjoyed about her first day, her response was: “It was not enjoyable.” Okay, so the tuition is fully paid for, and the optimist in me says - well, it can only go up from here, right? Looks like I’m going to be bringing lots of snacks at pick up so she thinks that Japanese school = dorayaki, taiyaki, osenbei, and all the good stuff… for an indefinite amount of time.  

Anyway, hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter and let me know if you have any suggestions for topics! And THANK YOU for sharing The Big Ringo with your community - it means a lot to see new sign ups trickling in 🥹

Let’s Talk About… Books My Kids (and I) are Loving

This is where I share books that we’ve loved recently. 

One of our favorite authors happens to be Japanese-American, so I wanted to share a few books by him that my kids have loved. I’d love to hear and learn about other amazing authors, so please comment/email me if you have any recs for AAPI authors, books on diversity, Japanese culture, etc! 

Kobi Yamada is a NYT Best-Selling Author who lives on the West Coast, and we stumbled across his books a few years ago. His books remind me of the wonders of childhood, and that even as adults, we can always tap into these emotions and revisit those feelings. The illustrations are also so strikingly beautiful and detailed. They are also available in Japanese (and other languages)! 

“What Do You Do With an Idea?”

This was the first Kobi Yamada book we picked up. Don’t we all have these “ideas” that we don’t know what to do with? Well, the book will go through all these great things you could do with the “idea”!  The book also helped me think through some of my work-related “ideas.”

What Do You Do With A Problem?”

We like to bring this book out when we had a few tantrums and sibling bickerings. The “problem” can be difficult for even adults to understand, so this book helps kids think through what the actual “problem” might be, and help steer them in the direction to tackle their “problems.”  

“Maybe: A Story About the Endless Potential in All Of Us”

The pig! The pig! The PIGGIE! Is this a children’s book or a self-help book for parents?! I get confused sometimes reading this book which is so beautiful in its messaging and the artwork. 

BENTO STUFF

This is where I talk about…. bento. 

Japanese food is mostly regarded as healthy. I say “mostly” because there is one ingredient Japanese people over-consume more than those in other countries - and it’s salt. 

I am not anti-salt, and I get pretty defensive when people bring up how “salty” soy sauce is (it’s all about portion control!).  So even though today’s recipe literally says “salty,” please know that you can always adjust the salt content to your needs!

So… one of my favorite things to eat is Shio-Jyake (塩鮭), or salted salmon. Most of you have had a taste of it at those traditional Japanese breakfast places, yeah? Salted salmon is readily available in Japan, pre-cooked, or cooked - but it’s obviously not available here in the states, unless you go to your local Japanese supermarket to buy precooked ones. 

We had gotten into the habit of purchasing those said precooked salted salmon - because kids really really like it. We’ve had a hard time getting kids to enjoy fish of any kind - salmon, cod, tuna, etc., and salted salmon is truly the one reliable fish dish that my kids enjoy. Of course, salt solves all problems, yeah? 

Well, I had given up on being able to do this at home - until I came across the recipe that claimed itself as the “go-to-recipe for those living abroad who miss salted salmon.” THAT’S ME. Okay, so I gave it a go… and it’s 120% a YES for me and hopefully for you. Super easy, so reliably good - and hopefully your kids will like it too! 

The recipe is on Cookpad in Japanese, but here’s the English:

Ingredients:

• Salmon (around 300g) - I used a 1lb salmon which is close to 450g with the same amount of ingredients
• Water 200ml 
• Salt 2tbs
• Sugar 1tbs

Steps:

1. Combine water, salt and sugar in a tupperware
2. Place salmon (skin side up) in the mixture; soak for 24 hrs
3. Take out the salmon, pat it dry
4. Cook! 
   1. I like to cook in the oven at 400F for 10 min, then broil high for 3-4min (skin side always down) 
5. If not cooking immediately, you can wrap it in a saran wrap to store in the fridge for a few days or freeze (and defrost in the fridge, then cook as noted above) 

Great to put on top of a bed of freshly cooked rice in bento boxes, as a filling for onigiri - the possibilities are endless!  Hope you enjoy this amazingly easy dish that reminds you of those mornings in Japan :) 

EVENTS + ACTIVITIES I’m CURIOUS ABOUT

This is where I share activities and events around NYC that are related to Japan and are family-friendly. 

[NEWLY ADDED] events indicated events that I added since the last newsletter! 

• Where Manga Meets SOHO NY by Kodansha Launching Oct 4th - Open from Wednesdays to Sundays, 12pm-9pm, running through the month of October
  • From the website: “This October, Kodansha, Japan’s largest publisher and the creative force behind iconic stories like Akira, Sailor Moon, Attack on Titan, and Blue Lock, invites fans to experience Kodansha House: Where Manga Meets.”
• Family Storytime in Japanese - Oct 20th @ SNFL
  • Held every third Sunday, this is a great way to meet other parents interested in Japanese culture and for kids to listen to Japanese reading, participate in songs and on your way out, check out Japanese books that are abundant at SNFL. 
  • Make sure to register with the library, starting Oct 15th! 
• Shichigosan: Celebrating the Health of Children Sat. & Sun., Oct. 19 & 20 @ Japan Society 
  • Shichigosan in NYC? Yes, it’s possible! Check out this cool event at the Japan Society where kids can participate in the annual Shichigosan ceremony
  • From the website: “Celebrate the growth and good health of children ages 3, 5 and 7 through the Shinto ritual of Shichigosan (“seven-five-three” in Japanese). Three- and 5-year-old boys and 3- and 7-year-old girls of all nationalities and religions, with accompanying adults, are invited to participate in this traditional celebration. Co-sponsored with the International Shinto Foundation”
• Shinnai Meets Puppetry: One Night in Winter & The Peony Lantern, November 7-9, 2024 @ Japan Society
  • Recommended for kids 8 and up, this show 
  • From the website: “Following her highly popular run of SHEEP #1 at Japan Society in 2021, NYC-based artist Sachiyo Takahashi/Nekaa Lab presents two whimsical and spooky tales: a heart-warming-then-wrenching fable on the friendship between a shapeshifting tanuki trickster and a lonely old man; and a classical Japanese ghost story to chill you to the bone. These stories were set by shinnai-bushi Grand Master Okamoto Bunya (1895-1996) to rustic, lyrical storytelling music with shamisen accompaniment. Takahashi, who has practiced shinnai-bushi under the authorized stage name of Okamoto Miya, performs this expressive music while her collaborators Rowan Magee and Emma Wiseman animate these fantastical stories with original puppets and new puppetry techniques, sure to enchant children and adults alike. (Recommended Age 8+)”
• Japan Fes - various dates and locations https://www.japanfes.com/2024
  • I’ve attended a few of these in the past and they are so much fun, reminding me of Matsuri in Japan - delicious food, great energy, even in the colder days!
  • There are various days throughout the summer in different parts of the city: Chelsea (Oct 6), East Village (Oct 5)  and UWS / UES (Sept 28), to name a few! 

That’s it for this week’s edition! What are your plans for this October? The fall season goes by so quickly in NY. Perhaps this is the year we venture out to do our first apple picking here... we'll see!

EO