Nabe Night Happiness

Some meals are prepared and enjoyed on special occasions. We were thoroughly spoiled by our time in Japan, because the entire month was a special occasion. Instead of one unique meal per week, it seemed like we were having three or four. Between family and friends, we were very lucky to enjoy these times and this food. At the Ishizuka house, we had numerous memorable feasts. The night that had to be my favorite was Kimchi-Nabe (NAH-bay) night. Take a look:
The white bowl sits on a heated grill pad, functioning sort of like an open crock pot. The ingredients on the side, as you see, from pork and mushrooms to lettuce and tofu, are sliced, diced, and neatly stacked to enable easy handling with chopsticks. For the most part, Michiyo's Mom Chieko managed the progress of the meal, inserting the uncooked stuff, rearranging the food all ready inside the bowl, and instructing us when things were ready to be consumed.
This plate held the tofu, and the interesting edibles behind it is a plate of Lotus root, one filled with Japanese mustard, the other with a fish-egg paste--they were delicious. This nabe meal, however, was "spiced up" with kimchi, the firy Korean red plant that adds tingles to all areas of your mouth, and takes dining to a new level of enjoyment. For the record, when I moved to Japan seven years ago, I could not eat spicy food. After about two years, I had acquired a taste for it, and now I look forward to enjoying meals like this.

Of course, the food was only half of the reason why this night was absolutely perfect. Well, the food and Japanese beer was only half. The other half was the phenomenal company of Michiyo's family.
Hiroki was thrilled every day when Aunt Masae came home while he was still awake. Michiyo's sister had plenty of time on this night, as Hiroki stayed up and kept himself busy on the outside of the family circle around the table.

I love this picture of Hiro. Chieko and the rest of us were sitting around the (kotatsu) table, and Hiroki spent the duration of dinner crawling, clawing, squeaking, and standing (always briefly) at a safe distance from the boiling pot of nabe. He did not need Grandma Chieko to be facing him while he stood up, he just needed her body for support--he knew she was there for him.