Not going to work

My husband isn't going to work tomorrow.  In fact, many people across Japan won't go to the office.  Businesses give their employees time off before the biggest holiday of the year - New Years Day - as well as a few days off afterwards.

Many people use this gift of time to travel to be with relatives over the holiday.  Since our relatives are in the US, we will be spending the holiday with our nuclear family at our home in Tokyo.

To kick off the week without having to go to work, my husband and son have been cooking up a storm.  Tonight they decided to cook ebi fry for dinner, also known as fried shrimp.  Working together they dipped each shrimp into flour, egg, and then panko breadcrumbs.  Then they plopped them into hot oil for a quick bit.  Not just limiting the dinnerplate to shrimp, they also cooked onion, mushrooms, quail eggs, and oysters.

My husband whipped up some homemade tarter sauce that features egg, onion, carrot, and celery to round out the flavor.

After years of practice, they worked seamlessly together in the kitchen.  It was a lot of fun watching them help each other as they prepared dinner for our family.

I look forward to all the holiday treats they will prepare in the next week!