March 01, 2007

Red Rice


Big Sister and I went out to buy sekihan, red rice, this afternoon. The white rice turns red after it is cooked with azuki beans. She took entrance exams for two high schools this month. She passed the first exam and found out today that she passed the other one. It is the school she really wants to attend, so she was happy. We decided to celebrate. Red rice is eaten for celebrations.



Baba was going to make it, but then she reserved some at this neighborhood shop. This shop also sells Japanese cakes called wagashi.



The shopkeeper was upstairs eating his dinner when we walked in. A bell sounded as we opened the door. How did we know he was eating dinner? It was dinner time, and he came downstairs chewing and wiping his mouth!



He weighed the red rice and then put it in a plastic container. He wrapped it in a narrow sheet of paper.



He also gave us a small bag of black goma, sesame seeds. They are sprinkled on top of the rice.

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