Sinterklaas kyaraben

Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet kyaraben in Rilakkuma version. 

Sinterklaas is a traditional figure based on Saint Nicholas. Sinterklaas is celebrated annually with the giving of gifts on the night before Saint Nicholas Day (5 December) in the Netherlands and on the morning of 6 December. He is one of the sources of the popular Christmas icon of Santa Claus. 

Sinterklaas is an elderly, stately and serious man with white hair and a long, full beard. He wears a long red cape or chasuble over a traditional white bishop's alb and sometimes red stola, dons a red mitre and ruby ring, and holds a gold-coloured crosier, a long ceremonial shepherd's staff with a fancy curled top. He traditionally rides a white horse. In the Netherlands, the horse is called Amerigo. Sinterklaas carries a big book that tells whether each child has been good or naughty in the past year. 

 Zwarte Piet is a companion of Sinterklaas, usually portrayed by a man in blackface, dressed up like a 17th-century page in colourful attire, often sporting a lace collar and a feathered cap. 

More info, refer wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas

kyaraben workshop; http://tokyodoll.web.fc2.com/workshop/bentoworkshop.html

Oden

Oden (おでん) is a Japanese dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon, konbu and fish cakes stewed in a dashi broth. Ingredients vary according to region and between each household. Japanese mustard is often used as a condiment. Oden is one of a popular home cooked dish, and is a popular menu in convenience stores. In Akihabara, an unusual product 'Oden kan' (canned Oden) is available at vending machines.

The photo is my home made oden that mainly includes,

Egg
Daikon
Konbu
Several fish cakes
Potato
Fried tofu

To make Oden in NL, we can get most ingredients from Toko.

Karē don (A bowl of rice with Japanese curry on top)

You may know Japanese curry rice. But Karē don (カレー丼. A bowl of rice with Japanese curry on top.) is a bit different from typical Japanese curry.

This dish is mainly served in Soba restaurant. They make curry sauce, thickened and flavored with mentsuyu (soup for soba or udon. Fish bouillon and soy sauce based) and served on top of a bowl of rice.

This dish was invented by the owner of soba restaurant in 1909 to take customers back from Youshoku restaurants. This curry rice bowl may be more Japanese flavor than typical Japanese curry.

Basic ingredients

Bring to boil mentsuyu (soup for soba or udon) with adding meats and spring onions. Add curry powder and thicken the broth with starch.

Kookworkshop Japans koken

Dinner for guests.

Homemade dinner for our guests.

- Beef with tofu seasoned with soy sauce, sake, mirin and dashi.
- Miso-based teriyaki tuna.
- Cucumber seasoned with ginger, konbu dashi and lemmon.
- Hijiki (Japanese seaweed) with carrot and lotus roots.
- Paprika with sesame miso mayonnaise.
- Rice.
- Onion and autumn mushroom miso soup.
- Apple and orange.

How to get ingredients:
- Sake, mirin, dashi, konbu, Japanese rice and miso :Toko (Asian shop) or natural food shop.
- Hijiki: natural food shop.
- Lotus roots: Toko.
- Other vegetables, tofu, tuna and beef: Albert Heijn (typical supermarket nearby)

Kookworkshop Japans koken