Chew your food 100 times

New Year's Eve was quiet for me this year. All of my and Joe's friends had no idea what they were doing, so we decided just to stay in and do our own thing. We went out to dinner that night at EN Japanese Brasserie. Lots of delicious little dishes, including fresh, homemade tofu which tastes a little bit like bread pudding. We had deep fried taro root balls and a raw tuna and avacado salad, plus several kinds of sake, of course. For dessert we had mochi covered ice cream and chocolate souffle with green tea ganach ice cream. We sat around the big communal table in the middle, which features a pool of water and the standard artful branches arranged in the center. The music was way too loud, but they were incredibly gracious about turning it down when I asked. We watched them pound rice using a giant wood mallet and an old-school stone bowl. After a few rounds of pounding, it becomes a sticky gooey mass known as mochi, used to make a traditional Japanese New Year's Eve treat. They passed out samples of it, with sugar-soy sauce poured on top. It's so sticky that it's difficult to chew and swallow and apparently every year at least one or two people choke and die from it. Happy New Year's!