Roots and Recipes: Final Draft

  As I sit by the table waiting for the New Years guest to arrive, I watch my grandma make her flavorful nishime! Nishime is a humble Japanese Vegetable Stew that is very popular for the households in Hawaii durring New Years! While  she gathers all her ingredients and supplies, I ask, "Grandma, when have you started making nishime?". "I learned from a friend 20 years ago, in 1993", she replies. "I make nishime for my family because they love to eat it durring New Years and it makes me feel special knowing that I can make my family happy by doing what I love, making food. Hopefully you can learn how to make nishime too, so it becomes a tradition to the Sato family.", she added.

  I watch her as she pours the chicken broth into the pot; cuts the crunchy orange carrots, lightly salted aramio (Japanese potato), juicy mushrooms, and golden dikon then adds the ingredients in the steaming pot of knotted, soaked konbu (seaweed). She tells me that while she makes nishime, memories flash before her eyes, "When I was a little girl, my siblings and I would play outside and watch the radiant, illuminecent fireworks fly in the air and burst in midair. When the show ended, we would race to the rugged green house and try to get the first bowl of nishime.". As I look into the pot I see a wonderful mixture of fresh, cooked vegetables and juicy meats.

  Once all the guests arrived and gathered around the table, my grandma brought out the gigantic pot of nishime. All you could here were the "Oo's" and "Ahh's" of the starving consumers. I was the 5th person in line for grandma's once-a-year nishime. Holding my ceramic bowl, my hands start shaking eager to taste all the delectable ingredients and flavors. Watching the vegetables plop into my bowl, I close my eyes and wiff in the sweet aroma of the stew. When I get to my table, everyone's digging into the nishime. The first scoop is always the best, I could taste all the delicious ingredients; crunchiness of the carrots, the salty aramia, juicy mushrooms, daikon, knotted seaweed, and the succulent meats. Every bite was scruptious. I could've sworn everyone took about 5 minutes to eat all their nishime. "There's enough for seconds!", grandma yells. 

Roots and Recipes: Rough Draft Essay

   As I sit by the table waiting for the New Years guest to arrive, I watch my grandma make her flavorful nishime! While she gathers all her ingredients and supplies, I ask, "Grandma, when have you started making nishime?". "I learned from a friend 20 years ago, in 1993", she replies. 

   I watch her as she pours the chicken broth into the pot; cuts the crunchy carrots, lightly salted araimo (Japanese potato), juicy mushrooms, and golden daikon and adds them to the steaming pot of knotted soaked konbu (seaweed). She told me while she's makes nishime, memories flash before her eyes, "When I was a little girl, my siblings and I would play outside and watch the fireworks at our grandparents house. When the show ended, we would race to the rugged house and try to get the first bowl of nishime.". As I look into the pot I see a wonderful mixture of fresh, cooked vegetables and juicy meats! 

   Once all the guests arrived and gathered around the table, my grandma brought out her gigantic pot of nishime. All you could hear were "Oo's" and "Ahh's". I was the 5th person in line for grandma's once-a-year nishime. Holding my ceramic bowl, my hands start shaking eager to taste all the delectable ingredients and flavors.   

Roots and Recipes

1. The food I will be describing is Nishime. 

2. Special Memory: My grandma makes it twice a year; Christmas and New Years. From as long as I can remember, I could tell it was the holiday season because of this - to look forward to the celebration of Jesus' birth and gifts, and the start of a new year filled with lasting memories and learning experiences. 

3. Sensory details: Nishime includes a variety of vegetables that are oh so sweet, juicy & flavorable. It goes well with hot rice and is a meal in itself. Included in this dish are the basics: Protein, starch, and vegetables - chicken, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and seaweed. It's really delicious and enjoyed by the whole family. 

4. I will be interviewing my grandma about my food.