Sukiyaki, Music, and Television

So now you know one of the most common meals I had when I was young – rice with one raw egg, a tablespoon or so of soy sauce, mix well to form a liquid-y dark orange bowl of rice. Sukiyaki is a Japanese stir-fry dish - the specialty dinner at Miyako’s, cooked live in the Japanese dining rooms. In my mother’s kitchen (one of her domains, don’t mess with her, question her expertise there (LOL)…along with the Japanese room – her other “sanctuary”), Sukiyaki was a complicated creation – it is special as beef is expensive in Japan…after all, how are the cows going to (get to and) graze on islands with a lot of hills; fish was the common substitute at our dinner table – although I recall my mother was like the Hawaiians – courtesy of the military and WWII, SPAM played a central role in many of our meals. The one I could never appreciate was it’s inclusion in sushi, but I knew better than to ever tell my mother that I was never a huge fan of Spam dishes.
Bill Cosby had a profound influence on our family’s table offerings as well – Jello was a common staple for desert –my mother usually strained canned mixed fruit to remove the liquid, and mixed it in. If I ever got a little sassy (which was rare back then…yeah, I’ve changed…LOL) or complained about anything, my mother was quick to remind me of my Japanese heritage, that I needed to respect my elders…hai, okaasan (yes, mother)…gomen nasai (so sorry)…should have addressed you with respect…obasan (older woman). You had to be careful using obasan, kind of like mame or grandma in English – if they are borderline old, they will take offense to it’s use. Back in the day, my mother often referred to me a garbage disposal…not much was ever wasted in the Hedrick household. She was also quick to remind me of the hungry and starving in third-world countries. As you might imagine, I was pretty heavyset until I was thirteen or so (sigh). She would consider it an insult if I didn’t clean my plate, and expected me to act the same whenever we ate elsewhere. At home, if there was any leftovers on other dishes, guess which direction that plate went first, before it left the table – that’s right, me (LOL)…I just couldn’t say no to her offer(s).
My mother loved to watch television back in the day, particularly soap operas. Her primetime favorites…#1 Hawaii Five-O (she loved Jack Lord – book ‘em, Daniel); #2 The Wild, Wild, West; #3 I-Spy, #4 I Love Lucy, #5 The Dick Van Dyke Show (she loved him)…and of course the family always gathered in front of the big color TV in the living room on Sunday nights, back in the sixties; The Ed Sullivan Show, The Wonderful World of Disney…along with The Carol Burnett Show, The Smothers Brothers, and let’s not forget Red Skelton and the Lawrence Welk Show when we had to settle for black and white – they all made her laugh, she had a great sense of humor – later developed a love for Johnny Carson as well.
Getting back to the topic of food, one Japanese song comes to mind, that she loved when I was young – Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto.
Funny thing though, it wasn’t until around 2012 that I found out the song was song by a male singer…my mother happened to be watching a PBS Japanese news channel (KCET – LA NHK World) that helped her connect with her homeland. When I was with her watching TV at the nursing home,a commercial came on selling a CD by Sakamoto…a video of him singing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C35DrtPlUbc) – boy was I surprised.LOL I could have sworn that was a woman’s voice…so sultry and sexy…dang…all of these years. Sukiyaki was one of my favorite Japanese dishes that my mom cooked, along with tempura.