Sushi and gyoza and cherry blossom and Spring

Not 100% sure what this is. Paul thinks blackthorn.

This is actually the bonsai, but the picture was cunningly taken outdoors.

It's been a while since our last cherry blossom dinner. The bonsai that Paul was working on, (prunus incisa 'kojo-no-mai') died unexpectedly a couple of years ago, and it wasn't until the end of the cherry blossom season last year that we bought a replacement. This is a different cultivar, prunus incisa "oshidori", and to be honest conditions haven't been perfect for it. Cherries need about 1200 chill hours - below 7C - to set buds properly and with the mild winter we've had things didn't get quite cold enough. But it still put on enough of a display for me to decide to welcome the spring with some Japanese food.

I'd wanted to have a go at sushi for a while, so I decided that this was as good an opportunity as any to bust out the bamboo rolling mat and get stuck in. I made some salmon and avocado maki, and some spicy crab and cucumber uramaki. I was surprised how easy it was - the uramaki shed a few sesame seeds but the rolls stayed nice and tight and were good little mouthfuls.

We needed something else on the plate for a satisfying supper so I made some prawn and ginger gyoza. I realised that I wouldn't be able to get the wrappers thin enough with a rolling pin, so I used the pasta machine to roll the flour and water dough, and they were just about perfect.

We didn't have any gari, so we just had a few shreds of beni shoga - less sweet, and saltier, but still a nice gingery palate cleanser between bites of sushi. And Paul is particularly fond of the dipping sauce I make for dim sum, which is crushed dried chillies in oil, with black rice vinegar and soy sauce, so I made some of that to go with the gyoza.

When we had this meal I didn't know that Japanese cuisine had been included in UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. And I don't think this quite has the elegance and refinement that is implied by that. But it was very nice!