We had a few long weekends here in Japan, with Mondays off. One was for Respect for the Aged Day, the other was for Autumnal Equinox Day. We took advantage of these very Japanese holidays by having people over on Monday morning for some very American traditions: brunch and football. We had a Bloody Mary bar, arepas, and Sunday Night football (which is Monday Morning Football for us!).
We also took advantage of living in Japan to use fresh wasabi, and wow . . . it was a fantastic touch. It’s more floral and less sinus-destroying than horseradish. Have you ever tried real wasabi? Not the green stuff out of the tube, that’s usually just dyed horeseradish because fresh wasabi is a bit on the pricy side.
Our bloody mary bar included tomato juice, vodka, fresh pepper, lemons, limes, soy sauce, Bulldog sauce (a sweeter Japanese version of Worcestershire sauce), horseradish, fresh wasabi, yuzu koshou (an addictive, spicy yuzu condiment), sriracha, hot sauce, olives, cucumber spears and celery.
Everyone was able to personalize their drinks. I went with a more Asian version, using soy sauce and wasabi. Others used horseradish and bulldog, which tastes slightly more traditional.
What did we miss? What you do like to put in your bloody mary?
I just saw your comment to an Amateur Gourmet post. Was very happy to see a website from a fellow Tokyoite! I love the Bloody Mary ideas and the idea to fix up a necklace with nail polish – so clever! I’ll definitely be a regular visitor to your site.
Arigatou gozaimasu, Tracy-san! I’m glad you stopped by and thrilled that you like our little corner of the internet 🙂