Shiki is working with Pray for Japan: Norwich to host a special Hanami fund-raiser for the Japan Tsunami appeal. There will be a Japanese buffet, music, tea ceremony and kimono. Tickets cost just £1 and will be available both in advance and on the day. Proceeds will go to the Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal. Please visit the Pray for Japan: Norwich website for details of this and other events.

Last Friday Shiki traveled down to London to supply the catering for a special Shochu-tasting event at the Japanese Embassy in association with The Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO).

Shiki prepared a selection of Nagasaki-inspired food for the occasion.

Japanese Shochu (焼酎)is a traditional alcoholic beverage distilled from many sources such as rice, barley, sweet potato, brown sugar and soba, ensuring rich variety in terms of body and flavour. The Shochu on offer at this event hailed from the warmer and actively volcanic southern island of Kyushu and JETRO staff were on hand to talk guests through the many individual varieties.

The liquor has a character somewhere between wine/sake and stronger spirits such as vodka and whisky (Shochu typically has around 25% abv). It can be drunk on the rocks, neat, as part of a cocktail, or mixed with hot water.

Shochu is considered to be a fairly healthy alternative to other alcoholic drinks, given the purity of the distillation process and lack of calories - when enjoyed responsibly, of course! A good Shochu is also said to give less of a hangover (one particular variety, Oni Taoshi or 'Demon Queller' claims to be particularly effective at this).

One of Shiki's favourites, Ikikko (壱岐っ娘), pictured above, was on display at the Shiki table. A range of Shochu is available from the Japan Centre (some by mail order).

If you're interested in trying Shochu with your meal at Shiki, please ask our staff. We'll be more than happy to advise you!

Here's the Valentine's Day menu (click on the image for a closer look). There are three options to choose from: Ume ('Plum'), Sakura ('Cherry'), or Tsubaki ('Camellia'). Prices are per person.

Thanks to everyone who checked out our International Christmas Market on December 11th and 12th.

Shiki had some authentic Japanese snacks for sale, including sushi sets, osenbei rice crackers and pocky chocolate!

On Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th December from 11am-5pm there will be an International Christmas Market, held outside Shiki on Tombland (click here for our website's google map). Joining Shiki will be the wonderful cafe and delicatessen, Amaretto, The Window Coffee, selling fine coffee beans, Wholesome, selling English Christmas goodies, and the famous Maids Head Hotel, selling pancakes and mulled wine!

We hope to continue our relationship with these places, supporting fine local food in Norwich!

10% of the proceeds from the International Christmas Market will go towards the SOS Children's Villages charity, which helps disadvantaged children in the Philippines. Four of our staff members are from the Philippines so it's nice to make a positive connection with the country.

We hope you can join us over this special weekend for some international festive fun! For more details and the latest updates, please check our Shiki Facebook page or subscribe to our Shiki Twitter Feed.

Apologies for the absence of blogs recently. Your resident Shiki blogger was away in October, so we had to rely on our trusty Shiki Facebook fan page -where you can, of course, make use of Shun-san's ever prompt responses!

On October 28th, Shiki hosted the Sushi Washoku Challenge in partnership with JETRO (Japan External Trade Organisation). Washoku (和食) means traditional Japanese cuisine and there was certainly plenty of that on offer during our two sushi workshops.

The event featured an all-day stall outside the restaurant selling specially imported Japanese sweets and snacks rarely available in the UK, but instantly recognisable if you've ever visited Japan. There were also free Japanese tea, sake and sweet tastings!

The Washoku Challenge was a great success and we hope to have more events such as this in the near future. Please check this blog or our facebook page for further details.