Because sometimes I couldn't be bothered cooking

One of the best things about living in Japan is the abundant, cheap and delicious seafood.

In particular, the sashimi and sushi is not to be missed!

I live in the lovely port town of Shimizu, where fish is always super fresh and readily available.

This is a picture of some sashimi that I bought at a local pub-style joint. It was delicious eaten with some soy sauce and fresh wasabi.



But of course, it's so easy to prepare at home, too. Just pick up some sashimi-grade tuna or salmon, slice it across the grain, and enjoy the night off from cooking!

Bite-sized crab cocktail

This is a fabulous idea I got from watching one of Nigella's TV programs, although I can't remember which one it was (yes, I'm a little bit obsessed with Nigella).

I was waiting for an opportunity to make these, such as when I would be entertaining, but then I thought, why not just make them for myself?

This would be a great appetiser or entree for a dinner party, but I just ate the whole lot as dinner on a nice spring evening :) I don't need a special occasion to stuff myself with delicious food. What's better is that The Boy doesn't eat seafood, so I didn't have to share! Hooray!

Making a traditional shrimp or crab cocktail is very easy, but I think this is even easier! Plus there's less washing up, which is always a good thing.

First, you need some nice fresh lettuce leaves. I just used plain old iceberg lettuce, but I think it would be nice to get some kind of tiny fancy lettuce, too. Anything that kind of makes a cup.

For the filling, I used fresh crab meat and avocado. You could replace the crab with shrimp.

For the sauce, I mixed equal parts tomato sauce (ketchup) and mayonnaise - about a tablespoon of each. I also added a splash of lemon juice, a splash of Worcestershire sauce and some black pepper.

I mixed the sauce with the crab and avocado in a bowl,then filled the lettuce leaves with the mixture.

To eat, just roll it up and stick it in your mouth!