Only Uni (46 page)

And all she could do was croak, “
Gaaa
. . .”

He lifted his head and blinked at her. “Um . . . I guess I’ll take that as a yes.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to:

Wendy Lawton, my awesome agent, for your terrific advice and encouraging words.

Sue Brower, Karwyn Bursma, Karen Campbell, and the rest of the team at Zondervan for doing so much for this series.

Rachelle Gardner, my fabulous macro editor. Becky Shingle-decker, my stupendous developmental editor.

Aunty Gail and Mom for their info on the K-dramas.

My terrific critique team who got this puppy done in only a few days: Robin Caroll, Sharon Hinck, Pamela James, Ronie Kendig, Dineen Miller, Trisha Ontiveros, Heather Tipton, Cheryl Wyatt.

Kenta Akaogi (with help from Rena) for translating Kazuo’s painting title. David Kawaye for translating Marnie and her mother, even though he probably doesn’t remember doing it for me years ago.

Captain Caffeine, for the kick in the pants when I needed it, for washing dishes for me, and for not watching
24
until I had the time to watch it with you.

GLOSSARY OF ASIAN WORDS (CAMY STYLE)

Baka
— (bah-kah) (Japanese) (1) Stupid. (2) The nickname of your siblings/cousins/anyone particularly annoying whom you can’t run away from.

Char siu
— (cha-sue) (Chinese) marinated and grilled pork. This is some of the yummiest stuff on the planet. It’s also this alarming radioactive red-pink color.

Chicken hekka
— (heck-uh) a country-style Japanese dish that my grandma makes often when there are several family members gathered for dinner. It’s technically a stir-fry, but there’s so much stuff in it that it’s almost like a soupy stew.

Chicken katsu
— (caught-sue) (Japanese) chicken breaded and deep fried, cut into fingers and served over rice with salty sweet tonkatsu sauce. See
tonkatsu.

Hanaokolele
— (ha-nah-oh-koh-lay-lay) Hawaiian for Nani-nani-boo- boo. Many modern Hawaiian terms have seeped into California Japanese American colloquialisms, and vice versa.

Inarizushi
— (ee-nah-ree-zoo-shee) Also called cone sushi, this type of sushi is flavored rice packed into fried tofu pouches. The pouches are light brown color and look a bit like footballs when they’re stuffed. This is a really good appetizer.

Kagami mochi
— (kah-gah-mee moh-chee) decoration (Japanese) This is a New Year’s decoration that people set out in various places in their homes just before New Year’s Day. It consists of two pieces of round mochi (they look like white hockey pucks) with a tangerine balanced on top. This is placed on a paper sheet (
shihobeni
) supposed to ward off fires. There are other things that some Japanese add to their kagami mochi, but these elements are the basic ones that I’m used to.

Katana
— (kah-tah-nah) Japanese sword. I actually learned a little bit about sword strokes when I took martial arts, except I used a wooden sword, called a
bokken
(
beau-ken
). A real katana is way heavy and super dangerous. It’s meant to kill with a single stroke.

Kendo stick
— (ken-dough) Kendo is Japanese fencing, but instead of a solid sword, opponents typically use a
shinai
(shee-nigh), which is a set of four long thin pieces of wood bound off at the bottom with leather. The shinai is not really a sword, nor is it technically a “stick,” but for lack of a good English word, I think that’s closest to what it is.

Konbu
– (cone-boo) edible kelp. It’s the dark colored seaweed shreds or sheets in miso soup that you get at Japanese restaurants. It’s quite healthy for you. Since I’ve grown up with it, I think it tastes normal, but many people who eat it for the first time say it has a distinctive flavor. I usually tell them, “Then give me yours.” (Japanese)

Kubi ga nai Chikin
– (coup bee guh-nigh chicken) literally, Headless Chicken. (Japanese)

Kuromame
– (coup-row-mah-may) This is a cold red (azuki) bean and chestnut salad (sometimes it’s made with soybeans, but we always had it with red beans). It’s slightly sweet. Mom always says it’s good luck to eat it on New Year’s Day, but I’ve never been a fan of chestnuts. (Japanese)

Musubi
– (moo-sue-bee) rice balls. Possibly some of the yummiest things to eat in a Japanese-style brown bag lunch. Traditionally, it’s just plain rice balls with
nori
seaweed wrapped around it, but the ladies at my church make it with a little salmon inside, or sometimes salty fish. Oh my gosh, their musubi is to die for. Hawaiian style is with a slab of fried Spam, which I think tastes great, but then again, I’ve grown up with it. (Japanese)

Noh
– (no) Japanese musical drama. Noh masks are often collector’s items. The most familiar noh mask is the plain white mask, but there are also red demon masks that would fit in with Freddie Kruger’s wardrobe.

Obon
– (oh-bone) Buddhist festival of the dead. Our local Buddhist temple (
hongwanji
) would throw their Obon Dance every year. It’s a fun festival, typically running from afternoon until evening. Obon dances are easy, repetitive steps and hand motions that people do while circling a short tower (called a
yagura
) with the musicians in a box on top. (Not all Obons have a yagura, but the dances in my home town always had a yagura.) The
food
is the best part of the Obon. Man, those Japanese people can cook. When I went to Obon dances on Hawaii’s North Shore, people would buy floating paper lanterns with candles inside. They’d light them and set them adrift on the beach, where the tide took them out in a twinkling line. The lanterns are supposed to guide the spirits of people’s ancestors. (Japanese)

Sashimi
– (saw-shee-mee) raw sliced fish. It’s not as yucky as it sounds. When the fish is fresh, it’s refreshing and tasty. I guess since I’ve grown up with it, it’s nothing unusual to me. We always have sashimi as appetizers at family gatherings. (Japanese)

Shihobeni
– (shee-hoe-ben-knee) see
kagami mochi
(Japanese)

Taiko
– (tie-koh) Japanese drums. Taiko drum ensemble performances are way cool to watch. It’s a little bit of showmanship, not just the drumming. I enjoy the rhythms and cadences — it feels very
Japanese
, to me.

Tonkatsu
– (tone-cut-sue) breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet, cut into fingers and served over rice with tonkatsu sauce drizzled over it.

Tonkatsu sauce is thick, dark colored, salty and sweet. I’ve heard it described as Japanese Worcestershire sauce, but it doesn’t taste much like regular Worcestershire sauce. I personally like katsu without the sauce, but I have relatives who pile it on. (Japanese)

Ume
– (oo-may) Japanese pickled plum. The ume I had growing up was small, bright pink, and hecka sour. My mom likes dropping one in the green tea she drinks after dinner. Sometimes Grandma would make musubi rice balls with an ume in the middle of it, but I personally thought it ruined the rice ball. However, most of my relatives love ume. There’s even ume-flavored candy (significantly sweeter than actual ume) and ume tea.

Wasabi
– (wah-sah-bee) Japanese horseradish. It’s a lot like those yellow Chinese mustards at Chinese restaurants, but without the pungent flavor. Wasabi has a very clean taste — it’s mostly just extremely hot. It’s meant to give a spicy kick to sashimi and sushi. You’re only supposed to use a small amount (like the size of a grain of rice) because it’s so hot, but my dad piles on so much when he eats sushi that he needs a big ole honkin’ marble-size glob.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Camy Tang is a loud Asian chick who writes loud Asian chick-lit. She grew up in Hawaii but now lives in San Jose, California, with her engineer husband and rambunctious poi-dog. In a previous life, she was a biologist researcher, but these days she is surgically attached to her computer, writing full-time. In her spare time, she is a staff worker for her church youth group, and she leads one of the worship teams for Sunday ser vice.

On her blog, she gives away Christian novels every Monday and Thursday, and she ponders frivolous things, like dumb dogs (namely hers), coffee-geek husbands (no resemblance to her own . . .), the writing journey, Asiana, and anything else that comes to mind. Visit her website at www.camytang.com.

Sushi for One?

Camy Tang

“
Sushi for One?
is an entertaining romp into the world of multi-culturalism. I loved learning the idiosyncrasies of Lex’s crazy family—which were completely universal. Enjoy!”

—Kristen Billerbeck, author of
What a Girl Wants

“In Lex Sakai, Camy Tang gives us a funny, plucky, volleyball-playing heroine with way too many balls in the air. I defy anyone to start reading and not root for Lex all the way to the story’s romantic, super-satisfying end.”

—Trish Perry, author of
The Guy I’m Not Dating

Lex Sakai’s family is big, nosy, and marriage-minded. When her cousin Mariko gets married, Lex will become the oldest single female cousin in the clan.

Lex has used her Bible study class on Ephesians to compile a huge list of traits for the perfect man. But the one man she keeps running into doesn’t seem to have a single quality on her list. It’s only when the always-in-control Lex starts to let God take over that all the pieces of this hilarious romance finally fall into place.

Softcover: 978-0-310-27398-1