Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO2000 “Sukiyaki Dinner” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going tonight?
This evening when I picked up my kids from school, they both said they were really hungry and asked me what was for dinner. I replied that I didn’t know, but that I saw that Mariko had set the rice cooker so I figured we’d be having Japanese food tonight. And when we got home, the house smelled so good!
In the kitchen, there was a nice pan of sukiyaki (すき焼き) on the stove bubbling and ready to eat. Usually, sukiyaki is made with beef, but tonight’s was a chicken sukiyaki, with tofu, greens, konyaku noodles, and udon noodles. And we had farm-fresh egg to dip it in. It was delicious! The combination of chicken and egg reminded me of my favorite food, oyakodon (親子丼).
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO2000 “Making Naan” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
This evening my wife went to work before she could finish making naan for us, so I had to take over. Mariko prepared the dough for me in the bread maker, and when it was ready it was my chance to succeed or fail. 😝
When I took the dough out of the breadmaker, it was really sticky and got stuck on my hand. I was thinking that this cannot be right! Did I take it out too early? Was it supposed to rest for 15 minutes? Did I miss something on the bread machine since it is all in Japanese? The doubts were going through my head. 😱
But then I floured up my hands and sprinkled flour on the Silpat baking sheet, and things got easier. I divided the dough into six portions, then went to work forming the dough into flat shapes. While I was doing that, our cast-iron skillet was heating up on the stove and starting to smoke a bit – just about ready to cook!
The first naan I put on was a bit too thick and a little dough-ey, but it was still delicious. The other five naan got better (and thinner) the more practice I got so I was happy. When each one came off the pan, I spread a little butter on it and sprinkled some salt.
The real test came at dinner when the kids tasted it with their curry. And they thought the naan was good! Koa ate two of them and even designated a section of his plate exclusively for curry sauce for dipping the naan in. No rice or chicken allowed in that section. 😄
I think the naan experiment was a success.
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Below is a photo of my hiragana practice sheet. As I mentioned earlier, I am studying Japanese again and part of that is to get used to writing hiragana and katakana.
I’m surprised (and happy) that my writing is getting better and better. I was an art major in college, so you’d think I would have some skills at this, but I have always been very poor at drawing. However, I am really pleased with how it is going so far. I actually had to ask my kids if they did that third line of “あ” because I thought there’s no way I did it!
I still have a long way to go, but I’m trying to make sure I keep a positive attitude and not get discouraged if I go too fast. I want to enjoy the experience! That means a not-so-aggressive timeline. ☺️
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/16, 1/10 sec, ISO6400 “ひらがな” Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/40 sec, ISO3200 “Utensils” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは！How’s it going?
Today in Austin, the wind was crazy! I was expecting for some of our older wooden fences to come down, but I think they survived. We really should get them replaced but I think we’ll hold out as long as we can.
The photo for today is of our shelf where we keep a bunch of our eating utensils – mainly our はし (chopsticks) and wooden spoons. We have a regular kitchen drawer where we keep our regular forks, spoons, and knives, but I prefer to use はし whenever I can, and instead of metal spoons, I like to use wooden spoons.
To me, wooden utensils make the food taste better because there’s no metallic tang that comes with regular silverware. Plus wooden utensils feel better on the lips, mouth, and tongue. Really!
One drawback is that the wooden utensils can’t go into the dishwasher since the extreme heat can damage them, but that’s a small price to pay for a more natural eating experience, IMHO.
If you only have metal eating utensils, why not get a set of wooden utensils and give them a try? You might just become a convert like me.
I hope you had a nice Sunday and a fantastic weekend!
The other day I went with some workmates to a Japanese restaurant for lunch to celebrate a couple birthdays. It was a lot of fun and the food was yummy, but it got me thinking of how the food at the restaurant wasn’t really authentic Japanese food. But is that a good or a bad thing? I wonder…
I have a different perspective on Japanese food than I had 20 years ago. In 1996 I moved to Japan and live there for three years. I married my wife there (a native of Osaka), and I have been enjoying 20 years with her – an amazing cook and foodie/food blogger. So I’d say my experience with Japanese food is far more advanced than most Americans.
The food at the restaurant was delicious, but I still felt an internal conflict as to some of the dishes. For instance, instead of edamame, there was “spicy edamame” in which the edamame had a sweet/spicy sauce on them. It tasted ok, but it was strange… I mean edamame is edamame, and is traditionally eaten just salted or in something like a hijiki salad. Also, sushi with fruit on it is new to me. In short, this wasn’t authentic at all. (And I didn’t see any Asians behind the sushi counter, and no Japanese patrons)
Although I love authentic food and think that recipes developed over many (sometimes hundreds) of years have been tested by time, the newer dishes that are modified for the local palette can be wonderful too. They are both delicious!
Maybe I am getting hung up on the semantics of the word “authentic”. Perhaps “traditional” is a better way to denote the differences I am thinking about. I like that.
Traditional food is food that has remained popular and has withstood the test of time, using ingredients that are relatively unchanged.
The food at the restaurant we went to had some non-traditional dishes, some traditional dishes (I had the katsu-don, which was yummy), but in the end, what was important was that everyone enjoyed their meals. Food can be delicious and satisfying even if it’s not traditional. All different kinds of food can bring happiness and joy, right? Variety is the spice of life, as they say!
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Today’s photo is of the breakfast taco I enjoyed at the Whole Foods Market. It’s very convenient to order because you use a touchscreen at the counter to “build your taco” using various ingredients. When your order is ready, you see your order # pop up on a large tv, or you can have a notification sent via txt to your phone.
My taco had scrambled egg, chorizo, black beans, and cilantro-lime rice, on corn tortillas. I also added more cilantro and jalapeños. I have no idea if this is traditional or not, but it sure was delicious!
I hope you had a great day!
おやすみなさい！
– B
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