Crêpes

Crêpes with Coffee Jerry?

No More Meetings
After two days of school meetings and less time than usual to get stuff done, I wasn't up for cooking dinner. My normal thought would be breakfast for dinner, but my kids don't like scrambled eggs or pancakes the way that I did when I was a kid and someone said, "How about pancakes for dinner?" OK, one kid would go for it, but not both. We hit upon a variation of this though.

We made crêpes tonight. It's a first for me, but it was driven by my children who having gotten sucked into (by their dad) watching our favorite cooking show on youtube, Cooking with Dog, pounced on this recipe with vigor. Plus Francis is pretty cute with that hat on so we tried it. It works. I can't say my crêpes were as thin as Cooking Mama's, but they tasted good and everyone ate them. The Mule ate four. This kid doesn't eat four of anything being the resident string bean and picky eater since birth.

The Menu
Dinner tonight was freshly made tofu with ponzu (thank you Kendo Mama), leftover cheese rice, and all of the crêpes you could eat filled with whipped cream, strawberries, and bananas. It might not qualify as dinner in some households, but in mine, if it disappears, it's a keeper.

Watch the video and have a go at it!

Crêpes from Cooking with Dog
Cake flour, 100 gm, sifted
Sugar, 3 Tbsp
Eggs, 2, beaten
Butter, 2 Tbsp, melted
Milk, 240 ml
Vegetable Oil for frying

Sift the cake flour. Using a balloon whisk, whisk in the sugar. Form a well in the center. Pour the beaten eggs into the well and whisk, whisk, whisk until the eggs are mixed into the flour. Pour in the melted butter while continuing to whisk. Then the milk. Pour the batter through a strainer (the Japanese use a strainer as a sifter so reuse it for this) into a clean bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Set aside for about 30 minutes to keep everything at room temperature. Get a kitchen towel damp, fold it like a hot pad, and set it beside the burner you will use. Over medium low heat, heat oil in a frying pan, remove excessive oil with a small piece of paper towel and a chopstick or fork. Remove the pan from the heat, set it on the damp towel, ladle the batter into the frying pan, swirling the pan as needed to make a thin layer that goes to the edges of your pan. Cook until it bubbles and begins to brown. Lift up the outer edges and work your way to the center, flip it over. I used a thin silicone spatula whereas Cooking Mama used chopsticks to do this. Cook the other side as needed and remove the crepe to a wire rack. Repeat. Makes 8 crepes.

We did not go for syrup, ice cream, and custard, but there is always tomorrow. We will make a double batch next time.

The Youtube Video

Making It

Making Stuff

Sometimes I barely keep it together. I get overwhelmed. I get frustrated. I wish I could go away. I never really understood those stories about women walking into oceans (The Piano), running away from their kids, but I get it now. Now that I'm a parent, now that I stay at home, and now that my life is a lot less about me. I don't run away, I don't drop off into the ocean despite the temptations, and part of what keeps me together is making stuff.

When my repertoire was small, baking, usually chocolate chip cookies, is what kept me sane. It was the sign that I had some small measure of control and creativity in me despite long hours at too many mindless tasks. As my cooking repertoire expanded, things like serving high tea, having dinner on the table, or making jars of jam do it for me, especially if I get to stare at jars put up on a shelf as if they were a fossil of productivity. Sometimes, I get really clever and make something exceptionally tasty and feel all happy with myself. A feeling of satisfaction, of something working, makes all of those tedious moments better.

When my husband shipped off to Iraq, I looked for something new to do and took up knitting. I managed to knit a few scarves which gave me a sense of accomplishment. With the demise of the knitting group, knitting fell to the wayside, but the joy of making stuff besides dinner, dessert, or tea emerged.

Lately I have been learning to sew. A few other Navy Wives have offered up their skills to help others interested sewing. I dusted off my sewing machine, placed it in the trunk of the car, and drove forty minutes to the base to get some help using it. There aren't many English speaking sewing teachers in my parts here in the wilds of Kamakura. I am just beginning.

Baking, creating, crafting, writing, art, what have you, keeps me from going bonkers. My husband comes home and I can see his eyes sweep the room noting the toys, the laundry racks, the dishes piled in the sink, the unkemptness of it all, but me, I'm delighted with my project. He's wise enough to praise my efforts or at least not say a word about the mess most days. We don't always live in a pigsty, but I have my piles. These projects give me great delight even if their results are so so in the eyes of others. My drive to do them is in part about enlivening some small part of me that must engage the world even in a small way. The act of creating is what keeps me from being that woman walking into the ocean.

Commitment to Process

Last year during lent, I committed to writing daily with the thought that I was either going to write or stop thinking about doing it. I found the surprise at where you go when writing is wonderful even if you stall sometimes and so I keep coming back. Getting feedback that someone read it is pretty nice, but in the end it is in the doing of writing that I find soulful satisfaction. Tapping the inner creative pool that has been building and building, lets off pressure and pain in a weird yet wonderful way. The output may be less than stellar- I could certainly benefit from editing, but the result is only part of the reason for doing it. My beginner mind finds it easier to stay with the process and trust that the results will come.

Creative Process

As I grapple with creative expression, I see my aims more clearly. I seek truths that are so universal that you can see them with me. I want to create things that sing in your mind and in your heart, but it might be a while before I get there. I am crafting with a sledgehammer and can only hope to become more graceful with it with practice.

But how are you to see into a virtuous Soul and know its loveliness? Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not find yourself beautiful yet, act as does the creator of a statue that is to be made beautiful: he cuts away here, he smooths there, he makes this line lighter, this other purer, until a lovely face has grown upon his work. So do you also: cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is overcast, labour to make all one glow of beauty and never cease chiseling your statue...

Plotinus, The Enneads

An awareness of outcomes has begun, and it stretches me toward experimenting, learning, and doing things again and again for the sake of doing, for the sake of expressing, and for the hope of making a thing of beauty. It is a wonderful feeling to create something beautiful, something wholesome, but working with a sledgehammer does have its learning curve.

Sewing with Help

Recently, I was privileged with the attention of a sewing teacher's help. Her attention helped me make something lovelier than I could have done by myself. I thought you might like a peek at my first "real purse" as I called it when we turned the bag's insides out for the unveiling. It was wonderful of her to take the time to spend with me. I'm saved for another week, I have a thing of beauty to show for it, and I am grateful for a new creative outlet to explore.

my first "real purse" sewing project

Inside view 

A Winter's Soup

Oden Japanese Winter Soup with recipe by Aki Nansai

Oden is a Japanese winter's soup that is flavorful, healthy, and worthy of the time it takes to assemble. This is a dish I like only when it's homemade. The trick is to find all of the ingredients. I am grateful to my cooking class teacher, Aki Nansai, for this recipe. It is made for celebrations and for guests.


Konnyaku may be hard to find outside of Japan but it offers up a lot of fiber and texture with minimal caloric gain and is thus widely consumed here as a health food. It is only available in Japan as it cannot be frozen. I is quite smelly which may be why you have to wash it with salt and then boil it for several minutes until it is warmed through before you cut it and put it in the soup. It has a mild taste so it is more that it gives the soup another chewing texture, visual variety, and a lot of fiber for the consumer.

Konnyaku is sprinkled with salt, squeezed, boiled 2-3 minutes and then cut into triangles

The Japanese Mountain Potato with it's sticky texture may be hard to find, but it is fine to substitute potato starch or corn starch.

Yamato Imo Mountain Potato is grated and gooey

In Japanese Yellowtail Tuna is known as Inada when it is one size and Buri when it is another. The winter season is an excellent time for Buri and so the fish cakes in this soup can be made with either inada or buri. Get thee to a fishmonger to find it. The fish is made into a paste for the Satsumage Fried Fish Cakes.

Inada or Buri for fish cakes needs to be skinned, cut, and made into a paste

Japanese tofu comes in many forms outside of the white blocks more familiar to western tofu eaters. This soup takes advantage of aburage fried tofu "drawstring" purses which get stuffed in this recipe with half sized dried mochi rice cake bricks. It also used atsuage fried tofu as the basis of the tofu fritters. Hopefully, you can source these items.

You will need to make a few recipes to assemble this soup, but it is worth the effort. You will make a chicken-dashi stock, fish cakes, tofu fritters, and tofu purses. When all is prepared, the soup is put together, boiled one last time, and served.

Satsumage Fried Fish Cakes & Ganmodoki Tofu Fritters

Satsumage Fried Fish Cakes

Gobo Burdock Root, 20 gm, cut into small sticks

Carrot, 20 gm, cut into small sticks

Buri Yellow Fin Tuna, 400 gm

Potato Starch, 2 tsp

Yamato Imo Japanese Mountain Potato, 50 gm, grated (may substitute more starch)

Egg, 1/2 (mix and use only half)

Fresh Ginger, grated, 1 tsp

Salt, 1/2 tsp

Black Sesame Seeds, 1 Tbsp

Sake, 1/2 Tbsp

Fry Oil

1. Cut gobo and place into a bowl of water to soak. Cut carrot and set aside.

2. Prepare the fish: skin, chop, and grind the fish into a paste either by hand, with a food processor, or with a suribachi grinding bowl.

3. Add to the fish paste: starch, potato if using, egg, ginger, and salt. Mix and then divide into two bowls.

4. In bowl one, add the gobo. In bowl two, add the carrot, sesame seeds, and sake.

5. Form into small patties (about 5 cm) to fry using a tablespoon and your hand. Shape them and press out the air to insure they are dense.

6. Fry fish cakes in oil heated to 170º C until golden brown and set aside on drain rack.

Atsuage Fried Tofu- soak, drain, and to be smash into paste

Ganmodoki tofu fritter batter in a suribachi grinding bowl

 Ganmodoki tofu fritter batter formed into a ball with ginkgo nut pressed into center

 Ganmodoki Tofu Fritters
Atsuage Fried Tofu, 2 blocks, soak in water, drain
Dried Tree Ear, 3-4 pieces, soak in water, drain, chop
Carrot, 30 gm, cut into thin sticks
Yamato Imo Mountain Potato or Potato Starch, 2 Tbsp
Salt, 1/3 tsp
Sugar, 1 tsp
Black Sesame Seeds, 1 tsp

Ginnan Ginkgo nuts or whole cooked Daizu Soy Bean, 12
Potato Starch, as needed
Fry Oil

1. Prep: Soak tofu 1-2 minutes in hot water to remove excess oil. Drain on rack or with paper towels. Soak tree ear in hot water 5 minutes, drain, and chop. Cut carrot into small thin sticks. Grate the mountain potato if you have one.

2. Make Paste: Grind tofu into a paste either by hand, with a food processor, or with a suribachi grinding bowl. Add salt, sugar. Stir in carrot and sesame seeds.

3. Form into balls: Form into small balls about 5 cm across. Press a nut (or bean) into the center and cover. Roll into potato starch.

4. Fry the balls: Heat fry oil to 170º C and fry the tofu fritters until golden brown. Set aside on drain rack.

Aburage Fried Tofu Purses made into Kinchaku "drawstring" tofu purses

Aburage Fried Tofu Pocket stuff with a half block of mochi

Kinchaku "Drawstring" Purses of Aburage Fried Tofu
Aburage Fried tofu purses, place in hot water, squeeze out, drain
Dried Mochi rice cake bricks, 2, cut in half
Toothpicks, 4

Place tofu into hot water 1-2 minutes, squeeze out water, and drain. Cut mochi bricks in half. Place half of a brick inside the tofu purse and contain with a toothpick through the top. This will boil in the soup.

Chicken Dashi Stock with konbu knots in the pressure cooker

Oden Japanese Winter Soup by Aki Nansai
Water, 10 cups
Konbu Dried Seaweed, 8 pieces of 3 cm x 15 cm, to become konbu knots
Katsuobushi Dried Bonito Fish Flakes, 20 to 30 gms
Konnyaku, 1 block, sprinkle with salt, squeeze it, boil it 2-3 minutes, then cut into triangle
Daikon Japanese Winter Radish, 1/2 (600 gms), cut into thick slices
Hard Boiled Eggs, 4, after boiling, peel shell

Carrot, 1, cut in thirds lengthwise and then into chunks of 3-5 cm

Chicken Wings, 4-5, wash and pat dry

Soy Sauce, 3 Tbsp
Salt, 1/2 Tbsp
Sake, 1 Tbsp
Sugar, 1 Tbsp
Mirin, 2 Tbsp
Satsumage Fried Fish Cakes
Ganmodoki Tofu Fritters
Kinchaku "Drawstring" Purses of Aburage Fried Tofu

1. Make dashi stock: In a large pot soak konbu in the water for 2 to 3 hours. Remove the softened konbu and tie into knots. Return konbu knots to the dashi water. Bring to boil. Add katsuobushi flakes and stop the fire. When flakes begin to fall, remove them with a sieve and save off to the side.

2. Prep: Sprinkle salt onto konnyaku, squeeze out, and boil for 2-3 minutes in a pot of water. Peel daikon and cut into thick slices. Boil daikon until just tender. Hard boil the eggs, cool down, and peel. Cut carrot. Wash chicken wings. Make satsumage, ganmodoki, and kinchaku.

3. Make Chicken Dashi Stock: Use a pressure cooker and cook chicken wings, konbu knots, carrot, and some of the dashi stock so as not to overfill the pressure cooker. Once it is under pressure, cook about 10 minutes.

4. Assemble the soup: In the large pot with the dashi stock add the cooked chicken dashi stock, soy sauce, salt, sake, sugar, and mirin. Bring to boil. Continue boiling and top with boiled eggs, satsumage fried fish cakes, ganmodoki tofu fritters, and kinchaku "drawstring" purses of aburage fried tofu, boiling 2-3 minutes. To serve, place one of everything onto each item into a bowl and dish up the broth.

Idatakimasu I humbly receive,
Kim

Oden with toppings in place and ready to serve into individual bowls

Winter Thoughts on Energy

Kerosene Heaters do have their merits and satisfy a primordial need to cook on fire

When something doesn't work the obvious solution is to try something else. As I freeze my tootsies off in yet another winter in my very expensive rental house with its outrageous electricity bills, I wonder at the lack of insulation and the single panes of glass that allow in drafts despite doors shut and windows in lock-down. The house breathes but it also lets every yen of heat escape.

Conversation turned to energy conservation at cooking class yesterday. I felt the months of winter's cold, the difficulties of staying warm, and extra work involved in lugging kerosene and filling heaters, boil over. Yes, energy conservation is necessary in terms of how we live in the way that energy is used, but a couple of solar panels on the house do not make up for a house that allows the wind to blow out every bit of warmth. A house has to be designed to take advantage of its location and then to hold onto the the heat or in summer the cool air. My outrage is because these things are possible though not in wide useage here in Japan. Perhaps we fail at these things in the States as well, but it is here that I have lived and suffered winter's whims these past five years.

I drive my car more than my Japanese friends and with that I get a few pangs of guilt that I should be walking and biking more than I do. I am always pressed for time so the car is the solution at the ready for me. There is a flicker of thought that bridging two cultures is part of the problem as well that I am doing too much. So there, I am not so much better myself in addressing obvious solutions to change. I do bridge two cultures as I have feet planted in both worlds- American and Japanese- and these worlds are forty-five minutes apart. I do "do" too much. Here is the inroad I should seek to address but I love all of the things I do so I can't see my way to give them up, well, I'd be happy to give up laundry, cleaning, and organizing, but that seems unlikely.

My powers of concentration intensify with my interest. My husband's constant refrain is that when I am focused on something I am oblivious to all else like a child playing with Lego sets in an imaginary world. So it is. Truly we've both learned that if we turn from what we are doing, it will be a long time before we get back to it. My son will disregard bodily signals to go to the bathroom when he is engaged in play to the point that he almost or does have an accident. When I worked in the hospital, I would stay on my tasks ignoring my own hunger pains and some calls for my attention to complete long complex tasks because it was too hard to get back to them. A nurse in the hospital has numerous interruptions. Those interruptions takeaway from the quality and detail of work and I suppose for a child, the joy and interest of play. I love uninterrupted time but it seems as though that gift is only given to us in childhood summer days to appreciate later.

Having had frostbite on my toes from living in a too cold house combined with having Raynaud's Phenomena in a temperate climate, I can appreciate and see the need for serious change in the way houses are built in Japan and elsewhere. A heater with a digital eye that blows the heat or cool air to where you are is an insufficient answer. Crumbs do not make the pie. Small steps are better than no steps, but if Japan and the world are to give up nuclear energy we must make many and more grand turns toward change. For that solar panel to be effective, our needs much match it's output.

Getting Crafty: Luggage Tag

Cramming

The school year winds down here in Japan in March so mama friends are trying to cram every activity that has been put off, into the next few weeks. Yochien Mama friends and I recently went to the onsen. Sans kiddos we were able to get massages and indulge ourselves. I noted the crowd was mainly older so it must be a good thing to spend as much time as possible at the onsen or so I rationalize when I think of my kitchen sink full of breakfast dishes, my floor sprinkled with food offerings, and my racks of laundry- that work never goes away and a good mama must look after herself. As the afternoon wore on, I began to get more and more itchy and then I broke out in hives. I think some of the goop used was not for sensitive skin. Darn shame, I'd hate to have to skip the massage part.

At last, Reflexology

My friends were lounging in the warm rooms, I don't know what else to call them. It was quiet and kind of steamy in there plus we were wearing the spa issued polyester lounge wear, the unbreathing thick kind that sticks to your sweat. I was too squirrelly to rest so I wandered off. I found myself standing in front of the Shiatsu Massage Desk. The menu was entirely in Japanese, but I could read the numbers. I pointed to the item listed for twenty minutes and found myself the recipient of a foot massage. Turned out it was reflexology which I had never tried. The reflexologist commented, in Japanese, that I have cold feet. I nodded and smiled. I've heard that since childhood. I would have loved to have said, "And they have heat seeking devices implanted in them that can pin down a limb and rob it of any and all heat in mere seconds." Seriously, I could medal if it were a sport. Ah, the pains of the language divide. She was able to tell me in English where some of the target points were as she pressed on my feet. It was pretty fabulous so I didn't really care if it was for my stomach, my shoulder, etc. My feet were happy.

Story Time

I read stories to the Japanese first graders in English today. It went pretty well- same books, last of the four classes. The teacher's assistant was in the room while I was reading to the kids. She seemed impressed that I managed to get them enthralled even though I can't speak more than two words of Japanese at a time. Hey, I've been perfecting my guttural Japanese for five years now and body language helps. I cupped my hand to my ear and waited for the children's' responses. It works. I'm debating if I could do "The Three Little Pigs" or "The Gingerbread Boy" next term. I think I would lose the kids, but I so want to hear them in unison saying, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in!" and "No, no, no! Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin." Really I want to read "The Stinky Cheese Boy" so I can hear the children say, "You can't catch me! I'm the Stinky Cheese Man!" My friend told me that last week she read to the fifth graders on Valentine's Day so she read a love story. Sounded like you could have heard a pin drop. Thankfully, the first graders are full of noise and I had my fifteen minutes today to channel it. I skipped the meeting afterward, but I signed on to read through at least June.

Crafty Mama

I skipped the mama book meeting to go to a crafting group. I was the only one so I got lots of help. I made a bag! I am so psyched. I made a real bag. It looks nice, but I have to finish one side before I can post the picture. I had to leave to return to my mama duties. It is so much easier to make something when there are directions and someone who knows that they are doing. Over the weekend I made a bag with Japanese directions and no help. I will not be posting that photo. I did make a luggage tag from an internet pattern I found on Studio Kat Design, and I finally finished off the munster's bags. I seem to unsew as much as I sew, but at least I'm starting to get the drift of how things go together. Try the luggage tags, surely there is a sport bag, suitcase, or something that needs one around your house.

My stitching is not so great, but I was able to do it by myself

Luggage Tag- fits a business card- I cut the plastic from a stiff sheet protector

My favorite models sporting their new bags

Making Miso Paste

Miso Paste

I've been lucky to make cooking friends here in Japan. Today, we made miso paste, as we did last year, and so I thought to ask, "Why do you make miso paste in February?" "So you can eat it in winter," was the reply. You mix together the miso paste in a few hours, but it has to sit in a cool, dark place for months before it is ready to eat. In Japan, my friends eat miso soup almost daily so a miso stash is steadily used up in winter. My family eats miso soup maybe once a week, but still, once I leave Japan, good miso is hard to come by. Making the miso paste with a group also means that there are many hands to make light work plus we had pot luck and fun conversation.

Miso is made from dried soy beans daizu, koji (for the bacteria), natural salt, and water. The ingredients and storage buckets were purchased as a kit on the internet so that we could use organic soy beans and a good quality koji. The website is only in Japanese, but if you have a friend to help, you can purchase the necessary items from them as they will ship internationally. 

Koji is a steamed rice with aspergillus oryzae spores in it. This essential bacteria, fungus, or mold, if you will, is what delivers the distinctive taste to sake, soy sauce, and miso. Think of it like a yeast for beer or a mold for cheese.

The work of miso paste is mainly in the soaking, boiling, and crushing of the beans. Today we used a food grinder which made the crushing phase go fast. You can also use a food processor or do it by hand. Save some of the bean water from the boiling process to mix into the crushed beans. However, use only the minimum necessary moisture to mix together the paste. Too much moisture makes the paste prone to further bacteria. This paste will sit for up to two years so growing mold is part of the process, but to control this process you need to minimize the moisture and maximize the cleanliness.

The miso paste storage container must be aseptically clean. We made twenty kilograms of miso paste and so used large plastic buckets which were new and cleaned out with alcohol. Once you mix up the paste and press out all of the air, use a spatula to scrap down the sides and flatten out the top of the miso paste.  Sprinkle salt over the top as this salt layer acts as a bacteria barrier. The paste is stored in a cool, dark place with a weight on the top until June, four months time.  At that time, open the lid, remove all of the spots and mold along the sides and top,  and then mix the miso paste together once more being sure to bring the bottom to the top.  Wait another two months and repeat this step in August, the sixth month after making the paste. Await a cold day or use it in a marinade for a bar-b-que, the miso paste is ready. Miso paste can be stored for up to two years. The taste mellows with time. Do take care to monitor how you store and keep the miso.

My friends have promised to mail my miso portion to me once I return to the States.

Idatakimasu I humbly receive,
Kim

Miso Soybean Paste

Daizu Dried Soybeans, 850 g

Koji Fermented Rice, 850 g

Natural Salt, 400 g + sprinkles

Boiled Soybean soup (save from boiling Daizu above)

Taru or some kind of plastic Container for miso with a lid

Plastic bag to line taru & one to cover container

Heavy weight or stone 

Distilled spirits (at leaset 35% alcohol) sush as Umeshu or vodka, 1-2 Tbsp

1. Wash beans. Soak overnight in water. Beans should double in size.

2. Prep Container: Wipe inside of taru miso paste storage container out with distilled spirits. Set aside. Rinse plastic liner with 1-2 Tbsp of distilled spirits and drain. Line container with the bag.

3. Prepare beans: Drain beans and rinse. Fill pot with fresh water and beans. Water should be twice as much as the beans. Boil beans gently about 1 hour until the beans are soft enough to the bite or can mash with your fingers. Skim foam off of the beans while cooking. For quicker results cook beans with a pressure cooker. When soft, drain the beans but reserve about 200 cc of the boiled soybean soup for making miso.

4. Mash beans while still warm with a food mill, food processor, or by hand with a masher. May need to adjust moisture by adding a bit of the reserved soup water- mixture should stay together like a paste.

5. Form paste: Mix together salt and koji in a large bowl. Add mashed beans to this mixture. Form mixture into rounded hamburger balls- throw each ball into your hands to remove all of the air to insure no space for bacteria or mold. Place each ball into the lined taru. 

6. Store Paste: When finished making all of the balls, fold the plastic bag over the top and press mixture firmly & evenly  to remove all of the air. Sprinkle top of paste with salt and close bag. Place lid on taru and place in a plastic bag- this partly depends on amount and storage items you are using. Place heavy weight or stones on the top and store in a cool, dark place.

7. Check top of miso monthly for blue or black spots- remove BLUE or BLACK spots, white ones are ok so leave them. On the 4th month, mix the mixture so that the top goes to the bottom one time. Continue to check for spots monthly. Taste will be mild, but you may eat it after 6 months. Miso will be good for about 2 years.

Natural Salt and 2 kinds of Koji- white and muji or barley for making miso

Daizu or dried soy beans that soaked overnight and are weighed and separated in bags for making miso paste

Washed, soaked, and ready to cook organic soy beans daizu

Skim off the foam as it appears. Cook beans until soft.

We used a food grinder to mash the beans- we made 20 kg very quickly!

Storage bucket with the mixture of mashed beans, koji, and salt.

Add a bit of the bean water to get the paste to JUST stick together and form into balls

Forming balls of miso paste mixture

Place the balls into the storage container and press down to remove as much air as possible

Use a spatula to scrap down the sides and get the paste away from the edges so that the salt can act as a barrier to the wrong kind of bacteria.

Sprinkle salt on the top

Cover with plastic wrap

Cover with inner lid

Place weight on for storage

Store miso paste covered in a cool, dark place

Branching into Ikebana

Ikebana is a traditional Japanese art form that reflects the coming together of nature and humanity through flower arrangements. In Japan, there are many schools and types of Ikebana and within these schools there are various styles which emphasize shapes, lines, and forms differently. I have watched Ikebana demonstrations and wondered what ideas guided the master's work. I use the word master because passions and hobbies are studied and worked at for many years as a discipline like nothing I have observed in the West. I came away from a recent workshop through the Kamakura Chapter of Ikebana International with a glimpse of insight from an Ikebana master that helped guide my hand and eye as I arranged flowers that may help others to begin too. The sensei, Mikami Midori, belongs to the Ohara school of Ikebana.

The containers are generally flat and shallow of a neutral color so as not to detract from the flowers to be placed inside. My container was a half moon shape. A kenzan or spiky frog was placed inside. Water is poured into the container when you are ready to start to just above the kenzan's level so that the stems can absorb water.

"Which way do I place the stem?" I asked the Ikebana Sensei. "It's up to the branch," she said. I felt like I was, at last, on The Karate Kid movie set. Look at the branch and determine, "Is it an upright form or a slanting form?" Remove stems that detract from the line by clipping unnecessary stems and leaves to strengthen the line's flow. Cut stems at an angle. Insert stems straight down onto the kenzan or spiky frog and then push them to the side to prevent drooping. I went with the slanting form. We snipped, we pushed, we bent.

We studied the roses. Look at the flowers until they speak to you. She asked me, "Which is the strongest flower?" I knew what she meant. I pointed. She agreed. "This is your 'object' the power flower," she said. The pink rose was bold, strong, and it did show me the strength of nature which a day before I would have thought of as too sweet. "The object is one third the length of your branch." I snipped. "O-kyaku-sama, it wants us to look at it, to be our guest. Place it so it shows us it's strength" she instructed. She turned the rose down shaking her head and then she turned it up and gave it to me to place.

"The second flower is half the length of the branch," she continued. I fiddled, she plucked and tucked. So like life, it is up to the branch. I wondered why I waited so long to play with flowers as an adult. It takes a only a few items- a small dish, a pair of clippers, a kenzan or spiky frog, some flowers and branches that are in season, and a willingness to notice what the flowers are saying, what the branches are up to. Try it.

Ikebana arrangement made with these instructions

3 Graces

"Amazing Grace" has been percolating in my being of late.

First my iPod played Jerry Garcia's version of "Amazing Grace" from The Pizza Tapes a few times. I wondered if it was conspiring with the universe to get me to think about grace. I do have a fair amount of Jerry Garcia on my iPod.

Then the munsters each asked me to read The Donut Chef story book in which a donut proprietor sets up shop, duels it out with another donut maker, bakes a lot of crazy donuts that have lost their soul and their hole, and then is inspired by a child who asks, "But where is the kind I like best?" She wants a glazed donut. The chef cooks up the old fashioned doughnut and changes his shop's sign to 'Amazing Glazed.'

This reminded me of an old friend from high school who found me through Facebook. We had been friends through home room, Spanish class, and summer hire jobs our last summer together. My memory of our parting was in a parking lot, the last day of work, knowing we were heading off to college soon, but thinking we would meet on future breaks. She mentioned she had to sing at church that Sunday and was unsure of which song. Over the car, before I got in, I said, "Amazing Grace." We never ran into each other again, but twenty years later the first thing she told me was that she had sung "Amazing Grace" that long ago Sunday. It launched her church singing career. It was nice to know that the moment had held meaning for her, enough to let me know years later.

The word grace came to me again by way of a blog entry on Momastry. The particular entry was from a guest blogger about helping a family, a mother with six children, to get off of their apartment floor and gain a sense of support with a helping hand. The story lingered in my mind because I was impressed at what could be done through a blog, the impact of the change on the family, and because I wondered if it would stick. I'm a mother of two children and I have a husband. It crossed my mind that a woman with six children and no husband may not be the best decision maker, but I'm sure she needed a hand. A few days later I noted another entry was posted and read that some readers had responded negatively to the helping of this particular family. I felt partly guilty of the same thought as I just mentioned. But the blog writer, Glennon took me deeper into the thought with her hard won wisdom. This is what she wrote:

...I am not in the business of deciding which human beings are deserving of help and which aren’t. That’s a slippery slope, and one that a girl like me must avoid like the plague. I spent the first twenty years of my life with my arms open wide, accepting gifts from God and family and friends and promptly walking over to the trash can and throwing them in. By the time I was helped out of my crappy life once and for all, I certainly didn’t deserve it. But help came anyway. Grace, I believe it’s called. Undeserved favor.  Grace is scandalous, and I can see how someone who has lived a responsible life might get frustrated by it. I really, really can. Grace is totally unfair. So, that’s the bad news. The good news is that if you ever need help- we will be here to offer it. And you can bet your Monkee bottom that we won’t be concerned with whether or not you deserve it. You’re worthy of love and grace just because you are. 

Glennon from Momastery

It made me think more about grace, the unmerited favor kind, and how vital it is for growth, for change. It made me think about the need to offer it up just a little bit more to both myself and others. I also played the tune a few more times. Then I remembered this photo I snapped from the Tokyo Quilt Exhibition, though I don't know the title given to it by its maker. The three graces of Greek mythology were charm, beauty, and creativity. A dose of any one of them is a gift, all three have the makings of a blessing.

Quilt from the Tokyo Quilt Show January 27,  2012

The Garbage Hug

Garbage Collection point in Omachi, Kamakura, Japan

I found myself crying over the garbage this morning. A neighbor and I exchanged, "Ohioguzimas." She then asked me where I lived. I pointed to my house understanding her question but unable to respond verbally to her Japanese. She then took this as the launching point for how this garbage spot is for neighborhood number six where as I live in number three- I must live on the line. I picked up my bags and walked to the other garbage collection spot. This is the Japanese way to tell someone they are wrong- greet them and then explain the rules. I don't know exactly what she said, but I got the point. After four plus years in Japan, it is yet another, "you're doing it wrong" moment. These moments always seem to catch me by surprise. Here I thought she was being friendly.

I want to do it right, but I would have to have been told in the first place to do that. No one has every told me where to take the garbage. I pay the bills, it is all the same trucks, so it never occurred to me I was doing it wrong. The first time I took out the garbage, I went for what was close or what was nearest to where I was going.

When we moved here I was given several booklets, one was about the garbage. I ended up getting out a pad of paper to keep straight the voluminous, confusing instructions in English. Two days a week you can put this out, one day a week this, no more than five bags, once a month you can put this out, etc., but there was no mention on the location. Garbage is a graduate degree around here. I've heard that Kamakura city has a very high rate of recycling even for Japan. I have always happily participated and tried from the beginning to get the garbage right.

At the "my" garbage collection point, an English speaking neighbor, let's call him the Professor, was recycling his household items. I blurted out, "I've been using the wrong garbage spot." He has been in Japan for many years and immediately understood my frustration. In thirty plus years of being a foreigner, he knows a lot about doing it wrong, the rules, and being in the information black hole. He's been there. He gave me a spontaneous hug and encouraged me. It was then that I burst into tears, thanks to his kindness and his understanding. As I sat over my bag of glass bottles, metal caps, and cans crying, he bent down and took my bag and began sorting the items for me. As I calmed down, he encouraged me to take it easy, to be nice to myself, to do some of the wonderful things there are to do here. "It's only garbage!" he said with a smile. We walked back together. I felt better.

It is nice when someone takes the time to listen, to speak kindly, to give someone a hug, even if it's over the garbage.

My notes on Garbage for Japan

Kokeshi and Farmer Boy

Wooden Dolls
I have to buy a kokeshi wooden doll set for my son. It seems they are so kawaii that he can't live without them. The Moose thinks everything under the sun is cute. He sleeps with a penguin named Suica because it's "too kawaii." He sleeps with a flying squirrel named Kitaca which he forced-march the entire family to run down at the train station in Hokkaido because it is so kawaii. He asks me to take photos of things that he considers too cute. Some how my boy has the kawaii disease. His sister the Mule is more pragmatic. She told him, "Just go to the shop and take a picture. You don't need those dolls."

Hinamatsuri Kokeshi Set

The thing is these dolls are for Hinamatsuri the Doll's Day Festival here in Japan. It occurs in March just before the Moose's birthday and so he has come to associate the doll displays with his birthday. The shops are displaying them now; it's like a countdown reminder for him who keeps no time. He is also studying the Lego catalog daily like I used to study the Sear's Christmas catalog. His selections change daily.

As our time in Japan comes nearer to the end, we are thinking of souvenirs we want to have back at home. Doll displays are elaborate but the kokeshi set is small, easy to clean and store, and they are cute. With a Moose with a birthday so near, I don't think it's so strange for a boy to want them. I had bought the Moose a manly monk kokeshi, but he brought it into my room saying, "The Monk should be with the singing bowl and the candles Mama." And so now it is. The Mule reminded the Moose that with the doll's day set, "They have to be put away or you won't get married!" The Moose wasn't sure what to make of this thought but finally responded, "I know that!"

Monk kokeshi

A Book
At bedtime, the Mule asked me, "Can we buy some popcorn?" I laughed. We've been plodding not very steadily through the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. We get distracted with other story books and playing with Legos from time to time. After many months we are on the third book in the series, Farmer Boy. It introduces Laura's future husband Almanzo. The third chapter, "Winter Night," details a family evening and the popping of popcorn.

I was mesmerized by the endless supply of doughnuts and apple cider and that breakfast included apple pie as well as the chores done by a nine year old boy such as getting up at five in the morning to attend to the animals. If my kids got up at five in the morning to attend to farm work, we might have apple pie for breakfast too. Families were so self sufficient in making things then- bullets, ice houses, door frames, sleds, fabric, etc.

Ripping Stitches
I spent a fair amount of time ripping out stitches from my first bag. My limited visual spacial skills make piecing together lining and outside fabrics difficult. I sewed the fabric backwards, then I sewed the handle inside, and then I got it right. There is a reason I'm not an engineer, but I have willpower and this project was about staying with it. I still have to hand stitch up the hole where I flipped and pulled the fabric through, but having it done thus far is light years ahead of anything I've sewn on my own before. Give me a couple of sewing lessons and I think I'm some kind of couture seamstress, but don't look at my stitches!

5 Thoughts on Cooking & 4 Recipes

COOKING THOUGHT #1: Recipes with antidotes have staying power.

I read cookbooks in bed like some might read mysteries or romance novels. I've done this since high school. Cookbooks are getting more interesting as the years go by- they more often include an antidote before the recipe. A story makes a recipe resonate in my memory banks. Food descriptions induce a Pavlovian response, accompanied by photos, I'm drooling like his dogs. Now that I do so much cooking, I don't have as much time to indulge in reading, but cookbooks and recipes form many of the piles in my living space.


COOKING THOUGHT #2: Culturally grounded cooking gadgets are irresistible.

I like cooking gadgets too. I convince myself that I really will make taiyaki bean stuffed fish cakes popular in Japan enough to justify purchasing a pan. My fear is that I won't be able to find one when I return to the States and that I'll get a hankering for the item that I rarely eat, but it will be really cool to make stuff for potluck. I'll have a basement when I return home, lots of storage. I keep collecting.

My favorite gadget of the moment is the bamboo steamer. My husband and I have convinced ourselves that it imparts a taste, an aroma at least, that is unique. A Japanese friend marveled that I make nikuman and anman stuffed Chinese steam buns. They are sold in the store, ready-made, here in Japan. I'm all for convenience and good taste too, but I won't live here forever and where I'm going, I can't count on steam buns at the ready.


COOKING THOUGHT #3: Written cookbooks are necessary for cooking and replicating dishes.

Where I have whiled away many an hour with a cookbook in bed, my husband got me hooked on watching Cooking with Dog on YouTube.com in bed. It's a cooking show that highlights one recipe at a time of popular dishes in Japanese cooking. The cook is a Japanese woman and her dog, Francis, is the narrator who happens to speak English, thus the show's title. My husband and I refer to the woman as "The Cooking Mama" (inspired by the DS Nintendo game our kids like to play). Cooking Mama has superior knife skills and a number of recipes to indulge one's eating fantasies. It is perhaps better than a cookbook since you can see the recipe evolve while you watch, but I'm not giving up my cookbooks anytime soon. Her recipe for steam buns inspired mine. Cookbooks with the recipes written down make it easy to follow the steps, remember ingredients, and insure consistent results. Some things work out with a pinch of this and glug of that, but not everything. Plus they help me remember to try different recipes as the seasons change. I'm as guilty as any cook of falling into cooking ruts. Cookbooks inspire me. That said, all recipes have options depending on what you have at hand and improvisation is part of cooking.


COOKING THOUGHT #4: Love what you cook.

I am motivated to cook because I want to eat. If I could magically get what I wanted to eat without cooking, I would skip the cooking step. It's labor to me. My husband enjoys cooking and will happily cook anything. I went through a hot bean paste and green beans with pork phase that lasted for several years. He kindly cooked it every week since I kept bringing home the groceries. When suddenly my brain switch flipped to no more, it was at least a year before he said, "We haven't had pork and beans for a while." It was one of his recipes that I initially learned because I just couldn't get enough of it. We haven't had it for a few years now, but love of a dish will push me to great effort.

If you don't like the cooking process, love what you cook. It saves you from getting mad when the gustatory intake is subpar. It will keep you interested in experimenting and trying again. Children are the reason I began to seriously cook at nearly forty, but they can be finicky. Love what you cook so you don't begrudge the time spent in the kitchen. Chasing down tastes and smells that capture my interest, keeps me cooking.


COOKING THOUGHT #5: Cook with real ingredients.

I am reluctant to use fake food. By this I mean food that can't be made at home. I buy food I could make like butter, beer, and tofu because of the labor and material it takes, but the point is if I wanted to make it, I could. Fake food requires a manufacturing process and is often costly. Here I am thinking of things like tofu bacon, artificial sweeteners, and margarine. Eating real fat saves you in the long run- you have to learn to eat less of it, but the real thing satiates the taste buds in a way that only the real thing can. Have you ever noticed that people who eat the real deal are always skinnier than folks eating all of that fake food? Think about France and all of that stinky cheese. In America, I struggle to find unprocessed food when eating out or at a convenience store. In Japan, you can eat fresh made food from 7-11. We're in sad straits in America despite all the complaints about obesity, diabetes, and health care costs. Go to the 7-11 (in the States) and look around. I dare you to find a healthy meal there. Send me a picture if you do so I know what to get next time. Also find a drink that isn't full of fake stuff besides water.

My husband marvels that despite my lack of knife skills, I am able to ferret out recipe problems. It's thanks to all those cookbooks I read.

Idatakimasu I humbly recieve,
Kim

Chinese style steam buns or Nikuman with meat or Anman with sweet beans in Japan

Dough for Steam Buns
All purpose Flour, 250 gm (8.8 oz)
Instant Yeast, 1 tsp
Baking Powder, 1 tsp
Sugar, 1 Tbsp
Salt, 1/2 tsp
Sesame Oil, 1 Tbsp
Warm Water, 140 ml (8.5 fl. oz.)

Extras Needed
Parchment paper, 8 pieces cut in squares, one for each bun
Steamer

Prepare dough: Whisk together dry ingredients. Add in oil and water. Use your hands and knead the dough 3 to 5 minutes until thoroughly mixed. Form into a ball.

Rest dough: Place dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to raise and relax in a warm draft free place while you prepare the filling, about 20 minutes.

Prepare filling and make into 8 balls.

Prepare buns: Divide dough using a bench cutter (best not to tear the dough) into 8 uniform pieces. Form each into a ball, place onto a lightly floured pan, and keep covered with the plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Allow the buns to raise again for at least 15 minutes. Cut parchment paper squares. Place a pot of water over medium low heat with a steamer on top. Take one ball of dough and gently press from the center outward with your thumbs and fignertips to shape it into a round flat disc. Place this over a ball of the filling. Pick up the dough and filling, turn over so that the open edges are on top, and pinch the opposite sides of dough together- first in the center, then each side, until the filling is sealed within the dough. Place the bun onto a parchment square and place it in the steamer.

Steam Buns: When all of the buns are prepared, steam them for 15 minutes, add 5 minutes more if they include meat. Serve hot. You can wrap the buns in plastic to save for a day, but moisten them with a bit of water, loosely cover with pastic wrap or a cover, and microwave for about 30 seconds (depends on the microwave) until hot.


Use ONE of the filling recipes below with the dough recipe or double the dough recipe to make both.

Meat Filling

Chinese Nappa Cabbage, 1-2 leaves, finely chopped, depends on how much you like

Salt, 1/2 tsp
Ground Pork, 250 gm

Shitake Mushroom, 1-2 dried, reconstituted in warm water, diced

Fresh Ginger, finely diced, 1 Tbsp
Pepper, a pinch
Sugar, 1 tsp
Soy Sauce, 1 tsp
Oyster Sauce, 1 tsp
Potato (or Corn) Starch, 1 Tbsp
Sesame Oil, 1 tsp

Finely chop the cabbage, sprinkle it with salt. If using dried shitake mushrooms, place in hot water to reconstitute. Place the remaining ingredients into a mixing bowl. Now squeeze the water from the cabbage mix in your fist, allowing some of the water to drain and add it to the meat mixture. Remove the stem of the shitake mushroom and then finely dice, add to the meat mixture.

Mix all ingredients together by hand for 2 to 3 minutes, squeezing it through your hands and fingers to insure that it thoroughly mixed. Form into 8 balls of equal size. Try throwing a ball of filling into your opposite hand to get the air out of the filling, do this a few times. Once all of the balls have been prepared, they are ready.

Take a ball of dough and flatten it in your hand into a disc shape, gently stretching it from the center. Drape the disk of flattened dough over top of the filling. Pick up the ball holding the dough and turn it over so that you see the uncovered filling. Now pinch the opposite edges together until the filling is sealed within the dough- note directions above. Place each dough ball onto a square of parchment paper. Steam in covered steamer for 20 minutes over a medium steady steam. Eat with spicy Japanese mustard as you like.


Bean Filling
Smooth Anko Red Bean Paste, 250 gm
Sugar, 1 Tbsp
Goma Black Sesame Paste, 1 Tbsp

Mix thoroughly in a bowl- there should be no black streaks. Form into 8 balls. Drape the disk of flattened dough over top of the filling ball and pinch edges together until the filling is sealed within the dough- note directions above. Place on parchment paper. Steam in covered steamer for 15 minutes over a low but steady steam.


I almost always make this salad to serve with the steam buns as my children love it as much as my husband and I do so I've come back to add it.

Bean Sprout Salad

Bean Sprout Salad
Bean sprouts, 1 package
Vinegar (Rice), 1 Tbsp
Soy Sauce, 3 Tbsp
Sesame Oil, 1 Tbsp
Sesame Seeds, 1/2 Tbsp, toasted, I tend to use black for contrast but white are fine too

Rinse bean sprouts and soak them in hot water for 5 minutes. Rinse the sprouts in cold water to cool down. Drain the sprouts and toss them with vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. In a small pan over low heat, toast the sesame seeds about 5 minutes just until you smell their aroma. Sprinkle seeds onto sprouts. Set aside in a cool place until ready to serve. Toss sprouts periodically. Drain off dressing a bit before serving.

Bamboo Steamer

Place dough disc over the ball of filling and pick up the filling

Pinch opposite sides together, stretching the dough as necessary to over the filling

Pinch opposite sides together to form the bun

Pinch dough together and place onto parchment paper and steam 

This is ready for the steamer