Cooking Japanese Food

We are eating well when we go out. The Sushi and sashimi are so fresh and delicious they melt in our mouthes. The bowls of Udon and Soba noodles just hit the spot. I have tried Takoyaki or octopus balls which are an egg and flour mix with the octopus and devil’s tongue in the middle cooked in egg carton-like iron and eaten with sauce. They are really good. We have also had the best Gyoza (taken from a Chinese dumpling) I have ever had so far in my life.

As we cannot eat out all the time it is a good thing I brought a cookbook along with me or I would never have known what to do with all the items in the grocery stores.

The cookbook is called ‘The Japanese Kitchen’ by Hiroko Shimbo and it has been such a handy resource. The first part of the book is a reference guide to the Japanese names, uses of all the different foods and the history of vegetables, herbs, seaweeds and soy products in Japan. 

According to the book, most of the vegetables and fruits used in Japanese cooking were imported from other countries. Over time they were adapted to the soil and climate and to the tastes of Japanese people. Renkon or lotus root was introduced to Japan from India by way of China almost two thousand years ago. Sweet potatoes were introduced by Spanish conquistadores to the Philippines and to China before reaching Japan. The Japanese have improved the quality and the reddish purple outside contains a very sweet and creamy yellow inside when cooked. (stay tuned as I will be digging up a bunch of these from the kindergarten garden on Thurs.) Noodle dishes such as Ramen also were perfected from a Chinese dish.

As so much of the food is foreign this cookbook has really helped me obtain what I need on my shopping list when I ask for it in the stores. The book also covers implements such as different graters and techniques such as how to make a floral-cut carrot which Tim does with perfection.

The recipes are exciting to read and I have attempted to make several of them. However Japanese kitchens are basic. They don’t have ovens but they do have microwaves with an oven function.  I don’t like cooking with them though so I am not taking the time to figure it out. I have been learning to cook with a two-burner stovetop, a small grill drawer and a rice cooker. It is a challenge especially when it takes half the evening just to plan what gets cooked in what order so it will all be ready to serve at the same time.

I am sure these recipes would be a lot easier for those of us with our massive western kitchens having four burners and an oven at our disposal but women have cooked, as I am learning, in these little basic kitchens for many years without complaining. At least we haven’t heard about it if and when they did. It really is a trade off though as the Japanese women get ingredients we only dream of having.

So, I am persevering and have turned out some great tasting dinners.

A staple is Miso soup with various ingredients; shitake mushrooms, daikon (Japanese radish), little potatoes, carrots and wakame seaweed.

Our favourite vegetable dishes are Kinpira-gobo  (burdock and carrot stir fry with sesame) and Gomae (cooked spinach with sesame  dressing).

For Tim’s birthday I made the festive Sekihan- red bean rice. Azuki beans don’t need to be pre-soaked but they need to be boiled with several water changes one that you keep to add to the rice when you cook it with the beans. This was a delicious pink rice dish and Eleanor ate a lot of it. She even requested it be made into Onigiri (see below) for her lunch the next day.

Chikin-katsu is loved by all of us. These chicken cutlets require a special bread crumb called Panko to make them really crispy. They are served with tonkatsu sauce, shredded cabbage and rice.

Stir fries that include the delicious Gingko nut and grilled fish from salmon steaks to mackerel are also on our house menu as are Soba noodles in hot broth.

Three days a week I make lunch for the kids to take to school. Obento refers to a box of food items in little compartments. I have been making Onigiri as it is their favourite. These rice balls contain sesame and nori (seaweed) and Ella likes smoked salmon in the middle. For the first month I was using a small cup and my hands to form the balls.  This is messy and sticky even though I used salted warm water to try and keep the rice from sticking. Then Eleanor’s favourite cooking show for kids taught us how to drop the rice onto a sheet of saran wrap so it is less messy. Now the kids make their own balls and they love it. They also help make grilled cheese fingers, edamame (soy beans) and cucumber bits.

A popular dish in the fall is called Oden. There is a whole section of the supermarket dedicated to providing all the necessary ingredients. I didn’t recognize one type of food in the packages provided. (When I got home Tim told me they were all chikuwa- processed fish cake). My friend said I had to try making it for the family as it is a delicious warm soup. So she encouraged me to choose some packages and go for it.  I chose some pink, yellow and brown balls, some white stars, a few triangular fish cakes and kombu seaweed. At home I made the broth and the hard boiled eggs and added the rest. The Japanese seem to love experiencing textures in the food they eat. After not loving the bouncy texture of the Mochi (see Equinox blog) I wasn’t sure about the contents of the Oden. We tried it and the broth was good but the balls and stars had a bouncy texture that made it a bit like trying to chew rubber balls. That was too much for our western mouths to handle (except for Tim who is better trained). Oden was not to be had again.

Kanno-ji Temple

My new friend Suki (a British lass married to a Japanese professor) took me to our local Temple. It was located on Mount Kabutoyama the mountain in our backyard. The mountain is believed to be ‘a mountain of god’ by Buddhist worshipers. Until the modern era it was a mix of Shinto belief and Buddhist worship. The main object of worship is a statue of Nyoiri which depicts Buddha after he retired into religious service so he is sitting on a lotus petal in robes with a halo around his head.

There were various little local shrines along the road leading up to it and a beautiful wooden, ornately carved gateway at the bottom of the staircase. I looked up. There were a lot of stairs to climb to get to the main temple.

At the first tier there was a lotus pond with amazingly large leaves and seed pods reaching for the bright orange archway above. To the right was a section with about 50 small Buddha statues intermixed with some larger depictions. All the small statues were wearing faded red bibs. As I understand it, the bibs are to protect Buddha from getting soiled by the offerings that people leave for him.

My eyes were drawn to a black, giant statue of a bodhisattva named Kannon holding a baby looking over them all. The temple is supposedly named after her. Kannon (which is her Japanese name) is more commonly known as GuanYin the Chinese Goddess of Mercy and Compassion. She is the mother-goddess, patron of mothers and children and a fertility goddess with the power to grant children and relieve suffering. I was told that many of the offerings are from mothers who have either lost babies and are asking for mercy or are requesting to get pregnant.  The flower and water offerings around Kannon were many and it pulled at my heart-strings. I couldn’t believe that this powerful female was represented at my local temple. What a coincidence that she was a different incarnation of Bridget the merciful who I was feeling more and more of a spiritual pull towards lately.

After finishing the climb our view over Osaka was incredible. There was a small roofed area with water and cups for the ritual cleansing of hands and mouth, a small pagoda that contained a large bell that vibrated such a base tone as to shift one completely and then the main pagoda for worshiping the deity.

At the main pagoda’s entrance were two Komainu or Korea Dogs as the Japanese call them. These lion-dogs with magical powers are guards acting as talismans, usually depicted as one opened mouth for the sound Ah the beginning, and one with mouth closed for the sound Mmm for the end. These are based on their Sanscrit (Indian) beginnings. The ones at this temple showed female Yin with her paw on her pup and male Yang with a ball and both have their mouths open. I will have to find out what the significance of that is. Beyond them was a beautiful, large, carved wooden bowl for accepting monetary donations. Inside the pagoda was Nyoiri surrounded by gold and offerings of fruit, one pyramid of apples and one of oranges. The smell of incense was intoxicating.

On the edge of the cliff with the amazing view sat a little house where people could kneel and pray to a Buddha statue.

There are trails leading further up the mountain that I will have to go back and explore one day although it is already a good hike just to get to the temple. It will all be even more gorgeous when it cools down and the leaves change colour.

Hanshin Race Course

Today was a rainy Sunday and we spent the morning at the track. Yes, we went to the races. The entrance to a tunnel to the track is down the street by the train station and we figured Miss Eleanor should see the horses. We walked a good 10 minutes out of the elements in the special walkways and concourses designed to take us to the track. It all looked very new and modern and we had to purchase our entrance tickets from a machine. (I shouldn’t have been surprised as we buy train tickets this way, ramen at the restaurant, etc.).

We entered the massive pavilion and it was a spectacle. The open roof and other design elements were impressive and the first area presented was the parade track where the race horses walked when on display. Everything was so clean and people were sitting on the steps watching. The big screen T.V.s showed the betting information and past races.  The area was so huge it didn’t seem busy although thousands and thousands of people were around. It had four floors for general spectators and box seats for the owners and other rich spectators. Most of the people we saw were middle-aged men, then anyone from families to young couples checking it all out.

We watched the horses parading for the next race and each picked the ones we hoped would win. Tim decided eight was his number, Eleanor chose a black horse and Lucas went for horses or jockeys wearing red (his favourite colour). I watched each horse and tried to remember things I had learned as a young rider. The first horse I chose was a chestnut that seemed composed but strong. It was a lot less jumpy than the others and I took that as a good sign.

We went to the second floor to watch the race as the kids would have a good view of the goings on. The horses went out to the grass track to warm up and I began to think my horse was drugged it was so mellow. Perhaps it had a sore muscle and the trainers were trying to help it out.

They entered the starting gate and were off.....running....none of our horses won and in fact mine came in last place. It was a good thing we weren’t betting.

The races were scheduled for every half an hour so we went back to watch the winner and the next parade. These horses looked good and it was hard to choose. We observed them and again Tim chose number eight, Lucas number two and Eleanor thought number three was a winner. I looked closely and eventually settled on number six. Again a Chestnut but really built. I used the bathroom and left Tim and the kids waiting at our spot. I came out to find Tim hopping around in excitement stating that this race might be a Steeplechase. A Steeplechase is a race on grass where horses also jump large hedges. They are pretty dangerous and accidents often happen. We noticed six ambulances positioned around the track and agreed that this must be what was going on.

 As I am not well versed in track offerings I didn’t know these were part of a day at the races. Well, in Japan they are. It began to pour rain and the horses and field became soaking wet. I found this so exciting and watching my horse I knew I had picked a winner as it looked like a good jumper. The horses entered the starting gate and were off...running...jumping in the big rain...over a total of ten jumps and what an endurance race it was.

And guess what. I had picked the winner! It was such an exciting finish and I wasn’t the only one yelling support for my horse. This time I wished we had placed bets.

We watched one more race as the rain was really falling and we didn’t want to get soaked getting home. This race was a training race for two year olds and it was 1200 meters on the grass. It wasn’t as exciting after experiencing a Steeplechase but we had fun guessing winners all the same. As we left the track we learned it was the end of the racing season at Hanshin. That was good news as Eleanor and I had begun to think we would like to spend more time around those horses than was probably healthy. Eleanor galloped the whole way home.