Valentine's Day- Japanese Style.

Warning: This post is filled with lots of cooking and lots of eating. But then again, since it's written by me, I bet you're not surprised.


I went late night grocery shopping the night before Valentine's Day at our local grocery store. And just like America there were aisles and aisles of chocolate and other candies in the famous red, pink and white boxes that come out every February. But the site I saw made me laugh because it is so different from America. When I looked down the aisles of chocolate I didn't see a bunch of guys scratching their heads, trying to figure out what kind of chocolate variety they should buy there significant other. No, actually I saw a bunch of woman shopping for the men in their life!!!

Japan has a different spin on Valentine's Day than America. Valentine's Day is all about the girls buying sweets and gifts for the guys. But ladies, don't you worry, your turn will come next month when White Day comes around and then you will be showered with gifts from your man.

So, since we are living in Japan, I thought it would be fun to spoil the two guys in my life, my husband and my Noah Boah. So here's a recap of our day (oh, and please excuse my blurry pictures. My camera is dying):


First I spent the day with my junior Valentine. We started off the day spending the early afternoon at our local Children's Center. Then we came home to a fun snack of graham crackers (his favorite) and oranges (his other favorite). We really enjoyed our mommy-son time during the day.


Now it was time to spoil my husband. First, I decided I was going to make dinner and his candy by scratch. There are three things I have always wanted to try to make from scratch- breadsticks, peanut butter cups and pasta. So I decided I would just make all three! So I did! I sent the peanut butter cups in Justin's lunch box to school (of course saving a few to snack on myself) and then I made a nice fancy dinner (table cloth, candles and all). We had Salmon with Spinach Alfredo(this is where the homemade pasta came into play), an Italian Salad, and "Almost Famous Bread Sticks" It was so good! We completed the night with chocolate covered strawberries.



How did you celebrate Valentine's Day this year?

Japanese For Dinner: Karaage.

Tonight I decided to make Karaage for dinner. Karaage is Japanese fried chicken.

Please, for all that is right in this world, make this. You have got to try it.

It was soooo good.

What you will need:
Chicken (cut into bite-sized pieces)
Soy Sauce
Garlic
Ginger
White Wine
Salt
Pepper
Flour
Cornstarch
Sugar
Oil (for frying)

And then let this guy tell you how to make it. Believe me, he will be much more entertaining.

My Baking Disaster.

I love to cook.

I enjoy it so much. I love mixing different sauces and spices together and coming up with something new and delicious. But baking on the other hand is not my strong point. I can do it if it is a pre-mix, packaged, all the ingredients but eggs and water are already in there kind of baking. But from scratch baking? Yeah, you better ask someone else to bake it for you.

We were having a dessert party with a group of ICAN teachers. It was probably for a holiday or something. I can't quite remember what it was for. We had all signed up to bring something. I decided I was going to make some kind of dessert bread, pretty much like I always do when desserts are to be brought to a party.


Why you ask? Because they are easy. You just throw a bunch of ingredients together, mix them up and put them in a bread pan. Ok, there are a few more steps than that but you get my point. They are very hard to mess up. Unless.....

You can't read the labels of products at the grocery store.

I was running late. Noah was in one of his "I'm going to scream and cry because I'm kind of bored" moments. So in a rush I ran into the baking aisle to grab my ingredients.

Flour. Check. Brown Sugar. Check. Sugar. Check.

I had everything I needed. I rushed to the checkout line so I could get out of the store as quickly as possible since we were already being stared at for the dramatic fit my sweet boy was throwing. I paid, bagged my groceries and headed home on my bike.

I got home and started baking immediately. I put everything in that the recipe called for and as usual I took a sampling of the batter, which in my opinion can taste even better than the bread itself. I put my sampling in my mouth and I couldn't believe what I was tasting. It was awful. Actually, awful is being generous. It was beyond disgusting. In fact, there are no words to describe the horrible taste I had in my mouth. As Noah sat on the floor laughing at my reaction to the mess, I was pretty sure I knew exactly what was wrong. I had bought salt instead of sugar.

Later on in the day, when I had eaten enough other things to get the gross taste out of my mouth and Noah was sleeping soundly, I had to think about what I could get out of this mess to help change my thinking.

And it came down to this simple fact.

This bread batter that I made looked so delicious, I was convinced that it was going to be as delicious as ever. But it wasn't because something I put into the mix just wasn't right.

And salt is good, in the right amount and in the right recipes. Salt can make something taste extremely delicious. But too much of it or in the wrong place can lead to an unpleasant taste in your mouth.


So I had to think, what is the salt in my life right now?

Mine was (and still is) most definitely the internet. The internet helps me in so many ways. I find recipes for dinners, figure out the "how-to's" of raising a child, communicate with my family back home, etc. But when I spend hours on the internet when there are other things that need to be done around me (AKA: play with Noah, wash the dishes, my quiet time) it can become something that isn't so good very quickly.

What is the salt in your life right now?

Japanese For Dinner: Tempura Night

One of my favorite things to eat at Japanese restaurants in America is tempura. When I found out that God was calling us to Japan I knew for sure while I was there I was going to learn how to make this fried goodness. So tonight was that night. I thought it was going to be hard but it wasn't. In fact, you can make it too! Here is the recipe:

Tempura Veggies

Step 1: You Will Need:
* some vegetables (I used carrots, white potatoes, green peppers and yellow peppers)
* 8.8 fl oz ice cold water
* 7 oz plain flour
* 5.3 oz cornflour
* some oil , for deep frying
* 1 pinch of salt

Step 2: Chill ingredients
Before you begin, put 7oz of plain flour, and 5.3 oz of corn flour together in an airtight bag and place it in the freezer. Cooling these ingredients will help to keep the tempura batter light.

Step 3: Chop the vegetables
Slice into small, bite-sized portions.

Step 4: Make the batter
Get the chilled flour mixture out of the freezer and tip it into a mixing bowl. Take 8.8 fl oz of water. Add a little to the flour and roughly mix with chopsticks, or a fork. Add the rest of the water a little at a time. Be careful not to over-mix - the lumps give tempura it's unique texture.

Step 5: Heat the oil
You can use any deep heavy bottomed pan or wok. Fill the pan about 2 inches deep with oil - there needs to be enough oil to fully cover the tempura pieces once they are in the pan. Put the pan on the hob over a high heat. It will take about 10 minutes for the oil to reach the right temperature.

HANDY HINT
To check if the oil is hot enough, drop in a little of the batter mixture. If it doesn't rise quickly it's not hot enough. It should bounce back up to float at the top of the oil.


Step 6: Dip and Fry
Dip each vegetable piece first in a little plain flour, then in the batter, making sure that it is completely covered. Then use a chopstick or whatever you are comfortable with to place it in the oil. Repeat this process for all of the vegetables. Put the smaller vegetables, in this case the asparagus, in last as they take less time to cook.

Don't cram the vegetables in - each piece needs to be able to float freely. Move them about frequently to make sure that the tempura is covered in oil and cooked evenly. Once they have turned golden brown, which should be after about a minute, they are cooked.


Remove them from the pan one by one, shaking off any excess oil as you go, and place them on some paper towel.

And there you go! We really enjoyed this tonight at dinner. We had it with a salad and Panko Fried Chicken. (I will be sharing this recipe next week!)Even Noah enjoyed trying it! My favorite was the peppers and my least favorite was the white potato. I think next time I will go with a sweet potato. But all and all it was a fantastic dinner! Let me know if you make it, I'd love to hear how yours turned out!


To read more about the recipe I used or to watch a video about it click here.