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.

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.

Communcation Complication.

"Awwww, Kawaii!!"

That is the oh-so-famous word I hear almost every single day, several times a day. It means cute. And they are never referring to me I assure you but our super adorable baby boy. The Japanese melt at the first sight of our dirty blonde, blue eyed little man.

This was like any other day. I was getting on the elevator in our local department store, Apita, when a woman in her 30's or so with two kids of her own stepped on right behind us. She started the normal ooohs and ahhhs and then she did something that not many people do around here. She said, in almost perfect English, "How old is he?"

This seems like it would be a simple answer right? 10 months. But I stood there staring at her trying to understand the fact that she just spoke to me in English. Or was I crazy? Did I just hear English or was I just understanding Japanese? I could only imagine the look on my face.

With a confused expression she then asked me the same question in Japanese. Of course at that point I had my thoughts together and answered her in perfect English "10 months." Ugh! I felt like a nutcase!

She looked at me with an understanding expression and let out a small chuckle. Or was that understanding look really a polite way of expressing "When is my floor going to get here, this girl is losing it."

My floor came first and I gave her a small wave good-bye. She patted Noah on the head and said goodbye to me in English and then Japanese.

It's an interesting life living in the world of two languages. You are constantly immersing yourself in the new language in order to learn how to ask the basic necessary questions in life. Then out of the blue someone asks you something in your native language. It takes a minute to realize someone is talking to you in words you can understand. Then of course, you have to get over the excitement of being able to communicate fully with someone.

Have you ever had an experience like this?