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Monday, December 3
Minestrone with Fresh Pesto
A few weeks ago I had a cooking night with one of my private students, at an ex-student's house. Since I had never been there before, I was worried that they might not have some tools, pots or spices, so I packed up a big box with everything from extra-virgin olive oil, to knives, even bringing my pretty scarred-up but serviceable cutting board. The kitchen turned out to be modern and well-equipped, but when you're cooking and want things to go right, it's comforting to have your own tools.I also brought a big stainless soup pot that I had bought awhile back, since I love making homemade soups but hate the idea of cooking in the aluminum pots that seem to be the standard here. Since I had been cooking on a gas flame, it was a little black around the edges, so to make it presentable I had to spend about an hour buffing off the black spots and shining it up. It ended up looking almost new, though, so that was nice. Nothing like a shiny pot to get you in the mood for cooking.I started off the preparation by teaching them to make pesto with fresh basil. It was a new taste for them. Though Italian influenced food here is probably the most popular and ubiquitous in the country, most people never cook it at home, and they eat a food tailored to "Japanese tastes", which means heavy on the oil and garlic, but light on the vegetables and real cheeses. Out here in the country cheese is a recently new import and the quality has tended more toward the processed (those cardboard shakers of parmesan dandruff) and pre-shredded mozzarella, along with those little triangles of mystery cheese from somewhere in Europe. Cheddar has been difficult to find, if not impossible. Reggiano is not easy to get, but in the last year a local supermarket started to carry it.Anyway, I brought everything, including my new Cuisinart Smartstick, which turned out to be great for chopping and making the pesto, but because the top had to be removed by hand (there's no feed tube on this little baby) was a little fiddly. But it worked very well and made a beautifully textured sauce. It also grated fresh parmesan reggiano with no trouble at all.The women got to work chopping and slicing the vegetables while I carmelized the garlic and then the onions in the oil. We used organic carrots, potatoes, and small white turnips for this soup, along with a handful of white beans, a stalk of celery, and some parsley.A small carrot, the celery stalk including the leaves and a small bunch of parsley, were chopped to make a mirepoix and added to the pot with the onions and garlic to sweat. Next the chopped fresh tomatoes went in under cover so they could cook down a bit and release their juices. After adding the other vegetables, and a few stirs, we covered them with water, added a bayleaf, salt, and pepper and covered the pot, bringing it just to a simmer. Then we removed the cover and let it cook until the vegetables and beans were almost tender.At this point I boosted the flavour with a vegan German vegetable stock cube, a completely optional choice, but I happened to have part of a package on hand. You could use and bouillon you like, or none if you prefer a lighter taste. At the end we added several spoons of the fresh pesto and allowed the soup to finish cooking, then tasted for and added more salt and pepper until it bounced on the tongue.While this was happening, I showed the women how to make simple bruschetta with fresh garlic and a good olive oil, and I made myself some toasted brown rice mochi as a gluten-free choice. (How-tos in the recipe section.)I tried out a white bean topping with lemon for the bruscetta from Epicurious but with the beans we had available, cooked soybeans, it was pretty bland. We improved it a bit by topping it with more fresh pesto.Relaxing in C.'s huge white living room around her small table, sitting on the floor, as is the custom here, with one eye on a huge flat-screen high definition TV, we enjoyed the hot food and an early Christmas, as the TV competed with blinking Christmas lights.Try this soup for warming up as the cold weather rushes in. It makes a big pot to share with friends or family, or if you're cooking for yourself, it will easily keep and improve in flavour for a few days. It's not too easy to get tired of this even if you eat it for a few meals, and all the vegetables will give you a bit of inoculation against 'flus making the rounds. But the best reason to cook this soup is that you can vary it a lot with almost any vegetables you have on hand, it doesn't take long to make, and it's a meal I would serve to a Queen without apology. One of the classics of Italian country cooking, and a great gift to give yourself (Queen of your own kitchen).Minestrone with Fresh PestoEnough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot generously3-5 cloves of fresh garlic1 medium onion, chopped smallFor the mirepoix:Combine and chop finely, or food process finely:1/2 medium carrot in chunks1 stalk celery, in chunkshandful parsleyVegetables:5 fresh tomatoes, chopped (or 1 can Italian tomatoes, chopped)3-5 very small potatoes or 2 larger ones1 carrot sliced in half or quarter rounds1-2 small white turnips, peeled and sliced, cut in half or quartersthe tops of the turnips if available, chopped1 handful white beans or lentils, any kind1 bayleafsalt and pepper to taste1 cube German vegan bouillon or other bouillon (optional)Fresh Basil Pesto:1/2 small white onion5 cloves fresh garlica cup or so of fresh garlic leaves, washed and dried (not too wet)The best quality extra virgin olive oil you can get, about 1/2 cup1/4-1/2 cup parmesano reggiano, freshhandful of toasted pine nuts (I have substituted freshly-shelled pistachio nuts with good results)sea salt and freshly ground black pepperdash of tobasco sauce (optional)Chop the garlic, parsley, and onion in a food processor. Add the pine nuts and chop. Add the fresh basil in batches, depending on the size of your food processor and pulse until chopped, adding a small splash of the oil if necessary to get it moving. Drizzle in the rest of the oil and combine. Add enough oil so it is the consistency of a thick soup. Don't overprocess it; you want it to keep some texture. Add the cheese which you have prevously processed or grated and combine briefly. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add a dash of tobasco if you want a bit of heat.Winter Pesto (when you can't get fresh basil)1/2 white onion5 cloves fresh garlic1 bunch of fresh parsley1/4 cup or more of dried basil (to your taste)1/4 cup or more extra virgin olive oil ( adjust to get consistency right--see picture)sea salt and freshly ground pepperhandful of toasted pine nuts1/4 cup or more fresh parmesano reggiano cheesedash of tobasco ( optional)Chop the garlic, parsley, and onion in a food processor. Add the dried basil and pulse a few times. Add the nuts and chop, then drizzle in the oil and combine. Don't overprocess it; you want it to keep some texture. Add the cheese which you have prevously processed or grated.and combine briefly. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add a dash of tobasco if you wish.If you cover these sauces they will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator (longer if your freeze them) but please be careful with cleanliness and if in doubt, throw it out.Although this recipe contains a small amount of dairy, you can make the pestos without the cheese. They are still good!
Posted by vegetablej at 2:00 PM 3 comments
Labels: Recipes
Monday, November 26
Terrorism or Tyranny?
Reading through the comments on the online petition against fingerprinting (click the signatures link if you want to see them), it's easy to see that many of the non-Japanese resident community are hurt, puzzled, shocked and outraged about this step taken by the Government of Japan to, as they say, combat terrorism. There are a few holes in that argument. As I said in a previous post, all the terrorism in Japan has been carried out by Japanese people, and since they are excepted from fingerprinting, its not likely that this legislation is going to catch any real terrorists.The second problem is that it looks like Japan will not have the mandate of the government to continue its support of the war in Iraq, so the possibility of Japan angering anybody there is going to be reduced.The third and most convincing thing to me, is that the whole terrorist threat is over-rated. It has been used by governments as a pretext to increase police powers. Because really, the government is not that worried about terrorism, as their targeting only non-Japanese proves. They are really interested in catching "dangerous criminals" like visa over-stayers, and establishing a data-bank of fingerprints that they can use in case any crimes may be committed.It's lazy police-work. The police won't actually have to do anything when there's a crime committed, except scan through their computer database and try to find someone to arrest. Whether that person may have been somewhere perfectly innocently or not probably won't be considered, because once they have the "evidence" they will go into typical mode here, arrest the suspect and then question them for up to 23 days with no recourse to a lawyer, using tactics of sleep deprivation and psychological intimidation until they confess. Even the courts have been chiding police and overturning confessions lately citing unusually harsh questioning procedures.That's what I'm afraid of anyway. With the idea in everyone's minds, stoked by the government and its tame pet, the media, that foreign crime is rising (it isn't) and non-Japanese are dangerous criminals, I don't think it's that far of a stretch.And is "terrorism" really that big a problem, or is it just the scare tactic conservative governments are using to whip up an atmosphere where dualistic rather than critical thinking prevails and the average person lets their common sense fly out the window?Take a look at this opinion by John Mueller (written in 2006):Is There Still a Terrorist Threat?And please sign the online petition to protest fingerprinting only non-Japanese.
Posted by vegetablej at 7:50 AM 49 comments
Saturday, November 24
Sign the Online Petition!
If you want to send the Japanese government a message that it is not all right to fingerprint only non-Japanese arriving and living in Japan, please sign the online petition against it. It will be delivered to the government. You just need your name and an email address and you need to click on a link after receiving an email to confirm it. But you can opt out of any further email.The best part is there's a place to add a comment and tell them what you think.I've already signed. I hope you will too. The more voices the better.Here's the link:http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fingerprints-japan/
Posted by vegetablej at 5:44 PM 2 comments
Wednesday, November 21
Day of Mourning!
I'm declaring a Day of Mourning for the death of human rights in Japan.With the institution of the fingerprinting, photographing and questioning of non-Japanese visitors entering Japan, and even of residents and permanent residents every time they come back from a visit abroad, I declare that the last vestige of human rights here is dead.I could say a lot more about the unfriendly climate being generated here for non-Japanese, about the people stopped on the street for questioning when doing nothing more than riding their bicycles to work. About the total lack of human rights legislation, so that people with different skin colours are allowed to be arrested, injured in custody, thrown out of stores and declared non-credible witnesses in court because they are not Japanese. I could talk about how we must register for and carry at all times, on the penalty of being arrested, a "foreign registration card".I could speak until I felt sick and exhausted with this treatment that should have passed out of the way we treat fellow humans with the great civil rights' struggles of the last century.I will just say that I, as a person living here for almost 9 years altogether, feel harassed, intimidated, and tired of the racism. I feel more than a little disappointed that my students and more of the Japanese public have not made any effort to say to the government that these policies aren't right. That we have already been processed and registered and given our photographs to officials before we could get work visas or those resident's cards.Unfortunately, only a few Japanese have even said to me privately they were sorry the government was doing this. I can not find much support for human rights in ordinary people. I think many are too afraid to think for themselves, content to do what the government tells them. I think they actually believe that this will stop "terrorists", which of course to them must be "foreigners". Why do they think that? Well the TV and newspapers and government are saying it's true.They have short memories. Even I can remember the sarin gas attack that was carried out by a Japanese, and the airplane that was hijacked by members of the Japanese Red Army. The only other acts of terror that I remember, are the North Korean kidnappings of Japanese.In case you think I'm exaggerating about any of this, I'll refer you to debito.org where you can read more about what's going on.These days I might be living in pre-war Germany, or the southern United States during the time before the freedom-riders. Japan has taken on some good role models, ones that remind me how misguided policies can lead to sad endings.
Posted by vegetablej at 12:37 PM 12 comments
Tuesday, November 13
Bollywood Curry
Whenever I go into my local Indian restaurant, which is just about the only place I can get vegetarian food here, they have music playing that reminds me of those Bollywood pictures with all the girls in bright silks and satins batting their eyes at the men with white smiles and slicked-back hair. Dancing, dancing, always dancing, expressing lots of passion for life. You just know that those people like good food. Food expresses life as much as any other physical pleasure, and hunger drives us to the table in search of taste and satisfaction that will give us the energy to do other things like work, play, dance.Though a perfect apple or peach in season can be as satisfying as anything that takes hours to prepare, sometimes we long for more complex tastes. Food is also a kind of cheap travel; if we taste the tastes of other cultures we can be carried to those far-off lands, without the time and expense. I'm not saying cooking curry at my house in Japan is as good as if I were to eat it in India surrounded with all the colour and scents of that land, but even so, when the temperatures drop and my thoughts turn to warmer places and spicy cuisine, I can cook myself some dishes that help me satisfy that craving, and help me feel that I am sharing some of the rich gifts of that culture.Recently Veggie Friendly has been featuring the foods of India, with pictures that have been making my mouth water. KPounder, the writer, you may remember from a previous mention of her website, is an Australian woman on a world tour in the happy company of her husband. I've been following her Indian food adventures for the past week, and Sunday, with a day available for cooking, I just had to pull out my Madhur Jaffrey cookbook and see what new tastes I could find. Though I have another Indian cookbook or two and there are plenty of recipes now on blogs online, still the shortest way to get guaranteed good food is to try something from Madhur Jaffrey's Home Cookery. I haven't tried everything in there yet, but I've tried enough to know that every recipe is going to be delicious, and she's put enough thought into them to make the preparation foolproof. Good enough for me.I chose two dishes to eat with my cooked organic brown rice. Mughlai Saag, Spinach with Onions (and broccoli) and a version of the English Teacher's Vegetable Curry (adapted from a chicken curry) which was one of the first recipes I ever posted. I like it because it's delicious and it uses whole spices, which take much less time to make than if I have to grind them. Better for when it's already past supper time and you want to eat. I'm calling this version featuring eggplant, fresh tomatoes, cardamom and root vegetables, Bollywood Curry in honour of those lively dancers.This curry is changed a lot by whatever vegetables you choose to use. You can vary it by choosing to put in whatever looks good in the market when you go shopping, seasonal vegetables which are always the most nutritious and tasty. Experiment. You can't ruin this recipe if you stick to the basic structure of garlic, onion, spices and seasoning.The meal was absolutely delicious, the flavours of the spinach and broccoli dish deep, a bit tarry yet piqued with a note of garam masala, and the eggplant curry dancing on the tongue with as much vigour as any Bollywood heroine.Try this pairing if you want the energy to dance all the way to wherever you're headed, and arrive with a flush on your cheek and a sparkle in your eye.Spinach with Onions and Broccoli (About 4 servings)2-4 bunches spinach. I used about 8 of the small individual plants of Japanese spinach, maybe about 6-8 cups chopped.) Don't worry if it looks like too much, it cooks down a lot.1 medium onion, chopped small2-4 Tb. vegetable oil1 small hot red or green chili, de-seeded and chopped ( or put 1 or two dried ones in the oil to toast, if you have no fresh)1-2 tsp grated fresh ginger1/2 tsp. sugar1 tsp salt ( or more, to taste)1/2 cup water1/2 tsp garam masalaChop the onion.Chop the washed spinach crosswise into about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) piecesWash and slice individual florettes of a small head of broccoli into about 1/2 inch ( 1.25 cm) slicesPut the oil into a large frying pan on to heat and put in the onions. Stir and fry for about 3 minutes until they are brown. Add the chopped spinach, chopped chilis, ginger, salt and sugar. Stir and cook the spinach for about 5 minutes until wilted. Add the water and simmer. Cover and turn the heat to low and cook about 8 minutes. Uncover and add the broccoli, re-cover and cook a further few minutes or until the broccoli becomes bright green and is tender. The liquid should be almost boiled away, but if it becomes too dry when you add the broccoli you can add a small drizzle of water (a few tablespoons). Sprinkle the garam masala on top and mix through. Taste and adjust the seasoning. (Add more salt and pepper as necessary.)Bollywood Curry (About 6 servings)4-5 Tb vegetable oil3/4 tsp whole cumin seedsa 1-inch ( 2.54 cm) stick of cinnamon6 whole green cardamom pods2 bay leaves1/4 tsp whole black peppercorns1 medium onion, chopped1 small carrot sliced and quartered2 small Japanese eggplants (skin on) or 1 North-American sized one, cubed, with skin removed if it's too tough3-4 very small potatoes or 1 large, sliced and quartered6-7 cloves garlic, finely chopped3 fresh tomatoes, chopped or food processed2 fresh red or green chillies sliced thinly and chopped or 1/8-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper1 1/2 tsp salt1-inch (2.54 cm) cube of fresh ginger, finely chopped1 tsp garam masalaInto the hot oil put the cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves, and peppercorns and stir a few times. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and stir and fry them until the onions are a bit brown. Add the chopped eggplant, carrots, and fresh chili peppers. Fry for a moment or two to start the cooking. Add the tomatoes, salt and cayenne, if you're using it. Add the potatoes. Add enough water to barely cover the mixture and bring just to a boil. Immediately cover and turn the heat to low. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes or more as required. (Test the potatoes for tenderness.)Remove the cover and turn down the heat. Sprinkle on the garam masala and stir it in. If you want a thicker consistency you can cook it for a few more minutes to reduce the amount of liquid. Serve with the spinach dish and cooked rice.
Posted by vegetablej at 7:17 AM 22 comments
Labels: Recipes, Vegan
Tuesday, November 6
Shitake White Miso Soup (Vegan)
The days are starting to get a bit cooler now, and I find I want hot food. After a long sweltering summer, I thought I never would. But there's nothing to warm the belly like hot food, and soup is one of the best hot foods I know.It's tasty and easy to eat. It doesn't take so long to make a pot and then the pot lasts for several meals. It's a way to get more vegetables into my diet without having to cook them multiple times, important for when I'm busy teaching or come home late and don't want to cook. A quick heat up, maybe combined with some rice from the rice cooker, and I have a satisfying and filling meal, a comfort in my stomach.I love all kinds of soups from Italian style Minestrone with pesto and tons of garlic, to creamy carrot and ginger, the Hotch Potch (we called it Hodge Podge growing up) made with cream and the new spring vegetables, and one of my Mom's favourites, Mamie's Complexion Soup. Who couldn't like a soup with a name like that? As I spooned up the slightly bitter chunky canned tomato and cream soup, I wondered about the name. No one seemed to know who Mamie was, but I guess she had a rosy complexion, something like the pinkish colour of the soup.When I came to Japan one of the first meals I used to eat at lunch breaks was a "ramen set" at a restaurant near my school. It was a tiny shop favoured by families, workmen and young business guys alike. They had quite a few choices of big bowls of ramen, decorated with a lot of things that were mostly a mystery to me at the time but tasted great. Tomoko, the student who introduced me to the place, always accompanied me as we sat down at the bare bones tables decorated with a paper placemat, dark wood container with a glass lid full of chopsticks, and a little caddy of small jars of soy sauce, hot spicy powder, vinegar, and sesame oil.We always ordered the set meal which was a bargain for around 750 or 800 yen because it included, besides the big bowl of ramen, a dish of cooked rice, pickles, a few tomatoes as a salad, and five plump gyoza on a little plate, along with green tea. We would break the chopsticks, pour a little soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil on the gyoza, say "itadakimasu" ("Thanks for the good food/Let's eat") and dive in. With all the noodle slurping around us, we weren't the only ones. I never felt comfortable slurping but quietly but surely managed to eat it all. Living in a one-room apartment with a one-burner stove and half-refrigerator and no counter space at all it was usually my one cooked meal of the day.After a few years the restaurant closed down. I never understood why because it was almost always full. I was really sad to see it go, but by that time I was on my second time in Japan and had moved on to other, more complex Japanese foods. Still, deep in my heart, that little shop, with its echoes of Tampopo, lives on forever. It is the place I first learned to love Japanese food (though ramen is originally Chinese it's been Japanized and adopted into the cuisine) and the place I first felt at home here. The smiling waitresses, the plain but to me so exotic decor, the new tastes, the warm belly, the first words of Japanese. That little noodle shop (now relocated to my memory) is where I've stored all those things.One of my favourite soups there was the vegetable ramen with white miso. It was salty and just a touch sweet, as white miso tends to be, and it was so beautiful with the soft colours of the greens and oranges and browns of the vegetables floating in the milky mist of the broth.I have always enjoyed miso soup in Japan, and I even learned to make a good homemade one using katsuobushi (dried bonito fish) and konbu (dried kelp). But when I became a vegetarian a few months back I started wondering how I was going to get a good miso soup stock without fish. I wondered about it all through the sweaty summer months but didn't feel the urge to try making the soup until the heat started to subside. I guess I'm an intuitive cook, or one that lets her belly decide what she wants to cook. I usually make up recipes based on what I'd like to eat that day, as much as the urge to try out something new.In this blog, I've been mostly cooking comfort foods, and foods that are rather simple. The kind you would find in a cook's or your mother's or grandmothers rather than a chef's kitchen. Though I appreciate that kind of food too, and can cook it, I've found that in Japan there is good food to be gotten in many restaurants, and part of the learning process has been trying out authentic food cooked with time-honoured recipes.So when I've wanted to cook, it's been to make something that I've missed from home or from my life of eating a variety of ethnic foods. Indian curries, soups from home, pasta dishes, salads, a few desserts. And I thought I would share these recipes with other folks here who might be just learning to cook, and maybe with my family who might like to try something from time to time. My son, Scott, likes Japanese food a lot, though with a young child, a business, and his work as an actor, he has little time to cook.Since I discovered a wheat as well as a dairy allergy (and maybe gluten intolerance), along with adopting the vegetarian diet, it's meant I can eat in very few restaurants. So I have started to cook my favourites at home. Maybe there are some of you out there on gluten-free or dairy-free diets who might appreciate these recipes. Even if you don't have dietary restrictions I think you might like this soup.It's a simple recipe for a soup with a nice Shitake flavour. It has a mild, clean taste which makes it appropriate for breakfast (or lunch) any day of the week. You can vary the vegetables using anything in season, and topping with chopped green onions. Some cooked rice makes a nice accompaniment. I used organic white miso which is pure rice miso, no wheat or additives, and dried Shitake mushrooms from my trusty local Anew store. I'm sure you can find them in any Asian market in North America. But if you can't find white miso, you could try experimenting with any light coloured miso you can find.Shitake White Miso Soup (Vegan)To make the stock for this soup soak about 5 dried Shitake mushrooms in a jar of (filtered) water for a few days. You should keep it in a cool place like the refrigerator or a cool room.Pour the mushroom stock into a measuring cup and add plain water to make about 3 cups. Put into a medium saucepan. Take the now soft Shitake mushrooms and cut off the stems and discard. Slice the caps and reserve.Put the saucepan over a medium heat and add about 1/2 sliced carrot (1/4 cup or so). Add 1 small potato sliced and halved or quartered. Make the slices fairly but not paper thin. The thinner the slices the more elegant the soup will look, and the shorter the cooking time.Add a splash of mirin and a splash of sake (about 1 Tb. of each). Add up to a tsp. of freshly ground black pepper (not traditional but I like it a lot with miso.) Simmer the vegetables until tender (this will take only a few minutes so watch them) adding the mushrooms in the last minute. Add 2 Tb. of white miso by straining through a mesh screen that you dip in the hot soup to help it dissolve. Force it through with the back of a spoon. We have a tool with flat screen on a handle here that makes it easy, but you could use a mesh tea strainer too. Alternatively, put the miso in a bowl and add a little hot soup and whisk until dissolves and run through a mesh tea strainer.After you add the miso never boil the soup. Add a pinch or so of salt if you are using sweet miso. Taste the soup first to see of it is salty enough. Heat through and enjoy!
Posted by vegetablej at 11:11 AM 9 comments
Labels: Recipes, Vegan
Wednesday, October 24
Tea
Making tea doesn't require a sharp mind, but it does require a few things. Attention to the quality of ingredients, water, fire to heat it up to the right temperature, choosing the brewing time you prefer, balancing the quantities of tea and water, and then drinking it in the short time before it gets cold.That requires you to be in the present moment. Ready to drink and receptive to the tea's poetry. You sip, you meditate and look out the window at the mist rising off the sea beyond, or chat with your companion about the flavour, whether you want sugar, milk, or lemon, small talk about food, or the garden, things you see around the room. This is the time to talk about the pattern of the wallpaper, not about the mortgage, this relaxing time after the work of eating is done.Of course you can do a lot more. Japan has made a science and art of the tea ceremony. If you live here awhile, you realize that the tea ceremony is more about "oughts" and the ritual of the dance of tea rather than merely about the quality of the drink. The flowers are as important as the tea. The decoration and choice of vessels is as important. Comportment and ability to turn the bowl so that the front faces away from the server, and then back again after drinking are important. The choice of guests, and the order of serving them is important. Measuring the tea on its tiny bamboo stick, and even the direction of stirring it are of considerable importance. Even the slight snobbery of the idea of "look at us all being cultural" with its undertones of mutual congratulation is a factor. Yet.Tea can be made on a campfire in a tin pot. It can be drunk from plastic camping cups during a breakfast that raises the spirits and the body temperature so that people can un-stiff the kinks in bodies and minds grown accustomed to rolling out of a monster orthopedic kingdom and flicking a switch on the coffeemaker on their way to the shower. It can be as good, or better from that plastic cup, because tea ministers to the spirit as the spirit requires. And we all know fresh air, and getting closer to our natural animal habitat makes us feel more alive, and that invigorates appetite. Even unwillingly.Tea is good for the spirit. It is almost unreservedly offered here if you visit a home or office. Offering tea is a gesture of welcome, and does indeed succeed brilliantly at that even when the product is virtually undrinkable. For a tea cup in the hand has the power to relax us under the most stressful of conditions. Perhaps it is the warmth of our hands around the cup, as much as our slow sipping of the liquid, that reminds us of our first nourishment. Perhaps it is that tea is offered in times of stress as a comfort. "Let's sit down for a cup of tea" provides a spot of refuge, a chance to change pace and focus on the physical, remind ourselves that we are alive, and while so, should appreciate these moments.Apart from the tea itself, which is available in Japan in thousands of variations, where it may be appreciated more than any other country on earth, water is the thing that tea needs to be right. The water in Kagawa is not all that tasty. It is certainly chlorinated, though not so heavily as that I have tasted in the bigger cities.Because it doesn't taste good I grew into the habit of drinking bottled water, along with millions of Japanese. Water from France, or even other parts of Japan tasted reliably better and fresher. Because there are drink machines on every corner, it was easy to buy a bottle or choose from a half dozen varieties of bottled teas. I believe that teas here actually outsell soft drinks like colas.But usually I've made my tea at home from tap water, which is more palatable after being boiled. I think some of the chlorination must be released by boiling. The tea is not bad. Nor wonderful.Recently I discovered that drinking tap water is better for the environment than bottled water. It made a lot of sense to me that flying water from France would not be as environmentally-friendly as water from the local catchment. I also learned that tap water may even be safer since it is more regulated than bottled water. Bottled waters don't have to say what's in them. With a little effort you can discover the quality of the local water by contacting your local government. Since that's a little difficult for me here with the advanced Japanese it would require, I have taken to filtering my water, using a Brita filter. The tea has improved.I often make tea to take to work rather than buying from the machines. If you want to do that, and are new to green tea, here is how I do it. If you make a pot for breakfast and let half of it cool, you will be able to bottle it up before you leave near lunch time. I do use an old PET bottle, washing in between, because it is the lightest for me to carry on the trains. I figure it is pretty safe for the few hours the drink remains in it before I drink it. You might like a thermos, if you travel by car or bicycle.I bought myself a Japanese teapot with the screen that fits inside the rim and holds the tea leaves. Filtered water is boiled and allowed to cool for a moment, if it's loose green tea, sencha, that you are making. You don't want to "scald" the tea. Use a good tablespoon of tea per cup of water and one for the pot. After sitting for about 30 seconds you can start to pour it, or leave it to steep for a few minutes if you like a darker, more bitter brew, higher in anti-oxidants. In any case, when it's as you like it, you simply remove the screen holding the tea. You can let it drain on a saucer and then put it directly in the compost or garbage. No teabags to waste or add off-flavour.Enjoying locally-grown tea is not only environmentally sound but it makes a satisfying basis for a snack. Here we often eat small sweet-bean jam filled cakes called manju with the tea which cuts the slight bitterness perfectly. Beautifully-shaped into fruits and blossoms of the season and decorated with small coloured leaves at this time of year, they are food for the eyes as well as the stomach. With or without ceremony, in community or alone, tea is a lovely celebration of being alive.Autumn manju with white bean paste and chestnuts.And if you're feeling in need of a little extra healing or want to aid digestion, try this spicy recipe for Healing tea, my version of Yogi tea, which is also great but a lot more expensive.Healing Tea1/8 cup dried lemongrass (or try a stick of fresh if you can get it, chopped and crushed)1-2 sticks or a small handful of cinnamon stick shards (Mine are from Indojin.com.)1-1 1/2 tsp black peppercorns, crushed2 inches (5 cm) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced4 cups of water, filtered or plainTake a small saucepan. Into the pot put the dried lemongrass and the cinnamon. Take out your suribachi or a mortar and pestle and break up a teaspoon or so of black peppercorns. Put them into the pot with thin-ish slices of the peeled fresh ginger. Cover with about 4 cups of water, bring barely to a boil and simmer on low for a few minutes, around 2-5. Pour the liquid through a strainer into a tea pot and enjoy as many cups as you like. Be well and happy!
Posted by vegetablej at 1:23 PM 12 comments
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http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fingerprints-japan/
About Me
vegetablej
Kagawa, Japan
Renewed vegetarian wants to help the Japanese community answer the question, "What's for dinner and where do I get it?" & other things organic, environmental, Japanese and occasionally artistic or poetic. View my complete profile
Recipes
You can find recipes for the foods pictured here (and more) in the recipe section. All recipes (except 1, for bruscetta) are dairy and gluten-free, but occasionally use organic eggs.
Dahl-ling!
Foccaccia
Low-fat Tomato and Coconut Curry
Vegan Chocolate Pudding
Japanese Pickles
Young Broccoli and Fried Tofu Stir-fry
Omelette
Italian Breakfast Mochi
Spicy carrot Soup
English Teachers' Vegetable Curry
Nirvana Soy Chai
Labels
Environment (9)
Food Guide (2)
Food/Writing (9)
Great websites (12)
Meal suggestions (1)
Not Gluten-free (1)
Product of the Week (4)
Recipes (20)
Resources (3)
Vegan (15)
With Eggs (3)
Blog Archive
▼ 2007 (63)
▼ December (1)
Minestrone with Fresh Pesto
► November (5)
Terrorism or Tyranny?
Sign the Online Petition!
Day of Mourning!
Bollywood Curry
Shitake White Miso Soup (Vegan)
► October (5)
Tea
5 Simple Things Even I Can Do
Homemade Sauerkraut!
Blog Action Day -- October 15!
Poppy Seed Sourdough No-Wheat
► September (6)
Cabbage for Breakfast
Granny Green
Poets Should Not be Shot!
Vinegar for all Reasons
Dahl-ling!
Happy Hugday!
► August (9)
Bette's Bread
If I Can't Stand the Heat
(Vegetarian) Friends*
Intrepid Anthony Bourdain (Vegetarian Unfriendly p...
Sourdough Sesame (&Poppy) Bean Bread Tomato Sandwi...
Lovely Dish
Bread Soup
Sourdough Gluten-free Foccacia (Not Vegan)
My First Meme: 8 Random Things About Myself
► July (9)
The Sunday Market
Creamy Coconut Tomato Curry (Low-fat)
Vegan Chocolate Pudding (almost instant)
Knees
Bumble Bars (Organic and Vegan)
Not about Food (mostly)
Veggie Friendly
Pure Gold
Cockroach Dumplings (Gokiburi Dango)
► June (5)
Genmai -- Brown Rice
Beautiful People Chickens
Pan-seared Vegetables
Feed your Vegetarian
Yesterday I baked, today I boil
► May (4)
I.O.U. Cake
Parsley, Peppermint, Basil and Thyme
Japanese Pickles
Stir Fry
► April (4)
Epicurious?
Shopping in the Rain
Suribachi
Bruschetta
► March (6)
Products of the Week: Shodoshima Olive Oil and Bl...
Olives and Herbs
► February (8)
► January (1)
Resources
Cooking with Kurma (all about Indian cooking with recipes for vegetable stocks)
Epicurious (recipes with cachet)
Food and Wine
Japanese Food Glossary (with Kanji)
Kyoto Vegetarian Restaurants
Markcity on being veg. in Japan
Mighty Foods
Oldways Food Think Tank
Tokyo Food File Review ( 2004) of Tokyo "Zen" restaurant
Tokyo Food Page (Eating out in Tokyo)
Vegetarian Tokyo Guide
Woodstock Farm Sanctuary
Environment / Living
Frances Moore Lappe: Small Planet Institute
Good Magazine
Japan for Sustainability: Information about Japan in English!
Japan Ministry of the Environment in English
The New York Times
Worldchanging
Shopping
Alishan /Tengu Natural Foods
Amazon Japan
Ambika Japan (Indian foods online)
Anew Organic webshop (Japanese)
Der Akkord (organic bakery online, mostly Japanese)
Foreign Buyers Club
Halal Food Shop
Indojin (Indian foods online)
Karuna (Japanese)
Rakuten (keyword searches for products, Japanese)
The Flying Pig (Costco delivery in English)
Warabe Mura (organic foods)
Mostly Food
101 Cookbooks
Almost Vegetarian
Book of Yum
Eat Air (A Vegan Food Log)
Fat-free Vegan Kitchen
Feed Your Vegetarian
Gluten-free Girl
Just Hungry
Nourish Me
Post!Punk!KItchen! (vegan wow)
Survivalguide for Vegetarians (not only) in Tokyo
Tea and Cookies
Thailand Travel and Food
The Conscious Kitchen
The Spice Who Loved Me
Tinned Tomatoes: Veg. blog from Scotland
Vegetarian Organic Blog
Veggie Friendly (Round the World with Food)
Weekly Dish
Eclectics
Debito.org
Kurashi - News From Japan
Laughing Knees
Lifehacker
No Impact Man
Pohangina Pete
Re-entry Japan
Steve Silver
They Shoot Poets - Don't They?
White Courtesy Telephone
wood s lot
Foodie Blogroll
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