I'm often asked, "what do you cook?" or "what do you eat?" My Japanese friends are curious about what a foreigner might eat, and my NZ/Australian friends know I'm a bit of a foodie and wonder what I'm cooking up in Japan. So here it is: a strange mix of Japanese and Kiwi cuisine seasoned with a little of my own creativity...
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Showing posts with label Gifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gifts. Show all posts
Sunday, December 12, 2010
GIFTS OF FOOD
My friends often give me interesting food to try. Recently my friend Junko gave me two plastic containers of food. She said they would be good with rice and beer. One of the containers had small fish she said her father had prepared (no idea what kind but I think they came from Lake Biwa.) They were sauteed in soy sauce and sugar - kind of teriyaki style. I'm pretty sure the sauce was exactly the same as that used for the large cooked grasshoppers a friend from Nagano once presented me with. The fish were indeed delicious with rice, but quite bony. I wonder if small fish bones are worse than crunchy legs...
The other container had sweet potato stems, which I had no idea you could eat! And they were really good, a little sweet, and slightly sour. I wonder if the Maori people in New Zealand ever eat sweet potato stems?
Sunday, August 29, 2010
YUBA
Tofu is a diet staple in Japan, and there are many different kinds. Yesterday my friend Sachiko handed me a packet of yuba and said "please enjoy". I did !

When tofu is made the soy milk is heated and a 'skin' forms on the surface, just like with hot milk, but more delicate. the skin is carefully lifted from the surface and stacked in layers. This is yuba. I admit, when I was first told about yuba I didn't think it sounded appealing... but these days I'm a confirmed fan.
So what's it like? Well, the texture is like very creamy scrambled egg (just the way I like it!) And the flavour is of course like soft tofu. It can be eaten warm or chilled and is served with tsuyu (a dip made of soy sauce and clear stock.) I'm not sure whether you are suposed to tip the tsuyu over ithe yuba, or dip pieces of yuba into the tsuyu. Both ways worked.
Thank you Sachiko! It was delicious!
When tofu is made the soy milk is heated and a 'skin' forms on the surface, just like with hot milk, but more delicate. the skin is carefully lifted from the surface and stacked in layers. This is yuba. I admit, when I was first told about yuba I didn't think it sounded appealing... but these days I'm a confirmed fan.
So what's it like? Well, the texture is like very creamy scrambled egg (just the way I like it!) And the flavour is of course like soft tofu. It can be eaten warm or chilled and is served with tsuyu (a dip made of soy sauce and clear stock.) I'm not sure whether you are suposed to tip the tsuyu over ithe yuba, or dip pieces of yuba into the tsuyu. Both ways worked.
Thank you Sachiko! It was delicious!
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