Sunday, March 30

so many NT dollars

I've been in Taipei for four days and I've spent about 30 US dollars. Good food is cheap and THERE IS NOTHING ELSE FOR ME TO SPEND MY MONEY ON.

If I don't spot some good shopping soon, I am coming back to Japan with 50 fake Rolexes.

It's a fantastic city. Pictures and updates to come.

Tuesday, March 25

Hard at work


...learning about my city's history, and promoting internationalism.

End of an era

Sigh...


I got a new pair, though. I suppose I'll have to christen them by...schlepping them through the slimy bars of Tijuana?

I may be joining the work force, but you'll have my cons when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers.

Special bentos

...for the ladies.

Spring break has started. Students are free from classes...but still come every day for sports practice. Teachers, but for the slackers who take paid leave, slug it out at their desks, already putting fall plans into motion. After break, the new school year begins, and this equals a big big hullabaloo: the third years have gone, new students are coming in, new homerooms are being formed, a handful of teachers are being rotated out to other schools, and new teachers are coming in to replace them. The new teachers come in sometime next week, so there are only a few days left to say our goodbyes.

Today, the women teachers got together and ordered special lunches from a fairly fancy bento shop. I say special bentos because they were apparently made with women in mind...and they cost 2500 yen! The typical 1300-yen-bento is already stuffed with more than I can eat in one sitting, so this time I was expecting a real monstrosity.


But, this bento was not crammed with slab-of-rice / slab-of-fish / chunk-of-chicken and the occasional limp vegetable. This bento was delicate and restrained. It was all tiny chunks that, for those with food-ADD, could be finished in one or two happy bites. There is something sublime about a two-bite food. When you finish the second bite, you're either enjoyably left wanting, or contented to move on. Sushi, to take an obvious example, is the perfect marriage of clever sample size and the satisfaction of personal choice.

So yes, everything was very seasonal and unique -- such that there were a lot of new flavors I couldn't even identify. Just when I thought I had it, my two bites were done and I could only savor the taste. Usually kaiseki-style food is hit-or-miss for me, but everything today was wonderful. I had visions of a tiny old lady, designing each piece to call up notions of spring and freshness.

In one of the empty, chilly third year classrooms, the ten of us sat in an oval and nibbled on the little hors d'oeuvres. We passed around a pot of tea and laughed about male teachers, favorite students, new schools, and new relationships.


P.S. I look sickly and tired because I am. Allergies + cold make for very little sleep. I am getting better, though, thanks in part to those giant strawberries and two (count'em!) slices of cake!

Friday, March 21

Become friends with Japan

It's sweet sentiments like this that make this country almost too endearing to leave.

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura appointed the cat an "anime ambassador," handing a human-sized Doraemon doll an official certificate at an inauguration ceremony, along with dozens of "dorayaki" red bean pancakes - his favorite dessert - piled on a huge plate.

Komura told the doll, with an unidentified person inside, that he hoped he would widely promote Japanese animated cartoons, or "anime."

"Doraemon, I hope you will travel around the world as an anime ambassador to deepen people's understanding of Japan so they will become friends with Japan," Komura told the blue-and-white cat.

If anyone can do it, it's Xiao Ding Dong! Also, don't miss the last line:

Astro Boy, another cartoon icon, was named last November as ambassador for overseas safety.

Thursday, March 20

It's Macaron Day!!!

It's funny, because I just happened to buy a macaron at Starbucks this morning before going to work. It wasn't the most amazing thing ever - certainly not as good as fresh one - but it was satisfying enough.

I love macarons, so I may have to make a little pilgrimage to this shop for next year's Macaron Day. Anything for a good cause, right?

Sent to you by Kat via Google Reader:

via Veronica's Test Kitchen by Veron on 3/20/08

...in Paris. If you are in the pâtisserie central of the world , don't forget to stop by Pierre Herme's shop for three free macarons plus a red macaron to raise money for charity. Feel free to buy more... :)

Macaronday1_3

And Carol of Paris Breakfast was lucky enough to capture and experience the day! Apparently, lines started forming at 9:55am ....


Things you can do from here:

Thursday, March 13

booking success, bread failure

First, let me talk about happy things.

I'm jubilantly sitting through another classless day at work because...I recently took time off from work and spent it travel-planning at home. At the end of the month, students have spring break, but teachers are required to come to school anyway. It's a painfully dull two weeks if you stick around...so fuck that! I'm taking paid leave and visiting my mom in Taiwan. The icing on the cake is this: it will be FREE! I've got airline mileage to spare, and my mom is house-sitting some kind of mansion for her friend at the moment. Very excited about this, as the free flight and housing gives me a lot of leeway to spend more in-country. Not too long after, I'm going to Singapore, Vietnam, and Cambodia for Golden Week. It'll be the usual limited-vacation whirlwind tour. Yay!

Okay, now on to sad things.

If you're any kind of foodie, you've gotten wind of Lahey's no-knead bread, recently made famous by the NYT's Mark Bittman. As I understand it, the main points are: looong, slow first proofing (replaces kneading), plus baking in a dutch oven (mimics hearth oven and also crisps the crust under the bread's own moisture) equals amazing bread. I decided to give it a try, but not without a handful of caveats:

1. I'm using my sourdough starter instead of store-bought yeast.
2. The only covered bakeware I have is a pyrex bowl with lid.
3. I only have my all-in-one Japanese microwave/toaster/oven. It's barely big enough for the pyrex, let alone a dutch oven. It also only goes up to 200C/392F, whereas most no-knead recipes call for 450F or higher if your oven can manage.

I guess...I like a challenge?

I actually used Breadtopia's modification for guidance and switched in a cup of whole wheat. I probably should have stuck to all white bread flour for my first try, though...but what can I say, I'm ambitious. The first proofing went well enough, but I think my dough was quite a bit wetter and stickier than it should have been. I had a gooey time trying to shape it into a ball for the second proofing. I then went off this recipe from Sourdoughs International, sort of, and put the dough in the pyrex into a cold oven and baked it from there.

In the end, the bread came out really nice on top, but undercooked and stuck to the pan on the bottom. I think this is because the "oven," with it's upper heating element, is so small that the heat can't adequately get through to the bottom of the pyrex bowl. I've actually had this problem baking brownies, but cookies and other small items turn out fabulous. The bread is also really, really dense...which is probably from the added wheat and excess moisture in the dough, plus the cold kitchen environment (needed a longer second rise, maybe...but a girl has to sleep). The taste is pretty good, though, and I can say that the bread is incredibly filling. :)

Now I'm trying to figure out how I can get the heat to penetrate the bottom of the bowl. I'll also save my next attempt for a weekend, when I'll have more time to play with rising times. 頑張らなくちゃ!

[pictures of bread brick to come here, currently posting via e-mail at work]

Thursday, March 6

Last shreds of winter

It's been warming up lately, but I'm glad it's still chilly enough to really enjoy some hot soup. I made this sweet potato soup with miso and ginger tonight, and it's fantastic. My soup is not nearly as orange as the one in the picture, but that's probably from using Japanese sweet potatoes. Oh...and I didn't fry the potatoes for very long... (hungry, impatient.)

It's still yummy and I find I'm really wowed by the difference fresh ginger makes. I don't feel a cold coming on, but if I did, I think this soup would give it a firm kick in the pants and send it packing. I have to get over my fear of moldy ginger (thanks a lot, damp LA apartment).

I've been eating spectacularly for the past 5 days while on a JET conference in Yokohama. The trip motivated me as a cook much more than as an English teacher. I wish I'd taken more food pictures there, but I do have a few that I like from Kamakura - home of the famed daibutsu.



You can never get away from the godforsaken schoolchildren. Sadly, blasphemously, I think I was more taken with the local food than the big Buddha. I found a lovely little patisserie-brasserie joint operation awkwardly called "Maison de 雪乃下." In the restaurant, I had a delicious saffron and seared scallops risotto, and they gave me a complimentary dessert for ordering coffee with my meal. The dessert was a delicate, toothsome, melt-in-your-mouth lemon macaron.

I was so hooked that I had to go downstairs to the patisserie to buy some more.


(photo by Greg)

I picked the pistachio on the right -- they looked awfully cramped in there -- and it was as quirky as I'd have expected.


(photo by Greg)

Sometimes, I think I will leave Japan having gained only a colony of yeast and some bangs.