Kristin wasn't lying. I did arrive safely in Japan! And I even have internet now. Well, sort of. Long story. Anyway, it's time to play catch up! One would think this post would be really long, but I kind of suck at cooking. I also blame:
1) My fridge. It has been broken.
2) People that keep making food for me. Japanese people are too nice. Really. I wish they were less so.
Anyway, here's a quick play-by-play of my culinary endeavors. All the recipes are from this (kinda mediocre) Japanese cookbook I found for my kindle. Fortunately, all the recipes are easy, have few ingredients, and produce good portions for someone living on his own. Thank you "Simple & Easy Japanese Summertime Recipes," and Kyoko Tanaka, for giving me food that is always perfectly good enough!
Firstly:
This is corn soup, cucumber salad, and rice. How healthy! It is fun to check out at the supermarket with a bunch of Japanese ingredients and see the cash register lady look impressed. Everything is cold, so it's perfect for summer!
Taste: 7/10 (good enough!)
Difficulty: 4/10 (the most difficult part was finding a blender in the countryside)
Next up!
This is cold udon noodles with some sauce, as well as cold simmered tomatoes! I love these two. The udon was supposed to be soumen (thinner noodles) but I don't like them as much. The tomatoes taste so summery and good. Both the tomatoes from this dinner and and the cucumbers from the last one were welcome gifts from my landlord!
Taste: 9/10
Difficulty: 6/10 (had to take the skins off the tomatoes ah!)
Both of these meals lasted several days, and I've made them multiple times. Lastly, here are some random, stand-alone things that I made:
The top is cold tofu with some simmered tomatoes. The best!
Taste: 10/10
Difficulty: 6/10 (it's really very very easy, but I was impatient with waiting for the tomatoes to cool in my lackluster fridge)
The bottom is kind of a joke. It's meat-wrapped asparagus. So weird. I didn't have enough meat so it looks super stupid.
Taste: 8/10 (surprisingly good considering the bad proportions)
Difficulty: 8/10 (obviously this was a challenge for me)
Woohoo all caught up! Soon I will be going to purchase a new fridge and the adventure will continue!
Martin
