helenjp

Hi Dougal, that's a very good point...people with plenty of kitchen space would surely do best with their equipment in a semi-permanent stable set-up. What kind of set-ups or equiment would you recommend? In my case, my prep space is about the size of a small chopping board, plus the drop-down lid of the microwave, so equipment that is light and easy to stow or deploy has been very useful (silicon rubber bowl, for example - all my other bowls are nested together in a big, heavy group). Also, chopsticks are useful for so many things! I've bought things like non-slip tongs and a pasta spoon to replace a single pair of cooking chopsticks. I believe there is an Oxo Good Grips mandolin that has a kind of stabilizing foot that holds it up at a convenient angle? That would be useful - we don't have that type in Japan, and the mandolins I usually use are flat ones that need to be held in one hand while the other hand holds the item to be grated. This particular mandolin set was chosen more because it has a stabilizing non-slip foot (it flares out at the bottom of the container, that is) than because it is compact. The "catcher" compartment holds about a cup and a half of liquid (US size). It's been handy as a kind of makeshift peeler, as well as for slicing or shredding. Karen, you are right about meats, it hasn't been too hard to get precut meats. The biggest puzzle remains hard vegetables like carrots, onions, and so on. Although I can take my sling off now for some of the time, I'm a long way from being able to exert that much force with my right arm. A small cheap serrated knife has been useful for cutting things like leaf vegetables because it stabilizes things as I cut with my clumsy left hand, but it tends to jam in bigger, harder items (Shimomura Verdun molybdenum "tomato knife", though it is bigger and has a deeper blade than the knife I actually use to cut tomatoes).

So where did you do your online buying?

If I could find a single online source that sold black feijao preto beans, green split peas, scarlet runner beans, dried cherries, and raw almonds! Failing that, where do you buy your dry goods online? Or don't you shop online for beans, peas, grains, dried fruits, herbs, spices, etc? If you do, where does your eye go first? To words like "organic" and "heirloom", or straight to the price? ...also, what do you like to have on hand in your pantry? I only buy buy dried fruit for making fruit cakes, but beans are a passion. Can't keep them all on hand without drowning in cascades of bright, shiny beans, but these are some of my favorites: Lima: a type of very small rounded baby lima called "tebou" in Japan, big chestnut/Christmas Lima Runner: scarlet runner Common: snowcap, black turtle (but these seem to vary hugely in quality)

Obviously, anybody who is not a food scientist specializing in C. botulinum should read and speak with caution, but I feel we can still gain something from tabling the topic. Japanese sources point out the different geographical distribution of different types of C. botulinum, and how this has affected traditional food safety practices. Apparently type A is particularly likely to be found in the US, type B in middle-latitudes and southern Europe, and type E in countries that love their preserved fish, such as Japan and northern Europe. Type A and Type E in particular thrive at different temperatures and will tolerate different levels of acidity. Generally, Type A is more virulent and more resistant to heat. Conversely, refrigeration may not be enough to knock Type E on the head. Another point worth considering is that we may only be killing the toxin already produced, not the spores that produced it - hence the need for proper storage and prompt consumption of the prepared food. So, food pickled one way "back in The Old Country" may not be safe pickled the same way in another country, where there is a higher risk of contamination from an A or B type of C. botulinum. I don't know which types of botulinum were traditionally most prevalent in India, but I'm guessing that major cities anywhere in the world nowadays can offer us a choice of all three of the most popular types! This link is a bit information-dense, but it is one of the few places I could find in English that mentioned the differences between different C. botulinum types. FDA on precautions for different C. botulinum types

I agree with the streamlining - I have moved things around to maximize efficiency in the mornings, when I usually have to get breakfast and 3 cooked bento done in 30 minutes. I keep a basic knife or two, cooking chopsticks, etc in one easily accessible place specifically for making bento, so I don't have to move in differet directions to get my knife, then my cutting board etc. I only use one cutting board in the morning, with a couple of those plastic cutting sheets that are tossed in the sink as each type of food is prepped and done with. In my kitchen, the bottleneck is the two-burner stovetop. That's why I like having a rice cooker and some form of slow cooker, and force myself to think about using the microwave and toaster-grill - they free up the burners. Think about where your bottleneck is - serving dishes or fridge in an awkward location? Kids needing help/attention just when you want to power through kitchen prep? Cutlery and glasses/cups for the under-pressure meal is kept in a closed contaner close to if not right on the table, and certain plates/glasses/condiments etc are kept on a tray or in a small deep basket that can be moved to the table in just one trip. The first step of the meal is always the same, so that every member of the family knows without asking what needs to be done first. For breakfast, that means that yogurt and fruit are already in individual portions in dishes in the fridge, ready tto be moved to the table. Training even small kids to help out is money in the bank in later years, even if it requires a boring sameness for a while now! If they don't have to think too hard about what they are doing (i.e. same old routine), they will also be more cooperative when sleepy at breakfast or dinner time. Big batch cooking - sometimes it's good to save out a package or two BEFORE the dish is finished, so that you can make some variations on its next appearance. SV - how are you using this for "serve dinner fast!" meals? I don't know enough about SV - my image is of meats of various kinds in plastic bags that have to be hacked open...what am I missing? Maybe SV is the way to go if it's only the meat dish that you want to make ahead? When I'm out all day, a crockpot is wonderful, especially for soup, beans and big winter vegetables like turnips.I really like white fish cooked on low in a crockpot or thermos pot too - very creamy texture. When I'm out for half a day, a thermos pot (like a haybox) is great and doesn't need a heat source after the initial stove-top time. However, it won't keep food hot for 10-12 hours and more. In either case, the big attraction is the ability to cook meats and vegetables together (don't have to be stewed up together, you can wrap or bag one up, or just park it at one end, one reason why I like an oval crockpot) and then just lift the lid and serve up when you walk into the house. Doesn't mean you have to use the crockpot every day from Monday to Friday. Pressure cooker is another friend - not only does it make the best pulled pork I know (I compared several methods), it's invaluable in speeding up late-night dinner prep. Oddly, both a crockpot and a pressure cooker can give you very clear stock. Oven + timer, outdoor smoker etc. - that would not be practical in Japan, hence my love of small-wattage appliances. One wacky idea - semi-dried vegetables cook very fast in stir-fries or stews, and have lots of flavor. E.g. cabbage, zucchini, eggplant, funghi, etc. dried for half to one day on a sunny weekend and stored in the fridge.

Compact Mandolin set with ceramic blades, non-slip bottom, own container, from Kyocera. This is small and easy to get out and set up, and I could use it securely with my left hand to slice cucumber and apple for a quick pickle. Kai also has an easy-to-use universal design series called YASACY. I think the knife that allow top-down pressure, the round peeler, and multi-opener look the most useful. Green vegetables - I realized that I could toss green vegetables into my blender with a little water and then pour the mix into hot stock - rather like bright green melokhia soup. Worked perfectly. I plan to try the same technique with eggs + garlic chives, green herbs, or spinach for a green omelet. (Didja know I could crack eggs one-handed in my left hand as well as my right!). The stock was made from chicken wings - easy to put in and pull out of the stock, then grill and eat in the hand. Sorry to keep talking to myself on this topic, but I figure the biggest step is to know or even imagine what might be able to help you or a friend before it's actually needed. So many things I learned about from this topic that I hadn't even thought about.

I found that Japanese ceramics manufacturer Kyocera has a Pink Ribbon range...I was looking for a small mandolin set and found they had a pink version. I was quite happy with the Pink Ribbon tie-up in this case, because it can be all too hard to make healthy food just when you need it most.

Crock pot. Oh definitely. I wish I had one here in Japan. You don't have to cook stew. With a ceramic insert you can cook a whole chicken and some vegetables in its own moisture. We've been through that stage and are practically at the other end. Often, son has to run home, get his dinner, and leave for cram school before I'm even home. I leave cooked green vegetables and grilled salt salmon in the fridge, and set the rice cooker so he can make ochazuke, the ultimate in healthy fast food. Actually, boiled green vegetables will keep chilled three days and can easily be refreshed in some boiling water from the kettle. Meal-style pancakes like Spanish tortilla or Japanese okonomiyaki are fast and fun, and combine vegetables, starch, and protein. Nakji's nabe plan is good too, and if you toss noodles (cellophane noodles quickly soaked in warm water, fresh udon) or vacuum packed mochi (rice cakes) into the broth at the end, you don't need rice either. I agree with the appetizer idea, in fact, we sometimes gave our kids dessert or fresh fruit first while we cooked dinner!

Fishy eggs - my guess is well-used cooking oil. When I first came to Japan in 1979, oil was re-used much longer. Retro = "Showa" food. Some of the fads were similar to western ones, but maybe the biggest one was that never-ending love affair with mayonnaise! I remember hearing that the biggest 20th century fad may have been things wrapped in nori, as cheap,thin sheets of dried nori are a fairly modern technology. Showa dinners...ton-jiru (miso soup with pork, konnyaku and root vegetables), taki-komi gohan (rice cooked with shredded vegetables and sometimes meat), ginger-fried pork slices with shredded cabbage and sliced tomato as a side... Omiotsuke - my Hokkaido-born husband used to say omiotsuke,but has gradually shifted to miso-shiru.

Supplies - I guess this is often a problem with limited mobility, but those handy precut vegetables are only sold at the bigger supermarkets that I can't currently drive to. The small mart near my local station has much less to offer, and specifically, much less fresh food. I went to the big supermarket once...and waited a long time in the rain while taxi cabs slowed down to take a good look at the foreigner with shopping bags and one arm in a sling, before speeding up and driving away! Online supermarkets are still minor here...when I checked, I found that they didn't sell fresh food. Seasonings - scissor-accessible sachets are better than screw-top jars! For the moment, it's all about simplicity - flip-top soy sauce, vinegar, and mirin bottles.

wet folded towel… left handed origami with wet towels? Quick, hand me my silicon mat! Actually, the silicone bowl is proving very useful. It stays put on most surfaces, I had no trouble beating eggs in it. knives. So far, my one handed herb chopper, a small ceramic knife, and kitchen scissors are most useful. It took me awhile to get used to using serrated kitchen scissors left handed. In the long run, a two handed mezzaluna might be very useful if I can use my right hand to balance one end of it. I'm so glad I asked for input. The mention of things like cracker containers and ulu knives were totally new ideas for me. I cooked dinner single handed after a full day's work tonight, and feel very proud of myself. We had rice, spareribs (precut) with soy sauce glaze, pea shoots (scissors), carrots, tomatoes (ceramic knife), and clear pork broth with wakame (precut) and shimeji.

I'm with you on the avocados. For a while I drank cinnamon tea daily (extracted, not just infused), and that seems to have left me with an allergy to avocado, cinnamon, and bay leaf. Too bad!

Thanks for that link. The chopping board looks useful and not so expensive. The Ulu knife however looks really useful. I had been wondering if a rotary cutter would work, but that looks much more realistic. I forgot to mention the things that I did already bring home. I got a non slip cutting board - that was a dud. It slithered everywhere. But it's much better on top of one of those silicon mats. Actually it's silicone heaven around here. I got these. Smile Silicone pasta server. This is already earning its keep. The prongs are soft, and it has drainage holes in the spoon part, so it doesn't break up food, and you can press it right up to the side of the pot. They also had a slightly diamond shaped ladle in firm but flexible silicone. This can also be pressed right into the corners of a pot. Also, one silicone freestanding colander and a silicone bowl that can be used in the microwave. Its much lighter than pyrex.

Thank you for all those hints. For some reason, those pronged or spiked cutting boards are not easy to find in Japan. The Swedish version costs nearly twice as much as that desirable Braun multi quick, when it's available at all. Every time I go to the supermarket I see people with obvious aftereffects of stroke, but where are the adaptive devices that could make their lives easier? I can cook fish whole, and I can buy most meat in chunks. What I really need to be able to do is to peel vegetables and chop them into chunks. If I could get that far, they could go into stews or be sliced or pureed by machine. I'm a little nervous of using a mandolin cutter with my left hand. Plunge choppers - I have memories of things with weak springs that would tip over and rarely cut anything other than cucumber, but it sounds like I should discard those prejudices and look more closely. I don't have a stick blender anymore, I have the Braun multi mix. I thought the multi quick was just a snazzier version, but it's not. The multi mix is like a hand cake mixer with a stick blender attachment that takes two hands to attach with a firm twisting motion. And some bright person seems to have thrown out the lid of the mini food processor attachment (was it me?). I stopped for some soothing retail therapy (= buy a headset with a better microphone for speech recognition software) on my way home from the hospital today and checked out the multi quick. The attachments click on and off with two little buttons that can easily be grasped with one hand. I had no trouble with the demo model - but they were out of stock. By all means, besiege Braun to make these available in the U.S. Surprisingly, there was also a modestly sized food processor/batch processor that had a loose lid and components that could easily be assembled with one hand. Two ideas I've only seen in Japanese: to shred vegetables, impale the vegetable on one of those spiked cutting boards and shred it using one of those Brass spiked things people use to hold ikebana arrangements. And one very useful idea, for cutting up cooked green leafy vegetables. Put the cooked whole green plant on the cutting board, and weigh it down with a rock or a can, then cut away. Another thing - it seems somebody sponsored a cooking contest for occupational therapists. They had to plan and cook an attractive menu one handed. Look like a lot of fun. One enterprising guy was making kebabs by stabbing rather than threading his ingredients onto the skewers.

There are some other topics about cooking one handed, but I wanted to focus on gadgets and equipment that make it easier to cook with an injury or disability. I had a bad fall and have my dominant arm in a sling. It's almost impossible to use a knife one handed in my non dominant hand. I'm wondering about a food processor. I've never owned one, though I have a good blender and a cheap juicer. I can't chop things for the juicer or clean it out one handed. I have to say, the juicer has been useful even though I can't use it myself. My husband and sontwo will cook, but they tend not to bother with green vegetables. However, I can nag my son into making green lemonade for both of us from time to time! A food processor would need to be easy to put together, use, and clean with one hand.I've used a Braun stick blender for years, and never wanted a countertop food processor until now. Any other recommendations for equipment? I can use my R.H. fingers more now, but it will be ages before I can exert pressure or move my shoulder much, I think.

This kind of grape pie is v ery suited to intensely flavoredgrapes that are a bit strong in acid, with seeds and thick skins.

Moisture - this is more thqn just an aesthetic issue. Wet and not too salty = happy bacteria. In summer I'm really fanatical about this, but even in cooler weather, you can't really expect to tip stuff out of the frypan and into the bento box. I use either a small bamboo mat (for preference - it not only drains moisture like any sieve, it absorbs moisture) or a doubled layer of kitchen paper on a tray to soak up initial water-shedding.Japanese techniques like dressings with ground sesame, katsuo flakes, or kelp fluff are intended to absorb moisture that'as why they are such staples of bento cuisine. Ground nuts (even peanuts) and Chinese meat or fish flosses work well as an edible lining too. Failing that...yup, paper towels all the way!

This type of lunchbox wasn't available when my kids were in kindergarten. However, we do use this kind of lunchbox now. Compared to similar containers bought elsewhere, the ones I've bought in Japan close securely, and don't warp. I think a three year old would have trouble opening them without spilling, but a five year old should be OK. Have you tried with similar containers at home? Bento boxes with separate containers are very easy to eat from, even for adults, but especially for little hands. The separate containers also make it easy to include dessert, Vegan jellies that set at room temperature, and things with messy sauce. The lock type are easy to open but the little flanges holding the lock seemed to break fairly easily. That's why people use those wide elastic bands. But that's life with kindergartners!

Figs simmered till translucent with green ginger and sugar, cold, with plain yogurt. Split muffin. Too hot for eggs &c.

Love the smell of hyssop growing, hate the smell of coriander growing (though I like the taste). Hate the smell of soy sauce burning (as in yakitori)...but rather like the smell of miso grilling. Absolutely hate the smell of artifical pineapple flavoring. Smells like musty wet dishrags to me!

I actually think that a deep frypan with lid is more useful than a pan, but who knows? Regarding toastabags/toastit bags - what are the best types? I see there are titanium and teflon types in the re-usable bags, but I have never seen these in Japan, though apparently they are available for those in the know. Japanese students use them to grill dried salt fish in their pop-up toasters...

Son1's needs for "fast food for one" have had us discussing quick but healthy pasta. He ended up adding a handful of greens (usually seedling greens, which are cheap here) to the pasta pot just before draining it, and making carbonara (without cream or milk) for 1. This "add greens to the pasta pot" technique works quite well with winter vegetables such as broccolini, cabbage, or kale to, especially when you don't want the heaviness of stirfried greens.

Son1 has survived his first semester. In his case, the problem is that he is in a full Japanese environment, so he wants "exotic" things like musli to counteract the raw eggs for breakfast. What he appreciates: Pasta sauces (both the boil in a bag "heat and eat" type for late-night/rushed meals and the "add meat & veg" type). Big bag of musli to cheer up weekend mornings. Small stash of nice one-serve filter coffee packs. Cookies & snacks that he feels guilty about buying with his living expenses money (it would be cheaper for him to buy them locally, but apparently it's better to get them in a box from home...). These apparently fall into three categories: * chocolate * things that can be eaten with one hand while on the computer * things that are refreshing and reviving when tired Expensive engineering & tech-head magazines, also no doubt cheaper bought locally...

What's the nearest station? Also...Scottish GUITARIST??? You're having me on! Even son2 can crank out a couple of things on his fiddle, a nod to his (varied and vastly diluted) Scottish blood! Might have to go just to hear this Scottish guitar. Is it lads only, or can women brave the stormy deeps too?

We had one...I think it was a Toshiba Glacio...our current refrigeator does not have this feature and I miss it incredibly! On the one hand, a "partial-freeze" deep chill section is really useful for meat (keeps meat so much longer and in better condition, especially in hot weather), and on the other hand, a "barely cool" section is very useful for pickles and cheeses.