eG Foodblog: Hiroyuki - Home-style Japanese cooking

[Hiroyuki]

I haven't yet mentioned how much I like green tea. I've kept ordering green tea from a single source by mail order since I was 18. I drink more than 2 liters of green tea a day.

Here is the source: Ichikawa En (Watch out! Japanese only)

I have tried almost all types of green tea they offer, and I have settled to kuki cha (stalk tea), 500 yen per 100 g. Light and refreshing!

Take a look:

Since I am the only one in my family who drinks green tea regularly, I simply use the tea filter, without the tea pot.

I like the filter, patented "V cut filter". It drains well.

I do have a tea pot:

and tea cups

(called yunomi jawan in Japanese, lit. water-drinking bowl). Japanese tea cups don't have a handle.

The pot and the cups are for guests only.

[Hiroyuki]

My father, who lives in Chiba (adjacent to Tokyo), is retired (ran a small construction company), and grows all kinds of vegetables and fruit.  He kindly sends some of them to us.  These negi are just one example. 

I'd love to hear what your father grows in addition to negi, and how much he is able to consume himself.

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Here are some examples:

Strawberries in a green house:

Several varieties of grape, including Kyoho (called the king of grapes in Japan):

You can see lots and lots of grapes hanging in the obon season (Aug. 13-16) and later.

Other than these: Chestnut, apricot, persimmon, peach, ume (Japanese plum), several varieties of citrus fruit including yuzu, etc., etc. I can't remember them all!

He consumes very little by himself. He likes to offer what he grows to someone else.

OK, let's move on to the lunch that I had today.

(I had four cubes of chocolates and lots of green tea between breakfast and lunch.)

On my way to the restaurant, I took some photos.

Seimaijo (rice milling station?)

where you can mill your brown rice into white rice yourself for 100 yen per 10 kg.

Daiso 100-yen shop!!

My blog won't end until I mention 100-yen shops and convenience stores. More on them later.

I arrived at the restaurant, Tabataya. It's a soba-ya (buckwheat noodle restaurant).

I like wooden structured buildings, and this is no exception.

At the entrance, you can see them:

Big wooden bowl for kneading soba dough and a wooden tray, called a hegi, used to arrange soba beautifully. The soba in the tray is not real, it's a "food sample" (shokuhin sanpuru in Japanese).

Inside:

Where's the ceiling?

Entrance from where I sit at the counter:

They have a zashiki (straw mat) room.

The Japanese like zashiki a lot. It makes us comfortable.

Zashiki with separate compartments:

A nice addition to the decoration:

(Sorry, blurry)

I ordered tenju set:

1365 yen. Tenju is a misnomer. It's a tendon. Tenju comes in a rectangular box with a lid on top. Anyway, it's quite good.

Later, the waitress brought me this:

Soba yu. It's hot water used to boil the soba. It contains rutin, and is said to be healthy. Just add it to your soba tsuyu (buckwheat noodle dipping soup) and drink it.

Edited April 25, 2007 by Hiroyuki (log)

[Hiroyuki]

That breakfast looks good enough to be dinner! I'm almost ashamed to admit that I eat granola for breakfast every day.. I really could not face making an elaborate breakfast like that first thing in the morning.

We drank a cup of Gyokuro green tea last night in honour of your blog. 

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After I left my parents at the age of 30 and started to live alone, I tried to incorporate corn flakes into my breakfast several times, only to fail each time. But I really don't think you have to be ashamed... It's just a cultural difference.

Gyokuro sounds good, but I have to pay 1,500 to 2,000 yen per 100 g to get really good gyokuro .

[Chufi]

Gyokuro sounds good, but I have to pay 1,500 to 2,000 yen per 100 g to get really good gyokuro .

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I looked that up on a currency converter and see that we pay about the same price here. Mind you, we don't drink 2 litres of that per day! Small cups on special occasions. My husband has 20 different types of tea in his special tea cupboard, in all price ranges

[Hiroyuki]

I love that you will be talking about home-style cooking!  And, assuming that your children are in school, will you please tell us about what they eat for lunch at school?  Do you prepare a lunch for them, or do they purchase lunch at school?  What do they eat for lunch on school days?  Do your children help in cooking?

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At most Japanese elementary schools and junior high schools, they serve kyushoku (school lunch) at lunch time. Parents are required to pay for the ingredients only (about 2,600 yen per month at my children's school). Labor and costs are borne by the local government.

According to this month's kyushoku menu

They have gohan (cooked rice), daikon leaves dressed with goma sauce, bamboo shoot soup, salmon grilled with mayo, and milk.

Just to give you an idea of what they eat at school, I post this photo.

This is a photo of a kyushoku lunch that I had two years ago.

[helenjp]

Boy, that's an elaborate menu - all set out just like the food tray. My boys say they don't particularly miss school lunches now that they have to take bento, but *I* sure miss them.

Kukicha is our favorite green tea too. Mild, easy to drink.

Are you and your kids planning to plant some vegetables this year?

...and did you know that you can pickle dandelion flowers in salt, just like cherry blossoms?

[Hiroyuki]

At around half past four, when I was working in my work room, my son came to me with this:

He gathered some broccoli, parsely, and shiitake mushrooms from our tiny garden. I had thought that I would make vegetable miso soup, but I had to change my plan. He said he wanted me to make clear soup with the shiitake mushrooms.

I started to make supper at 5 o'clock.

Meet the main ingredient of the shu-sai (main dish) for tonight's supper:

Roast pork.

Also meet the special ingredient:

Instead of the regular dry, medium size panko on the right, I used the moist, very coarse panko for my foodblog.

Pork dusted with flour, ready to be coated with the panko:

The panko dish was too small for the pork. I used a used milk carton instead :

Deep-frying:

My special stand, made of a used milk carton:

Results:

Passable. I was unable to get the most of the coarse panko. I think that the oil was too shallow. Never skimp on oil...

I make it a point to filter the oil while it is still hot to avoid it from degrading.

Supper's ready:

Shu-sai (main dish): Tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet)

Fuku-sai (sub-dish? I can't think of the right word): Boiled touna (a type of green), boiled broccoli, and leftover kiriboshi daikon (dry strings of daikon, simmered with other ingredients).

I had the tonkatsu with tonkatsu sauce and karashi (Japanese mustard) and my children had it with takoyaki sauce, which is sweeter. The tonkatsu sauce is still too spicy for them.

I had some sake:

Kakurei Reishu (Cold Sake) from Aoki Shuzo, a local sake brewery. It's fruity and very good.

This is kiriboshi daikon:

Sorry for the mess.

[Hiroyuki]

Are you and your kids planning to plant some vegetables this year?

...and did you know that you can pickle dandelion flowers in salt, just like cherry blossoms?

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I'm going to talk about our vegetable gardening tomorrow. I'm already pretty exhausted.

No, I didn't. Do they taste good??

[yunnermeier]

Oishii!

Hiroyuki-san, would you post a picture of yourself?

[Anna N]

While I love reading and learning about Japan and Japanese food, I have to confess that the greatest thrill of your blog so far is the use of milk cartons for cutting boards! Now that's something I can use right now!

[Hiroyuki]

Oishii!

Hiroyuki-san, would you post a picture of yourself?

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I'm not photogenic, and I wish I could avoid it. Besides, I don't have many pictures of myself. But if you insist, just for you.

This happens to be the most recent photo of me. Did you think I was handsome?

Also, this photo was taken at Tabata-ya, where I had lunch today.

The reason why I chose that buckwheat noodle restaurant is that when I ask my children, "Where do you want to eat out tonight?", my son almost always replies, "Tabata-ya", and my daughter goes along with the idea.

[Marigene]

Hiroyuki, what a wonderful blog!

[Hiroyuki]

While I love reading and learning about Japan and Japanese food, I have to confess that the greatest thrill of your blog so far is the use of milk cartons for cutting boards!  Now that's something I can use right now!

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You can even make a stool with milk cartons.

[Hiroyuki]

Off-topic:

Just wanted to post it. On his way back from school yesterday, my son found this:

That's exactly what I needed.

Sorry for that, moderators.

I want to make one clarification before I go to bed. I made preparations for the miso soup and pickle in today's breakfast last night, which I usually do to save time in busy mornings.

Finally, this is kiriboshi (lit. cut-and-dried) daikon, together with uchi mame (beaten soybeans):

This kiriboshi daikon was made by my father. Much better than store-bought. He has a large slicer specifically for making it.

Uchi mame is a great foodstuff. I often use it in simmered dishes. I like it especially because it can be cooked in five minutes or so.

This is my last post for today. See you tomorrow!

Edited April 25, 2007 by Hiroyuki (log)

[weinoo]

While I love reading and learning about Japan and Japanese food, I have to confess that the greatest thrill of your blog so far is the use of milk cartons for cutting boards!  Now that's something I can use right now!

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You can even make a stool with milk cartons.

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Wonderful recycling of milk cartons (thanks for some awesome ideas) - and a great blog as well!!

[Cadbury]

While I love reading and learning about Japan and Japanese food, I have to confess that the greatest thrill of your blog so far is the use of milk cartons for cutting boards!  Now that's something I can use right now!

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You can even make a stool with milk cartons.

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Some years ago I taught at a school which had had a Japanese intern (Assistant teacher) the term before I arrived. One of the projects she had completed with the students was a number of small stools from milk cartons.

[Jean Blanchard]

Yes. I think you're handsome...and you've made want to go clean out my overloaded refrigerator. Your use of milk cartons is ingenious!

Jean

[BarbaraY]

I like the idea of recycling the milk cartons for other uses. I think I'll start doing that since we have been trying to be more responsible about such things.

Would you tell us how you made the clear soup with shitake? I can get those here once in a while.

[C. sapidus]

Hiroyuki: First and foremost, best wishes to your wife.

Thank you for blogging under very difficult circumstances. I love learning about the similarities and differences in our lives, and of course seeing your delicious (and very healthy) meals. By an odd coincidence, I also had pickled vegetables for breakfast this morning.

My sister spent a year in Kyoto and Tokyo when she was in college. She was fascinated by the Japanese use of space, and you have already shown some excellent examples (your ultra-efficient refrigerator and the beautiful open wooden ceiling at the restaurant, for instance).

My sister organized a Japanese meal for our family when she returned home. She ordered the food from a local restaurant and presented the meal as traditionally as possible. I remember sitting on the floor around the coffee table and enjoying green tea, miso soup, seaweed salad, sushi, and rice. That was my first exposure to Japanese food (probably somewhat Americanized), and I have enjoyed it ever since.

Your blog is wonderful and fascinating, and I am looking forward to the rest of this week with you and your family. Kudos on the ingenious recycling of milk cartons, too.

[lucylou95816]

Best Wishes to your wife and family. Here is to a speedy recovery. Great blog and pictures! I love your fridge, wish I had one, haven't seen anything like that in the States. I also love your milk carton ideas. I don't drink milk too much, but its a great idea to recycle. They can be flexible to put your cut veggies in a pot. Best of luck to you and enjoy your time blogging.

[Blether]

Hi, Hiroyuki. Please let me also express best wishes to your wife. You are doing a great job here.

I think my friend here in Tokyo just bought one of those fridges, too. We are planning using the 'partial' drawer for making bacon (he took a foreign trip that's delayed that for the moment).

I love my Iwatani millser, too. May I confirm, did you mean 'thermos', or 'kettle' ?

Your kids are lucky that o-tousan is so able in the kitchen

[gini]

Thank you so much for your wonderful blog. Best wishes to your wife.

You bring back many fond memories of my trip to Japan last year - thank you!

Could you please answer the following for me:

Thick cut bread for making toast - when did this become popular in Japan? Why is it so thick? I see it also at my local Japanese bakery state-side.

Along the same lines, I was astounded at the dessert cakes offered in tea shops - the strawberry cake especially - what role do desserts play in your life?

I know that Kyoto has the market on certain things, Beppu for blowfish, and Osaka was where I first tried takokai - what is especially popular food-wise in Snow Country?

arigato-gozaimasu!

[kbjesq]

Dear Hiroyuki: It is a pleasure to read your blog and I thank you for sharing. My best wishes for a rapid improvement in your wife's health. Your spotless kitchen and refrigerator are remarkable, your pictures are outstanding and your writing is very engaging. But I have to say that I find this comment most touching:

Most of all, making bento is a way to show affection to someone you love. A girlfriend making bento for her boyfriend, a mother making bento for her children.

I have only recently begun making bento for my daughter (with the great help of supplies sent to me by another EG member living in Japan, since such things are not available in my small town in the US). Yet even in the few months that I have been making bento, I have experienced that feeling that it is more than just lunch.

I look forward to hearing more about bento and other aspects of your life, Hiroyuki, and thanks again for your great blog.

[Kouign Aman]

My goodness! With all these terrific photos, it must be taking you forever to keep up the blog. They make it especially fascinating to follow.Thank you for taking the time and effort.

I too admire the milk carton cutting boards. So easy to clean up, and so versatile. Cute kids you have, who are making all those milk cartons available to you. The building you show is so beautiful. All that height and space and lovely wood. :happy sigh:

Thank you also for the lessons in table setting etc. My 2.5 yr old is fascinated by 'tsopsicks', and is trying to learn how to use them. At what age did your kids become competent with them?

I hope the fourleaf clover works as it is reputed to, and brings you all the best of luck.

[Abra]

I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say you're adorable in that picture! I'm wondering about the tonkatsu. When we get it here it's always fried whole, but then cut up and served in slices. It looks like yours was served uncut - is that right? Then do you separate bites with chopsticks, or pick it up and nibble from the whole piece?