eG Foodblog: Helenjp (teamed with Marlena) - The New Year's here -

[Hiroyuki]

Hiroyuki, you probably remember this road as lined with vegetable fields and patches of irises - it's all new housing now.

Oh ?! But I shouldn't be surprised. Kita Kogane was (and still is?) a nice place to live in, and that's one of the reasons why my parents and I decided to buy a house there when we were forced out of our house in Tokyo by a jiageya (land shark?) back in the economic bubble period. Another reason: One of my father's sisters lived in an apartment on that road!

Japanese love to talk about how unhealthy western food is, but they are talking about a particular subset of Victorian and Edwardian dishes which became popular in Japan because they didn't need an oven, and because they were based on cheap starch rather than expensive protein - croquettes, curry and rice, etc. I don't think that the vegetable soup + slice of meat + dumpling or potato western basic meal is essentially more unhealthy than the basic Japanese counterpart!

Interesting observation. Japanese do love to believe that their cuisine is the most healthiest in the world, except the high intake of salt. Take for instance the book published recently, titled "Japanese Women Don't Get Fat or Old." Oh, don't they?

[helenjp]

Good morning! Walnut bread this morning to go with our usual banana and yogurt, and biiig cup of hot, black tea. Walnuts are another traditionally "warming" food.

I buy bread more often than I used to, but still use the bread machine very often - not only do I find Japanese bread a bit moist for my taste, but 6 or 8 thick slices per pack is an expensive way to buy bread if you eat it often.

Jeniac42 thanks for those hints on an-pan. I will definitely try them out, and put something on the Japan Forum, but I'll wait until temperatures warm up a bit - my kitchen is very cold at this time of year.

Hartshorn - not in general use, but "traditional" in certain western-Japanese fusion recipes which date back around 100 years.

Healthy food - I do think Japan can claim to have kept more traditional good sense about nutrition for longer than in the west, though there are probably just as many people here who "don't cook" as in western countries.

Yesterday I ate lunch in the academic part-timers' staffroom, which has one drink machine serving green tea, hot water, or cold water. IF you want coffee or any other kind of tea, you have to bring it yourself, and find a place to keep it, as we are allowed nothing but a couple of cardboard file boxes (my coffee is filed under "writing materials"...). In my last blog, I was at the smaller horticultural department campus, where the office staff keep a huge variety of teas plus instant coffee and "Creap" creaming powder for visiting teachers.

Some staff bring lunch from home, others grab some type of fancy bread or an onigiri filled rice ball at the convenience store at the station, and the fortunate few who manage to battle their way through the students can pick up one of the lunches sold on trestle tables in the windswept quad. It's too far to make it to the main student dining area, so the staff bring a small selection to our outpost, but they sell out in about 10 minutes. Yesterday the lunch packs were covered with a couple of thick blankets in an attempt to keep them warm!

One of my friends is a Korean woman, who told me that New Year at her home was focused on making food offerings for ancestors - much like Japanese Obon in summer. She said they must pay their respects to 4 generations of the dead - e.g. deceased grandparents plus the 3 preceding generations.

One of my students from Okinawa told me that they also eat the same food at New Year and Obon - pork gut soup! That came out in a discussion about immigration - would they miss their possessions. They said no, they'd only miss Japanese food...until they started to think about preparing Japanese food without the equipment to do so!

I've come to realize the same thing - the western food I cook here in Japan is not necessarily the food that I miss the most, it's the food which fits best with our lifestyle, and the food which is most practical for me to find in Japanese shops and prepare in a Japanese kitchen. And although I don't use them often, my grandmother's coffee cups and the tea-set my mother gave me seem to watch over my kitchen protectively from their place in the china cabinet.

You will see them - I've cleaned out more drawers, and then I can take some photos - not that it's a clean kitchen by any standards, but when I started cleaning it out, I wasn't sure if you could even tell which way was up in a photo!

Now I'm off to have a cup of cardamon coffee, hang out the washing, and put a batch of bean jam on to cook.

[nakji]

One of my friends is a Korean woman, who told me that New Year at her home was focused on making food offerings for ancestors - much like Japanese Obon in summer. She said they must pay their respects to 4 generations of the dead - e.g. deceased grandparents plus the 3 preceding generations.

Yes, this is true...I was privileged to attend my boss's Seolnal (Lunar New Year) celebration last year. They had a large table laid out with all manner of Korean delicacies. Large rice cakes, cooked beef, fried pancakes, the big yellow pears - they call them bae, maybe they're called nashi in Japan? Apples, too. Fruit is a big part of the offering, and every year the newspaper details what apple and pear prices will be like, and assures everyone the government will be on the lookout for price gouging. Cooking the offering seems to be considered a big hassle by all the housewives I talk to here - "We do all the work and the men just sit and play gostop!" I always tell them it's very similar at a western Thanksgiving or Christmas, but I don't think they believe me.

Anyway, the table was laid out, with photos of my boss's wife's deceased parents. Normally it would be his parents, but he's a younger son, which means his older brother was having the proper celebration for his family the next day. His wife, however, only has a younger brother, so they decided to have her family's celebration at their place, as they have a bigger apartment! Against tradition, but the convenience was appreciated by all. We all participated in the ceremony, where we bowed to the table, and then rice wine was offered by various family members - at one point by the eldest child of the eldest son- who was a girl! This wouldn't have been done at all in the past, we were told, but these days things are changing. Then we all left the room for a few minutes, so the ancestors could take what they wanted, and then we went back in the room, and the wives cleared the table, and set up tables for us to eat it all, along with big bowls of ddeok-guk (rice cake soup).

The prep for this is considered so bothersome, I'm told, that a girl, even these days, will think twice about seriously dating an eldest son. If she marries him, she knows the work will fall to her!

Helen, it's great to read about your life in Japan. Every time you mention the mikan, I'm sent running for my pile of fresh Jeju kyul! I can't wait to read more.

[Rebecca263]

Takoyaki! Thank you, thank you. I am going to attempt it next week! Thank you for your fascinating blog, you have a wonderful descriptive way of writing which really brings your home alive for me.

[Hiroyuki]

How often do you make takoyaki? Do you still have a liking for Kansai (Western Japan) foods? Name some of your favorite Kansai foods.

As you know, takoyaki is mainly an Osaka thing, and I'm not a big fan of it or okonomiyaki. I'm a fan of pizza!

[Swisskaese]

This is a very interesting blog and it makes me aware of how little I know about Japanese cuisine.

Edited January 7, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Swisskaese]

Michelle, thanks to bird flu, swine flu, and BSE, sliced (shredded) lamb is one of the cheaper meats now. The pack that I bought cost JPY158 per 100g, works out about USD13-14 per kg, or GBP7 - 8. For premium trimmed cutlets, double that...

I used to be able to buy chicken and pork at about JPY100 per 100g, now I mostly have to pay about 20% more than that, and chicken wings or breasts at JPY70-80 per 100g are a rare find too.

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I went to the supermarket on Thursday for my weekly shop and I bought 3kg of Kosher chicken wings for 19.99NIS or 2.44GBP/4.30USD. A whole Kosher chicken was 16.99NIS/kg or 2.07GBP/3.67USD.

Minced Kosher beef is 36NIS/kg or 4.40GBP/7.79USD.

Edited January 7, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[helenjp]

Hiroyuki, son1 bought himself a takoyaki maker (electric) with his pocket money, but it really is not powerful enough. I hated making takoyaki using that thing. However, the takoyaki iron on the Zojirushi electric grill I bought (a purchase also documented on eGullet) works beautifully! This is the first time I used this one, but we'll be using it again...and again...

Kansai foods that I still eat...hmmm...I lived in Osaka 25 years ago, so it's been a while! However...I still like things cooked with kombu-dashi, I think I probably prefer lighter seasonings than my husband, I like white miso soup now and again...I like to teach my kids about the traditional sweets such as neri-kiri (I'll try and make some if I get time to make white an...if not now, then I'll put it on the Japan Forum).

Takoyaki and okonomiyaki - I like them Osaka-style. Cooked Kanto-style, I'd have to agree with you that it's a better idea to order pizza! For me, takoyaki Osaka-style means a sloppy interior, and okonomiyaki should have a minimum of batter, just to bind the cabbage, and the batter should contain grated yam, which makes it fluffy rather than heavy and doughy like bad pizza.

Another Kansai favorite that's much underrated is kushi-yaki - bits of this and that on skewers, dipped in egg and crumbs, and quickly deepfried.

Also, some Kansai tempura is eaten with salt rather than being dipped in ten-tsuyu sauce. I like that idea - it creates more variation in the meal, and I really prefer shrimp with salt rather than ten-tsuyu.

Nakji, thanks for the extra background on Korean New Year. Japanese women are also reluctant to marry an eldest son! I married a younger son...but he is the defacto head of his generation, as his older brother has a chronic illness. He sometimes groans about the responsibilities, but I remind him that the expectations come along with a lot of love and respect from his family (even the cantankerous ones!), who see the burden he carries. And since he's not actually the eldest son, he seems to feel free to pick and choose his duties!

Lunch today was a two-part affair - son2 and I had a bread roll grilled with cheese, and left early for his violin lesson. Son1 and husband had hegi-soba with chicken and winter spinach, shiitake, and some very thin scallions...apparently son1 took a photo, so he'll upload that when he gets out of the bath!

On our way home, son2 and I picked up some groceries, and brought home a snack for the domestic slaves. Nikuman (Pork bun) and anman (bean jam bun) with a glass of lemon/vitamin C mix. I must sound obsessive, but whenever we go to New Zealand from northern hemisphere midsummer to southern hemisphere midwinter, I find that a few weeks of vitamins does a lot to help stop colds, so until son2's exams are over, we're dosing up.

Following directly....dinner pix of tempura and 7-herb congee.

[helenjp]

3kg of Kosher chicken wings for 19.99NIS or 2.44GBP/4.30USD

Gosh, let me think...if I got them for 58yen for 100g (I should be so lucky...), that would be...hmm...USD16-17 for 3kg at the cheapest!

[helenjp]

Dinner...today is January 7, the day for "Nanakusa-kayu" or 7-herb congee.

Rick LaPointe has helpfully written a nice article on this. He's a very well-informed writer on Japanese food, with lots of ideas of his own as well.

First, the congee is made. Upthread, I made a "zengayu" congee with 1 part rice : 7 parts water. This time I made "gobu-gayu" with 1 part rice: 10 parts water". The congee is cooked very slowly.

When it's almost ready, it's time to chop up the turnip finely, chop the daikon into thin rounds, and mince the other herbs and rub them briefly with a pinch or two of coarse salt.

Toss the daikon and turnip into the completed congee, and let the other herbs sit with the salt briefly. Then squeeze, and toss in. Here it is...I honestly think this is

one of the most delicious things that Japan has to offer!

It has of course a faintly herbal aroma, so it goes well with a rich dish such as tempura. I'm glad somebody suggested it, as I hadn't thought about what I was going to serve with the congee this year.

Tempura...if you want to try it for the first time, avoid things like squid or oysters which contain a lot of water, and can easily explode in hot oil, causing burns. Shrimp are great, but I think that tempura is essentially a vegetarian dish - the shrimp are just along for the ride.

Firm vegetables such as lotus root and sweet potato are easy, also funghi of every type, pumpkin, and chili peppers (in Japan, the mild shishi-tou is used - slit the pods to prevent explosions).

You can make tempura with shiso leaves, nori etc., but try these when you've made a few batches. Honestly, I'm not sure if I could fry tempura on an electric cooker - gas is much easier to control.

This time I used: shiitake (cut the tops to even out the cooking time), shimeji funghi, pumpkin, sweet potato, small taro - they were young, so I scrubbed them firmly and left the skins on and cooked them without batter, shishitou peppers, lotus root, yam bundles, shrimp, and tiny "chisha" fish (not shown).

I use Canola oil, rapeseed is also good, and I believe that professionals mix in a small proportion of sesame oil. Avoid soy oil - it burns at high temperatures and is heavy and greasy.

Batter: In this case, I used a low-fluten cake flour known in Japan as "Violet" brand. You can add a little baking powder, which of course makes a thicker, doughier tempura which is not as delicious fresh, but which keeps a bit better. You can also add about 50% cornflour, which makes the dough very crisp...also very brittle, and much more inclined to fall off the ingredients. I usually use some, and I did notice the difference this time - the tempura was greasier, and if you look closely at the finished plate, you can see this, especially as some of the tempura had been fried 15 minutes or so by the time the photo was taken. Tempura is not a family dish - it really needs one person to fry a constant supply for everybody else to eat.

The standard proportions are 1 part flour to 1 part beaten egg topped up with ice-water. Mix till barely mixed - a few lumps are fine. DON'T OVERMIX!!! (Should I say that again?!). Don't allow batter to stand - mix wet into dry immediately before use. If you want, buy ready-made tempura-mix flour - it works beautifully, and keeps pretty well for bento etc too.

Also ...I never drink when cooking tempura! It's too risky.

Here goes...

First off, I pulled the heads off some shrimp and checked for the black gut along the top. I shelled them, leaving the tails, and then made notches along the underbelly, roughly where every "plate" meets. This makes them fry flat instead of curling up, and also makes it easier to eat them in several bites. Sorry about the blurry photo.

I snipped open the tummies of the small fish with kitchen scissors (such a waste, as they had roe, but the boys and husband are fussy) and also removed fins etc.

I heated the oil in my wok to about 180degC - the traditional test is either to put a pair of dry wooden chopsticks into the oil - fine bubbles should ascend in a steady stream, but not explode in a mass of bubbles (too hot). Alternatively, drop a tiny bit of batter in - it should not quite hit the bottom of the pan, but ascend fairly rapidly to the top. If it barely dips and then rises again with masses of bubbles, it's too hot. If it sticks to the bottom, it's still too cold. Drop some items into the batter and drop into the oil - don't cover more than half the surface area of the oil, or the temperature will drop too far to recover rapidly. Food will cook surprisingly rapidly.

Probably sweet potato will take the longest, but even that won't take more than 4 minutes or so. Cook the blandest foods first, fish last.

Here we have lotus root just after it has been added to the pan. You can see the ten-kasu scattering off to one side of the pan, and masses of bubbles. When the lotus root is almost done, there will be fewer bubbles.

Tempura should not be more than faintly golden at most - it should never brown.

Remove and drain well. Remove the ten-kasu promptly - if it burns, it will make everything you fry taste bitter.

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11366111...7941_3_3360.jpg

Plated tempura - eaten with some coarse salt, and commercial sauce (basically katsuo-dashi seasoned with mirin sweet sake and soy sauce). I forgot to buy daikon, which should be grated into the sauce.

And finally, just to bring you down...the used oil is poured through the filter to the right of the photo, into the oil pot, and is then re-used. This is getting a bit dark - amost time to toss it.

And finally..yours truly. It's been a long hard year, and I've put on a lot of weight but at least now I can smile! Actually, I'm n ot smiling, but trying to boss son1 into taking the photo without including the mess on the floor...but that's close enough!

I wanted to include myself so you get some idea of the size of the workspace. There is a narrow gap between the unit on the left, which holds my microwave, and the toaster on top of that (with the bean-jam in the making on top of that...) and the gas range. Next to that are a couple of unglazed garden pots - I can put dripping wet equipment in them , and they drain dry! I can get into that space, but it's hard to move freely there, so I tend to reach over from the main kitchen area to the range - one reason why it has been hard to teach my kids to cook. Behind me is my total prep area, and a bread machine. On the right is a double sink.

P.S. I wasn't kidding about using the microwave door more than the microwave!

Next up....the bean jam!

Edited January 7, 2006 by helenjp (log)

[marlena spieler]

Helen, your tempura looks beautiful. mine always turns out heavy so i tend to not eat it except in Japanese restaurants when i'm in california.

Your Nanakusa-kayu looks really wonderful though. i clicked Rick LaPointe's article on the subject and on the herbs, but it looks as if most of the herbs are not available. i'm thinking that i want to make this for my daughter in new york city, or get her to make it: it looks so comforting and healthy, and the herbs promise fragrance and the promise of spring freshness. and we both LOVE daikon!

what herbs should we use in their place or do you think we can get such herbs, ? (there are a lot of japanese food shops near her house). i do note that the article said 'wild greens' congee.

Marlena

ps wonderful photo of you in cooking motion (and bossing around son motion!) ! i so feel like i'm in the kitchen with you--next i want to see a photo of you smiling! this is great, i wish i had a digital camera as would post a pic of myself in the middle of cooking too. i will get one soon, but am not confident i will ever figure out how to use it!

Edited January 7, 2006 by marlena spieler (log)

[helenjp]

There it is...the awful truth! My husband is doing the dishes, while I eGullet.

From left, the gas range, the prep area - the cloth is in the process of draining the bean-jam seen earlier, the white box is the bread-maker, the frowning thing is my darling, and behind him from left to right in the window bay is a rack of condiments (not extensive, as the summer sun hits that area), often-used stainless steel bowls and saucepans, a rack of flour, sugar, salt, dashi bags, barley tea bags, and at right, the dish-draining racks.

[marlena spieler]

aw, this is totally charming!

thanks for having us over into your kitchen! i think i shall post the photo of your husband doing the dishes over our sink just for the good influence on my husband (but he's been much better about doing the dishes lately, and no one sweeps a floor as good as he does, especially not me as i'm totally rubbish at it and hate doing it too).

i wish i could find the little thingie that puts up smiles on our postings, but did a fast reply and can't find the smile enablers. but i have one on my face!

Marlena

[helenjp]

Alternative herbs for Nanakusa-kayu. Different regions of Japan use differnt herbs anyway.

Let me see...what are good spring herbs in the west? You want mostly mild ones, with just one or two distinctive flavors.

Very young dandelion greens if you salt them and let them sit for a bit and then wring them out...

Daikon greens - you can whack the top off a daikon and put it on a saucer in the windowsill - the new shoots will be fine for this dish.

Carrot greens are remarkably good, actually, especially in small quantities such as for this dish (they are quite fibrous).

Things like sorrel. chervil, chickweed, flat parsley?

[marlena spieler]

Alternative herbs for Nanakusa-kayu. Different regions of Japan use differnt herbs anyway.

Let me see...what are good spring herbs in the west? You want mostly mild ones, with just one or two distinctive flavors.

Very young dandelion greens if you salt them and let them sit for a bit and then wring them out...

Daikon greens - you can whack the top off a daikon and put it on a saucer in the windowsill - the new shoots will be fine for this dish.

Carrot greens are remarkably good, actually, especially in small quantities such as for this dish (they are quite fibrous).

Things like sorrel. chervil, chickweed, flat parsley?

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yum. thanks. i love chervil especially.

marlena

[Hiroyuki]

Son1 and husband had hegi-soba with chicken and winter spinach, shiitake, and some very thin scallions...

Can you get decent hegi-soba in your area? Is it greenish? I can't get decent dry hegi-soba even in my area. My family always go to a local soba shop whenever we want to eat hegi-soba.

Dinner...today is January 7, the day for "Nanakusa-kayu" or 7-herb congee.

Did you buy all the herbs individually? I made 7-herb congee for lunch today, using a pack of herbs, which cost 350 yen .

I honestly think this is one of the most delicious things that Japan has to offer!

By the way, say hello to your toaster oven!! You know I have a new fish grill in my new kitchen, but I have never used it so far. I still use the toaster oven to grill a fish, etc., singing the song, "Old habits die hard...".

[helenjp]

Decent hegi-soba - well, who knows what the quality is like, as I have nothing else to compare it with . However, son and husband were raving about it, so it must have tasted good to them.

I bought a pack of herbs - I did once try to gather them all, but even around here, there is less and less wild land every year.

Toaster oven...that's our *new* toaster oven, you realize? The old one finally collapsed. This one will grill 10 mochi at once . However, the old one made better toast!

[Swisskaese]

Did you buy all the herbs individually?  I made 7-herb congee for lunch today, using a pack of herbs, which cost 350 yen  .

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Holy crap! How big was this pack of herbs? That is 3USD/1.72GBP.

We pay .75USD/.42GBP for approximately 40g.

[helenjp]

Hard to describe - a good handful of herbs...plus a very small daikon and tiny turnip.

[helenjp]

It's just past midnight, and I'm about to call it a day with the bean jams ready for tomorrow...here's the run-down on the koshi-an (sarashi-an). This is the smooth type of bean jam.

First, bean jams are usually made starting from unsoaked dry beans.

I started with 250g of azuki beans. Bring them to boil in plenty of water, drain, cover again with cold water and leave to sit for a while till they look less wrinkly.

Bring to the boil, drain, and cover with fresh water. Repeat at least twice (but don't go utterly overboard, or you will lose too much flavor and color).

Cook over medium heat - too hot, and the beans will explode and you will lose too much starch. The beans are done when you can squash one between your index and little finger.

Drain (AND RESERVE LIQUID), and put into either a very coarse sieve or a ridged mortar. Crush roughly with a big wooden pestle...except that I inadvertently used mine to crush some aniseed for a recipe of Chufi's and now it transfers anise flavor to everything - so here you see my small pestle of sansho wood, and also a wooden spoon.

When crushed, transfer to a sieve, and rub through. I tossed out my horsehair sieve last year, and find that the finished bean jam has a faintly gritty texture after using the metal sieve you see here this time. Don't be tempted to use a food processor - I tried it once, and the bean skin texture was much too rough. The idea is to separate the skins and the starch, not to break the skins down. Try to persist until you can see almost no white starch left. Carry out these two steps while the beans are still warm.

In the bowl under your sieve, you should have dry, crumbly bean starch like this.

Now pour the reserved liquid (or water, if you forgot and tossed out the cooking liquid) through the skins to release the last of the starch.

Let the bean starch and water sit until the water is nearly clear. You can see here that I was too zealous in replacing water when cooking the beans - almost no reddish color left. Not to worry! If you don't have time to complete the bean jam in one step, you can leave it for several hours at this point.

Now tip off the water gently, and strain the slushy stuff through cheesecloth or an old linen teatowel. Twist and squeeze firmly. This is not *quite* dry enough, but it's still workable.

Return the squeezed bean starch to the saucepan, and add 250g of white sugar. (Edit: eeops - should be nearly equal quantities of raw beans and sugar). (You can reduce this amount slightly, but not much - say 200g? Any less, and the jam will be too floury, won't keep well, etc.). As soon as you start to heat it, it will turn dark, and become surprisingly watery, like porridge. Keep stirring constantly over a low-med heat until you can pull a wooden spoon across the bottom, and the mark stays for a second or two. The photo's all steamy, sorry.

Now turn the jam out in spoonsful onto a metal tray (both these aspects help it to cool fast). If temperatures are high, use a fan or hairdryer on cool setting to cool it quickly - this will keep your "an" glossy. Although we call this "jam", it does NOT keep like western jam. Use in 2-3 days refrigerated, or freeze - it will get moldy much more quickly than even commercial bean jam. This batch has good gloss, but I noticed the difference without the horsehair sieve, and it is also not a perfect color. Tastes good though! More on how to use it tomorrow!

To make white bean jam, carry out the same process using great northern beans or small lima beans.

Edited January 7, 2006 by helenjp (log)

[nakji]

Red bean jam! my nemesis~!

When I first came to Korea, I noticed vendors on the strret selling waffles filled with what looked like chocolate. Of course, I bought one, bit into it, only to find red bean instead! I'm ashamed to admit it's fooled me many times into thinking it's chocolate - it lurks everywhere - in bakeries, at street vendors....

I don't mind it now, especially when I'm expecting it. It's nice, but it's not chocolate filling. In Korea, street vendors fill fish shaped waffles with this. They're only sold in the winter, and they're called "fish bread" (bungeo-bbang), and I've quite acquired a taste for them. Anything similar in Japan?

[Abra]

Wow, Helen, this blog is a veritable treasure trove of Japanese home cooking! That an looks to be a total labor of love - so many steps, most of them demanding. My hat is off to you, especially now that I see your kitchen! I never imagined a stove in a corner like that. It's incredible how much beautiful food you produce in that tiny space.

I want that congee right now. Like Marlena, I wouldn't be able to find any of those herbs here, so I'm happy to see some substitutes. And how nice to see your shishito peppers in the tempura. I got my CSA farmer grow some for me this past sumemr, but I didn't think to tempura them.

And what a nice-looking husband you have. I think men look their best in front of a sink!

[therese]

And what a nice-looking husband you have.  I think men look their best in front of a sink!

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They do, don't they? And the pink rubber gloves really add that certain something.

Count me among the impressed as well, Helen---really cramped kitchen, and your food always looks (and sounds) so great. Think your kids know how cool their mom is?

[mizducky]

Wow, and I thought my current kitchen was a challenging workspace! I think the only kitchen I've seen here in the US that can compare in compactness was one in a friend's apartment an old building in Boston's Fenway neighborhood in the 1980s. I did manage to turn out a nice meal in that kitchen once, but boy did it require some interesting juggling. (It also helped that I was a lot smaller then, if you get my drift. ) Still, in my friend's mini-kitchen I did not have to contend with a cooktop I could only reach sideways--now that must take some serious culinary yoga!

I understand there was a whole generation of older (usually brownstone) apartments in Boston as well as New York that had similarly nearly-phone-booth-sized kitchens with teeny-tiny gas ranges, though they were already becoming relatively rare back in the 1980s. But I get the impression that this size of kitchen is pretty much the current norm in urban middle-class Japanese homes, yes? Does anybody have homes with larger kitchens, or is that only for the wealthy? (Or if they're well-off enough to afford a big kitchen, do they actually hire someone to cook for them instead?)

[OnigiriFB]

Ooo tempura looks oishii desu ne!!!! Thank you now I know how long to cook mine for thats what I was a little confused on. Great job Helen. This is a bit off topic but may I ask how long you've been in Japan? I took a bit of japanese in highschool and have always wanted to go.