Soba - tears and chuckles for long happy life

One morning in Santa Rosa California, I saw a man walking carrying his dry cleaning clothes being placed on a hanger.  I started crying watching him walking down the beautiful tree-lined street nonchalantly and lightly.  I was deeply moved by the ordinary scene, a man doing one of his regular routines.  

One afternoon near Bodega Bay California, I stepped out my house to take my dogs for a walk. I stopped under a big tree at my front yard because felt gentle ocean breeze from the Bay, and then, I looked up a bright sun rays shining through the branches of the tree.  I felt tears running down my cheeks.  At that moment, I heard a jazz piano in my heart  ~The Koln Concert~  played by Keith Jarret. I was deeply moved by the ordinary nature, the gentle ocean breeze and a bright sun rays.

One evening in Austin Texas, I was driving to my work against after work traffic due to my graveyard shift. I was looking up the heavy clouds in the overcast sky, and all of a sudden, I realized that working for graveyard shift, having gloomy weather and not having anybody (except for my dog) to wait for me when I come home after work can be raw materials to produce a deep joy. 

I did not cry this time, but instead, chuckled.  

Strangely, it took relatively depressing scenes instead of the ordinary beautiful scenes to make me chuckle.

One night in Austin Texas, I finally gathered the courage to cook for beautifully corrupted people who try to construct their lives due to heavy body and mind abuse.  I realized that I have to keep on living my life for them to help them realize that they have not lost anything important in life yet because their pure hearts trying to become happy have not been destroyed yet. 

I was able to gather this courage after all those tears and chuckles.

Now, sitting at my desk recollecting all those sorrows and joys, I have never imagined that I would be so busy cooking Soba (buckwheat noodle) for my friends and family and chuckling and having tears of laughter this year, 2012.

Now, it is that time of year that I have to prepare Soba (buckwheat noodle), a bowl of hot noodle soup.  In Japan, we traditionally eat Soba on New Years Eve while waiting to greet the new year and end the old year because the long noodle symbolize the longevity, the long happy life...

Soba

Ingredients ・4 servings:

• 4 bundles of dried Soba noodle (buckwheat noodle)
• green onions (chopped)
• 6 cups Dashi soup stock (dissolve 2 teaspoon gragules or 1 stick)
• 1/2 cup Mirin
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 ~2 teaspoon sugar (optional)

Cooking:

<Noodle>

• Cook Soba noodles until al dente
• Drain when done

<Broth>

• Boil Mirin and add sugar (optional) in medium heat
• add water , Dashi soup stock and soy sauce
• Bring to a boil
• Serve soba noodle in a bowl and add soup
• Sprinkle green onions

~Serve immediately and eat while hot~

Turkish Coffee - Ingredients for happiness at my memories' cliff

Sometimes, memories can illuminate the best flavor 

that we can never re-create no matter how much we try.

One of those was my mother's pound cake tasted by my sister at a Christmas Eve in 1960's. My sister tried to re-create the same flavor after she grew up and married with three children. She tried it with all those rich and gourmet ingredients that she could buy in 1990's but always failed.

It was because the taste she remembered was consisted of her mother's big proud smile when she opened the rectangular box in front of her family after the dinner (I was a baby so don't remember it), a vivid contrast between my sister's feelings of being betrayed by her mother not providing a typical Christmas cake which should be decorated by Santa Clause & reindeer in a square box and completely unexpected flavor coming from a bumpy British style pound cake with lots of dried fruits and nuts which looked like a confectionery box distributed at a funeral, and a simplicity of those days with much less technologies than nowadays which enhance people's five sense sharper. 

She ate the whole cake even the last crumbs.

Those three ingredients - my mother's big smile, vivid contrast, a simplicity of the time- were short in my sister's recipe.

Japanese traditional European influenced Christmas cake made by rich butter cream

Amazing simple bumpy pound cake with lots of nuts and dried fruits

Another one was a canned coffee that I drank while reading Japanese comic books at a bookstore on my way home after a summer short course to prepare for college entrance exams in a small city, Aomori in Japan.  (a summer of 1979?)  It only cost 80 cents from a vendor machine but tasted much better in my memory than a Turkish coffee with jaggery sugar and cardamon spice that I learned to make 25 years later.

It was because I was reading a funny comic book holding back my laughter in a quiet bookstore, and enjoying every sip of the coffee which was filled with lots of milk and sugar.  My body knew that all those unhealthy ingredients in the coffee would be evaporated into me holding laughter and energy.

I learned that the happiness consists of very simple ingredients - good memories and simple food.

In time, I grew to be a catcher in my memories visualizing a scene of my favorite novel "A catcher in rye".

...standing on the edge of my memories' cliff trying to catch good moments and feelings when those are going over the memories' cliff.....

I know those memories are eternally engraved in my unconscious level but I have to pull those to my conscious level so that those can save my life at a crucial time when I feel like I want to give up everything and fade away from a reality.

************************************************************************************

Due to those simple ingredients I held in my conscious level, I was able to enjoy every moments with my 89 years old mother in law when I went to see her for a Christmas dinner at a nursing home in Kansas, Missouri.  

I was even able to laugh out at a Christmas dinner table when I found out a professional caretaker of my mother in law had been believing all these years that I was a truck driver and romantically involved with many men at one time (maybe boyfriends at every cities?).  

This time, I did not hold back my laughter but laughed out, and said to her, 

" Oh really?  Do I look like a truck driver and being involved with multiple men romantically at one time?

It is impossible since I am still in love with her son who passed away four years ago and it may last another 500 years."

Turkish Coffee with cardamon

Ingredients:

• Extremely fine grind coffee beans such as Espresso, French Roast or Columbia
• 1/2 or less teaspoon ground cardamon
• Sugar (optional)

Making:

• Add water and coffee beans into a sauce pan
• Add cardamon and sugar
• Once all the ingredients are completely dissolved, brew over a medium heat
• First boil - as soon as it starts to boil, remove the sauce pan from the heat and let the froth down.
• Repeat this two more times since the three boils create a better taste

Natto - eternally grateful for my heritage

One of the happiest memories in my life was to swim with my dog, T-Bone when I was unemployed and desperately looking for a job.  It was a summer of 2009.

Never imagined that that summer would be such unforgettable and beautiful days, especially when I had been experiencing rejections one after another by the companies I applied for.

***********************

T-Bone would always make a big splash into the lake in front of my face, which make me see nothing but water splash and everything in sight become a blur on a horizon.

Then, he calms down.  We finally swim side by side reasonably and peacefully.

Lying on my back and floating like a paper doll on the water, I gaze into the faraway sky and wonder if I ever saw a blue sky whose edge was decorated with branches of trees.  

As I enjoy watching those branches moving slowly away in my sight, I gradually visualizing my sepia-tone pictures in my life that I cherish eternally.

***Soul mate,  my mother, my father, my dogs/Chako & Muddy,

Northeastern part of Japan - a huge elementary school yard with many trees where I swung on vines like Tarzan, - thousands of white swans in front of my house which migrated from Siberia ***

This is the moment that I can convince that there will never be an end but continuation.
This is the moment that I feel so powerful because I stop defining myself by neither the job I hold nor the title of organization nor any other secular achievements, but by the sepia-tone pictures that I cherish in my life.

I transformed that summer which could be my most desperate and miserable time to the happiest moments of my life.

***********************

A nine-year-old bobbed hair girl would rush home after playing so hard in a school yard Jungle because the beautiful sunset illumination on the trees telling her the time for dinner, telling her go home.

It was a summer of 1971 when the first MacDonald opened in Japan and people in Japan started eating American fast food, but I was so lucky that I had no choice but to eat my mother's home made meal every day because it would build my strong body that can tolerate a 110-pound-black massive lab as a play mate in a summer of 2009 when the global economic decline even started affecting me.

I would rush home with wet black monster after swimming so hard and run to the kitchen start warming brown rice, cutting Japanese pickles (tsukemono), warming miso-soup and preparing my most favorite dish called Natto, which I convince, is the most miraculous food on the planet and makes me a healthiest, happiest and, moreover, a person who can eternally grateful for my heritage.

How to eat Natto:

1. Stir the natto with chopsticks. Do not mash. Stir fast and well about 10 to 15 times until it becomes sticky.
2. Pour the seasoning that comes with Natto.
3. Add your favorite vegetables or condiments such as chopped green onions, sesame seeds, eggs, mustard, wasabi, etc.

Hachihai-jiru (tofu soup) - A tremendous gift

One of the hardest things in my life was to bring his things from his office to home. 
Some of those were his favorite worn-out igloo lunch box and a magic kaleidoscope tube wand that he looked into many times while designing his passion - sound system -

I never thought that I would feel that way, because I was just fine while gathering his things to clean his office with his co-workers, while walking to my car with them helping me to carry his things, while saying good-bye to them, while situating myself into my car seat for a long drive to home and while watching the co-workers fading away from my sight through my car window. I was just fine.

Then, when I was about to start the car, all of a sudden, it hit me...a reality that I was sitting in my car with his things from his office not because he quit his job but because he no longer existed.

For the first time in my life, I truly sobbed uncontrollably pounding my head against the steering wheel.
For the first time in my life, I truly felt lonely and noticed that all the feelings that I had ever had was nothing compared to the feeling I had at that moment in my car, in front of the steering wheel.

That moment was a beginning of a journey to discover how courageous, strong and compassionate I am. 
The moment came to me suddenly and it was transformed to a tremendous gift - a discovery of a new me- a gift that you never, ever want to miss.

I remember a great soup that I was fed by my great aunt long time ago in Japan, when I was so exhausted after crying so much over my mother's death.  The soup was called "Hachihai-jiru", which was made by dashi soup with lots of silken tofu, green onions and mushrooms.  It was so good that I gulped the soup and ate seven more bowls, and she said  "Hachihai-jiru was named after exactly how you are eating, eat more.."

八  = hachi =  eight

杯 = hai =  times

汁 = jiru = soup

I thought she was joking but she was not.  The soup gave me energy, courage and hope to live so that I can be stronger and more compassionate woman like those amazing ladies, my mother, aunt and great aunt, and all those people who fed their children.

Hachihai jiru

Ingredients:

• 1 package Tofu (silken), cut lengthwise
• 3 bunch Green onions, cut lengthwise
• 5 pices shiitake or shimeji mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 4 cups dashi soup stock (dissolve 2 teaspoon gragules or 1 stick)
• 4 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon Mirin
• sea salt

Cooking:

• Cook mushrooms in 4 cups dashi soup stock until the mushrooms become tender
• Add green onions and tofu
• Add Mirin and soy sauce
• Bring to a boil
• Add a pinch of sea salt

Serve immediately and eat eight bowls if you can...

Miso soup - a surge of happiness

I was driving from Austin to San Antonio to join my soul mate's half sisters' Thanksgiving dinner and looking up the cloudless blue sky which spreads unlimitedly in front of me, and almost suddenly, felt a surge of happiness.

Never imagined that I was able to feel like this by just looking up the sky when driving to such occasion, because such occasion should remind me of many memories with my soul mate... the occasion that I used to joyfully ride with him. Those days, I never imagined that a life could end instantly without any preparation.

This sky I was looking up was a magic, I thought.  

Then, I realized that there was no magic in this substantial world.  

I realized that magic was in me.

And I discovered that a surge of happiness could happen even in the most unlike situation.

As I was smiling and looking up the sky, I felt that maybe I have been living all my life just for this moment. 

Here I am,  I feel an urgency to share a surge of happiness but it is a glimpse of happiness, just like Miso soup that gives me an instant joy because of its taste but I have no doubt that its nutrition is not an instant but lasts forever in my body, which could be a magic of Miso (fermented soy beans) in this substantial world.

Miso Soup

Ingredients:

3 cup Japanese soup stock (bonito fish or sea kelp, called "Dashi")

1 table spoon dried wakame seaweed

1/2 package of Tofu (or any vegetables you like)

2 table spoon Miso paste

chopped green onions

Cooking:

• Heat up the dashi soup stock (dissolve 2 teaspoon gragules or half stick)
• Add hard ingredients such as vegetables until tender
• Add dried wakame seaweed and tofu
• Take the miso in a ladle, and add a little bit of the hot stock, Mix the miso and stock together in the ladle with a chopstick until the miso is dissolved. 

• Dissolve the miso mixture in the soup
• Don't let it boil or the flavor will dissipate
• Serve immediately

Wakame salad - Simply beautiful

Old days in Japan, a breathtakingly handsome man (or woman) was expressed in a very interesting way.

Water dripping from a good man (or woman)

I never knew this expression's derivation until I came to US and started paying more attention to my own culture. 

The expression derived from a Japanese traditional theater called "Kabuki". It is known to be played by only male actors who wears heavy makeup to create a brightly painted mask. They applies oil and waxes on his face to help the makeup stick to the skin. Then a thick coat of white makeup is put to cover the whole face...therefore, those handsome actors, national celebrities, are shinning with beeswax makeup while they are performing the dance drama erotically and beautifully.  (Hope this does not sound strange.)

I also learned that, in Japan, a beautiful face does not mean a perfect features like a chiseled Greek sculpture but with a perfectly beautiful skin. 

The beautiful skin is dewy shinning skin, which prevents skin from aging and maintain a good PH balance. 

Therefore, the dewy shinning skin is illuminated and sexy skin like Kabuki actors.

It sounds funny but every time I eat very simple dish which contains excess water and fiber, I feel that my skin is becoming like those Kabuki actors' not in an excess makeup way but the illuminating and dewy way.  

Wakame (seaweed) salad is one of those simply beautiful food. 

I am almost intoxicated in this simplicity...that this simple dish flushes the toxins  from my polluted body and I am becoming Kabuki male actors with sexy and dewy skin...

Wakame Salad

Ingredients:
1 ounce dried wakame seaweed
1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons seasoned rice-wine vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted white sesame seeds (optional)
Sesame oil (optional)

Cooking:
1. Put the wakame in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Let soak 5 to 10 minutes until softened and expand. Drain in a colander. Pat dry or lightly squeeze to rid of excess water.
2. Add sliced cucumber.
3. Mix with rice-wine vinegar.
4. If you like, add a dash of sesame oil, soy sauce, or sugar to adjust the flavor the way you like. 
5. If you like, Sprinkle the salad with sesame seed.

Hijiki - Ultimate way of living

After spending my life in US about 24 years, I have come to an realization that after all, aging is not so bad... in fact, aging can be exciting if you discover an ultimate way of living in your best way possible.

For me, the ultimate way of living is to appreciate and cherish my heritage.

I was born at a northeastern portion of main island in Japan, where the 2011 Tsunami and earthquake attacked, where I remember a breathtaking scenery but a harsh cold climate, where I am so proud of coming from, but I can no longer call as my hometown since I have lived in US for so long and felt at home at my small duplex in Austin Texas every time I come back from Japan trip.

For me, the ultimate way of living is a lot to do with what you eat, how you eat and when you eat.

I discovered that living in my best way possible is to eat what I like when I am hungry with much appreciation and pleasure.

I feel so clear when I eat good food, and feel that every ounce of the food I ate was not wasted in my body but it makes who I am from the core of my entire being physically and mentally.

Hijiki (seaweed) is one of my super foods that I enjoy to eat once a while when I need power and energy.

Hijiki is rich in fibre and essential minerals such as calcium, iron and magnesium. Also, it aids health and beauty, and thick black lustrous hair like mine!

Hijiki

Ingredients:
1/2 cup dried Hijiki - such as welpac brand

Water to soak Hijiki

1/2 cup julienned carrots

Edamame or green beans (sliced) - or Shiitake mashroom (sliced)
1 cup Japanese soup stock (bonito fish or sea kelp, called "Dashi")
1Tbsp Sugar or less
1.5 Tbsp Soy sauce
1Tbsp Mirin (Sweet Japanese cooking rice wine)

Cooking:

• Rinse hijiki to remove any sand.
• Place hijiki in a bowl with water. Let soak for 15 minutes.
• In a small saucepan, heat sesame oil over low-medium heat. Add carrots and vegetables and cook until softened.
• Add hijiki, soup stock, mirin, and bring to a full boil.
• Add soy sauce, and bring to a simmer.
• Cover, lower heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
• Remove cover, turn up the flame a bit and boil off most of the liquid, stirring gently as you do so.

Serve cold or hot...