Monday, February 11, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Nabe Tonight!
Dinnertime with the family is always a fun experience. We enjoy getting together for meals and good company. I would say that we eat together at least once or twice a week. Most recently, we enjoyed eating nabe at Kathy's house! Nabe is a hot pot meal where everyone sits around a pot of boiling water and cooks meat and vegetables together while eating and talking.
My sister Kathy and her husband Kyle lived in Japan for three years while doing the JET (Japanese Exchange Teaching) program. Through their experiences of living in Japan, they brought the "nabe style" tradition and cooking back to our family. Kathy even bought a special nabe pot which she flew home as well!
Our nabe pot was filled with delicious food which included; cabbage, shiitake and enoki mushrooms, gyoza, bean sprouts, cold tofu, mochi slices, udon noodles, and thinly sliced beef and fish. Kathy filled the nabe pot with boiling water and added in a miso soup base and chopped green onion. The cabbage, bean sprouts, and mushrooms were first to be added into our nabe pot. Then slowly, the tofu, udon noodles, and gyoza were added in as well. The thinly sliced pieces of beef and fish entered the pot as we ate, simply because we didn't want it to overcook. Since the slices of meat are so thin, it doesn't take more than a few seconds to brown. Normally when eating at a nabe restaurant, the noodles are served last. However by that time, I'm always full and can't really enjoy the noodles. At Kathy's, we cooked the udon together with the rest of the food which was delicious!
On our table, we also had a bowl of rice and ponzu sauce. Since Kathy filled the nabe pot with a miso sauce, adding ponzu sauce was optional for many. Ponzu sauce is also known as lemon shoyu(soy) sauce. Everyone enjoyed picking the veggies and meat out of the nabe pot and balancing the taste with a bowl of rice.
Cooking nabe keeps everyone on their toes and is an active way to eat and experience delicious Japanese food!
Please look out for "Nabe Tonight!" coming soon!
For previous videos, please check out www.youtube.com/Caritaira
Thank you for reading!
Cari
My sister Kathy and her husband Kyle lived in Japan for three years while doing the JET (Japanese Exchange Teaching) program. Through their experiences of living in Japan, they brought the "nabe style" tradition and cooking back to our family. Kathy even bought a special nabe pot which she flew home as well!
Our nabe pot was filled with delicious food which included; cabbage, shiitake and enoki mushrooms, gyoza, bean sprouts, cold tofu, mochi slices, udon noodles, and thinly sliced beef and fish. Kathy filled the nabe pot with boiling water and added in a miso soup base and chopped green onion. The cabbage, bean sprouts, and mushrooms were first to be added into our nabe pot. Then slowly, the tofu, udon noodles, and gyoza were added in as well. The thinly sliced pieces of beef and fish entered the pot as we ate, simply because we didn't want it to overcook. Since the slices of meat are so thin, it doesn't take more than a few seconds to brown. Normally when eating at a nabe restaurant, the noodles are served last. However by that time, I'm always full and can't really enjoy the noodles. At Kathy's, we cooked the udon together with the rest of the food which was delicious!
On our table, we also had a bowl of rice and ponzu sauce. Since Kathy filled the nabe pot with a miso sauce, adding ponzu sauce was optional for many. Ponzu sauce is also known as lemon shoyu(soy) sauce. Everyone enjoyed picking the veggies and meat out of the nabe pot and balancing the taste with a bowl of rice.
Cooking nabe keeps everyone on their toes and is an active way to eat and experience delicious Japanese food!
Please look out for "Nabe Tonight!" coming soon!
For previous videos, please check out www.youtube.com/Caritaira
Thank you for reading!
Cari
Monday, February 4, 2013
Gau (Kau) + Chinatown
Since Chinese New Year is coming up, my husband's family and I spent time with Popo learning how to make gau. Popo in Chinese means grandmother and gau is a rice flour and brown sugar mochi dish that is made during the new year. I was excited to watch Popo make gau because I've never seen it made before. This year, Chinese New Year begins on February 10, 2013. We are celebrating the year of the Snake!
Gau making started at noon at Popo's house. Chase and I arrived first, so I was able to interview her and talk with her about how she learned to make gau and some of the memories she had. I can't believe she's been making gau for over 60 years!
When the rest of the family arrived, we began. We were all excited because this was the first time everyone in Chase's family got to learn how to make gau as well. The gau process started by cutting eight ti-leaves off popo's ti-leaf plant. After the ti-leaves were washed and dried, Popo showed us how to lightly oil both sides of each ti-leaf. She cut off the tips of the ti-leaves and used the ti-leaves to line the pan. Popo showed us how to trim the ti-leaves and re-secure the lining by repositioning the stronger ti-leaves in the back of the other leaves. Then, we began making the gau batter.
Popo pre-boiled and cooled the brown sugar the night before. She added one pound of brown sugar and two cups of water to a pot and brought it to a boil. After the sugar turned into liquid, she turned the heat off and cooled the sugar.
We added one pound of rice flour to a bowl and slowly mixed in the liquid brown sugar to make sure lumps did not form. After all the rice flour was mixed into the batter, we added in three tablespoons of oil, three tablespoons of honey, and one tablespoon of whiskey. Popo explained that the whiskey will help to keep the mold from forming. After all the ingredients were mixed in, the batter was poured into the pan lined with leaves. The gau was placed into a pot to steam for two and a half hours.
During this time, my husband's family and I visited Chinatown for their New Years parade and festivities. Popo stayed home to watch the gau as it steamed. Chinatown was filled with good food, lion dances, and craft fair items for sale. Since it was a nice day, this was definitely a popular event to attend! There were so many people walking around trying all different sorts of foods and eagerly waiting for the parade to begin. To cool off, we decided to drink delicious bubble teas! Chase and I shared a strawberry bubble tea and Shelby, Chase's sister got lychee! I also tried my first Jin Dui. Jin Dui is a fried rice cake pastry coated with sesame seeds on the outside and hollow on the inside. Black or red bean paste are commonly found inside however I had mine with coconut! Jin Dui reminded me of fried mochi. It was delicious. Even though we were having fun in Chinatown, it was time for us to get back to the gau.
By the time we got back to Popo's house, the gau was ready to remove from the pot. We stuck in a chopstick to check. We knew it was ready because chopstick came out clear with little sticky residue. After the gau was removed from the pot, we added a date in the middle of the gau and sprinkled sesame seeds evenly around. We also added two lycee's for good luck!
Gau is made to celebrate the new year and is traditionally eaten on Chinese New Year. However, we couldn't wait! After dinner, we did a quick taste test and the chewy mochi texture was sweet, warm and yummy! I've never eaten gau so fresh before today.
Thank you to Popo and the Lees for this fun experience.
Kung Hee Fat Choy!
Look out for Deeds of Wisdom: Episode 5 on Wednesday!
Please check out previous videos at www.youtube.com/user/caritaira
Cari
Gau making started at noon at Popo's house. Chase and I arrived first, so I was able to interview her and talk with her about how she learned to make gau and some of the memories she had. I can't believe she's been making gau for over 60 years!
When the rest of the family arrived, we began. We were all excited because this was the first time everyone in Chase's family got to learn how to make gau as well. The gau process started by cutting eight ti-leaves off popo's ti-leaf plant. After the ti-leaves were washed and dried, Popo showed us how to lightly oil both sides of each ti-leaf. She cut off the tips of the ti-leaves and used the ti-leaves to line the pan. Popo showed us how to trim the ti-leaves and re-secure the lining by repositioning the stronger ti-leaves in the back of the other leaves. Then, we began making the gau batter.
Popo pre-boiled and cooled the brown sugar the night before. She added one pound of brown sugar and two cups of water to a pot and brought it to a boil. After the sugar turned into liquid, she turned the heat off and cooled the sugar.
We added one pound of rice flour to a bowl and slowly mixed in the liquid brown sugar to make sure lumps did not form. After all the rice flour was mixed into the batter, we added in three tablespoons of oil, three tablespoons of honey, and one tablespoon of whiskey. Popo explained that the whiskey will help to keep the mold from forming. After all the ingredients were mixed in, the batter was poured into the pan lined with leaves. The gau was placed into a pot to steam for two and a half hours.
During this time, my husband's family and I visited Chinatown for their New Years parade and festivities. Popo stayed home to watch the gau as it steamed. Chinatown was filled with good food, lion dances, and craft fair items for sale. Since it was a nice day, this was definitely a popular event to attend! There were so many people walking around trying all different sorts of foods and eagerly waiting for the parade to begin. To cool off, we decided to drink delicious bubble teas! Chase and I shared a strawberry bubble tea and Shelby, Chase's sister got lychee! I also tried my first Jin Dui. Jin Dui is a fried rice cake pastry coated with sesame seeds on the outside and hollow on the inside. Black or red bean paste are commonly found inside however I had mine with coconut! Jin Dui reminded me of fried mochi. It was delicious. Even though we were having fun in Chinatown, it was time for us to get back to the gau.
By the time we got back to Popo's house, the gau was ready to remove from the pot. We stuck in a chopstick to check. We knew it was ready because chopstick came out clear with little sticky residue. After the gau was removed from the pot, we added a date in the middle of the gau and sprinkled sesame seeds evenly around. We also added two lycee's for good luck!
Gau is made to celebrate the new year and is traditionally eaten on Chinese New Year. However, we couldn't wait! After dinner, we did a quick taste test and the chewy mochi texture was sweet, warm and yummy! I've never eaten gau so fresh before today.
Thank you to Popo and the Lees for this fun experience.
Kung Hee Fat Choy!
Look out for Deeds of Wisdom: Episode 5 on Wednesday!
Please check out previous videos at www.youtube.com/user/caritaira
Cari
Friday, February 1, 2013
A Ballet Beginner
Two weeks ago I decided to start taking ballet classes. This was a big decision for me considering I've thought about it for months but never fully looked into in. I've always felt that I should have more dance experience and training.
Throughout college, I was fortunate to take classes in ballet and jazz which was a lot of fun! However since then, I haven't done much to expand my learning in that area. Finally after five years of graduating from college, I was ready to dive into the world of dance!
My good friend Kristen and I went to our first ballet class two Saturdays ago. When we got there, we saw many busy moms helping their little girls get dressed, with their pink tutus and polished bun hair. Thankfully when taking adult classes, they don't require students to wear pink tutus or have our hair in buns. We comfortalby wore leggings and an excersise top and tied our hair in neat pony tails. I was very nervous to find out what other kinds of adults went to these types of classes. What if they were very experienced dancers? What if we were really old compared to the other dancers? What if? But oddly, our first class consisted of Kristen and I, who are very beginner ballet dancers, and another young woman around our age who never danced before. It was a nice way to begin our ballet training.
Our teacher is a gracious and patient young woman. We learned first, second, third, and fourth position along with plie, demi plie, and releve. Balance, focus, and discipline are definitely put to the challenge during an hour of ballet. I really love that ballet works your inner core muscles. I think that having a strong body helps us to stay healthy and happy. Dancing in general is a gerat way to get your body moving and feeling good.
For 2013, one of my goals is to be more confident in my dance ability and movement. Wish me luck!
And thank you for checking out my blog.
Let's all have an active year!
Throughout college, I was fortunate to take classes in ballet and jazz which was a lot of fun! However since then, I haven't done much to expand my learning in that area. Finally after five years of graduating from college, I was ready to dive into the world of dance!
My good friend Kristen and I went to our first ballet class two Saturdays ago. When we got there, we saw many busy moms helping their little girls get dressed, with their pink tutus and polished bun hair. Thankfully when taking adult classes, they don't require students to wear pink tutus or have our hair in buns. We comfortalby wore leggings and an excersise top and tied our hair in neat pony tails. I was very nervous to find out what other kinds of adults went to these types of classes. What if they were very experienced dancers? What if we were really old compared to the other dancers? What if? But oddly, our first class consisted of Kristen and I, who are very beginner ballet dancers, and another young woman around our age who never danced before. It was a nice way to begin our ballet training.
Our teacher is a gracious and patient young woman. We learned first, second, third, and fourth position along with plie, demi plie, and releve. Balance, focus, and discipline are definitely put to the challenge during an hour of ballet. I really love that ballet works your inner core muscles. I think that having a strong body helps us to stay healthy and happy. Dancing in general is a gerat way to get your body moving and feeling good.
For 2013, one of my goals is to be more confident in my dance ability and movement. Wish me luck!
And thank you for checking out my blog.
Let's all have an active year!
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