Miranda and I have done a lot of cooking while in Japan. Breakfast, dinner, ramen, snack - you name it. When spring hits, and the cherry blossoms start to bloom, we want to go out into the countryside and have picnics. We have learned how to make some classic Japanese picnic dishes, and we have tried some strange and surprising Japanese snacks!
The first thing we did was make Onigiri. Onigiri are traditional Japanese rice triangles wrapped in seaweed. The bunch of rice is stuffed with something (we tried salmon and pickled plums), wrapped in seaweed, and then eaten! The verdict: delicious.
Here's a typical breakfast at the dorm :)
The next thing we made was Karaage, which is really just fried chicken. Our new friend Connor (from Tennessee) double checked that I hadn't stolen the recipe from Chick-fil-a! Again, delicious--especially with some Japanese mayonnaise on top.
Here's a picture of some Karaage I had at a little place near campus. It looks a little different, but mine tasted better.
Tamagoyaki is another traditional Japanese picnic food. It was not as good as the previous two dishes, mostly (I think) because we didn't accessorize it very much. Next time, we'll put some fresh vegetables inside it and make almost like an omelet.
A surprise here at the end, for those of you still reading. We also helped Connor make Octopus. We didn't do much, just boil it and chomp it down. It was super chewy, and very strange. We will definitely have to make it again sometime, with a bigger attempt to tenderize it.
Quick octopus addition from Miranda, the suckers were like rubbery Cheerios bouncing around inside my mouth. The flavor was fine, but the texture was so gross. 3/10: It didn't give me food poisoning.
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It’s good to see Miranda where she belongs: in the kitchen. As a woman should be.
LOL
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine being given cooking lessons from my grandson while in Japan! What a delight to see this special event. I think I would like the chicken, not the octopus. We are so excited for you both to have this learning opportunity. Soak it all up.
Nick Grabar