Category: Food

I finally tasted the umeshu that I made back in May 2008. The ume flavor is wonderful. Unfortunately, it’s too sweet! >.<; It might be good if I use as a mixer. Sprite and plum wine, anyone?

I should think of other concoctions I can make with it. Oooh, if I invent something new, maybe I can name it! :D

Last year, for my birthday, Satsuki bought me a donabe.

Opens present, “Oh, it’s a bunny themed nabe…”
“No, not just a nabe, it’s a donabe!”

(Well, that’s how I remember the conversation… It was a year ago!)

At the time, I didn’t know what to do with it. My family never used a donabe before. We normally use an electric nabe. (I’m sorry, Satsuki, if I looked disappointed! I didn’t know how to use it! Which sounds kinda dumb if you think about it… Gomen!!)

It’s 2009 and I’m armed with a Kyou no Ryouri November 2008 magazine! (“Wait, Erika, you’re 2 months behind!” Shush, you!)

I’ve come across… 鶏の柚子こしょう鍋 or in English, Chicken Yuzu Pepper Pot. :D I haven’t made it yet, but I’m think I’m going to try this next weekend. I’m going to have to increase or decrease the ingredients depending on the number of people I’m going to be feeding (Me, mom, dad? Or me, mom, dad, sister, bro-in-law? Or me, mom, dad, sis?).

I could always be greedy and make this for myself. It’d make a good lunch, I bet. I would just have to pack it in a airtight container. When lunch time comes around, microwave it for a few minutes, and ta-da!

/me is excited!

I bought a Nintendo DS game that’s about cooking. Personal Training: Cooking. I figured, what the hey, it might be interesting for $20. So far, it is. It was about 200+ recipes from around the world, some more than others. There’s even a recipe for ratatouille. I’ll should watch the movie Ratatouille while making ratatouille! :D First, I need to get the DVD.

Tried to make homemade tofu today. Almost did it, but failed at the end. I couldn’t figure out how to press the tofu curdles without having it come out the sides. I ended up trying to strain the tofu, but the execution was much to be desired. :( I tasted a little bit of the tofu on the cheesecloth and it tasted alright. Kinda amazing out something as bitter as nigari can make delicious tofu. Anyway, since the tofu wasn’t salvageable, it all went down the sink or into the trash can.

The okara was saved. My dad said that I can feed that to the rabbits. I wonder if they’ll even like it… >.>;

When I got home today, I noticed a rotten fish scent in the air. My dad had cooked the last two bags of raw kusaya-no-himono. There are only 3 boxes of the cooked kusaya left. This makes me sad. :( I should have been less girly with my personal items (like leaving the extra pair of shoes that I didn’t even wear at home). My dad jokingly asked me if he should go to Japan now. He would bring back a lot of kusaya-no-himono with him. I jokingly responded, we still have some left. He should go when all of it is gone.

My dinner tonight consisted of kusaya (of course), sushimeshi (picked the wrong white rice in the freezer), natto, miso soup, salad, and yogurt. Healthy. :) Oh, and nigorizake… >.>;

I thought it was 8 PM when I bought it. >.<; A sign that I was super tired because I looked at the clock few minutes earlier. Of course, it was probably because it said 22:06 instead of 8:06… So I had yogurt, milk, and a purin (custard). Dammit. I’m gonna get super fat. ;_;

I’m going to barf. Not because I’m sick, but because there was too much delicious food for dinner tonight. I don’t do well when a lot of meat is placed in front of me because I tend to try to finish as 11much meat before I say I’m done. It’s even worse when it’s good food. Gochisousama.

Burp.

I feel better now.

I also tried the Gero sake, Tenryou. It was good. I ordered two bottles.

….

Today, I walked around Gero.

First place I went to was the Gero Hot Spring Museum (of course on the pamphlet it says “Gero Museum of Hot Spring” in Engrish). They had a foot spa that was split up into 2 pools, one with hot water, and one with cold water. Both lined with smooth rocks. Walking around 2 or 3 times is supposed to be good for you. I stepped into the hot water, took a few steps, yelped ‘hot’ and got out. It took a while before I got used to the water enough to be able to walk around in it. The rocks at the bottom sucked. Like hell they’re good for me.

Next, I went to Onsen-ji, a temple built when a white heron lead villagers to the area where the hot spring water was gushing forth after an earthquake shut down the one they were living around. There were also a lot of new burial stones. I wonder if they were families that decided to move to Gero or if they just decided it was time for a new stone or something. Clueless here. There was a new o-haka area, I also wondered about that area as well.

I also went to a public bath, Shirasagi-no-yu. I wanted to go to a rotenburo, but the desire to explore other areas of the town was stronger. A friend told me about the yu-meguri-tegata that would enable me to visit various places. I was thinking about it, but I ended up not buying one.

At this point I decided to eat lunch. I ate at a place called Ofukuro and had the tomato udon lunch set. It came with a tomato udon, Hida beef, and 2 onigiris. It was gooooood.

After food, I walked around Gero. After a while I needed to go poop. I had to walk to Gero Station to go there.

Next I thought I should got to Gassho Village and the museum there. I didn’t get to see all of Gassho Village unfortunately, and definitely not the museum. I arrived there sometime before 4 PM, and the place closed at 5 PM (like many cultural places in Japan). I think I spent around 700 yen on koi food and about 15 minutes happily feeding them. Each piece was about 100 yen. The fishes were quite cute (or gross depending on who you’re talking to) when they were around me desperately rushing for food.

At that point, I realized I need a pet that rushes up to me when they’re fed. I love watching animals eat. Sen sorta does that. Hoji… not quite as much. :\ They’re so cute. I can’t wait to go hom and pet them (and train them some more).

After Gassho Village, I decided it was time to go back to the minshuku I was staying at.

Tomorrow, I need to buy an onsen tamago before I hop on the train to Nagoya.

What is there not to love about fresh homemade salsa? Nothing! It came out delicious. :9 I used heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, red onion, lemon, lime, and jalapeño. Muy delicioso!

Afterwards, as I was eating a white peach, I got a sudden urge to rub my right eye. Rub. Then, the BURNING PAIN!! I had a bit of jalapeño juice on my fingers and it transferred onto my eye lid and into my eye. I’ve never had my skin feel like it was burning, but I guess the skin around the eye is so delicate, it gets to the nerve quickly. I couldn’t even open my eye because when I tried, the pain worsened.

Of course, I went to the bathroom and washed my eye out. Cleaned my hands with soap and water first. After the pain subsided, I put lotion on my eye, and went back to life as usual.

So the lesson is, even if you think your hands are clean (I quickly washed a container out to put the salsa in), they’re not clean enough to rub your eyes with. The end.