New Ways (to use old shrimp)


The Baron and I were watching a film last night and decided we should have some beverages. A quick trip to Sanko later, we had a bottle of Asti and a bottle of wine. The champagne was not chilled. Adam had the bright idea of chilling it in a bucket with ice, but alas... no ice was to be found in my tightly packed freezer. What did I have? Freezer burned shrimp.


I have a thing about eating shrimp poopies. I won't do it. I make it a point to cut out the little poopchute before I cook them. But, the frozen shrimp I bought were so small, that painstakingly cleaning out all the poopers would have taken ages. I am lazy. So, they got freezer burned something vicious.

Step 1: Breaking up the chunks of icy shrimp.


Step 2: Repeat step 1 more violently.


Step 3: Pour shrimp around bottle in bowl.


Step 4: Admire your handiwork.


Step 5: Add water.


Step 6: Rotate briskly.


Step 7: Strain shrimp... eeew.


Step 8: Pop cork and make me scream like a little girl.


Step 9: Enjoy!









This is what happens when we get bored...

The weekend in brief

The bravest knight of Slimpsonium is leaving our fair city to experience all the Germanic wonders Deutschland has to offer. To celebrate his moving onto darker beers and stronger currency was celebrated on Saturday evening with the moving of his couch. Its new home was about as far away from Simpon's house as possible, so we saddled up with some tall boys and had ourselves a singing transport session.

Afterwards was hiroshimanomiyaki at Yacchin's.

Fair thee well Ittyan and Kaoru, you will be missed!

Sunday consisted of Charity Show practice, which went quite well, after a bumpy start. Then, I joined Kazuto for a party at his dad/my sensei's house. Hurrah for homemade pizza and tacos! I failed to bring my camera, so you will just have to trust me when I say it was a lot of fun. A few things I learned from a full evening of Japanese.

• Kazuto's name sounds a lot like when I pronounce pirate wrong in Japanese *kaizoku (I say kazuko sometimes). He kept insisting that he is not a pirate.
• O-naka ga ippai - I am full!
• One can pan for sapphires in Gifu
• His sister is nicknamed Chibi *little, and he is Saru *monkey... we had a battle over who gets to keep "saru" and decided we have to share.
• I have a new no hassle eikaiwa starting in August, 5 minutes away from my apt!

Sansai (and falling in mud)


I was asked to go to a party at the Okada's last week. We were going to have a lunch composed primarily of mountain vegetable *sansai. I eagerly accepted the invite, and was thrilled to hear the update from Yoshi... "we will be picking vegetables in the morning, do you still want to come, it is hard work!" I told him I was "even more excited" and he commented on what a "unique" girl I was. Offhanded compliment, I suppose, but I will take what I can get.

We headed to the mountains just outside of Oyabe and started the hunt. Our crew included the Okada's, Yoshi, me, the Nakayama's, and two women, their husbands, and 3 little ones (6, 8, and 10 years). Their mom is sister to one of my sensei here at school. Thought that was pretty cool, small world.

First off was teaching me what was what. Helps to know what you are hunting. Wabari are long stemmed, with a little curlie deal at the top, they are usually served after soaking in some kind of dashi or vinegar.




Next up were a small bud that grew on the very top of a bare spikey tree. I found a bunch of these, because Nakayama-san was really excited about how delicious they were when used for tempura. Also, I noticed that they are home to a small black beetle. I had to wack them on the trunk of the tree to rid them of their occupants. Got over the guilt when I tasted them, though. Almost like the stem of broccoli, but a little sweeter.


These lovely things look like lilypads, and you eat the stem after soaking in vinegar. I actually eat them all the time in my Sanko bento, and never knew.


The zenmai were a bit tricky to find. They are essentially rolled up ferns. I was taught that you should pick the ones stil wrapped up tightly with the fuzzy outer shell around the coil. It is the best tasting kind. Some of my first efforts were tossed to the side because they "are not as delicious!" Ooops. We still had bags full, so I wasn't too concerned. I slid down the side of a hill once, since it had been raining the two days prior. No one saw me though... ;)

*not my photo


Lunch rest stop.


These were our hunting grounds for the mid-morning.

Our spoils...




Great day, great dinner of tempura, and good company as always. Days like this make me love Japan all the more.

The kids were a little timid at first, but after they found out they could practice their English on me, and then fall into Japanese if necessary, they wouldn't leave my side. We were climbing on cows,


racing up stairs (note, this is before the racing),


playing with *kemushi caterpillar(毛虫）well,the one in the photo isn't so *ke (fuzzy)


And just hanging out with everyone in the mountains. There was a beautiful temple up there as well, and I got my first *goshuin in almost a year. (御朱印）Which are stamps and *shodou calligraphy(書道) that you can collect in a book that you purchase at shrine or temple in Japan. The shrine maiden or priest will whip out the shodou brush and write the name of the temple and the date of your visit over the red stamp that symbolizes the temple/shrine itself. They are beautiful, and a great way to remember which temples and shrines you visited and when. Thank you Saffer for suggesting I get one almost two years ago in Kyoto!


Here is Yoshi ringing the miniature bell next to the main building.


Very relaxing day, couldn't have had a better time... and I made some new friends. In a few weeks it will be rice planting time!