Julia
sent us an email with a few delicious details!
I tried to buy a phone yesterday, but the vending machine
wouldn't accept my credit card.
The people working there were very polite and
apologetic and gave me and Ariana (one of the exchange students who came along
to get her phone plan changed) free tea. You could only pay in credit at that
particular store, so long story short is, I still didn't get my phone. There
are a couple of other places I can try instead…
 |
| yes- you buy your phone from a vending machine... |
There's a koi pond on campus. If you stand at the edge of it,
the fish will swim over to where you're standing and say, "Feed us,
human!" Okay, they don't actually say that, but they're clearly thinking
it. I'm going to name all of them.
I've been making a lot of soups for myself. I bought a bunch of
different kinds of noodles, and I've been throwing them together with eggs,
vegetables, and tofu. My grocery shopping process is basically:
“Do I know what it is?
Is it vegetarian?
And…
Do I know HOW to eat it?”
If the answer to those
three questions is "Yes," then I buy it.
Other than an inexplicable craving for chips and salsa, I
haven't had an issue with missing foods from home. I have plenty of stuff to
experiment with!
 |
| This Giant Crab- kind of Famous in Osaka- sits above the crowds in a major shopping area... Julia took the photo when she visited the neighborhood in early April. |
Ingredients (for two)
·
Udon Noodles – 200 g. (use dry udon, avoid the “fresh”
pre-cooked kind you sometimes see in Asian stores)
·
Napa Cabbage – a few leaves
·
Spring Onion – one
·
Konbu – one small section
·
Eggs – two
·
Dashi – 3 teaspoons
·
Sake – one tablespoon
·
Soy sauce – one teaspoon
·
Salt – one teaspoon
·
Tenkasu – tempura bits
Preparation
·
Chop the napa cabbage horizontally, thin
·
Chop the spring onion
Cooking
Set up two separate
pots, one
large one (to cook the noodles), the other one smaller (to make the soup)
1. Fill the
large pot with water and bring to a boil 
2. Cook the
noodles for two minutes less than the instructions in the package suggest.
(Usually the package says to cook the udon 12 minutes – if so, cook it for 10.) Do not
add salt to the cooking water, Udon is already salted. 
3. When the
Udon is finished cooking, drain it and rinse it with cold water. Use your hands
to rub off the slimy residue (after this udon becomes “al dente”). 
4. Shake well
in the strainer to get rid of excess water. Set aside.
5. Put two cups
of cold water in the smaller pot, place a piece of konbu in it, then bring it
to a boil
6. Once the
smaller pot boils, add three teaspoons of dashi, the tablespoon of sake, the
teaspoon of soy sauce and a teaspoon of salt. The broth for Udon soup should
have more dashi and be saltier than the broth for osuimono.
7. Add the napa
cabbage 
8.
Add the now cool udon into the broth.
9.
Once the broth boils again, crack open the two eggs and pour
them over the Udon – be sure the yolks are a few centimeters apart so they can
be served separately.
10.
Add the spring onions
11. Cover and
cook over a low fire for 1 or 2 minutes – ideally, the egg yolk should still be runny at the end
of the process
12.
Ladle the broth and noodles onto large bowls, then place one egg
yolk on top of each bowl. (That’ll be the “moon” we’re watching!) Be very
careful to keep the egg yolks intact.
13.
Sprinkle with tenkasu if you like.
14. Serve
right away: udon needs be eaten hot.
Interesting Tidbit: when eating Udon you are suppose to slurp! It cools the noddles as they go in! Enjoy!
 |
| Julia took this photo outside the Aquarium in Osaka- That's one BIG Ferris Wheel! |
Julia has had a few technical difficulties with ATM machines in and around Kyoto, so here's a link that might help. (Plus the guy who does it is kind of humorous...He takes his "Intro to Japanese ATMs" seriously!)
 |
| I think this would intimidate me... |
And now- here's more from Julia’s recent email:
Rainy season has officially started. It's been raining roughly
every other day, though luckily only for an hour or two at a time. Humidity is
increasing as well, but it's not anywhere close to Florida-levels.
Friday evening, I went to a welcome party for new students on campus. I
got there early, so I went to say “hi” to the fishies before the event started.
When I got to the pond, someone else was already there: a black and white cat,
who was watching the fish and looking very serious. I'm pretty sure she was a
stray, because she was skinny and did not want to be petted. But now I know
where to leave cat food.
The welcome party
itself was fun. There were delicious desserts and a yummy vegetarian sushi
(cucumber slices instead of tuna). I talked with two girls from Malaysia for
most of it. We're all in the same dorm, but we hadn't spoken before due to all
of us being shy.
Saturday, Arianna and I went
to an event for Doshisha freshman considering study abroad. All the current
exchange students were invited so that the freshman could talk to us about our
countries and the study abroad process, but not everyone went. Arianna and I
ended up staying after the event ended so we could keep talking to two Doshisha
students who were considering studying in California. We exchanged Facebook
information with them, so that we can set up a time to meet and talk
again.
I found a recipe for Okonomiyaki that I can modify to make
vegetarian! I bought the ingredients yesterday, so tonight, I'm
going to try making it.
 |
| Okonomiyaki- a regional specialty of the Osaka and Kyoto areas, usually made with a base of Napa Cabbage (like a potato pancake, but bigger). |
In other food news, I've
discovered I really like red bean paste. There's a conbini nearby that sells a
delicious breakfast thing that looks like a sandwich made from two pancakes
with red bean paste in the middle. I have no idea what it's called, but it's
really good.
 |
| http://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/dorayaki-japanese-red-bean-pancake/ |
Say hi to the animals for me!
Love you all,
Julia
Dorayaki is the sandwich with red bean paste! Conveniently, Mom found the recipe online and is sending it to Julia in her first care package which is on its way this weekend!!! With Chips and Salsa!
Meanwhile,if you want to watch someone make Julia's new favorite food, click the link and enjoy the show!
making taiyaki video… cute! Taiyaki is another similar Red Bean Paste snack. Red Bean Paste is called Anko, in Japanese!
Sayonara!
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