September 23rd, 2014

Summer holiday 2014 – Japan – PART 3

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Coco&Me - Printout of a school lunch menu from Japan - Coco and Me - www.cocoandme.com

(Printout of weekly lunch menu from a primary school in Japan)

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Coco&Me - Printout of a school lunch menu from Japan - Coco and Me - www.cocoandme.com

(The reverse side has diagrams of what vegetables are in season with a sentence or two about how they are nutritional. Nice little touch with additional diagrams of what these vegetables’ flowers looks like.)

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Coco&Me - Printout of a school lunch menu from Japan - Coco and Me - www.cocoandme.com

(Printout of weekly lunch menu from a Nursery school)

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As I was chatting with my friend T about food, ~ especially about the food culture in UK & about how in general, the people feed their family daily ~ she brought out two printed copies of the lunch menu from her childrens’ schools.

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When I saw this, I was… truly shocked.

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As one expects, obviously, every meal of the week is listed, but it was also boiled down to how many grams of which ingredient has been used in the dishes. Right the way down to how many decimal grams of salt.

~ Astonished? I was. And wait for it, there’s more – every meal had been calculated to let you know the total protein amount, the fat content, & the calorie intake.

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Although it delightfully baffled me as to why the Japanese school provided the menu to such super-precision, I definitely think that it is a positive step toward good-food awareness:

– Because, as a parent, you’re safe in the knowledge that your child is not fed something iffy. You can see that everything is made from scratch, from real ingredients with names you’ve heard of (compared to factory-made product names).

– Having to provide the ingredients list keeps the caterers in check.

– You can make a better judgement of what to make for dinner at home, so that your child has a balanced diet. i.e. if the school served pasta for lunch, you wouldn’t serve pasta for dinner would you?

– The menu also has some information about what vegetables are in season, & how they are beneficial to the body (the lunch menu itself also makes a point of using these seasonal produce). ~ Isn’t this fantastic? Imagine this information sheet stuck on the parent’s fridge. It’ll be a constant reminder about what is in season, & might lead them to buy & cook seasonal stuff more often!

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The Japanese school lunch menu is nothing near what you’d expect to get in England. Y’see, first of all, I don’t even get given menu printouts from my childrens’ school! Perhaps if I asked for it, they’d probably provide (all be it with a quizzing look I bet), but that’s not the point. The fact is, the parents in Japan are fully notified by automated default of what their child eat every-single-lunchtime. I like that, ~ it’s integrating good-food-eating close to everyone’s daily living, stripping away the stigma & the wall to obtaining food information ~ that surely can be a good thing, & must be one of the ways to elevate the standard of cooking.

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So I thought it important to share this with you. Sometimes, it’s only through observing how well it can be done elsewhere, that a change can be made for the better, don’t you think?

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x . . x . . x . . x . . x . . x . . x . . x . . x . . x . . x . . x

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Coco&Me - Printout of a school lunch menu from Japan - Coco and Me - www.cocoandme.com

Above close up translated:

“Cucumber – characterised by crunchy mouthfeel & warty exterior. One of the fresh summer vegetable. “

“Pumpkin – Full of beta-carotene. Maintaining properties for healthy eyes & skin, Builds resistance. Lots of vitamin E & C.”

“The information on which area the ingredients are produced is publicised on the council homepage.”

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Coco&Me - Printout of a school lunch menu from Japan - Coco and Me - www.cocoandme.com

Above left menu translated:

Summer vegetable & fried chicken in vinegar marinade. + Egg & tomato soup. + Bowl of rice. + Carton of milk.

Pumpkin… (green)… 15.00

Aubergine… (green)… 20.00

Chicken… (red)… 40.00

(Thick) Soy sauce… 0.80

Cooking sake… 0.50

Starch… (yellow)… 7.00

Oil… (yellow)… 8.00

Ginger… (green) 0.80

Brown sugar… (yellow)… 2.00

Vinegar… 4.00

(Thick) Soy sauce… 3.50

Cooking sake… 0.80

Mirin… 1.20

Water… 3.50

Egg… (red)… 20.00

Tomato… (green)… 20.00

Onion… (green)… 20.00

Parsley… (green)… 0.60

Salt… 0.50, Pepper… 0.03

(Light) Soy sauce… 3.00

Starch… (yellow)… 0.50

Bonito stock… 2.00

(Cold) Chicken bouillon… 2.00

Water… 100.00

Energy: 664 kcal, Protein: 22g, Fat: 24.2g.

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Coco&Me - Printout of a school lunch menu from Japan - Coco and Me - www.cocoandme.com

On the bottom of the sheet, there was a text that says:

“Food also has a function as a medicine. Please chew well and try not to leave leftovers.”

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Well, I hope you enjoyed reading the last part to my report on Japan!

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Lastly, I just want to say, I hope you’re all well & looking after yourselves. Just last weekend, I had a bit of a health scare – I found a lump on my armpit. After a visit to the GP (local doctor), then to a specialist in a big hospital to do a mammogram & a scan, I was cleared, Thank God. It was some sort of skin infection. – In fact, I came home from the hospital with the good result just an hour ago, & maybe that’s why I’m writing this…, so please excuse this melo stuff. It’s just that, on the way home, I couldn’t stop thinking. I couldn’t stop thinking about how keeping good health means everything. How awfully difficult it could’ve been for my family if I was to fall very ill – it’s just beyond words. I was thinking about how I could “up” myself to a healthier lifestyle. I was thinking about how life is so precious & meaningful (lol, I told you this is going to be a bit melodramatic! Oh dear, I better cut this short before the violin starts playing!). So, dearest blog readers, please look after yourselves too, please take care of your body & stay healthy.

“You” mean a lot to yourself & to those around you.

T xx

September 3rd, 2014

Summer holiday 2014 – Japan – PART 2

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One of the places where I just “had” to go to while in Tokyo was a Kitchen Town called Kappabashi. It is a stretch of street approximately 800 metres, & it is lined with just kitchenware shops.

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Knowing I’d be wanting to shop there thoroughly, (& I mean ‘thoroughly’!), I really didn’t like the idea of going there with the children, including Mr.D (sorry). Listening to “Are you done yet?” & “Can we pleeease go now?” while considering which size pan to get is not my idea of a fun shopping experience, nor theirs.

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And besides, it’s such a specialised area, if cooking is not your ‘thing’, that 800 metres will probably be a mere 10 minute stroll for you, whereas mine can easily be 2 hours.

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Luckily for me, Mr.D agreed to take the kids with him to see a friend for lunch & also go get new glasses made for himself. (Glasses in Japan? Yes, it is much cheaper & quicker to make it there compared to in the UK.) – – So yesss! I had freedom! (Lol) In Japan! And the cherry on top was that my childhood friend A came with me to shop there without her children too! A girly outing buying kitchenware…, for me it is the best…

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Let me tell you a tiny little bit about my friend A (& in fact, about her mum too afterwards). We’ve been friends since age 14. And we did teenager-ey things together. ^^ – Sure, we’re actually very different people, we have diffrent friends, we listen to diffrent type of music, & have a different dress sense. But when you share such fond memories, I guess the strong connection transcends the years of  living in a separate country now. I remember, at the time going for sleep-overs, & oh boy, those super-lengthy telephone chats on land-line! Back then, handy little things like mobiles weren’t yet invented, so I’d often be strewn across my parent’s double-bed, casually stretching the telephone coil while talking about God knows what for hours-on-end. Something super-engrossing for teenage ears I guess…!?

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Anyway, I must say a big *hello~* to her mum Mrs.U on here! I recently found out that she has been regularly reading my blog! Isn’t this fantastic!? When I saw Mrs.U during this trip, she told me how she’d been making the french toast from my recipe. She also told me how impressed she was with me, which made me feel very proud & very happy. - Although it kind of made me blush a little. I remember once going for a sleepover to theirs with a peculiar clothes sense…, lol, I think it was a mixture of Grunge & a bit of Camden. Oh, dear teenager, how I envy that beautiful ability to self-believe…

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When I met up with A at Kappabashi, A told me her mum gave her some pocket money that is for me to spend, I was to buy whatever kitchenware I wanted. After a pingpong match of “oh no, I mustn’t” & “oh you have to, I’ve been told to spend it for you”, I did accept. So, here’s pictures of my kitchenware purchases from Kappabashi that Mrs.U has very kindly bought for me. Thank you Mrs.U! (The pictures also contain goods bought from a store called Tokyu Hands in Shinjuku).

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www.cocoandme.com - Coco&Me - Coco and Me -  Japanese tamagoyaki maker copper egg omelette traditional

Copper Tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette) frying pan.

I really wanted this!! I have a teflon one already, but this copper one is the don. You probably already know this, but copper has superior heat conductivity, meaning it gets hot speedily. On top of that, the heat distributes well, so that your food cooks evenly!

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So it’s my first ever copper ware! :) I’m so happy!! :) This pan is for making Japanese omelettes. You make it by frying a thin sheet of egg (just like when making crepe), which you then fold in to three. You then put this to one side of the pan while you make another sheet. When this next sheet is half-cooked, you fold it around the first, & then you repeat this process until you have a thick roll. Basically you end up with sheets of egg stuck together like a log. Think baumkuchen, only it’s rectangular.

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I make tamagoyaki often. I make it sweet by mixing in some sugar, & flavoursome by mixing in some dashi stock & soya sauce. It is a popular fixture for the bento I make for the kids. And I’m in love with the ritual of waking up early to make this, in a strange way it makes me feel like an “old-school Mam-ma” & I sometimes put on a nice apron to go with the occasion. (Does this make any sense?! LOL…Too much time spent in the kitchen makes for one’s madness!) Interestingly, quite often, my current state of being reflects on to the tamagoyaki. This dish needs your patience & full attention to cook each sheet, & so when I’m unhappy it doesn’t turn out well. On the other hand, when it does turn out beautifully, I  breathe a barely audible sigh of relief, revel in my competence & smile at my perfect tamagoyaki.

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www.cocoandme.com - Coco&Me - Coco and Me -  Japanese cooking pot nabe beautiful silver dented pattern

www.cocoandme.com - Coco&Me - Coco and Me -  Japanese cooking pot nabe beautiful silver dented pattern

Yukihira Nabe hammered pots.

Often used in traditional Japanese cooking, the sides are hammered to strengthen the pot, & create more surface-area to be heated. I also think it’s aesthetically pleasing too! :) And I’m a sucker for wooden handles anyways…!

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www.cocoandme.com - Coco&Me - Coco and Me -  Japanese Kitchenware silicone cooking chopsticks miso stirrer rice scoop surikogi stick

From left to right:

– Silicone cooking chopsticks x 2 (I never used silicone chopsticks before, but I thought I’d give it a try!)

– Surikogi, a wooden stick used together with a grinding bowl

– Miso stirrer – to blend in miso paste in to your soup without lumps

– Rice scoop x 2 (from Tokyu Hands) which stands up

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www.cocoandme.com - Coco&Me - Coco and Me -  Japanese cooking kitchenware - otoshibuta wooden lid pot glove heat

From left to right:

– Super short oven gloves. I thought it’ll be cute to use when you take a dish to the dining table.

Otoshibuta. A lightweight wooden drop-lid. You place this in a pot that is bigger in diameter, so that it directly sits on top of the food. It is mainly used for simmering with less water. As the boiling cooking liquid hits the lid, it then reaches over your ingredient so it cooks evenly. It also holds down the ingredients in place so that it doesn’t dance around & lose it’s shape, which is especially useful when you have delicate potatoes.

The one I’ve got is zig-zaged on the other side to pick up on the scum from the surface of the broth. It’s important if you want the cooking liquid to be clear.

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www.cocoandme.com - Coco&Me - Coco and Me -  Japanese Kitchenware bento box items goods chopsticks pouch furoshiki

My new bento-ware! (all from Tokyu Hands)

From top left:

– Bento pouch.

– 2 x silicone dividers used to divide food inside the bento box.

– 2 x wooden bento box. What I like about these is that the insides are carved out, & that there are no hard corners.

– 2 x wooden chopsticks in a portable case.

– Mini ice pack – (Moomin looking a bit cold!)

– Furoshiki – cloth wrap for the bento box.

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