Tag: Japanese

Art and nature in Niigata prefecture

Artwork from ETAT 2015
Artwork from ETAT 2015

In the summer of 2006 while browsing the internet to find some nice contemporary art event and exhibition I found information about the Echigo-Tsumari art triennale (ETAT) and some special performances that would be held on the week end, so we jumped in a car and drove up there with no plan but our “triennale passport” and triennale catalog. We completely felt in love with the concept of the triennale, the with the beautiful mountains and rural area. We also met there some unique people: S. and K. that have become very good friends and that work in Tokyo and live up there most of the time n their beautiful house by the forest. Since 2006 we’ve made trips there more than a dozen times, we’ve been there at every season, went snowshoeing in deep snow, attended new year ceremony in the local shrine, went to pick wild vegetables and herbs in spring, young wild bamboo shoot in the beginning of summer, seen traditional bull fight, the red leaves in the mountains in autumn and we have never been disappointed. This area of Japan is truly beautiful with a strong personality.

After some time when we couldn’t go because of too mush work on week ends and because of our new house in the country that needed some maintenance, we finally went again, and it was again the triennale. And again it was a perfect stay. Our friends always welcome us in their beautiful old house (that is not completely innocent in the choice of our own house in the country), they feed us with delicious local products and a lot of fresh vegetables from their potager garden, I usally cook with K., and then we drove all over the countryside small roads to visit the art space and see artworks. And we’ve came back to Tokyo with tones of delicious products. I have my shopping list ready anytime we go there: natural honey and pollen from Akiyamago, 2-5-8 to prepare my own salted pickles at home, Koshikari rice, buckwheat flour from Tsunan… Plus our friends always treat us royally with tons of gifts from their own garden which vary depending on the season. Though very short (we stayed only 2 days) the perfect summer break!

Installation from ETAT 2009
Installation from ETAT 2009

The concept of the triennale is quite simple, it is a contemporary art event that tries to boost this rural area that is depopulated and where there are many empty old houses, farms as well as unused schools because of the lack of kids. So a few houses and schools each time, and some outdoor spaces in the rice paddies, in the forest are also used for installation, exhibition, landscape art… Some of them also use traditional craft of the area, or local history. Since the very first edition in 2003 they’ve called for some famous artists such as Botansky, Turell, Kusama, Guo-Qiang… and mix with younger less known artists and art students. Of course the quality of the artwork is also very wide, but there is always very very nice discoveries. The art works span over an wide area, so driving is the most recommended, distances are not huge but roads are small and can be quite busy with beginners/paper drivers on week end so it takes time and it’s not a fun drive, week days are better for a more intense experience. There is also a number of performances: music, theater and experimental work almost every week worth checking.Since the triennale seems to be quite a success and drains a lot from of people from the city the event is slightly evolving and this time there were lot’s of temporary cafe in the main art spaces promoting local food (mainly for penniless urbanites so expect a lot of curry-rice). Local people are also selling local products, so it’s good to pack with an icebox in your trunk to bring back the country freshness to Tokyo!

Typical landscape in Niigata prefecture
Typical landscape in Niigata prefecture

Summer in Japan

Ichinomiya hanabi taikai
Ichinomiya hanabi taikai

Tokyo summer is hot and often humid but it’s an amazing season and it’s usually short (too short), with the peak of summer starting from the second half of July until usually the first typhoon of August. During the summer there are two things really important: summer festivals (夏祭り-natsu matsuri) and fireworks (花火大会-hanabi taikai). Recently we haven’t beeb to often to summer festivals, they’re often too early during weekdays (they usually start at dusk and last only one or two hours), too crowded on weekends.  For fireworks, well, it’s a bit the same actually. There are a lot of huge fireworks all around Japan, and we’ve seen plenty. In Tokyo: Arakawa hanabi, Sumidagawa hanabi, Edogawa hanabi, Tokyowan hanabi… are probably the most famous. We are lucky enough to live by the Sumida river and have an ideal view on Sumidagawa hanabi taikai so usually we would watch it from home. But this year we had the chance to watch also seaside hanabi taikai: the one from Ichinomiya, and the small one from our village Ohara. Big hanabi drain a real lot of crowd and require a real organization if you want to attend and see them properly, you need to secure a place to park your car/bike/bicycle, to secure a spot with a good view, and a return route. Taking the train is usually not an option, most stations around are either closed or just so crowded that it’s almost insane. How many times did we get caught in traffic, in crowd flows of drunken people, for me it spoils the whole event… Smaller hanabi taikai in the countryside are shorter, less impressive, more confidential but much easier for logistics and with a local family atmosphere that beat largely the the huge ones. Now, I definitely like that one better. The one in Ohara for example lasted only 30min, but we could easily access to the beach and find a nice and quiet spot to enjoy it. There are many all around Japan, I can only but recommend you to try!

And if you don’t have the chance to see a big one at least you can buy fireworks in any konbini and have your own little firework at home or on the beach) and that is a lot of fun!!! 

Playing with fireworks in the garden
Playing with fireworks in the garden

And an other salad/donburi/one-plate

I’m in a constant quest for new food combinations and freshness, while at the same time I keep things simple and try again and again. That’s what I love about cooking: nothing exactly the same but yet not completly different. Always delicious because I cook what we love. And so many chances to try since we need to eat a little every day, right?

After loving my bulgur donburi, I decided to try a Japanese rice one-plate. I love the combination of the crispy chirimen and the creamy avocado, so I used that base, added some sesame seeds for the taste. Since rice is drier than bulgur and I don’t like to use any dressing with it (it makes it slippery abd impossible to eat with chopsticks) I just added some juicy tomatoes and fresh cucumber. An other delicious and refreshing combination!

Nashi – 梨

This fruit is always considered as an awkward thing by foreigners in Japan because the nashi has the shape and size of an apple with the skin of a pear and the flesh of something like a pear but munch more crunchy and juicy, with a mild and fresh taste. So basically nothing to compare really neither to apple nor pear. Nashi is the utmost fruit of summer with watermelon. When eaten cool it is so fresh and juicy that it is the perfect snack for hot summer days. It is also a good match for busy breakfast because it is so easy to peel and prepare. Well, you’ve understood I simply love nashi! And I’m awfully lucky because Isumi is a great region for nashi, with a lot of nashi orchards and tons available at the farmers market and local farmers cooperative.

In the past I did some trials such as nashi tart, nashi compote… It was good, nashi supports well being cooked but the taste which is originally very mild due to the high quantity of water doesn’t reveal much in cooking as apple or pear do. So now my recommendation is to eat it just raw, accomodated with other summer fruits, or just alone. So perfectly simple and so delicious!

Simple summer lunch

When the temperature exceeds 30deg day and night I only can eat very simple food. Japanese rice is really delicious when it’s hot, and it suits very well simple preparations, without any fat nor dressing. Donburi is always a good and simple way to prepare a rice based perfect meal. This time you can’t imagine something simpler: plain white Japanese rice, fresh cucumber, grilled chicken breast chopped, and a lot of shiso leaves finelly cut, a few sesame seeds for perfection. Served with a glass of cold green tea. How do you cook when it’s hot?

Power lunch

My husband and I usually play tennis together every Saturday morning for aboug 2h, and sometimes the stakes are really high: we play for the color of our new car, its model, the options,  and sometimes even what we’ll have for lunch. That’s how my husband win his piece of meat ;). After our game we usually head to the beach for a refreshing swim, so once we’re back home we’re literally starving so I need to fix something quick and nourishing. Japanese rice is always a good option because it can be cooked unsupervised and gives me enough time to drop by the shower! Cucumbers, tomatoes and all other vegetables that can be eaten raw, Japanese pickles, scrambled eggs… are also very handy. Finally, leftover and tofu make our lunch look like something awesome.

This time it’s a mixture of all that. Plain white rice topped with some sesame seeds, sesame-tofu from Mount Koya, miso green beans, and raw cucumber.

Myoga – 茗荷

Myoga, also named Japanese ginger is a little plant that is often used in Japanese cuisine. It looks a bit like shallots, but with a fresh and strong taste. The most classic use is in miso soup, with a simple dashi base, miso and finely cut myoga. Other option will be with silky fresh tofu and soya sauce. At home we love the taste of myoga and I often use it. One recipe I came with is to top some simply steamed green beans. Just like for the miso soup I finely slice the myoga, steam the green beans, or better boil them in some dashi, and last season with soya sauce. A simple dish that goes perfectly with rice and other small Japanese dishes.

Raw eggplant salad

The first time I came across a recipe with raw eggplant I was quite suspicious, but then tried it and realized it was really good. So in this “eggplant week” I’ve decided to prepare a raw eggplant salad rather than offering you the more than classic stuffed eggplant, or mozzarella grilled eggplant…

For two as a side dish I used 1 Japanese eggplant, 1 sprout of myoga (wait a little there’s a post coming very soon about it), a little of katsuo bushi, soya sauce. You can add shiso leaves if you have some, I didn’t this time. I cut the eggplant in small bites and drain the water with salt (like you may do for cucumbers), then I slice the myoga finely, (and the shiso if any). Then mix the eggplant and the myoga (and shiso). Serve on a plate, add a bit of soya sauce top with the katsuo bushi and it’s ready to eat!

Miso eggplants

This quite simple Japanese recipe is really delicious and I like it very much now, but for sometimes I hated it because the first time I tried to prepare it, it was a terrible failure. The first and only time I prepared something to eat that ended up in the trash because it was not edible. I surely made a mess of this delicious recipe! Probably a problem with the mastering of Japanese ingredients at the timeand the proportions! Indeed when we arrived in Japan, cooking was a quite interesting task and grocery shopping an even more startling! Almost every evening we would go to our local supermarket and starre at what at that time we found strange mushrooms, awkward fruits and unknown fishes. So after a few weeks I decided to buy a beginners Japanese cooking book and to try most of the recipes to get familiar with techniques and basic products. The book I picked was in English of course and was clearly written for foreigners, so it was really helpful! However most of the recipes in this book make use of mirin (together with sugar), a Japanese cooking ingredient that I find unify the taste and is not very interesting (a bit like glutamate in Chinese cuisine). So I will give you my version of miso eggplant, the one that is just perfect and doesn’t use mirin.

For two as a side dish I use 1 or 2 Japanese eggplants (they are quite small); a spoon of miso; a tea spoon of grounded sesame or “surigoma”; a little of vegetal oil. After removing the stems and cutting in halves the eggplants, fry them in a very very thin layer of oil. In the mean time, mix the miso the sesame and a very little of oil if necessary to obtain a paste. Once the eggplants are cooked, set them on a serving plate and delicately spread the paste to obtain a thin layer. Decorate with a little of sesame. You can also set the eggplants on a cooking shit, spread the miso, and grill them 3 min in the oven to obtain a roasted miso thin crust. 

White eggplants with miso
White eggplants with miso

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑

Verified by MonsterInsights