How are you? I am taking and be away on vacation for about 1week…

I will not take my PC with me , so I will upload my blog again after this vacation.

Take care and have a good day! Gokigenyo! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Japanese customary summer event “ obon festival”

How  are you? It has been boiling hot recently in Japan, but it is right in the middle of obon festival .

Obon, observed around the fifteenth of August, is the home coming time for the souls of ancestors, according to the teaching of Buddhists.

Families get together to receive their honored guests, prepare special offerings and food, get the priest recite Buddha’s teachings, and visit tombs.

 

 

 

 

 

On the eve( around on Aug. 13 th), families build small fire outside the door to help the ancestors find their home, and the same would be done on the day after to light their way back to the other world ( around on Aug. 16th morning). It said, the ancestors come back home riding the hoses, and go back to their world riding cattle. Do you know why? They drive horses because they want to go home as soon as possible, but they drive not horses but cattle because they do not back their world, and they want to stay home as long as possible…

traditional cucumber horse and eggplant cattle which each family make them by hand and modern ones which are sold in stores…

 

 

 

In Kyoto, they build gigantic bonfire on the hillside of five mountains surrounding the city.Each of the five mountains arrange the fire to form its special sign.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mountains on east and west do it in the shape of Dai in Japanese ( therefore, it is usually called ” Dai-mon-ji-yaki“; means the fire shaped “Dai”), which means “big” while the three others are designed in their traditional form.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the evenings, many local communities invite people to join dance “Bon-Odori” , for which people dance making a big circle, with Japanese flute, dram, or other instrument and singers chanting local tones.

gokigenyo!

 

Peace memorial ceremonies in japan…

Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked the 68rd anniversary of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of the cities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The atomic bombs code-named Little boy dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6th, and code-name Fat man was dropped on Nagasaki city on Aug. 9th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today Aug. 9th is  the day of the Nagasaki…it was 11:02 AM. More than 74,000 people were killed, and more than 75,000 people were injured.

There was a memorial service today. About 5,600 people attended. Among them there were representatives of 48 countries from the world too. At 11:02 AM they offered a silent prayer for the dead.

The other day at the ceremony in Hiroshima, some 50,000 people attended this year’s ceremony at the Peace Memorial Park. Among them there were representatives of 70 countries from the world too…The centre of the blast was displaced 490 feet (150 m) horizontally and 1,968 feet (600 m) vertically from the dome, having slightly missed the original target. The Hiroshima peace memorial Dome was 160 meters from the hypocenter of the atomic blast. Everyone inside the building was killed instantly….now, it is a symbol of a prayer for a peaceful world in which there are no nuclear weapons….

i pray that…

 

Better living recipe! Tofu with Tomato Vegetable in brown hot sauce: herbal medicine dishes; sweep away air conditioning disease

Tomato has antioxidative effect. Hot ingredients( especially Szechwan pepper in this recipe!) helps to beat the summer heat!

Szechwan pepper

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients( about 4 portions)

Momen tofu…about 300g

Beef ground with pork meat( just beef grand is also OK)…200g

Tomatos..2

A:Green onion (chop into small size)….2 Tbsp

A:Garlic (chop into small size)…2 cloves of

A:Ginger (chop into small size)…a clove of

A:Chinese fermented black beans ( chop into small size )…2 tbs

B:Cayenne pepper…1 tbs

B:Chili bean sauce…1 Tbsp

B:Sweetened soybean paste (tianmenjiang)…1 Tbsp

Chicken soup (chicken stock)…180cc( 3/4 cup)

Potato starch( thick stock)…dissolved in water…appropriate

Szechwan pepper…appropriate

Sesame oil…1 Tbsp

 

 

 

 

 

How to make:

1, dry tofu, cut into 1.5cm( about 1/2 inch) slices. Mince all A ingredients. Slice tomatoes into wedges.

2, heat sesame oil in a frying pan, add all A and B ingredients, stir fry them to avoid scorching them until there is pleasant aroma.

 

 

 

 

 

3, add minced meat, stir fry until browned, pour chicken soup to a pan.

4, when it begin to boil, add tofu, then heat them for about 3minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

5, add tomatoes, heat them for about 1minutes, them pour dissolved starch over, toss them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6, turn the heat up to high, sweat for a while. Place them on a dish, then sprinkle Szechwan pepper ( and green onion as you like ) over them.

That’s all! try it! Itadakimasu ! & Gochisousama!

 

Better living recipe! Chicken Corn risotto: Chinese herbal medicine dishes; Reduce puffy body and helps to beat the summer heat

Corn silk is chinese medicine herb: it works high water metabolism and lower blood cholesterol levels. Corn kernels and tear grass help digest food and have diuretic effect. By the way, the number of corn silks and the number of the kernels are same! Do you know that? When you buy whole corns, I hope it will be helpful to you!

Ingredient ( about 4 portions)

Ordinary rice…1cup

Corn kernels…if you can get fresh a whole corn, the corn silk is used…1cup

Chicken tenderloin…1

tear grass(job’s grass)…50g

Hot water…about a little more than 2cup

Sake…1 Tbsp( you can use white wine if you cannot get sake)

Olive oil…1 Tbsp

Salt…1tbs

coarsely ground black pepper…a dash of

perilla(Japanese herb like basils)…as you like

How to make:

1. Soak the tear grass in water for 1 night.

2. Cut the corn silk except the brown part into 1 inch length, remove the kernels from the corncob when you get a fresh corn. String the chicken if there are, cut it into bite-size pieces, then sprinkle sake or white wine over the chicken and mix.

3. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat, add the corn silk and kernels, stir fry. When there is pleasant aroma, add rice and stir fry them until the rice color gets like clear.

4. Add chicken, tear grass, and hot water, cook them over medium heat until soften. Put salt into a pan to enhance the flavor.

5. Sprinkle black pepper and add perilla if you would like…

That’s all!  have a nice day!

Itadakimasu ! & Gochisousama!

Todays interior decoration for the Japanese ceremony in summer no.2

Hi, it is also muggy here japan…how are you all?

I went the tea ceremony in the last weekend. The time that I spend at the ceremony always give me bracing feeling…I hope you can feel this atmosphere someday…

Anyway, the meaning of the hanging scroll is “The ordinary mind is the way”, Zen terminology (Zen word).

In the summer ceremony, a leaf of paper mulberry is sometimes used in place of the formal lid of a water container, for the cool looking.

Today’s confectioneries: shaped morning glory. Also other dried confectioneries; shaped stream of water, shell, and like Japanese rice cracker made from wheat gluten.  Gokigenyo!

 

Japanese confectionery “Mitarashi- DANGO” with tofu!: Rice dumplings

Have you ever eaten japanese confectionery DANGO?

We have many kinds of  tastes in sweet DANGO, but the most popular one is “Mitarashi” flavor…using soy sauce and sugar…it is very japanese taste!

I think Japanese sweets store never use tofu in making the mitarashi  DANGO, but I made it.  This sweet tofu DANGO is as good as normal DANGO, so try it!

Ingredients ( about 24 balls):

gultainous rice flour…120g

rice flour…80g

silken tofu…250-280g

A:soy sauce…30cc( 1oz)

A:sugar…80g

A:water…100cc

A:sweet sake “mirin”( if you can get it )…1Tbsp

A:potato starch…1Tbsp

 

 

 

How to make:

1, In a bawl, mix the flour and 250g of tofu well until the dough becomes as soft as an earlobe. When it is still hard, add tofu more little by little.

 

 

 

 

2, divide the dough into small pieces of the same size, and form them into shapes of small balls.

 

 

 

 

3, heat water in a pan and add the balls when it is at a boil. After adding the balls, stir the pan and wait until they float. When all the balls have floated, boil 2 minutes more to make sure, then remove them from the pan and cool them in cold water in a very short time, and drain them immediately.

 

 

 

 

4, make sauce( we call it “ mitarashi-sauce” in Japanese); mix all A ingredients in a small pan, heat it on a low heat until a little boiled.

 

 

 

 

5, pour the sauce over DANGO. If you would like, you should  brown DANGO a little in a frying pan before poring the sauce over them.

itadakimashu! & gochisousama!

Japanese treat; Grilled turban shell

Have you seen or eaten the turban shell in your life?

I think perhaps most of non-japanese people say “ no”.

However, we some of Japanese love it( unfortunately, some japanese don’t like it, ha-ha), especially when it is grilled with soy sauce, the dish name is “sazaee(turban shell) tsubo-yaki” in Japanese.

We can eat it in all seasons, but eating this seafood meal in summer with beer tastes especially good. It looks a bizarre food? Don’t say that, please try it when you come to Japan!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a raw turban shell…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the turban shells are grilled near the sea… wow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

inside of it….? What until you actually see it! ha-ha!

itadakimashu! & gochisousama!

Better living; Somen with chicken and a lot of vegetables

As I have wrote before, Japanese often eat light and plain food like somen nudle in summer for the muggy weather of japan.

About somen, click here!

https://japanesehealthylife.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/somen-remind-one-of-a-particular-japanese-summer-season/

However, just only somen, we get protein shortage easily, so we need to pay attention to the nutritional balance.

Then, I made this somen; healthy and high nutririon values!

Ingredients( for 2 portions):

Chicken meat(breast or thigh)…about 150g

Your favorite vegetables( I used eggplant, pumpkin, sweet potato, lotus root, and  perilla( Japanese herb like basils))…total amount about 200g

Salt…a dash of

Sesame oil…1Tbsp

Potato starch…1Tbsp

Sauce:

Noodle soup

Citron fruit…1 fruit

How to make:

1, cut into slivers the meat into bite-size pieces, then lightly salted and sprinkle potato starch. Cut all vegetables except perilla into bite-size pieces( about 5mm thin), submerge in cold water to eliminate bitterness and drain them.Cut the citron fruit in round slices.

2, grille the chicken with sesame oil on medium heat, skin side firstly, then turn over until both sides get brown and cooked completely.

After cooked the chicken, pour off the oil, and while still hot, put them into a sauce container.

3, cook vegetables(except perilla) same as chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4, leave them to cool for 10 minutes( add lemon slices to them), then cover it with plastic wrap. Cool it in the refrigerator until right before eating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5, boil somen and cool it with cold water, drain. Arrange the somen, marinade vegetables in the plate. Arrange perilla on them , Then, pour the marinade sauce over them.

That’s all!

 itadakimashu! & gochisousama! 

 

Today’s interior decoration for the japanese ceremony; middle of July

 The meaning of the hanging scroll is the letters of ‘A Song made by Li Po.

 

 

The text of it sounds cool,  and it is perfect for summer, don’t you think so?

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The Cataract in view ” by Li Po

The sun burns Mount Lu in purple haze

The torrent leaps headlong to my amaze
The cataract is three thousands feet tall
As though the sky let the Galaxy fall.

This lacquered tea powder box’s motif is a cartwheel of a cattle-drawn carriage, “Genji-guruma” in Japanese.

and….Today’s confectionery ; jelly shaped goldfish bowl.

have a nice day!