飛躍 (Hiyaku-to leap forward)

This is the first section of one of the koto pieces I have recently studied.  My part was the second part, I could not find a recording of both parts played together, which is unfortunate because it is stunningly beautiful.

Here is the first page of music.  Each measure is a "box."  There are thirteen strings, each assigned a kanji character.  The first ten are simple numbered one through ten.  The last three strings are "toh, ee and kin."  I am not sure why...  The strings kanji are as follows from lowest to highest-ichi to kin.

一、二、三、四、五、六、七、八、九, 十、斗、為、巾。

My part, the second (which is what I am playing the video),  is the part on the left.  The music is read top to bottom, right to left.  I have added further explanations of some of the notations in blue. 

Since this piece is several pages long, I just recorded the first and last sections.  Here is the ending:

There are also many, many ways to tune the koto.  This piece has a more "major" sound to it whereas Sakura sounds "minor." 

More to come!

Toyko National Museum

Did you ever read that one book when you were a kid?  The one about a country mouse in a city house?  I think it was a “I spy book.” 

I loved those types of books as a child.  I also wanted to live in the country.  And ride horses everyday.  But alas, we lived in town. 

We technically live in the “inaka” or countryside here in Japan-though the Japanese perception of “the middle of nowhere” is decidedly different from the US.  This probably has to do with their comparative sizes.  

I am glad that we live in the inaka.  The air and water are fresh and clean.  There are many people, but nothing like the city.

I am also thrilled that we live a mere hours train ride from one of the most fantastic cities in the world: Tokyo.

Living close enough to Tokyo for day trips is great.  Museums, historical sites and other attractions are abundant.  Last weekend we went to Tokyo National Museum in Ueno, Tokyo.

This museum is supposed to be one of the best museums in the world.  It did not disappoint. 

The museum is set up as a campus of five or six buildings.  We paid extra to see the special exhibit on Honen and Shinran-two important figures in the history of Buddhism in Japan.  

It took us three hours to see the special exhibit and one floor of one buildings' permanent exhibits. 

Here are a few of my favorite items we saw of the permanent exhibit.

Seeing everything will take a few more visits.  Good thing we live so close to Tokyo! 

Also, Bailey's lattes are delicious!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

 

I had searched and searched and really could not find a staple item for my kitchen…

...muffin pans. 

I get that baking doesn’t really seem to be a thing here…(Seriously, options are limited with such tiny ovens.)  But no muffin pans? 

What about cupcakes? 

Such joys are possible when you have yourself a nice set of muffin pans.

Thank goodness for awesome sisters who send you things!  My sweet older sister sent me two cute little silicon muffin pans a couple months ago.  One green and one blue.

I have never used anything silicon in the kitchen before besides rubber spatulas.  I did a bit of research online before baking with them.  I discovered some really cool things:

1. You don’t need to grease silicon bake ware.
2. The pans cool down significantly faster then regular metal pans.
3. They can be folded up and put away-space savers!

The one drawback is that they can take a little while to clean, by hand anyway. 

Since it is autumn, I decided to christen the new muffin tins with pumpkin spice muffins.

With cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top.

They were divine.

Season of Soup Part 3: French Onion

I’ll be honest.  I really wanted to make this soup because I finally had the perfect dishes in which to serve it.

Is that weird?

Don’t get me wrong: I also made it because it is stupendously delicious.  But I am of the opinion that presentation can help make food taste even better.  

The last time I made French Onion soup was because I had been given around thirty pounds of onions by a fellow teacher.  That was my first time making it, and it was good. 

But this time, it was better.

I followed a different recipe this time.  The only real difference was the addition of thyme.  I also melted provolone on top...because it's what I had.  It was delicious!

Find the recipe here.

Season of Soup Part 2: Tortellini Spinach Pesto

I know I have complained before of some ingredients being difficult to find in Japan.  (Cheese is one, if you recall.) 

Making Chinese soups is a snap.  Finding ingredients for Asian recipes is usually not too hard.  Things like fresh shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots, which would otherwise be dried or canned. 

Fabulous.

After the Schezuan soup, I was in the mood for something different.  So I looked to Italy.

I have found and used some great soup recipes on the Eating Well website.  This particular recipe I based off of Eating Well’s Chicken and Spinach Pesto recipe-it's delicious. 

When I made this soup, I basically made the Chicken and Spinach Pesto soup, but added tortellini.  If I could get my hands on Italian sausage, I would have substituted it for the chicken, but alas.  I have yet to discover Italian sausage in the Land of the Rising Sun.  Sigh.

But the chicken is still delightful.  It's an excellent soup.

I recommend wine and Italian bread on the side with tiramisu for dessert. (In my book, these three things go with any meal.)

Yummy!

Find the soup recipe here.

Season of Soup Part 1: Szechuan

Chinese food.  Yum.

Growing up, at least a few times a month, we had a big Chinese dinner. 

I usually loved everything…except the shiitake mushrooms. But I’m over that phase now. 

My parents always cooked out of the same cookbook for Chinese night.  Now I have a copy of that same book and have been exploring some of the recipes we never made when I was little. 

One of my all time favorite soups is this one...chicken and corn soup.  

 

Most recently…Schezuan Soup.  It’s a good thing I am over disliking shiitake mushrooms, because this soup wouldn’t be half as good without them and the flavor they bring. 

 I basically followed the recipe exactly, substituting fresh bamboo shoots for water chestnut.  

It was delicious.

Szechuan Soup

1 oz. dried shiitake mushrooms

boiling water

6 oz. uncooked julienned pork

4 oz. cooked julienned ham

1 small red pepper, cut into strips

8 scallions, chopped

1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts

8 oz. firm tofu, chopped

2 quarts chicken stock

1/2 cup dry white wine

4 t. soy sauce

1/2 t. Chinese chili sauce

2 1/2 T. cornstarch

5 T. water

2 t. vinegar

1 t. sesame oil

1 egg

8 oz. uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined

1) Place mushrooms in bowl, cover with boiling water. Let stand 30 min. Drain. Remove and discard stems. Cut caps into thin slices.

2) Combine chicken stock, wine, soy sauce and chili sauce in 5-quart pot.  Cook over medium heat until boils.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 5 min.

3) Blend cornstarch and 4 T. of the water.  Slowly stir into soup. Cook until boiling.  Add mushrooms, pork, ham, red pepper and water chestnuts. Simmer uncovered 5 min. 

4) Stir vinegar and oil into soup. Beat egg and remaining 1 T. water together with fork.  Gradually drizzle egg into soup while stirring vigorously.  Add onions, tofu and shrimp.  Cook until shrimp is done, about 1-2 min.

they just keep getting better

There’s a thing about making bagels…you can make them taste like any season you want.

It’s awesome.  And really fun to come up with delicious flavor combinations.

It's Autumn in Japan.  We just had Halloween.  Leaves are changing into a brilliant matrix of color. The air is crisp and fresh. 

So how do you make bagels taste like autumn? 

Easy.

Pumpkin.

Cinnamon.

Allspice.

Ginger.

Cloves.

Result: the best bagels I have (yet) made.

Ready to be boiled.

 

Autumn Pumpkin Spice Bagels

5/8 cup warm water

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

2 T honey

1 t  salt

2 t  pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 t cinnamon

3 1/3 cups bread flour

2 t  active dry yeast

1) Mix flour, water, salt, honey and yeast.  Knead, let rise for an hour.

2)  Separate dough into six sections and shapes into bagels. (I knead the dough into a small ball then poke a hole through the middle with your finger to form the hole.)

3)  Allow formed bagels to rise for 20 min.  Prep your pot of boiling water.

4)  Drop the bagels gently into the pot of boiling water for about 1 min per side.

5)  Place on a baking sheet dusted with cornmeal.  

6)  Bake at 400 F for 20-25 min.