Monthly Archives: October 2008

Dan’s Cooking Corner

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I am proud to say that the number of international foods I’ve introduced to my taste-buds have increased exponentially since around my sophomore year of college. Recently, I gained the superficial confidence that I could actually make some of this stuff on my own, and more superficially – make it taste good! When I was in Japan last year, the first meal at a restaurant I had was – i didn’t know the name at the time – katsudon. In my opinion, it’s the perfect runners meal. Lots of carbs, protein, relatively easy to make, and it tastes gooood. I’ll post a picture of my own creation soon enough, but in the meantime, here’s what someone else’s dish looks like. 

Mmm, can’t you smell the greatness from the picture alone? The picture displayed to the right is chicken katsudon. Typical katsudon is with pork, and not chicken. Here’s a recipe, courtesy of http://bentocorner.com for those who want a new exciting fragrance for their kitchen. The only difficulty with the recipe (at least for me) was finding a couple of the ingredients, particularly dashi (a fish stock common to many Japanese foods) and panko (japanese breadcrumbs.) I found the dashi at an asian market in Chicago, and the panko breadcrumbs at a dominicks in the suburbs (but not at the one in Lincoln Park.)  Tell me what you think!

P.S. If anyone has a great method of preparing rice perfectly, please inform me immediately. My rice is always too wet! If you guys donate me some money for a rice cooker, I’ll invite everyone one of you over for a free katsudon meal, with rice that will blow. your. mind. 

 

 

Chicken Katsudon:

How to make chicken katsu:

 

1 pound of chicken

2 eggs

½ cup of flour

2-3 cups of panko (can be store bought or made with plain sandwich bread and grounded in a mixer or food processor)

Oil for deep frying

1. Slice chicken into strips. Dredge chicken in flour, then dip into beaten egg, then dredge with panko. Fry in oil until cooked.

 

To make chicken katsudon:

 

2 cups of water

½ cup of mirin

½ cup of mentsuyu (or you can substitute with ½ cup soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of dashi no moto)

2 teaspoons of sugar (or more depending on taste)

1 ½ thinly sliced onion

3 stalks of green onion

4-5 eggs, beaten

chicken katsu

 

Prepare  the stock by mixing all ingredients except for the eggs, onion, and katsu. Boil the stock in a frying pan then add the sliced onion and the chicken katsu. After 10 minutes, add 3 stalks of chopped green onions. Beat  the eggs and pour ½ of the egg over the chicken and onion mixture and wait for the egg to curdle. Once the egg is curdled, pour the rest of the egg onto the pan. Cook until eggs are done. Top with shredded nori and serve over rice.

Thank you http://www.bentocorner.com/roller/page/bentoblog?entry=chicken_katsu_don for this delicious recipe!

The classic case of… the groom setting fire to the hotel?

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A Word on How Not to Deal with Performance Anxiety

I think we all experience anxiety every now and then, to various degrees, depending on the situation… I am not married yet, but if/when I do get married, here are two things I am not going to do.

1. Try marrying another woman while I’m already married

2. Torch the hotel in which I plan to have the wedding party of my second bride .

“Married man arrested for torching hotel before bogus wedding in Yamanashi

Monday 27th October, 03:40 PM JST

YAMANASHI —

Police on Sunday arrested a 39-year-old married man for torching a hotel in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, where he had canceled his wedding to another woman the same day. Nobody was injured, police said.

Tatsuhiko Kawata was arrested for allegedly torching the hotel at 2:20 a.m. on Saturday by spreading oil on the floor in a corridor. About 150 people, who were staying at the hotel, were evacuated.

According to police, Kawada, who is married and lives with his wife, child and his parents, booked the hotel for a wedding party to another woman which was supposed to be held on Saturday afternoon. But he canceled the party on Sunday after he torched the hotel.

Kawata was quoted by police as saying, “I thought I could get out of the wedding if the hotel was burned down.” Police believe he tried to conceal the fact that he is married. ”

(source: Japan Today http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/married-man-arrest
ed-for-torching-hotel-before-bogus-wedding-in-yamanashi)

Japanese Game Show (note: NOT American Game show)

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For those of you who enjoy television game shows but are ready for a change from Wheel-of-Fortune, here’s a game show that’s been aired in Japan since 2006, called 脳カベ Nōkabe, which means “Brain Wall”. The part of the show that became famous is what’s known to people in English-speaking countries as “Human Tetris.” Once you watch the video below, the goal of the game is pretty obvious…

I have nothing against American telly in most aspects, but I do disagree with a couple of shows American networks have tried to replicate from a foreign country, such as taking the show Iron Chef (originally Japanese,) and making an American Version out of it (with the original name of Iron Chef America) and most recently (to my knowledge,) Hole in the Wall, which was an American version of Human Tetris. Fortunately FOX, as of 4 days ago (Oct 24) decided to scrap the show because of declining ratings and more likely because they finally realized that the contestants weren’t Japanese and couldn’t pull the show off like they easily can in Japan. 

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hole_in_the_Wall_(US_game_show))

Here’s (in my opinion) the much less hilarious American version of Human Tetris.


					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
GoingtoJapanIthinkImgoingtoJapanIreally know. *so.

			
						

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And so we thou dost once again made thee reservations for the Land of the Rising Sun (is there a country that is the “Land of the Rising Moon” ??) “Did you say ‘we’???”..Yes I said “we”.. “We who???”…well, by we, I refer to my girlfriend, Cally, and I. “oh…*grunt*..carry on then…” Well, thank you, imaginary wordpress inquisitor. The Dates: Nov 27th->Dec11(->Beginning of January (the time at which jet lag should be no more)). Like me, cally is also interested this most fascinating culture of Japanese, and so we leave only a few days after she finishes up first quarter of school. This will be her first time overseas, and are


Cally
Cally, aka callycat


both incredibly anxious to set off on our 8:59am plane to 日本国. We don’t have the entire trip planned out yet, but we know we’re staying in tokyo for a few days until our 7-day JRPass starts.


JR Pass


A JR Pass is one of the many awesomnesses (what? that’s not a word?) that Japan has to offer the daring foreign traveler. It allow you to cheaply travel virtually anywhere in Japan for a specified amount of time via *ahem*:


“All JR Group Railways-Shinkansen”bullet trains” (except any reserved or non-reserved seat on “NOZOMI” trains), limited express trains, express trains, and rapid or local trains. (With some exceptions)” and busses and a miyajima-based ferry. 


These trains/busses cover almost anyplace in Japan you would probably want to go to. You can buy a consecutive 7-day, 14-day, or 21-day railpass.  To obtain a JR Pass, you need to:


 


    

  1. Get an Exchange Order (essentially a receipt showing that you’ve paid in your country for the JR Pass) inside the country you’re traveling from. For myself in Chicago, I purchased the exchange order from JTB Chicago, located at the Mitsuwa Market in Arlington Heights (www.jtbusa.com.) You must tell them the start date you want to use the railpass and whether you want the 7, 14, or 21-day railpass (about $290, $460, and $580, respectively; cheaper for children.) It usually doesn’t take long to process the exchange order, but risks are risky. So do it asap, once you know when you want the railpass to start. Once you purchase it, you can’t change the dates. 
    2. 

  2. Once you have the exchange order, you take it with you to Japan, and there’s an office inside the airport in which you provide them with a polite smile and your exchange order, fill out a littledocument, show passport, etc.,  and they then give you your official JR Pass! *warning: You cannot use an exchange order to use the trains. You must exchange it for the official JR Pass at the office*  Once you have the JR Pass, you can start using it as soon as your specified date begins.        

    JR Pass
    This is what a railpass might look like unless you spill coffee on it or feed it to your dog. 
    3. 

  3. To use the JR Pass, first be sure that the train you plain on taking isn’t one of the few exceptions that are listed on  www.japanrailpass.net ‘s website. Then, simply go to the train station and flash your JR Pass to the security attendants standing by the gate. It’s as simple as that…unless you want to reserve a seat, in which case you go the ticket window, show them your rail pass, and say “Seki o yoyaku shitai desu.” and if you want non smoking, add “kin en seki wo onegai shimasu” The benefit of reserving a seat is so you can be assured of a spot for yourself, plus you can be sure to get a non-smoking car. 
    4. 

  4. Sit back and enjooyyyy the ride!
    5. 



 


And so ends the Official “Dan’s Guide to Most Likely Using the Japan Rail Pass Successfully” I welcome to entertain any questions by e-mail at piatti@gmail.com.


 


JapdaneseCast


So I’m in the process of setting up my podcast which will accompany this blog. It’s a lot of work, but I have high hopes (*cue for R.Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly”.) In the meantime, if you or someone you know would like to have an excerpt of original music that you or them composed/performed, please e-mail it to me, and I will play it as an interlude on one of the podcasts. I think it’s important for people to hear new music that you don’t necessarily see in stores or online retailers. SUBMIT ONE, SUBMIT ALL!


 


$$$


Still looking for extra ways to save up more money for the trip. One thing I learned from last trip is that you definitely don’t want to feel financial restrained when traveling amidst such awesomeness like Japan. 


 


Ode to a friend


I’d like to publicly wish my great friend, Renee, top-notch karma as she starts her english teaching experience in France.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with teaching english abroad, many claim it is a very demanding job, and not for the unmotivated. It sounds very rewarding, though, as Renee has expressed, except when one discovers rats in the apartment in which they reside in. In a future Japdanese Podcast, I hope to host a discussion with Renee and a few other current foreign english teachers, talking about the experiences teaching abroad and the ups, downs, and sideways’ that are involved with the job.


 


Until next time!


 


-D