Another inspiration beyond the great food we had in Japan was the audiobook Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother’s Tokyo Kitchen which I got from the library, transferred to my iPod and listened during my non-Joe-enhanced travels. (See www.japanesewomendontgetoldorfat.com for more info on the book).
[Sadly, I didn't get to this picture before Flickr (apparently) killed the notes feature, so those were all lost. Or are at least in limbo until they add the feature back which they say they'll do someday.]
Thanks, Mum & Paul! Happy kitchen!
My folks left me a surprise bit of cash to find when I went to get bus fare out of the change jar. I just blew it all, delightedly, on Japanese tableware and a couple cookbooks.
For scale, the red book is about 8.5 x 11 inches.
One of the secrets of the Japanese healthy diet is eating less and enjoying it more. Beautiful small servings.
[8 years later, in 2014, I must confess that some of these bold ingredient excursions never got used up. In particular the dashi-making ingredients (dried fish and seaweed) and huge quantities of nori were only whittled at a little. The fresh stuff was more likely to get used before it spoiled. So, my lesson from this is when embarking on new cuisine adventures, buy for specific meals and slowly expand your repetoire. Open-ended pantry staples come later in competence.]
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