Enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of first-time parenthood. Progress on the vegetable garden and other ramblings of a gaijin in Japan’s least populous prefecture.
The other day, I got to try my hand at making nihachi soba (lit. two eight soba). Despite the measures being simple, two parts flour to eight parts buckwheat, the motions are best watched at least once. I will post a recipe at some point. In lieu of that; in essence, to the sifted flour half the weight of water is added. Once brought together, fifty presses are applied (seventy for the girls). It is rolled and stretched out to a square, folded and chopped.
The resulting noodles are dropped into a pan of boiling water for sixty seconds before being plunged into ice cold water.
A typical accompaniment would be a sauce of dashi, soy and mirin.
Earlyish yesterday, I made had a batch of dough with the intention of giving it a good few hours to rise. Using some bread flour found in one of the larger supermarkets, it was clear from the onset I had a better hand than previously. By lunchtime, I had a bowl brimming with dough. To finish I used a milk glaze. At the local boutique, loaves are priced between 600 and 1200 yen (£3 - £6).
Plain bread recipe
I did plan to make some bread this weekend. Having found a bag of oats yesterday whilst shopping, I decided on something biscuity. Sugar, butter, oats seemed just right for a drab Sunday afternoon. The morning was much better.
Whilst my wife and her sister took Kento for a walk I hurriedly set about the biscuits. It was fairly straightforward but could have made a bit more space for the baking tray. By the time I’d done that the mixture had cooled and started to harden making it difficult to fashion. Fortunately it was rescued, by crumbling it up and adding a little water. I got nine good-sized cookies which were well appreciated.
Walnut Oaties
Snow was forecast for today but I guess the wind prevented it. Expect to change the tyres on the in-law’s fleet soon. The odd chance I had, I checked up on the garden. Saw that a couple of onions had carked it, unsure if there is a nekirimushi on the loose or if it was the rain got them. It has been a slow week which suited me. Dusted off the baking trays, I made a chicken pie and several pizzas. A Japanese addition of nori is well recommended.
Got around to doing a bit of weeding this morning. A little overdue especially the Asparagus bed. It didn’t take long for me to get bored and use the hoe.
Carrots were thinned slighty, the tops will go into tonights Miso soup. Took another Shiitake, these seem to be doing okay. I think it’s still to hot for them, even though it’s now November. Able to take one every second day.
Apple Pie is off the menu. Very keen to make a few fruit pies, especially as it is now very autumnal. Already knew apples were expensive here, but quite put off at ¥150 (75p) each.
