Posts Tagged ‘Japanese’
19.12.2009
Though it is a fruit, there is nothing sweet about goya–also known as bitter melon or bitter gourd, it resembles a very bumpy cucumber and is in the same family as pumpkins, squash and gourds. It is traditionally eaten in Japan, China, Vietnam, India and other South and Southeast Asian countries.

this is the Vietnamese variety of bitter gourd
C. says that while he was in Okinawa (where goya is very popular) people said the reason Okinawans live so long is because they eat lots of pork and lots of goya! I can’t verify this, but it sounds reasonable enough, I suppose. One dish that is very popular there is goya champuru which is a stir-fried dish that features goya and often pork, eggs, onion or garlic and other seasonings.
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Tags: Favourite Ingredients, fruit, Japanese, pickles, Tea, vegetables, Vietnamese
Posted in Preserves, Tea, Veggies | 3 Comments »
16.11.2009
In cookies and cake, matcha, Japanese green tea powder has to be my favorite flavour. Chocolate would be a close second, but because I’m a major chocolate fiend, I do prefer it on its own. I love matcha whisked with water for tea, and I also love it in baked goods. It is somewhat bitter (like cocoa) and is definitely strong-tasting, so pairs very well with sweet and creamy things, which mellow it out and counter the bitterness.

sifting the matcha into the flour
I. Love. These. Cookies.
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Tags: cookies, Japanese, Tea, Treats
Posted in Snacks, Tea, Treats | 7 Comments »
11.11.2009
This is the sencha that I have been drinking almost every day for the past few weeks. I found it in a health food store downtown in Montreal, near the McGill campus. It was on sale, so I thought I’d give it a try, instead of ordering Japanese tea online (as I often do). It is labeled ‘Sencha-Uchiyama’ by R. Uchiyama (who was born in Japan to tea-farming parents, and has a shop in Montreal which I cannot find!) and was grown in Kawane, Japan. It is a second harvest tea (which is why it wasn’t very expensive) and I bought it in an 100g tin, at $16 CDN for 100g.

Don’t let the blah photo fool you, I’m really happy with this tea. However, the camera and I are having issues. The smell and taste of this sencha remind me of ‘Sencha Ashikubo’ which I have purchased a few times from Camellia Sinensis, a wonderful Montreal tea house/shop. The taste of the tea itself is basically that of a typical middle-of-the-road sencha–it is not too bitter, a bit sweet, and vegetal without being grassy. What makes it similar to ‘Sencha Ashikubo’ is that they both have a wonderful aroma of tropical fruit in their dry form. It’s worth buying this tea for the smell alone!
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Tags: botanical gardens, Japanese, Tea
Posted in Tea | No Comments »
22.10.2009

Though I’m usually an early riser these days, I don’t usually eat breakfast until almost noontime. My morning fuel generally consists of dizzying amounts of tea–sencha, yerba mate, black and herbal teas–I drink them all. Since I tend to eat breakfast late, lunch is usually small or is sometimes more of a snack, naturally taken with tea. Besides books, my main indulgence is nice Japanese green teas, especially matcha, and it is a wonderful drink to have in the early afternoon with a sweet. Matcha is a pleasantly bright-green powdered tea that is whisked with water to produce a foamy and richly-flavourful drink that is very different from steeped teas. Good matcha tastes like nothing else; it is creamy and smooth tasting, and though it has a vegetal ‘green’ taste, it is much more complex than that. If you haven’t tried it, you should! If you like fine green teas, you’ll love it.
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Tags: autumn, Japanese, Tea, Treats
Posted in Tea, Treats | No Comments »
08.10.2009
Today at lunch I thought I’d better have something yummier than what I had yesterday. Yesterday’s lunch consisted in a few crackers with almond butter, an apple, and little else. It left me feeling deeply unsatisfied, not to mention shamed by my own laziness.

the raw materials
Before we start cooking, I have a confession to make; I really like instant ramen. There, I said it. It’s full of MSG and bad fats, it sort of makes my stomach hurt, and has no vitamins or nutrients to speak of, but alas, I like it anyway. I have a problem, and I’m trying to stop.
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Tags: autumn, Japanese, Korean, noodles, ramenesque
Posted in Seasons, Veggies | 1 Comment »
02.10.2009
I haven’t been feeling all that well lately. I’m not exactly sick, but my energy levels are pretty low. I have been feeling like I’m starting to get a cold for two weeks or so, only it never actually develops into a cold. I have felt like doing little more than lazing around the house–drinking tea and reading–though I do feel better when I get out and do something else. I love fall, but these days it doesn’t seem to love me. I’m finding it really cold for the beginning of October. It might be my imagination, but our spring, summer and fall (so far) have all been colder than usual here in Montreal. Maybe it’s some sort of global-warming-in-reverse.
Due to my lethargic state, C has been cooking our dinner more often than usual. However, a few days ago I made this wonderful soup, and it was just what we both needed: warm, comforting, nutritious, and simple (though soaking and cooking the beans does take awhile). We ate it with cooked millet, my homemade kimchi, some sliced raw veggies and a shredded cabbage salad. I was really impressed with the soup–it is truly greater than the sum of its parts. I got the basic recipe from a little cookbook that I found in a used bookshop a few weeks ago. It’s called Natural Remedies from the Japanese Kitchen by Fukuhara and Takahata. In it the authors talk about some traditional Japanese ingredients that are thought to be healing, and then introduce several simple recipes for each one. I didn’t make the recipe exactly as it was in the book, but made a thicker and heartier version using the same main ingredients.

this is the leftover soup with millet mixed in, for breakfast.
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Tags: autumn, cookbook, Japanese, pumpkin/squash, Seasons, vegetables
Posted in Seasons, Veggies | 1 Comment »
15.09.2009

there's a lot of turmeric in there
Last night and this morning I made ginger tea laced with turmeric. I would like to say I am drinking it for its wonderful flavour, as I do with regular tea and my beloved sencha, but it is not really so–I’ve been trying it primarily for its purported health benefits. Though, I must say, it makes a very pleasant drink. The fresh ginger overwhelms the overall taste, though the turmeric is certainly responsible for the colour, as well as the earthy body of this tisane. (more…)
Tags: Books, Japanese, Tea
Posted in Books, Tea | 5 Comments »
14.08.2009

ice-cold boricha, ahhh...
It’s really hot here in Montreal today.
No big deal, it is summer, right?
I mean really hot. The sort of hot where everything looks hazy. And where I (who normally walk fairly quickly) am forced to walk as slowly as possible (especially while carrying groceries… I hate carrying things) just to keep from sweating through my clothes…ewww. (more…)
Tags: Japanese, Korean, musings, Seasons, summer, Tea
Posted in Seasons, Tea, musings | No Comments »
13.08.2009
I found this little darlin’ in the junk bin at Frenchy’s, a used clothing shop in Nova Scotia. At first glance I thought it was ugly. But in the next few seconds it grew on me, and I decided that for the price (maybe 50 cents?) I couldn’t just leave it there.
So now I have a new teacup.
I like the size, and it has a false bottom, I guess you’d call it. I mean that it has two distinct layers, so it doesn’t get too hot to hold when it’s full of tea. I’m not convinced that the gold accents aren’t coming off into my tea (and body) little by little, but I still find this cup endearing.
Let’s meet her, shall we?

wabi-sabi cracked 'celadon' green
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Tags: Japanese, pottery, Tea
Posted in Tea | 1 Comment »
09.06.2009

farmer's shincha
This spring I ordered shincha (new tea) from Japan for the first time. I have been drinking loads of sencha (at least a pot a day) for the past few years, and was excited to try the first tea of the year this May. I ordered from Hibiki-an, and chose their ‘aracha’ or ‘farmer’s shincha’. I chose this tea mainly because of the amount offered– a lot of the other new tea was sold in very small quantities. Buying 40g of tea at a time really doesn’t do me a lot of good, because I go though it very quickly.
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Tags: Japanese, sencha, spring, Tea
Posted in Seasons, Tea | No Comments »