Some of my pictures when I lived in Japan, a beautiful country, full of contrast, modern and old. I went first as a tourist to meet my ex parents-in-law and to discover the country where I would then live. We didn’t have internet yet, so I only knew Japan through books, documentaries and through my ex husband. Today with internet we can learn, watch, see a lot about a country, the culture and so on. But it was fun because not knowing much, I discovered lots of things by myself.  End of the 80’s and beginning of the 90’s, it wasn’t like today where there are many Europeans there who work or go on vacations. As at time, not many except Tokyo, but in Kyoto we were few only.

So at first I felt uncomfortable, then I asked my ex husband, is it anything wrong with me, because as at time I couldn’t speak the language yet so I couldn’t understand what they were saying when they were staring at me, lol, so he said, no it’s just because you are tall, blond.. lol. Like I said there weren’t too many Europeans, when I would take the train late at night after work, it was packed and often I was the only woman  and few American men, the rest all Japanese men,  sometimes  I felt like an alien, lol, today it’s surely different, now more foreigners are attracted to the country, the food, the culture and so they go there on vacations but as at time and even before I went, the plane ticket was quite expensive and much longer by plane, it took me more then one day to arrive. After few weeks, I got used to it and worked in different cities as a model and languages teacher in schools, so it was nice for me to discover other cities/places around Japan, it was fun and people very kind and polite. Something wasn’t my cup of tea, the rush hours, lol,  the first time I went in the subway, I thought gosh where on earth did I land, as you may know in Japan they have pushers, no fun when you are crushed because it’s packed, so I thought I better hurry, lol, then I always tried to be the first in line waiting so I could go first inside the train or the subway and take a seat, lol. But I enjoyed travelling with the bullet train. The weather was quite an experience too, rainy season for 6 weeks, earthquakes that would wake me up in the morning, the first time I jumped out of the bed, wondering if I had a nightmare, I still remember going down the stairs trembling and my family was having breakfast, they smiled at me and said, oh you felt the earthquake…also the hot season, we had in Kyoto around 40 degrees/104F, Kyoto is known to be very hot in Summer and lots of humidity, I remember the insects most of it the cockroaches, they were big and I always had to put the air conditioner, going outside it was like being in a sauna, then the typhoons, the first one was quite an experience too, I was going home after work, it was raining like hell and the wind completely crazy, it was pushing me and suddenly my umbrella flew away, I had to hold myself on a street lamp, but people were going home by car, still it was weird. Let’s not forget the food, I love nabemono (hot pot), and yuzu marmalade, okonomiyaki, chawan mushi, donburi, oden and so on…great cuisine, I remember my family staring at me because I liked natto, it’s fermented soybeans, it’s not everyone’s taste, very strong smell but I did like it. Glad I could live there, a wonderful experience.

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Shrimp Yakisoba ( Shrimp and fried noodles )

Tonight I made a Japanese Supper. But instead of using wheat noodles, like ramen or udon noodles, I used soba noodles, they are thin noodles, made from buckwheat flour. When I lived in Japan, in Summer, I often ate zaru soba, it was refreshing, because they are eaten cold.

I made a sauce for my stir fry, it’s called yakisoba sauce, made with ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, raw sugar. The original recipe has oyster sauce but I don’t like it, instead I added rice vinegar. You can see the sauce in the little white bowl.

First I fried the carrots, red bell peppers, onions and some sea salt. Separately I fried the shrimps with fresh ginger, added some soy sauce. After having fried the noodles, I added the sauce and the vegetables/shrimps, mixed all together. Then I added chives and scallions. Didn’t make since years, I almost forgot how good it is. :-)

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My version of Matcha Brownies, recipe below.

Why my version, because some recipes have too much flour, not enough sugar then it can be really bitter and some put a lot of white chocolate who’s already buttery because it’s cocoa butter, so I made my version, it’s very tasty, moist and the nice flavour of matcha.

Recipe

2 eggs                                                                                                                  

110 grams light brown sugar ( ½ cup / 4 ounces ).

110 grams butter ( 1 stick / 4 ounces / ½ cup).

70 grams white chocolate (2 ounces and half ).                    

70 grams pecans ( 2 ounces and half ).

4 teaspoons of matcha powder.  (you can taste after 3 full teaspoons if it’s good enough for you, I put 4 teaspoons and it has a lovely earthy taste, with the brown sugar and the white chocolate, it makes a lovely taste.

Vanilla extract (5 grams, 1 teaspoon).

Pinch of salt.

Baking powder ( 1 teaspoon ).

60 grams flour (½ cup).

Preparation

Preheat the oven 180C / 350F

Prepare the cake mold, brush the mold with butter and add some sifted flour inside, tilt the pan and tap lightly until the bottom and sides are evenly coated with flour. Dump out any excess flour.

Beat the eggs with the sugar for 5-10 minutes then add the melted butter. You can add the chocolate like you want, chips / chunks or like I did, I bought the chocolate already grated but the pieces have to be nicely chopped/grated so you can feel them when you eat the cake.

Then add the pecans, I simply cut each in pieces, also not too small, you can simply break each in half or twice and add vanilla extract, mix well.

Then add a pinch of salt, baking powder. When all well beated/mixed, add the sifted flour, mix again and pour the mixture into the prepared cake mold.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, ( I use the setting: convection ) but if you don’t have, then simply use the normal setting and around 25 minutes you can check with a knife to see if the knife blade comes out clean, if yes you can also stop because it will dry a little bit more few hours after it’s removed from the cake mold. I baked for 35 minutes but 30 minutes is fine too, it will be more moist. Then let it cool down because when it’s warm, it breaks, a delicate cake.

I didn’t cover the mold cake so the top has a lovely brown colour, if you prefer to have the top more green, then simply cover with an aluminum foil when you start to bake.

I served with an Italian ice cream called: Fior di latte (it’s half milk and half fresh double cream) but with vanilla ice cream can also be served and I added some matcha on top of the plate.

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Took this picture when I lived in Kyoto. It was a rainy day :-) but the Kinkaku-ji is fabulous and Kyoto, a place where traditions and quality remained also beautiful temples. 

May 2023: Reblogging my old post. 

More about Japan can be seen under my categories: my own Japan pictures. My categories are on the left side, see my main page.