Cooking Life in Japan and USA
Cooking Life in Minneapolis
My family moved from Japan to the USA in the 1970s because of my father’s work as a surgeon. This is the story of my cooking life in Japan and USA and back to Japan. We lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota for two years. While there, my father often invited his friends, fellow doctors, and nurses to our home for parties. This was often an American-style lunch, the result of my mother studying American cuisine. For example, she liked to cook roast beef with gravy. That was really delicious. My younger brother and I waited for it in front of the oven in anticipation.
After we returned to Japan, father hosted home parties there as well. Mother was the chef and her three sons were the assistants and waiters. We enjoyed it a lot.
Mother cooked heaping amounts of food because of her three boys. We ate a lot and the dishes she cooked soon disappeared. She was a dietitian, so she cooked healthy foods very well. She retired from her job after getting married, though. She excelled at traditional Japanese dishes as well as Chinese and American foods. I usually helped mother cooking, which allowed me the privilege of sometimes tasting a morsel with my fingers, a privilege I found very funny.
Cooking Life in Japan
I began cooking in earnest when I was still a primary school pupil. I belonged to the cooking club at school. These days, boys cooking is no longer anything out of ordinary, but at that time most club members were girls. There were only two boys in the club, and about thirty other members were girls. The first recipe I mastered was rice-flour dumplings. After club hours, I cooked them to share with family and neighbors. Forty years later one of my aunts remembers my cooking and how much she enjoyed it.
My mother cooked, but on the other hand, my father loved cameras and taking photos. So, I began using a camera in junior high school. I belonged to the photo club in our junior high school. We used film cameras, because digital cameras didn’t exist at that time. I took some photos around the school and developed them at a science room and that was the beginning of my camera life.
Now, I’m in charge of dinner because my wife works far from home. I come back earlier than she does, so I cook dinner and wait for her. Recently, I’ve become interested in Thai cuisine, because there are some Thai restaurants in Yokohama where I live, and we can easily get necessary ingredients such as for num pla: fish sauce and coriander.
About six years ago I began taking photos of the food that I cooked. Today, I cook meals and take photos that I post on social media. Sharing my creations tells the story of my cooking life in Japan and USA. The joy and happiness in them are my pleasure. 
My family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in the 1970’s, because of my father’s work as a surgeon. We lived there for two years. He sometimes invited his friends, fellow doctors, and nurses too, to our home for a party. This was often an American-style lunch. While staying Minneapolis, my mother studied American cuisine a lot — for example, roasted beef. My younger brother and I were waited for it in front of the oven in anticipation. After it had roasted, mother cooked gravy sauce. That was really delicious.
After getting back to Japan, father held home parties there as well. Mother was the chef and her three sons were the assistants and waiters. We enjoyed it a lot.
Mother cooked heaping amounts of food because of the three boys. We ate a lot. The dishes she cooked soon disappeared. She was a dietitian, so she cooked very well. She retired from the job after getting married, though. She excelled at traditional Japanese dishes as well as Chinese and American foods. I usually helped mother cooking, which allowed me the privilege of sometimes tasting a morsel with my fingers. I found that very funny.
I began cooking in earnest when I was still a primary school pupil. I belonged to the cooking club at school. These days, boys cooking is no longer anything out of ordinary, but at that time most club members were girls. There were only two boys in the club, and about thirty other members were girls. My first work was rice-flour dumplings. After club hours, I cooked them to share with family and neighbors. Forty years later one of my aunts remembers my cooking and how much she enjoyed it.
On the other hand, father loved cameras and taking photos. So, I began using a camera in junior high school. I belonged to the photo club in our junior high school. We used film cameras, because digital cameras didn’t exist at that time. I took some photos around the school and developed them at a science room. That was a very nice memory, and that was the beginning of my camera life.
Now, I’m in charge of dinner, because my wife works far away from home. I come back earlier than she does, so I cook dinner and wait for her. Recently, I’m very interested in Asian cuisine, especially Thai cuisine, because there are some Thai restaurants in Yokohama where I live, and we can easily get materials for Thai cuisine, for example num pla: fish sauce and coriander.
About 6 years ago I began taking cuisine photos of the food that I cooked. Today, I cook meals and take photos by iPad. I post them on Facebook; The Cook’s Cook Community Forum, Twitter and Instagram. Sharing my cuisine, joy and happiness are my pleasure.
Nishime (Simmered Chicken & Vegetables)
Osechi means seasonal food, especially the New Year’s season in Japan. Traditionally, shops or supermarkets are closed during new year holidays, so mothers cook dishes to last about a week. Osechi has different kinds of dishes and they are collectively called Osechi dishes.
Each Osechi has a meaning, for example, simmered shrimp means long life, simmered black beans means work well, and so on.
Nishime is a dish of simmered chicken and vegetables. Nishime is standard cuisine when we meet on the New Year’s Day. Nishime also has a meaning: strong relationship among family members. It has many decorations, so it looks gorgeous.
Ingredients
For the Dashi (soup broth):
- 30 grams bonito flakes
- 30 grams konbu (dried kelp)
- 1,000cc Water
Other Ingredients:
- 200 grams chicken
- 50 grams sliced lotus root
- 50 grams boiled bamboo
- 100 grams sliced carrot
- 100 grams sliced taro root
- 5 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 50 grams Konjac (jelly like food made from a kind of potato)
- 5 snow peas or sugar snap peas
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) salt
- 45 ml (3 tablespoons) sake
- 45 ml (3 tablespoons) mirin
- 500 cc dashi
Preparation
To make the Dashi: Put konbu and water into a pot to soak and wait 30 to 60min. (I recommend 60 min, but if you don’t have time 30 min are OK.) Bring the pot to a boil, adding the bonito flakes when boiling begins. Keep boiling for 2 – 3 minutes. Filter out the bonito flakes and konbu and the dashi is completed.
To prepare the Nishime: cut the other ingredients to bite size pieces. Slice the lotus root 1 cm thick and the boiled bamboo 0.5 cm. Peel the carrot, slice it 1 cm thick, then cut to bite size in the shape of a plum flower if you can to give a nice look. Peel the taro and cut into bite sized pieces. Cut the stems off the shiitake mushrooms, then thinly slice the tops and stems. Cut the konjac like a rope decoration.
Boil the field peas in another pot for a few minutes. They will be used for garnish.
Simmer all the ingredients in the dashi for ten minutes, except for the field peas. Add seasonings of salt, sake, and mirin. Simmer for five more minutes. Turn off the heat and wait twenty minutes. The seasonings will soak in to make the nishime more delicious.
Finally, garnish the dish with the field peas.
Yoshiki Ishiguro
Yoshiki Ishiguro lives in Yokohama city, Japan. He enjoys classic home cooking, using ingredients that can be gotten at a supermarket. He thinks cooking is not difficult and that it is important to enjoy cooking and to have great meals.
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