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Contents
Posts
Childhood Food Memories – Bananas
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009It’s fascinating to me how different foods can bring back memories. I think that’s why I loved the book and movie “Like Water for Chocolate” so much.
Bananas will always remind me of specific times and people:
In Infancy: I distinctly remember the smell of banana baby food – it reminds me of being a very little child. Then when I was an older kid, I remember buying a jar of banana baby food with friends and eating it… a flood of memories came back – or more like the feeling of babyhood came back to me… I was there momentarily. Interestingly, I expected the banana baby food to taste great – I must have loved it as a baby – but it was gross!
In Childhood in General: When I was growing up, my mother fried sliced bananas in butter for breakfast sometimes and put them on the side with fried eggs – it was a major childhood treat. This is now one of my comfort foods I make on occasions to feel warm and loved! (My own children haven’t taken to the fried bananas too much.)
The Tween Years: I remember making chocolate coated bananas with those kits you’d buy in the store with my mother. The chocolate was artificial, but if was fun nevertheless!
The Teenage Years: When I was a teenager, my grandparents would stay with us in the summer for about a month every year. I remember my grandfather eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches. This will always remind me of him.
Late teens: In college I studied in France for a few months, in Chinese restaurants in France they serve a banana flambé dessert that’s just out of this world! Funny that I think of a Chinese restaurant dessert in connection to France! (Obviously, I have lots of other food memories in France. But I’m limiting this conversation to bananas!)
And no, I’m not a skinny person! Someone who has this many food memories is not bound to be skinny! ;)
Feel free to share any food memories you have in the comments below. I welcome hearing about how other people enjoy bananas (feel free to include recipes).
To fry bananas, you literally slice them and fry them in butter in a frying pan on low to medium heat until lightly brown on both sides. They get caramelized. Then serve.
I thought my mother’s version was a Spanish or Puerto Rican recipe from her friend, but when I looked around the internet, I saw that it’s very American. There seem to be different recipes for fried bananas around the world. The flambé version in France probably includes liquor.
Soon I’ll post some correspondence between Gloria and me about the German cuisine we remember growing up with – it may be interesting for any of you children and grandchildren of German immigrants.
Bon appetit!
Mama Lisa
Miso Soup Traditions
Sunday, May 24th, 2009I recently posted a recipe for miso soup that Ayako Egawa from Japan helped me with. When she saw the photo of the bowls and spoons I used to serve it with, she made this comment: "It is interesting you use a spoon for Miso soup, because we use chopsticks for it. And we usually put it in a deep bowl. But of course it is all right! It looks yummy!"
Ayako said (regarding the photo above): "This is my Miso soup bowl. Most Miso soup bowls have beautiful pictures and they have covers."
I said to Ayako: "That’s interesting that you eat miso soup with chopsticks. Do you drink the broth at the end? Here, in restaurants, we use big, deep spoons to eat it."
Ayako replied: "We drink the broth at the end by putting our mouths on the bowl. In Japan, it’s not against good manners to do that, especially when eating Japanese food such as Miso soup, Udon or Soba. We drink western soup with spoons. In some restaurants, Miso soup may taste better than ours at home. But the important point is that each family has its own tastes. Generally people in northern areas prefer red miso and ones in western areas, especially Kyoto areas prefer white miso. But it depends on each family. It’s interesting"
Thanks for sharing that with us Ayako! Very interesting!
Mama Lisa
Hat tip: Thanks also to Linda Austin of Cherry Blossom Memories for sharing her Miso traditions too. Linda’s Mom is from Japan. She wrote, "My mom insists on using red miso, someday I’ll try white."
Recipe for Miso Soup
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
Miso Soup is pretty quick and easy to make! I made it for the first time this past weekend. My whole family liked it, though my 7 year old daughter only ate the broth with rice (no seaweed!).
The one possibly tough part of making miso soup is finding the ingredients. I got mine at a Japanese specialty food store in a nearby town. The owner also gave me tips about making the soup! So it was an interesting trip. If you don’t have a store like this nearby, you can get the ingredients on the internet.
I made a large pot. So I’ll give you the quantities I used for the recipe. Then I’ll tell you how much you need to make a small quantity and you can double it or triple it or whatever you want. It’s good to learn how to adapt recipes to your own needs.
Here are the quantities I used to make a large pot of soup:
20 cups of water
5 cups of Dried Bonito Flakes (mackerel)
1 1/2 cups White Miso Paste
1/4 to 1/3 cup Dried Chopped Seaweed
1 to 3 bunches Thinly Sliced Scallions
1 (4 to 8 oz) package Cleaned White Mushrooms, Thinly Sliced (If desired)
1 to 2 (14 ounce) Packages Firm Tofu, Cubed
Salt to taste (you can also use a little sea salt if desired)First you make the Dashi which is the the broth for the soup. Ayako Egawa from Japan gave me instructions for making this. The rule of thumb is to use 2 cups of water to 1/2 cup dried bonito flakes (pictured below).
1. Here’s how you make the Dashi Broth:
Boil the water. Turn off the flame. Put dried bonito into the water and stir. Let sit for 10 minutes. Then you want to take out the bonito. You can do this by straining the broth through a colander and into another pot. I did the straining twice to get rid of all the bonito. Then you discard the bonito. The broth that’s left is the Dashi.*
2. Put the broth in the pot back on the stovetop and warm it up on a medium to medium-high flame. But do not boil it – especially after the miso has been added. Many people believe boiling miso ruins its beneficial health effects.
3. Add the miso paste (the rule of thumb is 1 Tablespoon of miso paste per 1 cup of water.) Stir in the miso paste to dissolve. Add the other ingredients (feel free to leave out any if you don’t like them). Note: I used the seaweed in the photo below – a little goes a long way! I originally put in 1/2 cup and you can see how much is in the bowl at the bottom. That’s why I changed the amount in the recipe to 1/4 to 1/3 cup. (I think a rule of thumb would be about 1 teaspoon dried seaweed per 1 – 2 cups of water. I would start with less, you can always add more!)
You can adjust the amounts of the mushrooms, tofu, scallions and seaweed used to suit your family’s taste. (Some people even put in carrots, buckwheat noodles and even a little sesame oil and soy sauce.) We wanted a lot of scallions – and I think it added flavor to the broth. Whatever you choose, simply warm up the final ingredients, add salt to taste, and voila, it’s ready to eat!
*FYI Ayako and the man in the Japanese food store both pointed out that you can alternatively make the Dashi (broth) by using Dashi powder – but the versions of Dashi powder that I found had MSG in it. That’s why I made it with the Dried Bonito Flakes instead. The man in the store insisted that restaurants use the powder, making me wonder if we’re eating MSG when we have miso soup in some restaurants. I guess that’s all the more reason to learn to make it yourself! This way you know exactly what’s in it!
Many thanks to Ayako Egawa for teaching me how to make dashi!
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
PS Here’s "The Miso Soup Song" – a Korean Folk Song
UPDATE: Check out this later post to learn about some Miso Soup Traditions!
Taiyaki – A Japanese Sweet
Sunday, April 5th, 2009
I think it’s interesting to learn about different foods eaten around the world. Here’s one that’s eaten in Japan. Ayako Egawa shared this photo with me, with the note:
This is a fish shaped sweet called “Taiyaki”. It’s a popular sweet in Japan. Usually Azuki (red bean) paste is stuffed inside it. But this one has custard cream inside of it. It’s yummy!
Thanks for sharing that with us Ayako!
Bunny Bento
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009Check out this post for making bunny bento. What’s bento? A Japanese lunchbox!
You can buy Japanese Bento Boxes at:
Ayako Egawa wrote from Japan: “Hi Lisa, bunny bento, which is the cutting style of an apple, is very popular in Japan in lunchboxes!”
A couple of days later, Ayako wrote to me: “Hi Lisa, those are my bunnies! (See photo below.) I put them in my lunchbox today.”
Thanks for sharing that with us Ayako!
-Mama Lisa
Fun Sweet “Sushi” to Make for Kids
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
Yuta, Yoji and Miki made this awesome “sushi” for a school birthday party. It’s made out of homemade rice crispy treats, gummy fish and fruit roll-ups. How cute and cool!
The one question everyone’s asking is: How did they get the rice crispy treats to be soooo pure white? Any ideas? If so, please let us know in the comments below! (I also wonder where you get the faux lacquer boxes?)
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
It’s Berry Wonderful News
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
If you like berries like I do, you’ll be berry happy to hear yet another report extolling their healthy benefits – especially raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and elderberries. They’re good for you fresh or frozen. So, however you have them, eat those berries and make sure your family gets them too!
Avocado Smoothie from the Philippines
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008Nep, from the Philippines, gave me this recipe. She told me that it’s very popular in her home country.
It’s very easy to make this drink and you can adjust it to your family’s taste. It’s a quick way to introduce children to cuisine from another country. My kids liked it and they wanted more!
All you need is one Hass avocado per glass of smoothie. These are the smaller, darker avocados. You’ll also need milk or condensed milk (Nep makes it with milk, but on further research I noticed that some Filipinos make it with condensed milk), and sugar to taste.
Some people add ice to make it like a shake.
Add all of the ingredients in a blender and mix well. Again you can make it the consistency you desire. This drink is very changeable to individual taste. I made ours on the thinner side with skim milk – though it was still a thick drink because of the avocados consistency.
Below you can see the photo of how thick it was before I added a lot more milk…
You can chill it if desired before drinking. We had ours at room temperature and it was delish!
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
Note: The Travelers Lunchbox optionally adds any of the following to this drink: a few drops of orange extract, some vanilla, rum or coffee. The orange extract sounds the most interesting to me!
Do Italians from Italy Cook Onions and Garlic Together in the Same Pot?
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008I was just watching a cooking video of Mark Bittman from the New York Times. He mentioned how he was cooking once with an Italian who told him that they don’t cook garlic and onions together in the same pan in Italy. This surprised him. This surprised me!
I grew up cooking garlic and onions together as the first step in my Italian tomato sauce. This was how my Italian grandmother taught it to my mother. It’s how my mother taught it to me. I assume it’s how my grandmother’s mother from Italy taught her to make it. Any Italians from Italy like to let us know if they cook onions and garlic together in the same pot? Feel free to comment below.
Btw Bittman seemed reluctant to believe it and so am I!
-Mama Lisa
Symbolic Foods Eaten Around the World for New Years
Saturday, December 29th, 2007In many parts of the world, the foods eaten on New Years Eve and New Years Day have important symbolic meanings. These symbols seem to fall into several major categories.
The first class symbolizes financial prosperity. This type of food is round like coins. Often, the dish will be round beans, like lentils, that will expand when it cooks, symbolizing expanding fortunes. Another financial symbol is food with big green leaves, representing paper money. The green may also be for growth. Foods like this are cabbage, collard greens and kale. Golden colored foods are also good for financial rewards in the New Year.
The second type of New Years food symbol represents the hope of having food on the table throughout the year. Pork is one important symbol of eating well year round. It’s also a sign of prosperity. In the olden times, if your family had a pig, you were doing well!
In some countries, actually having food on your table and/or plates at the stroke of midnight is a sign that you’ll have food throughout the year.
A third symbol involves eating sweet food in order to have a sweet year. In some countries people bake a coin in a sweet cake and the person who gets the coin will have good luck throughout the year. In Spain, Portugal, and parts of South and Central America, 12 sweet grapes, one for each month of the year, are eaten at midnight. The hope is to eat 12 sweet grapes to have 12 sweet months!
Fish is thought to symbolize good luck in many countries.
Another symbol for good luck involves eating food in a ring shape – like doughnuts or ring shaped cakes. This represents coming full circle to successfully complete the year – that’s good luck.
In Japan, long Buckwheat Soba noodles symbolize long life. Just don’t break them while you’re eating them!
Here’s a list of some symbolic food types and the places where they’re eaten for the New Year. Feel free to let us know what’s eaten for New Years in your country, in the comments below.
Round Food (Like Coins for Monetary Luck)
Italy, Brazil & Germany (Lentils)
Germany (Pancakes)
Philippines (Round Fruit)
Southern US (Black-eyed Peas)Green Leafy Vegetables (Like Paper Money for Monetary Luck)
Southern USA (Collard Greens & Turnips)
Denmark (Kale)
Germany (Sauerkraut)Golden Food (Like Gold for Monetary Luck)
Southern USA (Corn Bread)
Pig (Symbol of Plentiful Food in the New Year)
Hungary (Roast suckling pig with a 4 leaf clover in its mouth)
Italy (Cotechino con lenticchie – pork sausage with lentils)
Germany (Kassler mit Sauerkraut – financial luck)
Pennsylvania Dutch (USA – Pork with Sauerkraut)
Austria
ChinaFood on the Table or Plate at Midnight (Symbol of Plentiful Food in the New Year)
Germany
PhilippinesSweets (Symbolic of a Sweet Year or Good Luck)
Hungary (Doughnuts)
Greece (Round cake called Vasilopita – made with a coin baked inside – whoever gets the coin is lucky throughout the year)
Israel (Jewish New Year – Apple dipped in honey & grapes)
India
Egypt (Candy for kids)
Korea (Sweet Fruits)
Norway (Rice Pudding with an almond inside – good luck to the one who gets the almond)12 Grapes at Midnight (Symbolizing 12 Sweet Months)
Spain
Portugal
Mexico
Cuba
Ecuador
PeruRing Shaped Food (Good Luck)
Mexico (Rosca de Reyes – Luck)
Netherlands (Olie Bollen – Doughnut)Fish (Symbol of Good Luck)
Germany (Herring & Carp)
Poland (Pickled Herring)
Denmark (Boiled Cod)
Italy (Dried Salted Cod)
Japan (Red Snapper – Pink is a lucky color)
Vietnam (Carp)
China
Sweden (Seafood Salad)A Happy, Lucky and Prosperous New Year to All of You!
Mama Lisa
Many thanks to Ed Gawlinski for pointing out that they eat lentils in Italy for the New Year, which lead me on this long quest that resulted in this discussion!
Yuan Xiao and the Lantern Festival in China
Monday, April 16th, 2007
Yuan Xiao is a traditional food for the Lantern Festival in China. The Lantern Festival is at the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations. People go outside with lanterns, watch the dragon dance, set off firecrackers, and they eat Yuan Xiao. (Yuan Xiao is also called Tang Yuan.)
There’s a sweet version and a salty one. The sweet version is made of sticky rice wrapped around black jasmine, white jasmine or peanuts with sugar. Sometimes there’s something else like fruit inside.
Recently, Hanchao, a woman from China who lives in my neighborhood, treated me to a luncheon that featured Yuan Xiao. Xuemei (also from China) was there, as was Rae from Taiwan.
Hanchao made Yuan Xiao with black sesame paste, and Xuemei made it with red beans. Both were wonderful to taste!
I mentioned how I would love to share the recipe for Yuan Xiao with my readers.
The ladies told me they don’t have cookbooks in China like we have in the West. Recipes are passed on from mother to daughter, from sister to brother and from friend to friend. They were amazed at how we have such precise measurements in our recipes and how we can duplicate the exact same recipe each time. They teach each other recipes by cooking the meal together.
Hanchao said she would try to write down her recipe for us. Here is what she sent me…
Hanchao’s Yuan Xiao Recipe
3 cups sticky rice flour
1 1/2 cups chopped black sesame seeds
1/2 cup sugarThe black sesame seeds that I bought were fresh. You can put the sesame seeds on a cookie sheet in the oven on 375 F. Stir a few times while cooking. Cook until it tastes good – about 30 minutes.
Mix chopped sesame with sugar in a blender until smooth. This is the filling. Set aside.
Put 1 – 2 cups of water into the sticky rice flour and mix to make the dough. You can use up to a total of 3 cups of water. Add the water slowly, because if you add to much, it will be too gooey – in which case you can add more flour. You want it to be smooth like pie dough or playdough.
Shape the dough of the sticky rice into half balls, put a teaspoonful of filling into the half ball. Close the half ball to form a full round ball and smooth out it by rolling it between your hands.
Put the Yuan Xiao into boiling water. Cook until all the Yuan Xiao float on the surface of the water. Cook for 30-60 minutes. Serve in the water it’s cooked in, like a soup.
Some people will serve Yuan Xiao in a sweetened broth. I asked Hanchao about this and she said she only uses water.
Yuan Xiao (Tang Yuan) are a symbol of family unity and happiness. People serve them to their family on the last day of the Chinese New Year celebration. It’s a symbol that the family will be happy and complete in the upcoming year.
Many thanks to Hanchao for sharing her recipe for Yuan Xiao with us!
Here are some links for other recipes:
Taiwanese Tang Yuan in an Egg Drop Soup
A Recipe for Pork Tong Yuen and one for Black Sesame Seed Paste Tong Yuen
Recipe for Glutinous Rice Balls with Salted Egg Yolk and Peanut Filling
Sushi Kids
Monday, February 26th, 2007I’ve noticed that kids many kids now like sushi. At least the vegetarian type you find in New York. Here you can get Avocado Rolls, California Rolls (made with avocados and imitation crab meat) and Kappa Maki (Cucumber Rolls). One of my daughter’s friends loves sushi so much, she told me she wants it on her birthday cake!
I think Japanese restaurants should get more creative about making meals specially for kids. They can take a page from the book of Japanese Moms. Check out how they decorate their sushi for their children’s lunch boxes!
If you’d like to see more of these pictures, you can visit Devon’s blog at Head, Shoulders, Knees and All That for a sampling of what Japanese children eat for lunch. They look yummy and funny!
________
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