Okonomiyaki: Mix it Up!!

Okonomiyaki is often described in English as a seafood pancake. While this little Osakan foodstuff may have started as only a seafood dish, the mixed nature of the ingredients lends itself to endless variations.

How does one make it? Let me show you:

First you start with your bowl of raw ingredients.  The base is usually one of cabbage, egg, flour and water, although traditionally grated Japanese mountain yam Nagaimo is used because of its viscosity and distinct ability to hold an okonomiyaki pancake together. The other ingredients are according to ones tastes—although I admit that my favorite combination was the tuna. Once you get your bowl of ingredients, you mix it up until everything is coated in a thin layer of the egg/flour/water combination. If you don’t coat the ingredients fully, you may end up with okonomiyaki pieces instead of pancakes.

Once you’ve mixed your ingredients into a satisfactory jumble, it’s time to grill them. With a griddle table like this, you spread the mixed ingredients on the table, give them an extra chop with the metal cooking spatulas, and then form your pancake.

But once you’ve finished grilling your okonomiyaki, the diversity doesn’t stop. Now you get to pick your toppings! Common toppings include okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise (the lighter Japanese kind), seaweed flakes, and thin fish flakes.

And even then, this is only one way to make okonomiyaki! Here and here are a few other ideas on how to make it if you’re interested.

But the reason I bring up okonomiyaki this month is because of the powerful nature of mixing things. Let me present to you two examples: Samurai Champloo and Star vs the Forces of Evil. Samurai Champloo is an Edo period samurai story that is blended with hip hop. It may sound like an aesthetic that’s impossible to achieve, but people said the same thing about chocolate and peanut butter.

The series opens with a title card that tells the viewer the story that follows won't be historically accurate, and then rewinds from a present day hip hop scene to the Edo period. From there, the viewer encounters many things they never would have during the Edo period, from little things like the addition of glasses to an old-school ronin samurai ensemble to big things like the inclusion of graffiti tagging culture and fighting styles that include breakdancing.

But aside from the initial statement that the story won’t be an accurate historical portrayal, the anime takes the experience a step further. When one is blending two things that wouldn’t usually go together, one has to think about every aspect. Since Samurai Champloo is a TV show, that means the creator gets to work with content, visuals, and music.

The Samurai Champloo soundtrack is chock-full of hip hop, this being one of the songs included. It’s ultimately the choice of soundtrack that I think works as the batter to hold the work together. It sets the mood and gives the viewer an expectation for the hip hop references and paraphernalia that appears throughout the story. Music can often be used this way. Take the opening for Star vs the Forces of Evil as an example.

Here’s a song about rainbows and puppies sung by a man for a children’s TV show. This is exactly the sort of amalgamation of pretty and powerful I’ve been looking for in children’s cartoons since Sailor Moon debuted in America when I was a kid. Although more subtle than the combination of Edo and hip hop, the combination of gendered items surrounding the main character of Star vs the Forces of Evil—characteristically named Star Butterfly—sends a powerful message about Star’s ability to be herself. Take a look at her room.

When she arrives on Earth to live with the normal, California-based Diaz family, Star works a little magic with her wand to create her own room in their house. What you’ll notice about the above screen captures of this room is the juxtaposition of “feminine” and “masculine” (we’re going to use quotes for those terms because items don’t actually ever connote gender)—a sword in her chest of stuffed animals and jewelry; posters hanging in one corner and weapons in the other; and, of course, the princess-like canopy bed and the morning star resting upon it. Star’s outfit is an amalgamation of things as well, combining a skirt with spiky shoes and a devil horns headband. In the very first episode, Star introduces herself as a princess who likes to fight monsters and tame wild unicorns.  The blend of masculine and feminine in the character of Star Butterfly is one of the most refreshing blends I’ve seen on TV in a while because it’s real: every person is a combination of traits our society has come to define as “masculine” or “feminine” when they’re really just “people-line.” Star doesn’t really need any batter to hold her together because she’s already so realistic, and her portrayal just helps us to break down the fake barriers between people our society created until we can accept her as normal—again, like peanut butter and chocolate.

I wonder if they have Reese’s Peanut Butter cups in Japan, because now I have one heck of a craving. Have fun mixing it up, everyone!

Pumpkins: Soup, Salad, and Ale

The month of Halloween is upon us, and all I have on my mind is pumpkins. However, the standard carving pumpkin is really a thing of myth here in Japan, despite the heavy party decorations. The only pumpkin my host family says is common in Japan is this little guy:

Meet kabocha, the little salad pumpkin of many edible uses. Eaten sliced and raw in salads, cooked and mashed into a savory-sweet paste, and even sliced and dipped in a light battering of tempura, these salad pumpkins, while delicious are NOT the sort of pumpkins I am used to eating—perhaps because it isn’t actually called a pumpkin in the United States. In the US, this little variant is actually called “kabocha squash,” which, when translated will redundantly read as “pumpkin squash.” There do seem to be a variety of recipes for the “kabocha squash” though:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kbrat89/what-the-hell-is-this-and-how-do-i-eat-it-f4yb#.cc6Rlkw22

You’ll notice that the paste I mentioned is on here, if not the raw and sliced option—but you’ll also notice quite a few more recipes than the ones I’ve encountered in Japanese cuisine.

In episode twenty one of Ouran High School Host Club, entitled "Until the Day it Becomes a Pumpkin!" or "Itsuka Kabocha ni naru Hi made" (いつかカボチャになる日まで), pumpkins are a bit of a versatile metaphor, highlighting just how shallow the symbolism of Jack O’ Lanterns and Halloween are in Japan. The title of the episode doesn’t refer to a Jack O’ Lantern, but to the carriage of Cinderella. It’s a complex metaphor for a situation that cannot last, and one that the show uses because of its connection to pumpkins and Jack O’ Lanterns.

Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage

The Jack O’ Lantern used as the symbolic pumpkin the carriage will turn back into

The difference between Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage and a Halloween Jack O’Lantern is not one that the show seems phased by in the least, however. This is because Jack O’ Lanterns are purely for decoration in Japan. There is no pumpkin carving to be done with your family, no trick or treating to be done, no need to dress up to avoid being pranked by ethereal beings that can only come into our world on Halloween night. Instead, Halloween is an excuse to scare your friends, test your courage, and dress up as your favorite anime character. And kabocha? That’s an everyday thing.

As for how we eat pumpkins in America… Oh, where to start? The pie, the spice lattes, the salted seeds, the soup? A few friends and I have a tradition of making pumpkin soup and also doing some pumpkin carving around Halloween. Of course, the pumpkins made for eating and the pumpkins made for carving are of completely different varieties! The gourds one enjoys putting faces on are good for little else than their lightly salted seeds, although apparently there is one type of pumpkin called a Baby Pam Sugar Pie pumpkin that is good for both carving and eating. For the most extensive list of pumpkin and winter squash varieties I’ve found yet, please click here—although you will be amused to notice that kabocha won’t be found on either list, perhaps because the author of this list was as unsure about which side of the list to put this gourd on as the rest of the US. The pumpkin my friends and I used for our soup last year was a Cinderella pumpkin.

In this shot you can see two Cinderella pumpkins and one standard carving pumpkin. Here’s what the pumpkin looked like when we were through with it:

At this point, it seems the versatile use of pumpkins to celebrate Halloween really must be an American custom. But perhaps our Halloween customs surrounding this specific gourd are just as appropriated as Japan’s are? After all, our version of Halloween was built up from the Celtic festival of Samhain, which was held on October 31^st. During this night, it was believed that the dead would return to the land of the living and walk the earth for one night. It was also a time in which faeries and spirits could easily transcend the barriers between their worlds and ours. It’s also where the earliest form of trick-or-treating may have developed, in the form of “mumming” or “guising” in which people would dress up as faeries and spirits and make a nuisance of themselves until placated by food and drink.

Aside from the faeries and the mumming, Samhain isn’t dissimilar to the Mexican Day of the Dead, which is celebrated on November 2^nd. In both of these festivals, it was customary to remember deceased loved ones and make offerings of food, drink, and other worldly items like flowers and trinkets. It’s a little more difficult to find media that represents these particular holidays in America and Japan but two very good examples are Folklore and The Book of Life.

Ellen talking to Scarecrow, whom one can identify as both ghost and faerie

Folklore was released in 2007 and is a Japanese Role Playing Game that sets itself in the island town of Doolin, Ireland. The game is essentially a murder mystery in which you must converse with the dead in order to finally lay the mystery of the town to rest. Ellen and Keats, the main characters of the game, gain their ability to enter the land of the dead and investigate the mystery during the festival of Samhain—and the Japanese development team must have done their research on the festival, because the Western influences in this game are apparent. I actually didn’t know the game had been produced in Japan until the credits were rolling and J-pop was playing instead of some Western or Celtic theme music. The food used as offerings during Samhain isn’t really covered, but there is a pub on the island where you can sometimes converse with ghosts.

Manolo as a child with his family, both living and deceased, on the Day of the Dead

The Book of Life is an American movie that came out in 2014 and was created by Mexican animator, writer, and director Jorge R. Gutiérrez. The story’s events center heavily around the Day of the Dead, following the young Manolo’s journey through death and rebirth after being tricked into letting a deity kill him. The movie deals heavily with themes such as familial ties, remembering those who have passed on, and whether it’s ever alright to kill or forget anyone. The only food we really see in the movie is the bread that is offered to the deceased on the Day of the Dead, but if you ever saw the film The Halloween Tree you know all about the candy skulls that are also available on this day. Both movies are completely devoid of pumpkins, however.

Which leads us to one conclusion!: The pumpkins are completely and utterly American.

Which, when you think about it, does make a modicum of sense. Pumpkins flourish in the Americas, especially in the area we now know as the United States. There is some hearsay that the first Jack O’ Lanterns were made out of turnips and potatoes by the Celts for Samhain, and that the traditional Jack O’ Lantern we’re familiar with today is a result of what happened when those people immigrated to Plymouth and found a better vegetable for carving—but even if this was the case, that would still make the traditional Jack O’ Lantern American. Growing pumpkins so well also explains why we’re so good at cooking pumpkins in America. So go grab yourself a Cinderella or Fairytale pumpkin and make yourself some of this delicious soup. It’s quick, easy, and sure to keep you and your friends warm on All Hallows’ Eve while watching your favorite spooky flick.

Oh, and I haven’t had a chance to try this one yet, but if you’re inclined to brew your own beer (or know someone who does), you might enjoy this Pumpkin Ale recipe. There’s a rumor that the Pilgrims made pumpkin beer out of persimmons, hops, maple sugar, and pumpkin. It sounds lovely, but I can’t find a recipe for it. Stick to the one I did find, or play with the rumored ingredients. Either way, let me know how it turns out. I’m looking at you, Portland!

Noodles From Tomorrow

Food. There are a lot of things we silly humans have in common, but a need to feed oneself is one of the most unifying. Although, depending on culture and available materials, what one consumes can be very different from what one’s neighbor does--an observation I would like all of you, dear readers, to remember applies not just to the food we’ll discuss here, but also to culture and media.

But back to what we have in common: Ramen.

Of course we would start with ramen. You laughed at the title of this blog, or you wouldn’t still be reading. You’re expecting noodles, and we’re all acquainted with this particular food whether as gourmets or college students who couldn’t afford anything else for dinner. American, European, Japanese, or Chinese (where the soup actually originated from, btw) we have our own versions of this soup. For an irrefutable example of this, please refer to episode 2 of Space Dandy, entitled "The Search for the Phantom Space Ramen, Baby" or "Maboroshi no Uchū Rāmen o Sagasu Jan yo" (幻の宇宙ラーメンを探すじゃんよ).

In all seriousness, though, this soup is so popular that Shinichiro Watanabe’s portrayal of a galactic ramen culture—complete with ramen bowl themed space stations that serve everything from strange blue globs to Fullmetal Alchemist puns in a bowl—doesn’t come off as far-fetched. Perhaps because the soup can be easily customized to suit many different palates.

Often thought of as a Japanese soup, ramen actually hails from China. Much like their writing system, Japan took the concept of this Chinese soup and modified it to suit themselves. This is why you’ll almost never see “ramen” written in hiregana--katakana is used for “foreign” words, and the name of this soup comes from China, which is why every banner and advertisement for ramen reads ラーメン.

An already modified soup lends itself well to continued modification. Let’s break it down shall we? What is ramen made of? Noodles, water, seasonings... anything else?

At its core, no. That’s it. That’s the essence of ramen. Simplistic, yes, but a fantastic foundation to build off of.

Slices of pork, a soft boiled egg, and three leaves of Nori seaweed plus a miso based soup broth are the key components of this particular ramen. With only these few modifications an adequate foodstuff is turned into a satisfying meal. Most ramen shops offer customers ways to customize their ramen, both on the menu and off. Usually, a ramen shop will ask customers to choose their broth base (the standard choices are miso, pork bone, and salt/soy sauce) and sometimes even noodle type (if you’re getting really fancy). But even after the ramen is served there are choices to be made! Restaurants often set out jars of seasonings, ranging from chilies to seasoned vegetables to Japanese pickles, that can be added to one’s ramen to further modify the flavor. This kind of ramen is a common breed in Japan, but not something that’s impossible to find outside of the country. For those of you on the West Coast who live in the Portland area, there is a particular ramen shop that may be of interest to you.

This is the Kakuni Ramen from Yuzu. Yuzu is a cozy little restaurant just outside Beaverton and definitely worth the trip--it’s native approved as you’ll often over hear bits of Japanese conversations when you enter, and will definitely be greeted by the hostess’s call of “Irasshaimase!” Be sure to go with someone who’s been before or have very specific directions (and definitely a reservation or time to wait if you’re taking more than three) because not only does the restaurant not have its name posted anywhere, it’s usually packed. Although everything on the menu is great (and I encourage you to try anything that calls to you) the real selling point of the Kakuni Ramen is that it’s made with pork belly. But don’t be fooled: this isn’t Portland’s spin on ramen! It’s a Japanese recipe, but still decadent enough to rival your go-to comfort food, so throw those ideas about all Japanese food being healthy right back out the window.

In fact, there are several instances of ramen being used like comfort food in manga and anime--let’s not forget how much energy Dandy put into finding the perfect bowl of space-ramen, or the story about being moved and comforted by the taste of ramen he was told by the ramen-making alien once he found it. However, one of my favorite, more mundane examples of ramen as comfort food is the way ramen is used in the manga What Did You Eat Yesterday.

What Did You Eat Yesterday is the story of Shiro and Kenji and the daily challenges they face as a middle aged gay couple in Japan, such as what to have for dinner. In this particular chapter, Kenji is spending the New Year alone because Shiro’s parents have asked him to come visit for the New Year. Normally, in a relationship as committed as Shiro’s and Kenji’s (cohabitating in the way that Shiro and Kenji do is the societal equivalent of marriage in Japanese gay culture since Japan doesn’t recognize gay marriage) when Shiro is invited home the invitation would extend to his spouse—but since Shiro’s partner is a man, both Kenji and Shiro are unsure if the invitation includes both of them, and Shiro ends up going home alone. One would expect poor Kenji to be sad. Instead he makes ramen for his New Year’s meal.

In Japan there’s a tradition of eating long soba noodles on the New Year to bring long life and good fortune. Before Shiro leaves for his parents’ house he offers to prepare toppings for Kenji’s New Year’s soba, but Kenji turns him down.

Here we see Kenji customizing his ramen just the way he likes it, showing off the versatility of this particular dish once again. But we also see him using it as a way to deal with Shiro’s absence. Since he can’t eat Shiro’s cooking on the New Year, and prepared toppings would only remind Kenji that Shiro can’t be there with him, Kenji takes the opportunity to cook and indulge himself in a meal he could never get from Shiro. The reason this is one of my favorite examples of ramen as comfort food is because Kenji took a potentially sad situation and turned it into an opportunity to really be with himself for a while.

In this sense, the New Year’s meal of ramen instead of soba seems like it will bring Kenji more luck because it’s helped him to stay confident about his relationship in the coming year.

And that’s why we all know ramen. It’s quick, it’s customizable, it’s comforting, and above all damn is it delicious. Try investing in some quality ramen noodles from a specialty store and making your own variations on this dish. Who knows, you might just create your new favorite meal!