A Taste of Japan

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post. So Very Sorry for that. I have opened and saved this post I don't know how many times. But just could never get it done. The boys have become more and more demanding of me and I am just exhausted by the time they are both in bed. Anyhoo, this post was really supposed to go up right after we got back from our trip back home for Christmas. . .

I don't know about your family, but we have two very small boys, ages 2 and 8 months. We decided to take a roadtrip home for Christmas (what were we thinking??) -- a 12 hour roadtrip on a good day with no kids in tow. Okie dokie. So, on said roadtrip, we partook in way too many fast foods, just stopping long enough to change diapers, let the 2 year old run around and feed the baby. Oh, and stuff our face with megaloads of grease and calories. When we returned, my husband and I craved healthy, non-greasy, simple, light food. Do you remember this post from way back? We decided to whip up a meal like that -- a typical Japanese meal. It was lovely. We had miso soup with shiitake mushrooms, tuna and salmon sashimi, Japanese rice, a cold tofu dish with fresh ginger and scallions, potstickers, and a fresh cucumber and red onion salad. Lots and lots of small plates. This was such a welcome change from the two days of fast food on the road.

Miso Soup
(Serves 2)

2 cups water
1/2 tsp powdered fish stock base (you can find this at an asian food store)
2 tbsp miso paste (currently I am using white miso paste) -- or more or less depending on your personal taste
1 green onion, sliced thinly
2 tbsp silken tofu, diced small
4 medium sized shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced thinly

Whisk miso paste and fish stock base into water. Bring to simmer. Let simmer about 5 minutes. Place sliced green onions and tofu and mushrooms into soup bowls. Pour hot soup over ingredients in bowls. Ready to eat!

For those of you that live in the Atlanta metro area, are you familiar with Super H Mart? It is a terrific Asian supermarket. There are a few locations in the Atlanta area; and I also just checked the website -- there are lots of other locations across the US. You can get wonderful fresh vegetables at very low prices as well as meat. They have fish that is super fresh and you can pick out what you want and they will clean it for you. Their sashimi grade fish is so delish! It is mostly Korean-based foods, but I have always been able to find whatever I needed for Japanese, Thai, and Chinese cooking.