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Japanese Hot Springs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Japan also has a host of hot springs due to the high geothermal activity. This geothermal activity also aids in making many portions of Japan to have highly fertile soil, as such the cultivation of plants and trees – like the Bonsai tree – are a critical part of Japanese traditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japanese Culture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Japanese culture is thriving and dynamic, and has developed so well that the population continues to multiply. Since the beginning of Japan\u2019s modern era \u2013 the Meiji Period beginning in 1868 \u2013 its population has grown from 35 million to 127 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we think of Japanese tradition, we usually think of the Samurai period (at least I do) and imagine a warrior training with a variety of fascinating weapons <\/a>against a scene of cherry blossoms on an idyllic countryside. I\u2019m a sucker for any film that Hans Zimmer<\/a> has touched, so our playlist for the evening will briefly include The Last Samurai<\/em> OST \/ Spectres in the Fog<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Just a few years ago, Japan entered what\u2019s referred to as the Reiwa Period (2019-present) when Emperor Akihito abdicated the throne to his son, Naruhito. Emperor Akihito had reigned for over 30 years. The United States and Japan currently have a very strong relationship (though we can\u2019t ignore the times when they didn\u2019t), and Japan has the third largest economy behind the US and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Japanese culture and traditions have a significant role in American Culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another deep Japanese tradition is its food, which we will explore throughout this evening. Sushi is one of our go-to date nights around here, and even Neil has been known to mow down on some Sashimi Salmon. See below <\/strong>as the kiddos try their hand at rolling their own sushi. Keeping in mind that we have never done this before, I don\u2019t think it turned out so bad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We dove into the rich history of Japanese food – both traditional and modern. The traditional Japanese diet includes lots of seafood, soy products, rice, noodles, seaweed, fruits and vegetables. It is a very healthy and whole-foods based diet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Credit: Lucia Capretti, Tasting Table<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Modern, popular Japanese culture includes many of these staples in its dishes today, but with a few more fried options. Some of the most popular Japanese dishes include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n This week, we went on a field trip with the kids to our biggest local international market, Saraga. We went on Sunday afternoon and wow – I haven\u2019t seen crowds like that in approximately 2 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Past the crowds, though, Saraga is unbelievable. We first walked into the produce section, and the kids were wide-eyed. The fruits and vegetables were beautiful and plentiful – including so many familiar varieties, but also many new treats. Even though we were there for Japanese night, we picked up two different types of plantains – the kids are obsessed with bananas – and they just couldn\u2019t help it when they saw the cute little mini bananas on the shelves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Saraga\u2019s aisles are broken down by either region or country. We were lucky this week to find a full aisle devoted to Japanese pantry foods. We picked up: <\/p>\n\n\n\n All my Indianapolis friends definitely need to check this place out – Saraga Indy<\/a> – they are promising another location to open spring of 2022. We are stoked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is also a Saraga location in Columbus, Ohio that was featured in Bon Appetit<\/a> – so cool! <\/p>\n\n\n\n For our Japanese night, we decided to make a seemingly aggressive, yet surprisingly simple menu (maybe because half of these items were premade):<\/p>\n\n\n\n This week I discovered Chopstick Chronicles<\/a> – and was drooling at every single recipe. I highly recommend this site if you want to try your hand at some authentic Japanese food. She has posts on how to make sushi rice the authentic way, how to make miso, and so many other tips on how to get started with Japanese cooking, as well as some amazing more advanced recipes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We decided to try her Okonomiyaki<\/a>, which is a savory Japanese pancake. There are many different versions of this Japanese staple, but this one is from the Osana region and includes flour, cabbage, and scallions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We cheated just a little bit and used pre-made Okonomiyaki mix (it\u2019s okay, Chopstick Chronicles said we could!) which we found at our small local Asian market. Saraga is amazing, but the boys were going so crazy there that I had to make a separate trip where I could focus by myself. We also bottled Okonomi sauce instead of trying to make it, although again, Chopstick Chronicles does have the sauce as part of her recipe if you are feeling more adventurous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n See the frozen gyoza steaming next to the Okonomiyaki? Ignore my too-small lid for the pan, please. For the Okonomiyaki, I will admit, I used way too much cabbage and not enough flour. I honestly just guessed a bit instead of following her recipe. Don’t make my mistake – just convert from grams to cups<\/a>, it\u2019s not that hard! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Either way, these turned out great! We topped them with pickled ginger and sauce, but you can add seaweed, tempura flakes, and lots of other toppings! We kept it simple here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Neil took a big hunk of the pickled ginger, not knowing how it tasted but just excited by the bright pink color. It was hilarious watching his expression as he experienced this new food. Not a big fan, it mostly went in the trash. Some Japanese food is acquired taste, I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a ton of recipes online to make miso soup, but I\u2019m going to give you my secret, easiest recipe in the whole wide world. It probably doesn\u2019t taste AS great as many of the more complicated recipes you can find out there, but I really enjoyed this one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here goes, are you ready? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Boil water. Add miso paste. Stir. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s it. For real. We threw in a few green onions to the boiling water as well, and you could add tofu as well if you\u2019re feeling extra fancy. I will now be making this all the time now that I have my own miso paste and also my own water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We used brown miso paste for this recipe. After reading into it further, most home recipes suggest using white, yellow or red, as these have a bit milder flavors. Next time, I\u2019m going to try the awase miso, which is a mix of white and red and apparently very versatile. However, brown was delicious and had a stronger flavor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a whole Master Class<\/a> on types of miso and how to use them, if you just can\u2019t get enough of the miso talk. There is just so much to the world of Japanese food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The sushi rolling, the main event. I think this was our favorite Worldly Wednesday activity we\u2019ve done so far, the kids were so into it. They just kept picking up pieces of raw fish and devouring them, I couldn\u2019t believe my eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It looks like Katsumi\u2019s<\/a> now offers Japanese Street Food classes, Ramen Noodle classes, and others \u2013 so we will definitely be heading back soon. I cannot recommend this enough to my friends in Indianapolis – and it looks like she also provides some Zoom classes as well! Check her out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyway, we had a little bit of background in sushi rolling before this evening, so we pretty much made this up on our own. Anyone can do it, no experience required! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Note Neil wearing his Crouching Tigers shirts – he is in a martial arts class at school, and we explained to him that his class – taught by \u201cSensei Zo\u201d – is Japanese. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sam, our 2 year old, was a bit skeptical at first, but ended up loving it – especially the salmon! <\/p>\n\n\n\n We picked up some fun flavors of mochi at our local Asian market. Have you ever tried mochi before? I first picked it up at Trader Joe\u2019s and was instantly hooked! Mochi are Japanese rice cakes with a nice cream filling. You can find them in most grocery stores now in your freezer\/ice cream section (some Whole Foods stores even have a big separate buffet-style display for mochi now!) and they come in so many different flavors. Never forget that Japanese food includes wonderful desserts! <\/p>\n\n\n\nJapanese foods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Japanese](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/qlt2FTC9KBC_7NB0mdqNI-uEDA5gKLOSGnEYdAMeyvSJd_qaLpj-1Vj0U6LNoB68G4N7oPI9t0TxRAtzMNwLcc90G3PnKsE5P8rQjPMxiSVIPbRhmrOLMrVB3LbYJJc4BaT_YhCo\")
![\"100](\"https:\/\/cdn.tasteatlas.com\/images\/dishes\/b6b9680a32c84a9381a1ea5f5e529698.jpg?mw=1300\")
A visit to our International Market<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Saraga](\"https:\/\/assets.bonappetit.com\/photos\/5b10358297f7211dae4482ea\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/saraga-international-grocery-rice-noodles.jpg\")
Our Japanese Menu<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Japanese Okonomiyaki Recipe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Okonomiyaki](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/CUwV0pWT16VcV5q7iKFvY8Y4MCXMxNa3WFaxVdxicad57JpL91f3ldYGPYREltQq5_rwICmcWGBs-i4hbhoI2YlurllEbh7qrXY0azYVwFuIybA9VJpmUhhAi5z_EXE5z7MivqVK\")
![\"Okonomiyaki](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/Y6X7aKNwxIiW_rinvP5-WmSj9jIuWYQDOKqwQDAL0oSgij4BPLPI4tJURCigiEIw6DAfRnYS-49JQCQAa7hUEs2cylHAzBnp0e7aRlyCa-vvep6QYa_tveBgiLbyM4IjIBd06cxW\")
![\"Okonomiyaki](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/2wnK-rgr4RmT3xXtKfvfAf-t9HPz3-GZgHQ9dHy9eu54Ed3ljZzfUB2J5jCnSJIxtMD9RJtazmBpyiGQeF4jp3wTrPiiVuyRF9UPUK5Po6-2w7cLR2Yqa6Ctba4uFH9tbwgYdROY\")
Miso Soup: The Easiest Recipe Ever<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Miso](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/Rcvtm5YP8J10kf6zzb4j17IVY6RuxTDlHo_zgKeiDs-4UnoeCVRiAuwb4fxVMkGTUMjD47kFIoV-ARf6RdwoZDoKn4EEah4nZFsRfsIiwexmngCq-Ly8AanEiXgk91JaPj14X7yP\")
DIY Sushi Rolling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For a bit of background, Andrew kidnapped me on my 30th birthday and took me to Katsumi\u2019s Teaching Kitchen<\/a> for an Intro to Sushi Making Class. It was one of the best experiences I\u2019ve ever had. Mori, the instructor, is hilarious and engaging, and she made Japanese cooking so accessible to the rest of us. We made a salad, spring rolls, sushi, and a boxed cake in the rice cooker that was one of the best desserts I\u2019ve ever tasted. She also taught us the importance of buying rice at Asian markets rather than American grocery stores – what a difference! <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Katsumi's](\"https:\/\/static.mywebsites360.com\/eb5b550408054140bec6cde013c3cae7\/i\/d930ba940cf84da4bf763b8cc6a5beac\/1\/4SoifmQp45JMgBnHndfLg\/2-Img-2.png\")
Roll your own Sushi at Home!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/worldlywednesday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/image-3-1024x768.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Sushi](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/jKAsr2CCZGakChlK9fDvCGMA8ieX7B609tXzQ3iHJzqc9OYbY-raWJXvin3nAGmMsb4KHxU3b19fEdaPdIoKLnFZtES7a7MpCe3plJdpzH3l6shW2mAjsmZ2qE_BXAnJ7w8vvPng\")
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Sushi](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/AtGgMGfRJhXvIU136dnJ_6QtTeYwela3IeheJ9OoVDt7VfHxeLaE-DDW54CA7JXntKdjUvRxUXHbc74TvNIZJiK_bJkU6csojNw0KN34f9QECvW5_Re5mUc6wyxNhoWEclxojoML\")
Japanese Desserts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"photo](\"https:\/\/kirbiecravings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/mochi-ice-cream-033.jpg\")