Our next door neighbors' daughter is studying Japanese in middle school.
Her latest assignment was to cook a Japanese meal for her family, then
photograph the results. She wanted to make an udon soup, so she came
over to look for recipes in our cookbook collection. I'm the first to
admit that Japanese is low on my list of cookbooks, due to bad
experiences with early experiments in the cuisine. However, we found a
recipe for udon that involved poaching an egg in the broth.

Last night as I was making our dinner, the phone rang. "Cindy, Mom's
stuck in traffic and I've got to get dinner started. HELP!" I went
over to find one frazzled 14-year-old. We made the dashi broth from
scratch, something I'd never done before, and soaked the shiitake
mushrooms. She cut up the tofu, but found that the fish cake she'd
bought the night before was moldy. Luckily, her mother stopped by the
grocery store on the way home and picked up some surimi (fake crab) as a
substitute. We also loaned her some cheesecloth to strain the dashi,
and sake and dark soy sauce to finish off the dish.

After we had finished eating, the phone rang again. It was my student's
mother: "I'm bringing over some of this soup. It's wonderful!" And it
was. Dashi made from scratch is a whole lot better than the envelopes
of dashi-no-moto (think dashi bouillon) that turned me off 20+ years
ago. The soup was quite photogenic, which should make a good impression
on her Japanese teacher.

All in a day's work.
Cindy

--
C.J. Fuller

Delete the obvious to email me

Cindy Fuller wrote:

> [snip great story]

What a lucky kid to have such good parents and neighbors. -aem

"Cindy Fuller" > wrote in message
...
> Our next door neighbors' daughter is studying Japanese in middle school.
> Her latest assignment was to cook a Japanese meal for her family, then
> photograph the results. She wanted to make an udon soup, so she came
> over to look for recipes in our cookbook collection. I'm the first to
> admit that Japanese is low on my list of cookbooks, due to bad
> experiences with early experiments in the cuisine. However, we found a
> recipe for udon that involved poaching an egg in the broth.
>
> Last night as I was making our dinner, the phone rang. "Cindy, Mom's
> stuck in traffic and I've got to get dinner started. HELP!" I went
> over to find one frazzled 14-year-old. We made the dashi broth from
> scratch, something I'd never done before, and soaked the shiitake
> mushrooms. She cut up the tofu, but found that the fish cake she'd
> bought the night before was moldy. Luckily, her mother stopped by the
> grocery store on the way home and picked up some surimi (fake crab) as a
> substitute. We also loaned her some cheesecloth to strain the dashi,
> and sake and dark soy sauce to finish off the dish.
>
> After we had finished eating, the phone rang again. It was my student's
> mother: "I'm bringing over some of this soup. It's wonderful!" And it
> was. Dashi made from scratch is a whole lot better than the envelopes
> of dashi-no-moto (think dashi bouillon) that turned me off 20+ years
> ago. The soup was quite photogenic, which should make a good impression
> on her Japanese teacher.
>
> All in a day's work.
> Cindy
>
> --
> C.J. Fuller

Cool Neighbor

The next step...........................................

Yakitory! Uh Oh!

Dimitri wrote:
> "Cindy Fuller" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>Our next door neighbors' daughter is studying Japanese in middle school.
>>Her latest assignment was to cook a Japanese meal for her family, then
>>photograph the results. She wanted to make an udon soup, so she came
>>over to look for recipes in our cookbook collection. I'm the first to
>>admit that Japanese is low on my list of cookbooks, due to bad
>>experiences with early experiments in the cuisine. However, we found a
>>recipe for udon that involved poaching an egg in the broth.
>>
>>Last night as I was making our dinner, the phone rang. "Cindy, Mom's
>>stuck in traffic and I've got to get dinner started. HELP!" I went
>>over to find one frazzled 14-year-old. We made the dashi broth from
>>scratch, something I'd never done before, and soaked the shiitake
>>mushrooms. She cut up the tofu, but found that the fish cake she'd
>>bought the night before was moldy. Luckily, her mother stopped by the
>>grocery store on the way home and picked up some surimi (fake crab) as a
>>substitute. We also loaned her some cheesecloth to strain the dashi,
>>and sake and dark soy sauce to finish off the dish.
>>
>>After we had finished eating, the phone rang again. It was my student's
>>mother: "I'm bringing over some of this soup. It's wonderful!" And it
>>was. Dashi made from scratch is a whole lot better than the envelopes
>>of dashi-no-moto (think dashi bouillon) that turned me off 20+ years
>>ago. The soup was quite photogenic, which should make a good impression
>>on her Japanese teacher.
>>
>>All in a day's work.
>>Cindy
>>
>>--
>>C.J. Fuller
>
>
> Cool Neighbor
>
> The next step...........................................
>
> Yakitory! Uh Oh!
>
>
I was thinking okonomiyaki. It is definitely Japanese origin and easy
for kids to make.

Cindy Fuller > wrote:

>Our next door neighbors' daughter is studying Japanese in middle school.
>Her latest assignment was to cook a Japanese meal for her family, then
>photograph the results. She wanted to make an udon soup, so she came
That's pretty cool. I can't even imagine trying to learn Japanese.
We were, for a short time, acquainted with a Chinese couple. We never
really communicated all that well, but their food was great.

One time on Usenet, "aem" > said:
> Cindy Fuller wrote:
>
> > [snip great story]
>
> What a lucky kid to have such good parents and neighbors. -aem

My thoughts exactly... :-)

--
J.J. in WA ~ mom, vid gamer, novice cook ~
"You still haven't explained why the pool is
filled with elf blood." - Frylock, ATHF

Cindy Fuller wrote:

We made the dashi broth from
> scratch, something I'd never done before, and soaked the shiitake
> mushrooms.

>
> After we had finished eating, the phone rang again. It was my student's
> mother: "I'm bringing over some of this soup. It's wonderful!" And it
> was. Dashi made from scratch is a whole lot better than the envelopes
> of dashi-no-moto (think dashi bouillon) that turned me off 20+ years
> ago.


That was a nice thing you did. Now where's the recipe?

gloria p

Cindy Fuller wrote:

> Our next door neighbors' daughter is studying Japanese in middle school.
> Her latest assignment was to cook a Japanese meal for her family, then
> photograph the results. She wanted to make an udon soup, so she came
> over to look for recipes in our cookbook collection. I'm the first to
> admit that Japanese is low on my list of cookbooks, due to bad
> experiences with early experiments in the cuisine. However, we found a
> recipe for udon that involved poaching an egg in the broth.

Sorry but I just had an image of the girl taking a picture of her family
sitting there with their chopsticks and trying to eat the soup. :-)

In article >,
Puester > wrote:

> Cindy Fuller wrote:
>
> We made the dashi broth from
> > scratch, something I'd never done before, and soaked the shiitake
> > mushrooms.
>
> >
> > After we had finished eating, the phone rang again. It was my student's
> > mother: "I'm bringing over some of this soup. It's wonderful!" And it
> > was. Dashi made from scratch is a whole lot better than the envelopes
> > of dashi-no-moto (think dashi bouillon) that turned me off 20+ years
> > ago.
>
>
> That was a nice thing you did. Now where's the recipe?
>
Somehow I KNEW someone would ask. It's actually recipes. These are
from "The Noodle Shop Cookbook", by Jacki Passmore.

First you have to make dashi:

1 1/2 qt. cold water
1/4 oz. kombu seaweed
1/2 oz. dried bonito flakes (we used more like 1/4 oz.)

Place bonito and kombu in pot with water. Bring to boil; reduce heat
and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, then strain
through cheesecloth-lined sieve.

Now you put together the udon hot pot:

1 lb. dried udon
1/2 lb. boneless chicken breast
4 oz. semifirm tofu
2 oz. kamaboko (Japanese fish cake) or surimi
4 shiitake mushrooms, soaked 25 minutes if dried
8 small whole scallions
4 eggs
shichimi (Japanese pepper)
4 tempura shrimp (optional--we didn't use them)

broth:
the prepared dashi
1/4 c. tamari or light soy sauce
2 tsp. dark soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. mirin (we used sake and added a little more sugar)
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar

Bring 1 1/2 quarts water to boil. Add noodles; bring water back to
boil. Pour in 1 cup cold water and again bring to boil. Add another
cup cold water and bring back to boil. Cook 2 minutes, then test. Udon
should still be firm at this stage. Drain and cover with cold water.

Cut chicken, tofu, and kamaboko into 4 even-sized pieces. Set aside.
Cut greens of 2 scallions into thin slices and set aside. Diagonally
cut the remaining scallions into 3" pieces.

Bring broth ingredients to boil; reduce heat and keep warm. Divide
noodles evenly among 4 individual serving casseroles. Add chicken,
kamaboko, tofu, mushrooms, and scallion pieces to each casserole. Add
broth, cover and simmer 6-7 minutes. Can also be cooked in microwave on
high for 2 minutes or in 375° oven for 10 minutes.

Use chopsticks to make a depression in the center of the noodles. Break
an egg over each portion. Place tempura shrimp (if using) beside the
egg. Cover casseroles; cook another 2-3 minutes. Don't let egg become
too firm. Uncover, sprinkle on reserved scallion greens, and serve at
once.

My young neighbor is a pretty accomplished cook already, courtesy of her
mother. She and a friend cooked the entire Thanksgiving dinner by
themselves last year. Last summer I taught her how to make blackberry
crisp. Most of what I did yesterday was keep her calm and focused on
what she needed to do.

Cindy

--
C.J. Fuller

Delete the obvious to email me

Cindy Fuller wrote:
> In article >,
> Puester > wrote:

>>That was a nice thing you did. Now where's the recipe?
>>
>
> Somehow I KNEW someone would ask. It's actually recipes. These are
> from "The Noodle Shop Cookbook", by Jacki Passmore.
>

recipe snipped
>
> My young neighbor is a pretty accomplished cook already, courtesy of her
> mother. She and a friend cooked the entire Thanksgiving dinner by
> themselves last year. Last summer I taught her how to make blackberry
> crisp. Most of what I did yesterday was keep her calm and focused on
> what she needed to do.
>
> Cindy
>



Thanks.

gloria p

Cindy Fuller > wrote:

> Somehow I KNEW someone would ask. It's actually recipes. These are
> from "The Noodle Shop Cookbook", by Jacki Passmore.

Heck with the recipe -- I wanna see the pictures!

serene
--
http://serenejournal.livejournal.com
http://www.jhuger.com