We’ve been talking about how different it is to travel with Friendship Force, and stay in people’s homes, than it is to travel as a regular tourist. We feel we’ve experienced so much more of the culture and have had such deep and meaningful experiences here. Today was a good example.
Our host Yoshi’s brother-in-law Kimi, in his retirement, took up the hobby of making soba noodles. He became so good at it that he now teaches at a cooking school. (He also does amazing woodworking and wood carvings — another example of how the Japanese seem to never stop learning and exploring.) Today he came to Yoshie’s house to teach us. His wife, also an excellent cook, came to demonstrate making tempura (battered and deep-fried vegetables, fish, or meat). We’ve had a fair amount of tempura here, and have been amazed at the light yet crunchy texture — never heavy or greasy. No matter what’s inside the batter, it’s invariably delicious.
We were also joined by Debbie and Caroline, while the other half of the group went to a Japanese drumming show. Kimi arrived with a large pile of gear, including a chef’s outfit, a big wooden surface, a long skinny wooden rolling pin, a beautiful homemade box for holding the noodles before they were cooked, a wooden plank for holding the dough steady while cutting it, and a big-ass knife. He and his wife didn’t speak much English, but we were able to communicate through Yoshie and with Google Translate.
Kimi followed a very precise process of mixing, kneading, and
rolling the dough, with us attempting to follow him. We added water to the flour in four separate steps, mixing after each. Then it was time for a LOT of kneading. Once the dough because a smooth spherical ball, we shaped it into a round disc, then used a special rolling technique to transform this into a large, very thin square. When he thought it was ready, Kimi brought out two metal sticks 2 mm thick and set them on either side of the dough, then used the rolling pin to ensure that the dough was thinner than the sticks.
Kan pai!
The square of dough was then folded three times to form a stack of dough, and then it was time to cut. The trick is to make the noodles very thin. A wooden plank holds the dough steady, and you want just a little to peek out the edge to be cut with a very large knife. Then you tilt the knife very slightly against the plant to move it over just a tiny bit, and cut again, proceeding this way until all the noodles are cut. Our noodles weren’t quite as thin and uniform as Kimi’s, but we comforted ourselves that Yoshie and Misora didn’t really do any better.
Meanwhile, Kimi’s wife had been in the kitchen making tempura for hours. She cooked at least seven different types of vegetables — corn, carrots, eggplant, mushrooms, lotus, sweet potato, pea pods — and I’m probably forgetting some. Once the soba noodles were cooked, it was time for a feast. We each had a bowl of broth/sauce that we used for dipping our tempura and noodles in. Everything was delicious and as usual we ate way too much — especially when dessert came out. There was a fruit salad, and Yoshie (who’s taking an international cooking class) had made a tiramisu. Margaret and I had to go for a walk after lunch to work some of it off.
After what seemed no time at all, we were told that it was time to head off — for dinner. We’d been invited to another hosts’ home — the Togasakis’, where Joan and Annie were staying. There was not parking at their apartment, so we had to park at a nearby supermarket. Yoshie was kind enough to let us make a quick run in there, as I’ve been on a mission to find and buy Japanese KitKats, which come in myriad different flavors. (Why does the US have to
Toga was also an aspiring magician
survive on one measly KitKat variety?) This was Nadia’s particular request, as she remembered the ones I’d bought as stocking stuffers in an Asian store in New York City a few years back. I’d already bought some special edition Mount Fuji ones in Hakone that were blueberry cheesecake flavor (and declined to buy the sake and wasabi flavors). In the grocery store I found FIVE more varieties — matcha, caramel, milk tea, chocolate orange, and strawberry. I’d later find cookies and cream ones in the train station, bringing my haul to a total of seven flavors. (The airport also had cherry and banana, but at exorbitant prices.)
The party was lovely. In addition to us and the Togasaki’s, several other members came by. One of them brought his daughter, her niece, and grandchildren, so their was a big, 
cheerful crowd. The Togasakis had a grand piano (that I would estimate took up about 25% of the floor space in the apartment), and Toga and Mitch played throughout the evening. There was also an encore performance of the ukelele club, with everyone singing along. The member’s daughter performed a mini tea ceremony for us — her family has been doing them for generations — and people told funny stories. It was a great way to spend our second-to-last evening.
