My "old" oven in Tokyo when it was brand new. I gave it to a student when I left and now she uses it.
Since coming back to the U.S., I have tried not to take the advantages that I have living here for granted, but this one, having a "proper" oven, is one that I've so eased into that I'd forgotten that things were once quite different. You'd think that every time I make a big clay pot chicken that wouldn't fit in my Japanese oven that I'd remember what I once couldn't manage. But, no. Having two racks upon which to bake? I've totally taken that for granted already.
One of the values of reflecting back on my old posts is that I can consider whether I feel the way I thought I'd feel after I was no longer living in Japan, but this is one that makes me appreciate what I have now a bit more. Being able to bake essentially without limits is something I really do appreciate and I truly do not miss my tiny oven in Japan.
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I watch a few cooking channels on YouTube and it baffles me how tiny their ovens are! I could probably make due if I had to but the fact that I can't make my own pizza without splitting it into 2 personal sized pizzas is crazy!
ReplyDeleteI never could have made an American frozen pizza in our oven! I never even considered that! Japanese frozen pizza was tiny and I rarely ate it anyway as it was pretty horrible!
DeleteIt's healthier and tastier to make your own. The frozen stuff never tastes very good and my body pretty much rejects it shortly after consumption.
DeleteDamn right on this one. We had a fancy microwave which also had an "oven" mode, but the maximum temperature was something like 180 C. I found cheap pizza bases at gyomu suupa and made some half decent pizzas on a ceramic base, but 180 just isn't hot enough to cook the dough properly. Also they were pretty small, but I could only cook one at a time, so we'd eat one, then have to take a break while we waited for the next one to cook :)
DeleteAnd Japanese refrigerators and washing machines? Remember how 'small' these are?
ReplyDeleteHaving to buy veggies and fruits almost everyday at the local market meant these were always fresh and more tasty. And that you got to know some of your neighborhood merchants. And having to wash more loads of clothes because of the size of the washing machines.
Do you not miss those, too?
Ah, Richard. Those are in other posts! Wait for it... or look back for it. ;-)
DeleteI will say that I did like shopping more often and more easily for food, but the fruit and vegetables in Tokyo were not fresher and tastier. Because of the travel time, they tended to be older than things I buy at Costco now. When I bought grapes or apples in Japan, they'd "go bad" relatively fast because they were old at the time of purchase. Here, I'm shocked at how long fruit stays in good condition when refrigerated. I think it's because I live in an area in which food doesn't travel so far to reach me. I imagine that, if I still lived back in rural Pennsylvania, this might be different, or at least it would be for off-season fresh produce.
My girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, and I used to shop for food on the way home from work. Then we'd go home and make a meal together. It was a lovely and relaxing way to wind down at the end of a work day.
ReplyDeleteWe got fresh fuji apples from her uncle who owned an orchard in the Tohoku region of Japan. Talk about fresh and tasty! We used to make our own apple sauce and then use it like jam on toast. O-ishi-katta, ne!!
While I lacked your good fortune of having an in-law with an orchard, I also routinely made my own applesauce in Japan! It was much cheaper than buying it imported and, as far as I could see, it was not sold as unsweetened applesauce in any of the local markets. It was also surprisingly easy to make in the microwave.
DeleteThere are a lot of things that, even to this day, I make myself even in America because it's cheaper or I have extra food. One of the big ones is cottage cheese - I don't drink cow's milk and we buy two gallons at Costco which my husband drinks on his own. He can't get through it fast enough so I make cottage cheese - it's cheaper and has no added cream and fewer chemicals. I can also use it to make paneer cheaply. There are so many things which I was "pushed" to do due to the limits of life in Tokyo which I have come to appreciate having learned!
I admire your talent and patience to make your own foods. I lack both. But I do enjoy partaking of those which my wife, who loves to make and eat good things, makes for us.
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