*** Quoting Malte Schmidt from a message to Carol Shenkenberger ***

MS> [bread]
MS>> As far as I know th is funny enough not very normal (as a German I
MS>> must say, I am quite at loss to think of eating something else).
CS> This is true but other grains take it's place in Asia.  In the USA,
CS> bread can be good or horrible, depending.  A large percentage today
CS> are only familiar with store bought 'wonderbread' and it's like (asoft
CS> white one with little nutritional value but has some).

CS> Be not to afraid.  Many of us still make our own and the store stuff is
CS> for when we get lazy.

MS> That is very rarely the case here. Why should we make our own bread if
MS> bakery is only 300-500m away?! If you don't get good bread otherwise,
MS> is understandable though. :)

Well, the local bread is pretty bad to me and to most non-locals.  It;s got
¨this funny salty gummy flavor as if made with too much salt and
undercooked. ¨Our choices become make our own, or get frozen loafs of
'wonderbread' shipped ¨in from the states.  if you've heard of
'wonderbread', it isnt enhanced by ¨being pre-frozen.

I'm not saying my homebake would send you into reams of rapture, but my
¨neighbor Elise (German lady married to a USA man who's stationed here, now
¨speaks english pretty well) finds it quite acceptable.  I wouldnt be
afraid to ¨serve it to you or worry that you'd put it politely at the side
;-)

It's just fairly standard italian or french 'white', or with a little whole
¨wheat though we get fancy at times.

Finding flour other than white or 'wheat' here is difficult but we have a
¨supplier up in Fukuoka (1.5 hour train ride from Sasebo) and we stock up
there. ¨In fact, we are going there tomorrow but to fly out to Okinawa for
a vacation ¨and the return trip may not allow us to get a load unless we
decide to spend ¨the night there.  (We get back at 5pm which may be too
late to catch them open ¨once we pass all the checkout stuff).  Up there,
we can get rye and other ¨flours.


CS> When I go to sea, Charlotte makes the bread but Don (Daddy) has to put it
CS> in the machine as she's just a little too short to reach as of yet.  My
CS> only problem here in Japan is they dont make bread much so it's hard to
CS> get the right flours.  Elise (a friend of mine, from germany who lives
CS> here in the same building) gets the rye flour from Fukuoka.  We've both
CS> been looking for the right black-strap molassis but no perfect luck yet.
CS> We have one that works well enough but not optimal.  Japanese have little
CS> use for that so we have limited resources.

MS> Well, if I were in a different country I wouldn't mind doing it their
MS> most of the time. If I like to eat the rice they have all the time...
MS> fine. I find it more important to live their way of life at least to s
MS> extent. That is what being abroad is all about IMO.

Yes, and rice is a mainstay for us here.  But if you live abroad, you'll
find ¨some things you just 'want' and good bread is one of them. Rice at
home here is ¨made pretty much everyday, often 2-3 times in a day. I make
bread 2-3 times a ¨week but give loaves off to neighbors and friends all
the time.

You may not have known it, but we've been living in Japan for 5 years now. 
¨Well past any initial stages of 'living abroad in another land' and yes,
¨adaption to the land you move to is what it's all about.  Otherwise, it's
just ¨a waste.

My 12YO daughter can shop in any land i am sure unless they require price
¨bargaining (which isnt Japanese to do though there is something a bit
close ¨when you show a smaller pile of yen and indicate you need more of
something to ¨fit a dinner and they show you some alternative item).

Shopping here is actually alot of fun.  Live foods and such appeal to kids
if ¨introduced to the idea when young.  Live seafoods here are fantastic!

MS> Yeah, usually we don't have a great variety of rice here. The anologue
MS> white bread probably. :)

Thats ok.  Mostly we make 'calrose medium grain' and are just usig to
making it ¨different ways, just like you can probably come up with 50 or
more variations ¨just using white flour for a bread.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Xxcarol's Japan Cholula Rice
 Categories: Xxcarol, Fusion
      Yield: 8 Servings
 
      1 c  Medium grain rice, calrose
  2 1/2 c  Water
      2 ds Cholula hot sauce
 
  Cholula Hot Sauce is a mildish one from Mexico, with a distinctive
  round wodden ball shaped top.  It's not tobasco but is normally sold
  in the same area.  It lacks the vinigar base in any notable way that
  gives the tang of vinigar to so many hot sauces, but instead has a
  deeper richer chile roast flavor.  Excellent for cooking, it retains
  it's flavor well.
  
  Fusion cookery in Japan, lead to this being a preferred brand at the
  local Sasebo commisary.
  
  One excellent use is to flavor rice making water.  Just add 2 dashes
  to the water and cook as normal in your ricemaker.  If you want a
  milder product try just one dash then serve extra in the bottle at
  the table. You can also add butter to the rice at the table and the
  flavors will match well.
  
  From the Fusion Sasebo Japan kitch of:  xxcarol 4June2003
 
MMMMM
 
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Xxcarols Japan 'Rice Soup'
 Categories: Xxcarol, Soups, Japan
      Yield: 16 Servings
 
      2 qt Chicken stock
      3 c  Dry rice, calrose
    1/2 c  Chopped green onions
    1/2 c  Chopped bok choy (cabbage)
    1/2 c  Shrimp meats, deshelled
    1/2 c  Mussels or clams, deshelled
    1/4 c  Chopped squid
    1/4 c  Octopus chopped
    1/2 c  Shredded carrots
      2 oz Shredded dry nori (seaweed)
      1 tb Dry parsley
      1 ts Black pepper
 
  I've had this many times here in Japan but cant find the recipe typed
  up anyplace.  It's very close though to 'congee'. To serve this
  right, you need a metal or very thick pottery pot with a lid and
  several small bowls to serve it out in to each person.  Heat the pot
  by filling with hot water from the sink, and place the cover over it.
  
  Place all the ingredients in a soup pot and let boil for 10 mins, then
  serve in the preheated dinner pot.
  
  Add raw eggs to the dinner pot and let them cook in the liquid as
  you serve dinner.  How many is up to you, but 6 would be normal for a
  12 person dish.  As this is made to be served 8 people at a time,
  you'd add 4 and next meal, another 4.
  
  The meats are all pretty much precooked and all veggies are fine
  chopped or shredded.  The squid can be all just the left over
  tentacles and that is actually perfect for using them up.  If you do
  not have octopus, use more squid.  The reverse also works.
  
  Excellent place for any leftover seafood type as long as it is deboned
  first.  Little balls of Kamaboko (fish paste) work really well here.
  The key is lots of different things, not too much of any one.
  
  Optional additions run into the hundreds but these are good ones:
  Tofu in small cubes, mild white cheese added at the serving time
  (small chunks that melt in the almost boiling serving dish as the raw
  eggs cook), chili powder of choice at the serving table, edamame (soy
  beans, fresh), spinich.
  
  Serving suggestions:  With hard crusty bread, hot tea, and fresh
  cucumbers.
  
  From the Japan kitchen of:  xxcarol 23May2005
 
MMMMM
                                       xxcarol

--- Telegard v3.09.g2-sp4