Japanese Food Bites: Indulging in the Taste of Summer

Hello, my name is Gillian Garcia, a fourth-year Environmental Science student from Northeastern, and today I will be talking about Group A’s visit to Andoh-San’s!

Today we went to visit Andoh-San’s home in Setagaya. We all gathered in the lobby at 9:30 to set off on our adventure. Our journey by train was the longest we had taken so far during the trip, and we even had to transfer lines. Luckily, we were guided on our journey by Maria and Satoshi, part of the CIEE staff. I’ve tended to be pretty directionally challenged during the trip so far, so I was happy for the help. After our transfer, the train line was all above ground. I was excited to see the landscape passing by from the window. The first thing I noticed in Ikebukuro was the lack of trees, but on the train ride the farther we went the more greenery seemed to appear. The streets looked calmer and suburban. After getting off the train, we made a mandatory 7-11 stop to quench our thirst after the long and hot journey. I bought a peach jelly pouch and unsweetened green tea, two of my new food staples (second only to my beloved pocari sweat drink).

The sun was peeking out of the clouds for the first time since we arrived in Tokyo, and I could feel the difference in the heat. Luckily, I brought my trusty mini fan to cool me off during the walk. By the time we arrived at Andoh-San’s home I was still a sweaty mess, but what can you expect from a 7 dollar Amazon purchase… Andoh-San had already prepared a vibrant Washoku meal for us when we had arrived. We all took our places that Andoh-San set for us as she explained the structure of our day. First, we watched her cook miso soup. She explained her process behind making dashi by soaking the konbu in cold water, so that the flavor would be able to soak into the water, rather than remain trapped inside the konbu. She also showed us the many uses of sarashi cloth, from straining the konbu water to drying out tofu. After filling our bowls with soup and exactly 5 pieces of tofu, we began our meal. We started with one bite of rice, one sip of soup, and then whatever order we wanted. 

The dish consisted of a rice bowl with hijiki, pickled ginger, carrots, egg, lotus root, tofu and snap peas paired with sesame miso green beans, tofu, and miso soup. The dish exemplified the principles and philosophy of Washoku. My favorite part was the tofu with the wasabi and Andoh-San’s super sauce. I clearly spread the wasabi poorly, as during my first bite the spiceyness aggressively shot up to my sinuses. Following the meal we had a taste testing of some important ingredients in Japanese cuisine. We tried dark and light miso, two soy sauces with varying amounts of wheat in them, and an “untouched” vinegar and slightly “sluttier” vinegar as Andoh-San would say. We also got to suck on two different pieces of konbu to notice the slight differences. After the initial tasting we got to mix the ingredients together to create sauces to eat with cucumber slices. My favorite combination was the lighter miso and clear vinegar. It was the perfect balance of sweetness and sharpness. During our tasting, Andoh-San shared her knowledge about the ingredients, different food combinations and ways of cooking, and general information about washoku cooking. 

After returning from Andoh-San’s and getting lost trying to find a shaved ice restaurant, our group ended up at a cafe in Ikebukuro to start on our classwork. I was feeling adventurous and decided to get a kale brown sugar muffin for some brain food. I was slightly alarmed with just how green the inside was, but overall satisfied with my choice.

After getting a satisfying amount of work done, we finished off the day with a delicious Uyghur dinner of noodles, edamame, flatbread, and many, many peanuts.