CDG-NGO with JAL in C

This is a photo record of a rehabilitation trip I took. Thanks to an offer with Air France, I was able to use miles I had to get award flights to Nagoya at a phenomenal discount. I knew that staying, eating and travelling in Japan can be very cheap (especially if one forgoes the JR Rail pass) and realised I could afford to spend two weeks in Japan despite my precarious finances. It's also a country where I feel very safe, perfect after a year in bed when your confidence is still rock bottom.
I stayed at the Sheraton Miyako in Osaka for US$30 a night, the Raizan Kitakan cost 2,100yen a night and the Okayama International Villa on Shiraishi Island cost 3,000yen a night for a room of my own (if you share a room it's 2,5000yen a night). My food and drink budget was 2,000yen a day. To avoid foie gras on the JL flight I had to order a 'special' seafood menu, it was the same food you get in Economy class but presented with a little more finesse. It wasn't particularly good - the little onigiri set I bought from a service station on my budget 1,900yen coach trip to Osaka was much better. The actual service on the CDG-NGO flight in Business WAS fantastic, I was made to feel like a rock star. However, the service on the return flight in Economy was every bit as good. I like to sleep on the way to Japan and remain awake on the flight back, so even though there was no Business class availability for the return trip, the arrangement suited me very well. The Economy seat was actually a little more comfortable in the upright position than the other seat was (but my opinion is skewed by fearsome sciatica and a bad back). I had my own noise-reducing headphones which let me sit back and enjoy the films and both flights were amongst the nicest I've ever had. The crew on both legs were really exceptional!

SQ A380 at LHR

Web@ward trip. LHR-CDG-NGO with AF/JL

Bento - Tuna & Courgette Ribbons with Douban Jiang

Economical Bento filler to eat with rice.
Time required: 1 hour
Total cooking/preparation time: 5-10 minutes

Cut 2 or 3 slim courgettes/zuchini into ribbons using a potato peeler (or Dutch style cheese slicer).
Put the ribbons in a colander and coat them in a few teaspoons of salt. Leave them to drain for 30 minutes to an hour.
Boil a pot of water and add the drained courgette ribbons. Boil for 1 minute (careful not to boil for longer as the courgettes will get mushy).
Empty the courgettes into a colander and rinse/refresh with cold water, leave to drain thoroughly.

Alternatively: Cut and salt cucumber in the same way and leave to leach for an hour. Rinse and drain thoroughly. No need to boil.

Drain a can of tuna.

In a bowl, mix together 1 or 2 teaspoons of douban jiang, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 of hondashi (optional), 1 of sesame oil. If you have some, add a teaspoon of powdered/flaked bonito (katsuo boshi).

Combine together the drained courgette ribbons, the tuna and the douban jiang sauce.

Add to Bento box with generous portion of cooked rice.

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Notes on Douban Jiang

This is a classic condiment used in Sichuan cooking made of fermented broad beans and chilli. Alhough it's well known in Japan (being an important ingredient in Mabo Doufu/Mapo Dofu) where premium versions of this condiment are available, it's not so easy to find in the UK. The Cantonese name for this condiment is Toban Djang. An acceptable version of this sauce is made by Lee Kum Kee under the label Chilli Bean Paste (on my jar, Toban Djang is barely visible in the label's small print). This seems to be the simplest to find.

If you do get your hands on authentic douban jiang, consider frying it for 30 seconds or so before using it. And if you get the really good stuff, you may need to chop it into a paste yourself.
Do be wary of douban jiang that does not include broad beans/fava beans in the list of ingredients.

Best I've found in London has been at Seewoo, Lisle Street
You can see it on this web page
Under the name TAI WONG PI-XAIN FERMENTED BROAD BEAN PASTE
The wicker basket contains two soft plastic packs of the sauce and costs GBP2.25. This is superior in every way to the Lee Kum Kee version and considerably less salty. Highly recommended.

Okonomiyaki with konnyaku

Sweets I've enjoyed

Jujube Bread

I'm a big fan of Samhwa Hanyan's Yuzu/Yuja tea (Honey Citron) and Ume Honey tea (Honey Plum) so I was keen to try their version of Korea's celebrated Jujube tea.

It was good, but I guess I like my hot sweet drinks to have more of a sour taste. I also don't much like the texture of jujube as part of a beverage, they're a little too fibrous for me. This meant that I've had a jar of this in my fridge for weeks.

I decided to make a bread recipe from an Anna Thomas book and see if it could be adapted for the bread machine. The oat bread with maple syrup recipe looked good, but the stumbling block was realising that I didn't have enough maple syrup. I decided to use the jujube tea jam instead.

For a small to medium sized loaf in a basic bread machine, here's the adapted recipe:

Oat and Jujube Bread

500 ml (8 fl oz) water
125 ml (4 fl oz) milk
70 g (2&1/4 oz) rolled oats
1/2 packet dried yeast
40 ml (2 oz) Jujube 'jam'
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
215 g (15 oz) white bread flour
215 g (15 oz) wholemeal bread flour

Heat the water and milk together until hot enough to scald you (70C - 180F?) then pour over the rolled oats in the bread bin. Leave for about an hour (at least until tepid).
Start the bread machine so that it starts stirring and add the yeast, jujube jam, salt, butter and finally the white flour (only). Once the mixture looks like a thick batter turn off the bread machine completely and leave the mixture to rise for an hour (hopefully the machine will have reset itself).

After an hour, select the basic bread setting with light crust and turn the machine on again. With the paddle turning, add about 60 g (2 oz) of the wholemeal flour at a time. Keep adding flour but ensure the dough remains a little sticky. If you are unsure, check your bread maker manual to see the recommended consistency for bread dough - you don't want to veer too far from that. (I needed to add a touch more flour to mine and sprinkled a few extra tablespoons of the white flour).

That's it.

A few hours later and the most gorgeous aroma filled the house. The result was delicious and the Jujube flavour shone through (sort of like a cross between maple syrup and dates).

Jujube jam is obviously sweeter than maple syrup, so the result has been a rather sweet loaf. If you don't have a sweet tooth, you might like to reduce the amount of jujube jam by about a third.