kan kan de ri

Today was kan kan de ri.　In Japanese, kan kan is an onomatopoetic phrase. When paired with the word for mad, it means REALLY mad or when paired with the word te ri or de ri(heat), it means fiercely hot. Even though the phrase means really hot, I really like the sound of it and think it is fun to say.

Anyway, just stepping outside the hair and skin on your arms starts to shrivel up, your clothes automatically cling onto your body and it feels like when you jump into your car that has been sitting out all day in an open air parking lot and you turn on the engine only to find that your a/c is broken and the vent only blasts hot air. And somehow, the cicadas' chirping at a volume of 10+ doesn't make the situation easier to take in fact, they seem to make the heat seem even hotter.

Satoshi had to work today, so it was just a normal day at home for me. After lunch, there wasn't much to do, so I decided to take a nap. At about 3 p.m., a loud crackle ripped through the sky and then a huge BOOM shook the building--it was lightning and thunder, but since I was rudely awakened, I actually thought some kind of accident occurred (since we live really close to an airport). You could hear the children that were playing outside running inside for cover, saying "ooh, scary". Surprisingly, no rain fell and I was surely up after that.

Dinner was a new recipe I tried for buta kim chee (pork with kim chee). This recipe was relatively easy to make and the flavors are potent! I think the next time I make this, I will cut back on the chili pepper powder. My nose was running and mouth was burning after eating this. But it really went well with beer and RICE! After finishing my dinner, I had to take a spoonful of nutella just to take away the heat a bit. (Good excuse, huh?) The site that I got this recipe from didn't give a lot of directions or measurements, so it is kind of an ad-lib.

Serves 4. Grate ginger and onion, salt and pepper over thinly sliced pork and marinate for 10 minutes.

In a bowl, combine 1 tablespoon chili pepper powder, 1/2 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon sake (rice wine), salt and pepper. This mixture = sauce #1.

In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil and cook meat. Add kim chee just as pork changes color. Add sauce #1, plus 3 tablespoons water.

Let simmer a bit, add 1/2 tablespoon sake, 1/2 tablespoon shoyu, 1/2 teaspoon sugar plus 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil.

Serve with rice.

Hopefully the weather won't be so humid and hot and I can wander about while Satoshi goes to German language class tomorrow.

UPDATE:this buta kim chee literally gets hotter as it sits in your refrig, we heated up the leftovers and it totally burned our mouths! even drinking water did not help.