trying to beat the heat

Recently, I saw this at the department store and had to get it. It is watermelon sherbet made by Koujuken, a Japanese sweets maker in Nara.

The list of ingredients were kind of interesting, there was sugar, watermelon and melon, and then akadaikon (red radish)?, gelatin. When you looked at this up close it actually looked like a slice of daikon (long white radish).

The texture of this sherbet was different than what I was used to, it was more gel-like than icy. You can also just refrigerate it and have it as a gelatin treat. To have it like a sherbet, you need to freeze it for at least 5 hours.

Another treat made by Koujuken, is called kingyosukui. Kingyosukui is a game that you can participate in at many local matsuri (festivals). You pay an amount (about 200yen or so..about US$2) and receive a flat paper "net" with a handle and a little dish with water. You then have to dip the net-like gadget into the water and pick up a kingyo(goldfish) quickly without your "net" breaking. I've never actually tried this, but it seems quite hard because the weight of the goldfish usually tears the paper net before you can get the goldfish into the little dish that they also lend you. Whatever goldfish you do catch, you get to bring home. There are also contests to see who can pick up the most goldfish with one "net" called kingyosukui taikai. (I think last year a company or university created a robot that can quickly catch several goldfish with the paper net in a short amount of time.) With the yucky humidity that we had last week, the two of these desserts really hit the spot!

Yesterday, the sun was blazing, (hopefully I'm not jinxing myself by saying this), but the humidity actually wasn't too bad. The news is saying that this year maybe reika (cool summer). This means temperatures won't be so dreadful, but it also means that farming will suffer, especially with veggies and rice. Apparently, the last time reika occurred was in 1993--the price of veggies soared and they had to import rice from Thailand. I hope the weatherpeople are wrong, veggies are already pretty pricey as it is.

For dinner I made tofu salad. You can usually find this dish at pot-luck parties in Hawaii. This is a simple dish to make and it is definitely a nice way to stay cool.

Tofu Salad

1 can salmon
1 block tofu
tomato, diced
green onion
watercress, par-boiled

Dressing:
1/3 cup shoyu (soy sauce)
1 teaspoon sesame oil

In a dish, layer the veggies. Heat dressing and pour over salad just before serving.

NOTES: I used momen-dofu (literally means cotton soy bean curd, but this is actually a firm tofu), it tends to keep its shape better in this salad. Hopefully, you can find fresh tofu where you live, if not, the ones that are boxed should be just fine. I couldn't find watercress, so I didn't put it in. Also, I used the veggies that were in my refrig. You can also add thinly sliced white onion. I heated the dressing, let it cool and then refrigerated it since I wasn't going to eat the salad right away. Just before eating, I poured some of the cooled dressing over the salad. The combination of tofu and salmon are a good source of protein without too much fat--perfect for summer!

Hope you are staying cool where you are!