Eggs Eli

Sorry, no picture but I tried this recipe I saw in The New York Times. Recipe dates from 1909! It just looks like plain scrambled eggs but there're interesting and pretty tasty twists.

Eggs Eli

1 clove garlic, peeled
2 Tbs. butter
8 ea. eggs, cracked into bowl
1 Tbs. anchovy, finely minced
3 Tbs. Virginia ham, or other smoked ham, finely minced

1. Rub inside lg. skillet w/ garlic clove.
2. Place over medi.- high, add butter.
3. When nice & foamy, pour in eggs.
4. Sprinkle anchovy & ham over eggs.
5. Begin scrambling, stopping when done to liking.

The anchovy added a very tasty subtle hint of flavor not otherwise there in plain scrambled ham and eggs. Liked it a whole lot. So didn't use any ketchup, shoyu or oyster sauce (my usual egg topping) when eating. The rubbing of the pan with garlic was another interesting touch. Will definitely make again!

Another Family Mart Bento

Lunch bento I got today from Family Mart - Tempura. Actually wasn't bad for 450 yen - $4. The shrimp were pretty tasty. Included was nasubi, vegetable and an undetermined one at the lower left. Sort of like fishcake but not really, but tasted alright. There was a sheet of nori placed over the rice on which the tempura were placed. Enjoyed that. All in all I was satisfied.

Green Onions (Negi)

Just a picture of my planter boxes with a mess of green onions. The right (original box) is coming on 2 years. They flowered and produced seeds, some of which dropped into the box, and some of which got to the left box and started growing too. And those few are only 1-1/2 months old since I came back. Must like this late summer weather. Haven't bought at the market in quite a while and all these will last a long time.

So last night I just made scrambled eggs with green onions. Another thing I grew up with.

Interesting Bento

Bought this bento from Family Mart today. Calling it interesting cause I never seen or ate this combination before. What you see is maybe two-thirds plate of rice, then half covered with plain curry. The other half of the plate was covered with cooked sukiyaki ingredients - beef, couple beans, a negi, onions, couple pieces fried tofu and shirataki. 460 yen - about $4. What these folks come up with!

Family Mart Bento

Bought this bento today from a Family Mart (a convenience store). Was very ono. Teriyaki that almost tastes like Hawaii. Thin slices of meat over rice. Not the first time I've eaten but first time I had a camera. Not bad 498 yen - $4.35.

Sad news is that the small neighborhood market where I used to get my cheap fill-your-own bento box is gone. Someone took over the market space and the food place moved out. Don't know if they're opening up eslewhere.

Squid Lū'au away from Hawai'i-style

Another busy day at work. But really felt like I wanted to eat something of home. So tonight I made a favorite dish - Squid Lū'au, though more accurately Tako Lū'au. In Hawai'i the "squid" is usually tako (octopus). Bought cooked tako in a local market and since I can't get lū'au (taro leaves), I use frozen chopped or leaf spinach. There is a lot of lū'au around, but the Okinawans farmers throw it away, don't even sell it. They consider it rubbish. Surprising they haven't discovered the use of it like the Hawaiians.

Easy, just boil ~2 lbs. chopped spinach 1 hour; drain; add 2 cans (13-1/2 oz. ea.) coconut milk, 1 med. onion chopped, 1 tsp. salt, 1 Tbs. sugar, and ~1-1/2 lbs. cooked tako pieces. Then simmer 30 minutes more. If can get lū'au, boil in salted water 1-1/2 hours. Makes 5~6 good size servings. And pretty cheap - spinach $1.65, coconut milk $3.58, tako ~$3.

Of course not the same as the real thing from home, but still tastes pretty good, and it really brings back a feeling of home! But no poi, so with rice.



This time I bought the tako from a market called Kanehide. When I bought tako from the food market in Mihama Jusco before, the red coloring turned the coconut milk pink. Was kinda strange looking. I was wondering if it would happen this time, but it didn't. Strange.

Sandwich for dinner

Very busy day at work so didn't feel like cooking. So made myself a ham/salami/cheese sandwich. Didn't have lettuce but used baby spinach with tomato on an egg twist roll. And with Best Foods of course! Just right!

And there just was an earthquake that shook my building for about 1 minute. Happened at 7:59 PM JS, as I was working on this post

Earthquake update! 8:23 PM JST

It was just posted on the USGS earthquake site. 5.3 magnitude just to the east of Okinawa. Actual time was 7:58:44 PM JST. Here's the map that was posted. I live on Okinawa to the left of the red block indicating the epicenter. Pretty close! Maybe 20 miles away. Good thing it was deep - 22 miles.

Oyster Sauce Chicken

Lazy weekend of college football. Saturday morning (9 am to 1 pm) watched the University Of Hawaii squeak a win out over San Jose State University. Today it was LSU/Kentucky, Missouri/Oklahoma, Auburn/Arkansas. Plus a mix in of the ALCS and the NLCS in baseball. Made mostly quick, easy sandwiches for the weekend.

But tonight made Oyster Sauce Chicken with drummettes. Simple and tasty!

Okinawan Oden 2

One of my foreman's wife again gave me some of her Oden. He brought leftovers for lunch with a serving for me. Leftovers! Was kinda big for lunch. So brought mine home to eat. Was SO, SO good! There's a big chunk of pork leg obviously part of what was used in making the shiru. The meat was soft and tasty, as was the pork fat and skin. And not oily! But can see the potato, egg, chikuwa, carrot, daikon, konbu knot, shirataki bundle, and shiitake mushroom. There is a piece of konnyaku under the pork leg too.

A real Okinawan treat! Real home cooking! Cannot get this in any restaurant!

Sun Noodles Shoyu Ramen

One thing I brought back this trip was Sun Noodle (made in Hawaii) shoyu ramen. Tough getting to eat ramen here in Okinawa. Qkinawan soba is the king here! Ramen places are few, far between and far away. But I love shoyu ramen. Closest thing to saimin for me.

So bought these chilled fresh noodle packs and carried them back here in a styrofoam chest with blue ice, and then froze when I got here. That's one good thing about the direct flights to Okinawa from Hawaii. 10 hours versus 16 hours going through Kansai. And so cheap at Sam's!

Was a couch potato this weekend. Sunday on TV was college football - Oklahoma/Texas, then LSU/Florida, followed by listening to the University of Hawaii/Utah State game on the web. Today on TV was Game three between the NY Yankees and Cleveland Indians, and the Green Bay/Chicago NFL game. First time in a long time I could enjoy this stuff - football, baseball and ramen!

Nothing special again...

Today at work we had our Organization Day. Once a year there a day of food, games and entertainment. Like a day off. This year it was FREE! We had the typical American picnic lunch of hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, cole slaw and baked beans. Ate quite a bit so not too hungry tonight.

Since we're being affected by the outer reach of Super Typhoon Krosa that supposed to hit Taiwan, we had cloudy, windy and occasional rain all day. A little damper on the day, but didn't have to work today!

But the weekend is here and now there's time to cook. Plus Monday is a holiday - Columbus/Discovers' Day! A nice long weekend!

Nothing special tonight...

Very lazy again, and hungry. And so no pictures. But made sandwiches from sliced rotisserie chicken, ham and cheese for dinner. And of course with Best Foods mayonnaise! I've come to find that rotisserie chicken has so much flavor and taste in sandwiches! Adds a special touch. And it's so much cheaper than buying deli sliced chicken!

Leftover Stew

Tonight I just had leftover Stew that I stored in individual servings, eaten with King's Hawaiian Sweetbread Rolls, and a Bud of course. Too lazy to cook rice tonight.