Kracie’s Happy Kitchen Sushi

This food is so suspicious. But also so much fun to make.

All the instructions were in Japanese. However, a quick internet search revealed many Youtubers sharing wisdom on what to do Kracie’s Happy Kitchen Sushi.

The main idea is to mix multiple packets of powder with water in order to produce everything you need from sushi ‘rice’ to ‘soy sauce’. Some of candies smelled pleasantly of fruits while others smelled disgustingly of bubble gum.

There’s a little spoon to mix, a dropper to add water—and you use your fingers to shape the candies.

Me brotha, seesta, and I settled down for some sibling bonding time.

Do you see the above picture? I’m making roe by dropping the orange liquid into the clear one. Insane!

I know, I’m fascinated by this largely because it’s from another culture. Can you imagine how kids from Japan would smirk at my amusement of things they see every day?

This is all edible, folks. And I’m sure it’s safe.  Tastes awful though, with a terrible texture.

Kracie’s Happy Kitchen Sushi

1. Cut open the inner plastic package along the dotted lines. This is your sushi workstation.
2. With the dropper, add water to the large oval dish until it reaches the lined edge of the oval. Add the large blue packet of powder to this dish and mix well with the blue spoon. This is your ‘rice’.
3. Shape your rice into 7  rectangular prisms.
4. With the dropper, add water in the long rectangular dish closest to the A and B dish until it reaches the lined edge of the rectangle. Add the yellow packet of powder to this dish and mix well. This is your ‘egg’. When it has solidified, use your spoon to cut it in half.
5. With the dropper, add water in the long rectangular dish closest to the oval dish until it reaches the lined edge of the rectangle. Add the pink packet of powder to this dish and mix well. This is your ‘salmon’. When it has solified, use your spoon to cut it in half.
6. Add water to the A dish until it reaches the lined edge of the A dish. Add the green packet of powder to this dish and mix well.
7. Add water to the B dish until it reaches the lined edge of the B dish. Add the orange packet of powder to this dish and mix well.
8. With the dropper, suck up the liquid from the B dish and drip this mixture into the A dish slowly, one drop at a time. This is your ‘fish roe’.
9. The black gummy is your ‘seaweed’. Cut this in half and shape the seaweed using the guide on your mat.
10. Wrap the seaweed around your rice.
11. Add water to the dish until it reaches the lined edge. Add the brown packet of powder to this dish and mix well. This is your ‘soy sauce’. Use the dropper to squeeze the soy sauce onto your finished sushi.
12. Put sprinkles from the packet on top of the rice. You can put a piece of egg on your rice. You can put some salmon on top of your rice. You can also put some fish roe on top of your rice. Be creative!

Muña Tea

About two months ago, I set off on a volunteer trip to Peru. I spent two weeks volunteering in a school, facilitating learning and growth in children with programming that used a Sport for Development philosophy. The students and teachers will forever stay in my teams’ hearts. Seriously cheesy, I know. They leapt into our programming with as much enthusiasm as we did and promised to integrate it into their regular curriculum. Three cheers for sustaining programming.

After volunteering, my team and I spent over a week more backpacking across the country. So many planes, trains, buses, taxis, boats, walking…In one of our stops, we stayed over on an island, Amantani, atop of Lake Titicaca. I stayed with a local family for a night, so we hiked, danced, and ate together in the time we had together. One of the drinks I was given was muña tea–simply a mint tea. But made more magical when I saw my host pluck the mint on our way to lunch. How fun, eh?

I’ve been back in Toronto for over a month now. Back to the hustle and bustle of the city. Back to real life.

Cream Biscuits

You know what is nice?

It’s sometimes nice to eat with other people.

Dumbbutt fatty dumpling. Of course it’s nice to eat with other people. But hear me out first.

In Guelph, I often bake and cook alone; and thus eat alone. I also make food and eat with other people…but there are times when I want to be enveloped in the soft glow of my kitchen by myself as I knead a soft pile of bread dough. Sometimes, the kitchen is silent except for the sound of my hands quietly immersing themselves in flour. Sometimes, if roommates were around, they can hear my high thin voice warbling along to the loud music playing in my ears.

The oven has been spitting out more baked goods lately because making food calms my nerves and I have been feeling pretty stressed lately.

I was alone when I pulled these biscuits out of the belly of my oven. I was alone when I bit into these fragrant little dough balls. I was alone when I realized, it would be nice if someone else was beside me, tasting these too.

I must start seeking people out. We’re all busy, but we must also make time for each other.

A few years ago, there was one day when I was hanging out with two buddies. We were all students together so I asked them about their workload. Both boys said they had labs due the next day.

Did you already finish them?
-Nope.
WHAT. What are you doing here with me then?! You should be working on your assignments!
-Don’t worry. We’ll get to them.

I was worried for their academic career, but also touched that they chose to spend time with me. They might also just e stoopid boys. Stoopid, stoopid boys.

Cream Biscuits
recipe by Smitten Kitchen

Tahini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is going to sound very bad.

It’s going to make me sound selfish. Childish. Pathetic . Unworthy of sympathy…Are you ready for it?

…I like to wallow in my own bad feelings sometimes.

Just sit there and cry. A long cry, a woe-is-me, the world-is-ending, good-buddha-make-the-bad-things-go-away wail. I think about bad things. Sad things. I think about it so I cry harder. I self-pity. I hold myself. I stare at the light in my empty room and watch the little dust flecks float, pretending I’m in a Sofia Coppola film about women finding themselves, appreciating the beauty of the simple things. I wonder why nobody knows I’m hurting and why nobody is trying to comfort me. Such self-loathing.

It’s quite embarrassing behaviour. But also very satisfying.

Then again, I try to tell myself that I am justified  to feel my emotions. I’m working with kindergarteners right now and I am always fascinated by how much they feel their emotions. When they are happy, they are fully ecstatic. When they are sad, they are sobbing messes of green boogers and clear tears. We hold back, eh?

Sometimes, I get up, brush my pants off, and move forward. At other times, it’s a little harder.

Anywho. Have a cookie. I used whole grain flour. And there are other odd things like tahini in here. The best chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made—huzzah!

Tahini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe by Food Fitness Fresh Air

Wonton Soup

About one moon ago was the lunar new year.

Friends gathered for a dumpling-making party—specifically, wonton soup.

Oh, how divine it was! With momma’s recipe in hand, ingredients from a whole chicken for broth from the farmer’s market to fish sauce from the tiny Asian supermarket downtown were gathered. After hours of simmering, wonton-wrapper filling, and filling, me buds and I settled for soup, tea, and treats. We welcomed the new year in with lanterns and laughter.

This is my last year in my university town. After April, I must become a real person.

I really don’t want to. Please don’t make me.

I’ve been a student for as long as my brother has been alive. That’s almost two decades. I’m really good at being a student. I don’t know how to do anything else. I’m scared for the future.

I adore rubrics. I adore marks. I adore the frenzy I feel before exams and the satisfaction of bubbling in scantron sheets. Life has been good. Making friends, losing friends, longed for and found love. I know, these things can be found outside of school in other ways. But…school is my home. It’s my safety net. I like it here. Please don’t make me leave.

I must, though. I need to interact with the world. Soon, I will be heading overseas on every uni student’s dream. Excitement rolls in my belly. That will be a great challenge and I will tell you more about it soon.

2012 has been amazing. I hope that 2013 will be also. Usher it in, I usher you in—come in, come in, year 2013. Have a bowl of soup. Treat me well, k?

Wonton Soup
Chicken Broth
1 whole chicken
1 large pot of water

Bring the pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, chop the chicken into smaller pieces. Discard any giblets.

When the water is boiling, place the chicken inside. Lower the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 2 hours. Then carefully strain the stock, discard the chicken, and return the liquid back into the pot.

2 onions, quartered
5 carrots, chopped
1 tsp satay sauce
½ tsp salt
½ sugar

Add the above ingredients to the broth and simmer for a further 30 minutes. Add more seasoning to taste.

Chicken for Broth
6 chicken breasts, cut into large pieces
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp fish sauce
1.5 tbsp oil
½ chopped onion

Marinate the chicken with the salt through fish sauce for 15 minutes.

Heat the oil on medium heat and cook the chicken. Once finished, set aside to cool then store in fridge until later.

Wontons
1 lb headless shrimp, peeled, deveined, and roughly chopped
2 lb ground pork
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp sugar
4 tsp sesame oil
8 tsp fish sauce
8 tsp fish sauce
3 white parts of green onions, chopped
2 pkg wonton wrappers

Mix all of the ingredients above, from the shrimp to the green onions.

Spoon 1/2 – 1 tsp of this filling into the center of a wonton wrapper. Fold it by bring opposing sides into the center.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Boil the wontons until they rise to the top.

Garnish
¼ bunch of cilantro
3 green parts of green onions

Chop both ingredients and mix together.

Serve

Each bowl should have soup, many wontons, and the garnish of cilantro and green onions :)