写真

I also thought I'd add some recent pictures. Wheeeeeeeee.



It may be too warm to snow in the town, but at least the mountains have gotten some.



Some mountain-side stairs that go to...



Some very old tombstones. These were scattered all over the mountain.



Some fish in a temple pond. Guess I couldn't get more stereotypically "Japan" if I tried.



The winter seashore. It was much colder than it looks.

お料理（エビのカレー春巻き）

And it's long time, no see again. Life hasn't been too exciting. It's winter and, though it's fairly warm, it's still sort of nasty and bleagh. That and as I'm once again in the throes of crippling depression, I'm afraid I haven't felt much like writing. But we recently checked out Japanese cookbooks in one of my classes for a "thank god you passed your ridiculously difficult exams for high school" party, and I felt inspired to cook something for the first time in...well...a long time. It's not Nintendo, but it's still, you know, Japanesey. Or something.



Curry Shrimp Rolls

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 12 shrimp, deshelled and deveined, then chopped into pieces
• 3 slices of bacon, cut into 1 cm pieces
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 bag thick bean sprouts (futo-moyashi) (1 bag is 250 g), chopped
• 2 bananas, diced
• 8 spring roll wrappers (harumaki)
• Flour dissolved in water (as needed)
• Salad oil (as needed)
• 1 bunch steamed broccoli
• 8 cherry tomatoes
(A)
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1/2 tbsp chicken broth
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• Dash of salt
• Dash of pepper

Preparation:

Fry the bacon up in a pan. Add the bean sprouts and onion and cook until tender, then add one of the bananas and the shrimp. Add mixture A and the remaining banana, then divide between the 8 spring roll wrappers. Brush the rolls with the flour dissolved in water, then fry in oil at 180°C. Garnish with the broccoli and tomatoes, if desired.

***

The recipe declares, "Banana and curry: A NICE COMBINATION!" Whoever thought of that must've been on crack. Well, to be fair, it's not necessarily a BAD flavor. I just really wasn't expecting it. I think next time I'd add less curry since it was pretty overpowering. I made half the recipe for dinner, and the amount was about right as a meal for one person. This was also the first time I've ever made shrimp by myself. Yay for picking out the "veins" or as they're really known, "poop tracts." Shrimp feces. Delish. Also, I bet these things would be better deep-fried. I pan-fried since I've never deep-fried before and am convinced I'd actually burn down the apartment if I attempted it. As a result, the rolls look pretty sad. Sad, sad rolls.