Cold Air and Hot Noodles

Today is one of those shocking Midwestern winter days that living here requires forgetting about during the interveneing seasons: blindingly bright sun, cloudless deep blue sky...and minus 25 Faherenheit windchill. So it's an indoorsy sort of day. I flirted with the notion of putting down my earflaps and going to the hardware store and getting the supplies to paint my kitchen a Morroccan blue to set off my foxy new red enameled grill pan...but resisted.

I supposed I could do something fruitful like tackle the horrific tangle that is the front closet. Instead I put on the new Beth Orton album have been tinkering in the kitchen. From digging around in the cupboard and the veggie bin I wound up with a massively satisfying bowl of soba noodles in hot broth with a little daikon, mushroom and spinach. Seasoned with a sprinkle of chili and a drizzle of dark seasame oil.

Lately, I've been a bit obessive about the notion of always having dashi in the fridge. Maybe it finally dawned on me that it's about as hard to make as a cup of tea. Maybe it's the fact that last week I figured out to make proper goma at home...


Alas, I am afraid my recent Japanesey kick isn't doing much in fulfilling my New Year's resolution to sort out how Indian food works...but so be it. Oh, and you know that business about brewing green tea with lower temp. water than regular black tea? I had always dismissed this information as terribly obsessive and had sort of let it slide but know what, it's totally true. Gets rid of the bitterness and hay-bail lick quality of green tea. I brewed a pot yesterday afternoon with lower heat water and the variety that had been sitting in the cupboard that I'd rejected as too strong and bitter was perfect, same trick different green tea type this afternoon was just right with the brothy noodles. Huh.