Pickles!
Growing up in Hawaii, at least in my household I was always surrounded by Japanese food and how Japanese people prepared different foods. These recipes of course were altered from the original over time, because of individual people, geographic location and availability of product.
I’ve learned this quickly as some of the foods I thought to be authentic Japanese were so far from my expectation the first time I visited Japan. In my opinion coming to Japan as an American Japanese person really challenged my identify, to some degree.
Please don’t get me wrong my grandmother and mothers Japanese food is good, I and many others will testify to this but they were so different flavor wise. Which in essence is interesting and kind of cool to know that I’m eating either a family passed recipe or something ‘original’ in its own.
One of my favorite things, both in America and in Japan are pickled items. Something about the acidic bite really fulfills my cravings. Perhaps its my filipino heritage (we cook with lots of vinegar) or just being fed so much pickled items as I grew.
Over time I learned from my grandma and mom how to pickle things, always going by taste and no true recipe but the end product always tasting exactly how it should. To preserve some of the vegetables we buy weekly I try my best to pickle some of them. Nothing fancy just vinegar, water, salt, a little sugar (I use honey) and pepper if you like heat. I also use apple cider vinegar vs. white vinegar as I think its healthier.
The reason I’m writing about pickles today is because I’m happy I was lucky enough to have these things passed to me. It’s kind of a way for me to connect with my roots and remember some memories of my family.
Tonight I made pickled onions, carrots and a little garlic. They should be ready in a day or so, but if I get hungry it may have to be ready tomorrow.
The lesson garnished from all of this is, cherish the things you are taught as you never know when they will come to help you in the future. And if anything it will always be a reminder of when you were thought it in the first place.
