From the land of insomnia

Okay, attempted a cooking challenge last night even though I was dead tired. Haven't slept much in a week but did a little better last night. So the challenge was to cook at least two vinegar based things from the Washoku cookbook by Elizabeth Andon. Now I love this cookbook because after having experienced a few authentic Japanese meals I realized there is something more to real Japanese cooking. While I discovered on my own the use of fresh local foods is important, I didn't know the full story. Ms. Andon's book explained it to me, the concept of Washoku, balance in a meal. There is the idea of cooking each dish in a different way, having different colors of food, and having different tastes to each dish served.

It's a challenging but fun way to cook. This isn't the first time I've cooked something from this book but it's the first time I've attempted a challenge. The food turned out quite well. What the dishes were for the challenge are Tangy Seared Chicken Wings and Tart Miso-Mustard Sauce which we ate on romaine lettuce. I paired this with rice and a few sauteed vegetables. I would have had a fifth dish but being so tired I decided this was enough. I could have added pickles but with the vinegar in the dressing and with the chicken it would have been overwhelming. As it was, as good as all the dishes were, pairing two dishes which have vinegar as a component was a bit too much. I would have rather had a ginger dressing on the salad with this chicken or perhaps fish with the salad I made.

My other challenge was to get a decent photos. Well, it's not the best, I need to work on lighting since I don't like the way flash looks on food photos. But at least the meal turned out well and was quite enjoyed!