in a recent post, kelly asked about what kind of foods do we eat, japanese or western, or a mix. obviously i cook both, but i don't know if it's one more than the other. it's easier to get japanese ingredients (obviously), but i hate fish so japanese cooking is not always on the menu. western/american foods are expensive, but not too difficult to get these days. when i first came to japan i would have to go to the middle of the city (fukuoka) to pay very high prices for a limited supply of ingredients, or drive to costco (nearly two hours away, unless i wanted to pay for the interchange), which had huge boxes of whatever, and was kinda expensive (especially if i couldn't finish whatever i bought before it went bad. sometimes i would go with a friend and split stuff up, but it was mainly a PITA to go to costco.) and, there was also FBC, but i never ordered from them because that was also in bulk, and as much as i like mac & cheese, i didn't need 48 boxes just for me. (i would like to point out that FBC now has more things that you can buy individually, but i still don't order from them. i much prefer expat express.) since sasha was born, i tend to make more western foods, mainly because that's what i grew up with and learned to cook, so it's easy for me to just throw together and adjust as i may need (say, if i have missing ingredients or whatever). i cannot do that easily with japanese cuisine. with the three kids, i'm too busy to faff around with fiddly recipes.

lulu asked if i would post my favorite japanese and western recipe. hm. that's difficult because i don't know that i have a favorite! i mean, i love tempura, and that is sooooo hard to make, esp. at home. i have tried it, but not for a long time (not just because it's difficult, but because i end up with a LOT of used oil that i feel guilty throwing away. also, yoshi doesn't like a lot of fat and fried foods.) as for a western dish, i just love grilled steak with a baked potato, nothing too difficult there! i do have a cooking blog, that i sadly neglect, but i have to admit i've been a bit of a rut lately (good old winter blues!) and make curry, chili and nabe most of the time. one recipe that i enjoy a lot, and doesn't take a lot of effort is tofu hambaagu (or tofu salisbury steak), which you could think of as a kind of fusion!