You'd think cooking would be one of those things that crosses the ocean fairly easily...I'm afraid not.
As I was cooking one of our family's favorite meals this evening for the first time since coming back to the U.S. I kept running into all of these mini road blocks. I realized I've gotten used to the food products in Japan and it throws me off a bit trying to cook again in America. The bread crumbs, cheese, and bullion cubes altered how it turned out. AND I didn't have my trusty wooden, big cooking chopsticks to turn the chicken in the fry pan; they really DO work better than tongs.
And, when I made a cake last night the cocoa was lighter colored and not as strong flavored as what I got used to using in Japan. There aren't any cake mixes in Japan, so I've had to learn to make from scratch. When I'm in Japan I buy baking soda at the drug store and add extra flour to my cookies so they don't sink since the flour has a different consistency. I created my own "makeable with Japanese ingredients" lasagna recipe...no ricotta cheese or premade tomato or spaghetti sauce to be found. I guess you either go without or learn to improvise.
It's a small thing, I know. But, feeding our family in 2 different continents takes some adjusting and RE-adjusting in the kitchen time and time again.
