...or today my mother taught me how to be japanese. whenever my mother cooks and she tries to teach me something, it's like "watch what i'm doing" and no measurements. there isn't much instruction. nothing is precise. little is learned. in fact, she usually doesn't have all the ingredients needed and has to substitute so much that the thing she makes doesn't resemble what it should've been, hahahaaha. today was the same but not as bad and more organized.

home made sushi rolls

twiddle thumbs had asked my mom to teach her how to make sushi rolls and tonight was the night. my mom planned for some more things as well. she even created recipes! (that means instructions and she never does that!) she wrote out in japanese what to do then did some broken english translation ("skin milk good for born") and created some pictures from scratch in photoshop as to how one's hands should be positioned for rolling, etc. as we were cooking, she used measuring devices and asked twiddle thumbs to keep track of how much she was putting in. i was taking photographs. later we'll put this all together into something that makes sense. i'd love to get started on that vegan recipe blog idea we've been cooking up for awhile. this would be a great recipe or two to throw in there.

needless to say, this was my first time making a roll. in fact, i have NEVER seen my mother make sushi rolls. my mom recalled that when she was little, she loved to watch her mother make rolls. but i have never seen my mom or her mom make one. that just shows you what kind of house i grew up in. (i thought my grandmother only made salted pork and weird okinawan food that i do not know the name for nor could even identify what it's made from.) my mom was making the first roll and telling us what to do. then was twiddle thumbs's turn, then mine. i must say mine was much nicer but that's 'cos i paid attention to twiddle thumbs's flaws. don't be afraid to wrap that puppy tight!

home made okonomiyaki

the other dish she went over is something she taught me once before, perhaps last year. okonomiyaki! this is such a japanese street food favorite and yet i don't think i ever ate it until when she showed me last time so i'll never be able to eat it off the street because it's not traditionally vegan. i liked it more last time than this time due to the ratio of flour to cabbage (i like it chewier). i'll try to work on this some more and add it to the yet uncreated vegan recipe blog.

the 3rd and final dish was a dessert and we didn't have time (mochi with sweet red beans). plus, we were stuffed. that okonomiyaki is really filling! i don't think i even had a full roll of sushi. they were pretty stuffed too.