I have been known to grumble that life in Tokyo is sometimes lacking in the nuances of the season that the Japanese inaka (countryside) life affords one: this plant blooms from this time to this time, now is the time to hang onions on the line, best send out some mid-summer greetings, ect.-- but who am I kidding? I was over the moon when I saw that my corner grocery store stocked my favorite British tea (one that I had only seen on the shelves in the UK), the cheese section stank like only a Parisian cheese keeper could, the novelty of Peking duck wrappers available everyday, clotted cream, German bread and even mango pickle (for breakfast on toast with an egg--lovely).
The changing of the seasons and the landscapes are just a little bit more subtle. There aren't towering mountains that ridge the city (unless you want to include Mt. Fuji, or wild and free oceans outside the window--but there are waterways. Tokyo is a city of little streams and rivers. Two weeks ago I noticed that I didn't hear any cicada or semi, as they are called, but this week they are in full screech. The cats are happy to see them.
And I can't get away from the PEACHES! These perfumed, fuzzy pink and blushing fruits have made me bite my tongue and scramble to include them in at least one meal a day. Traded, gifted and sitting sweetly on the kitchen table or in the fridge, they are making me think again about my 'lack of subtle seasonality' that I've labeled Tokyo. There even a bit, natsukashi-invoking (bringing up memories of days past) and there is nothing that I like more than to daydream of different times.
So, I give you, Summer Soba Salad with Peaches.
Ingredients:
Two packets of green tea soba
A peach, cucumber, (green) long beans, red onion, red bell pepper, okra, carrot, green chile, bib lettuce and cabbage for some crunch.
Herbal salt, vinegar, olive oil, sudachi juice (citrus), soy sauce, olive oil and shiso leaf garnish.
Method:
This dish is all about getting creative with your vegetable cutting. I sliced the cucumber into thick half-moons, sliced the red onion thinly (and set aside to soak in the vinegar), used my vegetable peeler to make thin slivers of carrot, roughly cubed the peach, and sliced the okra and green chile down the center. I tore the lettuce with my fingers and chopped the cabbage thick.
I was really excited about the long green beans (from fingertip to elbow) that are popular in Chinese cooking. I boiled then for about a minute, and set them aside to cool. I then made hubby tie them into knots. The okra and green chile took to a quick saute (about 3 minutes, tops), with a couple of drops of soy sauce. Place this on a separate plate to cool.
Boil your soba and when ready soak in an ice water bath. Incidentally, when your soba water has cooled, you can feed it to your plants, you can also do the same with your green bean water.
Throwing it all together: I put my veggies and peaches on the bottom and then topped it with the sauteed okra and green chile. Next, I made a little indentation and put the soba noodles into a mound, I drizzled some of the red onion vinegar (it turns pink) as well a portion of the onions. Top with a little bit of the onion, the shiso and a flick of soy sauce. I also added a sea salt from Okinawa.
This dish was inspired by my favorite restaurant Usaya (which I call, Rabbit) in my favorite neighboring town, Shimokitazawa. The peaches were a gift from a photographer friend on mine, a gift from her parents in Yamanashi. An outstanding place for peaches, but not as well-marketed as the peaches of Okayama--which got into this branding thing much earlier and can lay claim to being the hometown of Momotaro-the Peach Boy.
Oh, and one more thing about peaches, they go 'something incredible like' with a touch of balsamic vinegar!
Stay peachy!
