Beautiful Edamame Rice

Oh what a week!  I thought I was on vacation.  I made the mistake of checking in at my new school, and, lo and behold, the floors of my classroom had been waxed!  This meant I could get my room keys and get settled in.  Big fucking mistake!

When I opened my room, it was filled with over 20 double desks and over 35 chairs, some of which were likely from the days when my mom went to school there!  There was hardly any room for walking.  One of the custodians told me that because they didn't realize it was going to be MY room, they pilfered the good furniture to set up another classroom.  When I went through the filing cabinets, I saw a note from the previous occupant, asking the custodians to transfer the good furniture from the room to her new room.  She even directed them to take the teachers chair.  For the past 20+ years I've worked, every school ran by the policy of "furniture stays with the room" for inventory...furniture does not follow an occupant.  I suppose I can cut her some slack because she isn't even tenured.  Well, being a special needs student doesn't exempt a student from being taught the standards.  Likewise, being a new teacher shouldn't excuse a teacher for overlooking protocol.  I took a picture of her note and will likely use it in a lesson.  It could serve as a mentor text of a friendly note.  It will also make a great lesson in why its important to understand policy and protocol.  I wonder if she realizes she just shit on a whole bunch of exceptional children. . .take the good stuff for the non-handicapped kids.  I don't think she expected me to see the note, much less show it to admin (I didn't want the custodians to take the sole blame for screwing up the inventory sheets).  Talk about egg on your face!

I spent most of Tuesday afternoon going through the chairs and desks with D1 & D2.  We placed blue tape on what I needed the custodians to remove, which amounted to 7 desks and 18 chairs.  My classes will likely have no more than 12 students at a time.   The previous tenant was also nice enough to leave the file cabinets (none of the 2 lock) full of crapola, which I would be shame to even sell at a garage sale.  I can bring my own junk from home...I don't need to use someone else's shit.  Speaking of shit, I guess the previous occupant wasn't bothered much by termite shit because there was tons of it at the base of the windows and on the chair at the teacher's desk.  Thats just fricking gross.


I went in to work on Thursday to meet with another teacher.  We are collaborating on pacing guides for the classes we teach.  Unfortunately, I'm still not done with my part, and I still need to work on the one for the other class I teach (for which I am the sole teacher).  So now, in addition to working on pacing guides for the rest of my vacation, I will also need to work on tricking out my room.  The Help did the chivalrous thing and helped me move the really shitty furniture to the corner near the door.  This allowed him enough room to move my desk away from the termite shit landing area.  When the custodians get around to fixing a mistake they helped cause, they will be grateful they won't have to haul the shitty desks from the far side of my room.

The Ds had a busy week too.  D1 completed her hours at the USDA Pacific Basin Research Facility.  I fear she will now have more time to study for her drivers permit.  D2 had KN over for the night, which was more than fair, considering she spent a night at KN's house at the beginning of the week and another night later in the week (for KN's sister's birthday).  Big mahalo to KN's nice parents for having her over and feeding the pickiest eater in the world.

ochazuke wakame

nametake chazuke

I don't know how I could end up with a child who eats maybe 10 different things.  I am not a picky eater, and D1 will eat, or at least try, all kinds of stuff.  D2 is the total opposite (Mr. Dependable is picky, so I guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree).  Last week, I went to Kona and made a Costco stop.  Before I left, D2 asked me to bring back a Costco chicken (roast chicken).  I did, and she didn't touch it at all!  I ended up making curry chicken salad with the white meat and boiling the remaining parts for stock (used in a mushroom risotto).  D2's reason for not eating it was that I didn't have bread.  She eats the white meat in a sandwich.  Well, excuuuuse me!

And that is one of the hardest parts about being on vacation. . .having to figure out lunch for Miss Picky.  We can go to Kawamoto's, Hilo Lunch Shop & McDonalds only so many times, and Costco chicken in a sandwich ain't gonna happen regularly.  Thank goodness there is something else  she loves to eat that makes a whole bunch and freezes and reheats well.

Many people probably think of edamame rice as potluck food.  Someone invariably brings it to a family get-together (usually me because I know D2 will have something to eat).  I do the mommy thing and add fiber by making it with a combination of white and brown rice.  This actually works out well because the nuttiness of the brown rice complements the tiny rice crackers in the ochazuke wakame.  Ochazuke wakame is a mix of dried seaweed, rice crackers, and salt.  Its meant to be eaten with a bowl of tea rice.  The heat of the rice and the liquid from the nametake chazuke help reconstitute the dried seaweed.  D2 doesn't like the enoki mushrooms in nametake chazuke, and asks me to leave it out.  She doesn't realize that the dish wouldn't taste the same without it.  Both ochazuke wakame and nametake chazuke can be found in the Asian food section of the supermarket.  Even Wal-Mart and Target in Hilo carry these items.

The edamame rice in the pics was done by The Help.  I was occupied with fried garlic chicken, so I told him to put it all together.  He was amazed at how easy it was to prepare, but he kept asking me if he really had to add the whole bottle of ochazuke wakame!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Beautiful Edamame Rice

     4 cups (rice cooker measure) white rice

     1 cup (rice cooker measure) brown rice

     1 bag (about 1 lb) shelled edamame (soybeans)

     1 bottle ochazuke wakame

     1 bottle nametake chazuke

Combine white and brown rice, wash, and cook as usual in an electric rice cooker.  When rice is done, follow package directions for heating edamame.  Drain.  Place rice in a large bowl.  Add edamame.  Add entire contents of bottle of ochazuke wakame and nametake chazuke.  Toss lightly until ingredients are evenly distributed throughout rice.

The rice also tastes great when stuffed into an inari (seasoned aburage) skin.  Use the same kind as for somen inari sushi.  Follow the directions on the bag for preparing the aburage.

Potluck Food: Soba Salad

I have a whole bunch of work-related food needs this week.  Today I'm at a most-of-the-day meeting, and I have a plate of banana bread to share.  Tomorrow's training will either be an opportunity to share more banana bread or perhaps a pumpkin cake.  Wednesday is an office potluck (of course, what else?), and I'm still undecided about what to bring.  Of course, if we don't bring anything to these events, there would be nothing to eat, and what good is a meeting/training without food.

When the Hawaii economy took a downturn for the worse, the DOE cut back by not providing meals at workshops and trainings.  While some people were saddened by the lack of opportunity for a meal on the DOE's dime, I certainly wasn't.  Although free to the participant, the meals usually consisted of tasteless food.  I was working out of a Honolulu-based office at the time, and what we did was pool our $ together and have lunch catered for us or had a potluck.

Pooling $ together was great in Honolulu because of the wide range of places that were willing to cater or provide a bento.  Hilo doesn't have nearly the range of choices as Honolulu, so what we end up doing is having potluck.  Everyone brings something to share.  In spite of not being told what to bring, things always seem to work out.

Soba Salad is something which invariably can be found at most potlucks.  Soba Salad is a variation on Somen Salad.  Boiled Japanese noodles are cooled and topped with things like fish cake and vegetables.  A shoyu-based sauce is poured over just before eating..  Soba is Japanese buckwheat noodles.  It is easily identified by its gray-brown color.  Soba noodles can be purchased at any supermarket (even Wal-Mart and Target).
I used hijiki, wakame, watercress, kaiware (daikon sprouts), uzumaki (rolled pinwheel fishcake which is likely known as narutomaki outside of Hawaii), and shredded red pickled ginger to top my soba, but I've had versions which contained imitation crab shreds, taegu shreds, maui onion, cucumber, and ocean salad.  The idea is to use whatever you have on hand.  This is especially refreshing on a hot day.

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Soba Salad

Salad ingredients:

     1/2 c hijiki

     3 tbsp oil

     3 tbsp shoyu

     3 tbsp sugar

     1/4 oz wakame (this will seem like just a little)

     1 bunch watercress, trimmed and cut into 1" lengths

     4 oz kaiware, root ends cut off

     1 roll uzumaki, slivered

     2 tbsp red shredded pickled ginger

     16 oz dried soba noodles

Dressing:

     3/4 c vegetable oil

     3/4 c shoyu

     3/4 c lemon juice

     5 tbsp sugar

Soak hijiki in a bowl of warm water for 20 minutes.  While hijiki is soaking, combine dressing ingredients in a jar.  Shake well and set aside.  Drain water from hijiki, and press out as much water as possible without mashing hijiki.  In a small skillet, heat 3 tbsp oil.  Add hijiki, 3 tbsp shoyu, and 3 tbsp sugar.  Cook until liquid is absorbed.  Set aside to cool.  In a small bowl, soak wakame in a bowl of cold water for 7 minutes.  Drain, pressing out as much water as possible.  Set aside.  Boil soba noodles for 6-7 minutes.  Rinse under cold water until cool.  Drain well.  In a 9 x 13" pan or other comparable flat dish, arrange soba in an even layer.  Top with hijiki, kaiware, watercress, wakame, uzumaki, and pickled ginger.  Pour dressing over entire salad just before serving.

As an alternative, served dressing alongside salad, allowing guests to dress their salads individually.  If doing this,  make 1 1/2 or 2 quantities of dressing.