Finding Japan in Perú

Japan and Peru have a hidden but deeply entwined relationship. Although it appears to be mostly one sided in that Japan does not harbor as many obvious links to Peru as Peru does to Japan, both countries reveal their connections.

If I were to spend more time in Japan now, I would love to explore Peruvian culture on Japanese soil. But there are a couple of instances that I recall even from before I had ever been to Peru.

I will always remember that the first time I learned the famous Peruvian song "Cariño" was from a Peruvian street performer in Nagoya, where a Peruvian one-man band was alternately playing the zampoña, quena, and singing to a pre-made soundtrack. My host mother loved him and bought his CD, which I added to my laptop music library. I loved that CD, and my favorite song was "愛人", meaning loved one. The lyrics were in Spanish, and I memorized the song. After my arrival, I realized you heard this song ALL OVER the country, and was very proud of my ability to sing it along with my Peruvian friends and acquaintances.

Besides the one-man band, I had run into several Peruvians throughout Nagoya, mostly who were selling goods at flea markets. I tried to make conversation with them in my then very halting Spanish, but I remember them being fairly reticent (maybe because of the language barrier?). Throughout my time on Honshu, I met a lot of South Americans who were working for car factories (mostly Honda, which is located in Nagoya). My university had a スペイン語クラブ, Spanish club, that I briefly attended that even had a Peruvian llama half my height that they brought out during the university festival, Nanzan-kai. Not sure how they got that llama :/

Giving the llama some love with Nanzan friends

Summer end farmer's market

Nashi

Washington DC's Eastern Market has a beautiful farmer's market, and I enjoy going Tuesday nights to see the rare, fresh, and relatively cheap produce. Sorry, no photos, because the majority of the sellers are Amish, and it is against their religion to be photographed as photos are considered graven images. Their produce, however, is incredibly fresh, organic, and sometimes rare. This past Tuesday I was able to buy Tabasco peppers, tiny Thai eggplants, and bitter melon (Japanese: Goya ごや). I was even able to tell one of the Amish families how to cook the goya; apparently someone else gave them the seeds and they had never had it before! I bought a couple and I plan to make goya champuru - Okinawan goya, tofu, and pork belly stir fry.

Another local seller had asian pear (Japanese: Nashi なし). This is one of my favorite fruits, as it is crunchy and sweet on the outer flesh, and sour on the inner flesh. I hope you are enjoying your fall so far, because I am enjoying mine!

Shibazuke しば漬け

しば漬けは私の一番好きな漬け物だよ！

When I was in Japan, I unexpectedly fell in love with their pickles. I thought I would go there and eat sushi and kushimono (串もの, things on a stick, like chicken teriyaki) and leave a happy woman. But there was such crazy diversity to the little side dishes they had, and I found that one of my favorite things to buy wherever I went was tsukemono, side-dish pickles. If you are familiar with Korean banchan, they are very similar.

My favorite pickle was shibazuke, made with purple shiso (an herb kinda like a cross between mint and basil), ginger, myoga (ginger bud), eggplants, and cucumbers.

I grew some shiso in my garden this year just to make these pickles. Yay!!

Umezing! 手作り梅酒

My host mother in Japan used to keep a jar under the sink. It was full of viscous liquid and little green balls, so I never touched it. Who knows what could have developed under that sink.

One night at dinner, she hauled the jar out from under the sink, and unloaded it into ice-filled glasses for my friends and I.

So I, who will try anything, ventured a sip. 

Lord, was it delicious. A tiny bit sour, syrupy, tangy, and alcohol...y

It was homemade Umeshu, a liqueur made from Japanese sour plums (they're kinda like crab apples), rock sugar (kouri-zatou 氷砂糖, or ice sugar in Japanese), and shochu (Japanese vodka).