Mitsuko - II The Memory of Obaa-san (Grand-ma) and Nabemono

Many people usually don’t want to hear the story about death and funeral. However, this is the order of a good dream to dream at the first night (night of January 1st) of the year (1st-Mt. Fuji, 2nd-Eagle, 3rd-Egg Plants, 4th-Death/Funerals, 5th-Bathroom). If the dream be Mt. Fuji it will bring the best year, and so on. Even the death and funerals and bathroom dream bring a good luck in the year.
Please continue to read even though Mitsuko’s sad and shocking experiences of Obaasan’s death and funeral.

Obaa-san was living in Northern part of town called Yamagata, and Mitsuko’s family in Tokyo. Mitsuko’s family visited Obaa-san couple times a year. Mitsuko had wonderful time with Obaa-san each time Mitsuko’s family visited to Yamagata. Obaa-san loved Mitsuko and showed Mitsuko many things to do together: Picking up eggs here and there in the garden because many chickens were raised at Obaa-san’s house, so Mitsuko felt like doing ‘hide and seek’ with eggs; Giving the food (fu – like bread) to carps in the pond, then many carps would come up from the bottom of the pond and catch their food; and picking up daikon (Japanese turnips), carrots, and potatoes from the big hole in the field used for the dinner. Most of all, Mitsuko loved sitting down on Obaa-san’s lap to listen to the stories. The Obaa-san’s stories amazed Mitsuko for hours.

However, this time Obaa-san was lying down in the small room, and didn’t say anything. She had usually warmed Mitsuko up in her arms, and held Mitsuko’s cold hands with her warm hands. It was not this time. Her hand was getting colder and colder in Mitsuko’s hand. Uncles, aunties and cousins were crying and saying that Obaa-san was going to someplace over the river.

Japanese Buddhist funeral in Obaa-san’s times, the body was washed in the wash tub at the house with all the family members, and let the body to wear the paper cloth. The paper money for paying to a ferry man for crossing the river between this world to the other world, and two pairs of slippers made with straw for long distance walking to reach to the other world were placed in the barrel (coffin.)

Mitsuko can even see even right now that many men were trying to put Obaasan with paper cloth in a barrel. Mitsuko can still hear those men’s voice saying, we thought Obaa-san was smaller …, and pushed Obaasan in the barrel, and drove in the nails (Ton-Ton – sound of nail pounding in) and closed. Mitsuko can’t remember that she said anything or cried, but Mitsuko didn’t like what they did to Obaa-san.
The next scene Mitsuko’s rememberings were much dreadful and scary scene. They carried Obaa-san in the barrel to the top of the hill, and put the barrel on top of the crossed logs. Then, they lit fire on it.

Mitsuko doesn’t know what she did after that. Mitsuko knows that the incident affected her whole life till 33 years old. Mitsuko wanted to know that to where Obaa-san went, and how Mitsuko can go there. Mitsuko’s mother was talking to the family friends that Mitsuko is such strange daughter. Mitsuko didn’t want to go to the amusement parks or the zoos, she preferred to visit the temples and shrine.
There are so many things that happened in Mitsuko’s life till 33 years old. Mitsuko accepted Christ as her Lord, God, and Savior at the age of 33 years old when Mitsuko understood the resurrection of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mitsuko will be resurrected from dead as Jesus Christ resurrected. Now Mitsuko knows where she goes after her death. Mitsuko prayed to the heavenly Father God through Jesus Christ for Obaa-san’s salvation. From the Bible verses below, the Good News is spread to the other world. “… through whom also he (Jesus) went and preached to the spirits in prison” (I Peter 3:19 NIV).
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Nabemono – it is very difficult to translate in English. It may be like soup. Any soups are very preferable food on a table from autumn to spring. It is same idea that the Nabemono is very good to eat in cold weather. Here are the Nabemono recipes inherited from Obaa-san.
An electric frying pan 3 or 4 inches deep can be used to make any Nabemono in the United States.
1. Worldly Known Sukiyaki (for Four)
Ingredients
3Tbsp Vegetable oil
1/2cup Sugar (1/4 cup sugar will be acceptable)
1/2cup Shoyu (soy sauce)
2 lbs Thin sliced beef (sirloin roast or better quality than the roast)
1/2 of Hakusai (called Nappa in Jewel), large size – cut 1” long
1 bag Shirataki (Noodle made with Japanese vegetable. None of American food
market carries it) – cut 1” long
Substituted for Shirataki – Chinese saifun noodles
Note: The saifun noodle is made with rice or beans, so it soaks the juice.
2-cho Tofu – cut 2” square
1 bundle Green onion or scallion – cut about 1” long
These are the basic Sukiyaki ingredients. Any leafy vegetables (shungiku, spinach). any Japanese mushrooms (shiitake, shimeji), etc. are good to use and tasty to eat.
There are so many ways to cook Sukiyaki. All these Mitsuko’s recipe listed here are inherited from Obaa-san. However, Mitsuko changed the recipe here and there for the health.
The best Sukiyaki meat from Kobe is marbled with the red meat and the fat. The sirloin roast with not too much fat is delicious enough to use Sukiyaki and better for our health.
Cooking (DO NOT OVER COOK)
Heat the frying pan
Put the vegetable oil and sugar
Cook half of the meat in the oil and sugar 30 seconds
Add shoyu and cook another 30 seconds
Move the meat one side.
Add 1/2 the hard parts of hakusai first, then put leaves parts
Add 1/2 shirataki and tofu
Cooking each ingredients separate from others
Cover to boil
Put green onion or scallion just before eating.
Put remaining ingredients after everyone has eaten once
Add extra sugar and shoyu as needed
How to eat:
Crack a raw egg in a small bowl in individual salad bowl and mix the egg. Dip Sukiyaki to cool off with the egg (optional.)

2. Yudofu (Cooked tofu in hot water)
i. Yudofu (for four) - This is basic Nabemono
Ingredients
2 cups Water – other recipes recommend to use chicken or fish or kobu stock. Mitsuko’s Obaa-san used water only.)
1 strip Kobu* (seaweed, not nori – cut 1” square with scissors)
2-cho Tofu – cut about 2” square
1 medium size Hakusai (Nappa), – cut about 1” long
Pinch Salt
Note: *Kobu strip (sea-weeds)
Cooking (DO NOT OVER COOK)
Put the amount of water in the frying pan
Place the Kobu in the bottom of water – eating the kobu same as other ingredients
Start to boil the water
Put pinch of salt to prevent tofu becoming harder and having air holes
Put ½ amount of Tofu
Put ½ amount of Hakusai
Put cover to boil
Dipping Sauce:
Put shaved bonito, chopped green onion or scallion, and shoyu in medium-size sauce pan and cook till boil, and add lemon after cooked
(Those who are watching salt - use ½ cup Shoyu and ½ cup vinegar or lemon)
Note: **Shaved bonito can be purchased from Japanese or any oriental food markets)
How to eat:
•Put tofu, hakusai and kobu in a medium-size soup dish and pour the sauce over
•Put the dipping sauce in a medium-size soup dish, and take the amount of the any ingredient one can eat and dip in the sauce.
(Japanese likes to eat from the same pan together.)
Shichimi (7 Japanese herbs with hot pepper) used with sauce makes tastier for those who like spicy food..
ii. Yudofu plus fish and shell fishes
Same ingredients of Yudofu
Plus any white fish, Tara; cod or whiting, or any white meat fish, scallops, shrimps, crab legs, fresh shell fish, clams, mussels
Sauce:
Same as Yudofu plus juice of Yuzu (use Lime as substitute)
Cook same way as Yudofu (DO NOT OVER COOK)
Eat same manner as Yudofu
iii. Yudofu plus chichen
Same ingredients of Yudofu
Plus chicken breasts or chicken tenderloin
Sauce:
Same as Yudofu plus juice of lemon and grated ginger
Cook same way as Yudofu (DO NOT OVER COOK)
Eat same manner as Yudofu
iv. Party with Nabemono
Ingredients
Purchase tofu, hakusai, green onion or scallion, shaved bonito and shoyu
Ask your members to bring anything they want to eat
meat, fish, shell fish, scallops, shrimps, crab legs, and any leafy vegetable
Cook same as yudofu (DO NOT OVER COOK)
One electric frying pan can be served 4 to 5 people, so more than 5 or 6 use two frying pan.
Using seasoned water: fish or chicken broth, seasoned with shoyu and shaved bonito is easier for many people.
Put all the ingredients in the seasoned broth and cook with cover.
Use chopped green onion or scallion, grated ginger, lime or lemon juice, some hot sauces as condiments.

3. Vegetable only (DO NOT OVER COOK)
The following vegetables can be added to Yudofu
Cabbage, spinach, any colored peppers, string beans and any other leafy vegetables
Daikon (Japanese radish), carrots, potato – cooked prior to put into a frying pan
For the vegetable only it is better to use Yudofu sauce.

4. Shabu-Shabu (for four)
This is really new line of Nabemono (about 50 years ago), so Mitsuko’s Obaa-san or even mother had never known this cooking. Mitsuko don’t like beef smell, so she cooked Shabu-Shabu only three times in her life. But here is the basic of Shabu-Shabu.
Use an electric frying pan. If possible the pan made with the earthenware has better result.
Ingredients:
2 cups water or chicken broth
1 strip of kobu
2 to 3 lbs. Thin sliced beef (refer sukiyaki)
1 Hakusai
1 bundle Spinich
2 cups Shiitake mushrooms
And any other vegetables
Cooking
Boil the water or the broth in a frying pan.
In this boiled water, individually, do like washing (swishing) the meat to cook and dip in the sauce to eat (DO NOT OVER COOK).
Shabu-shabu means the sound (unamatamia) like washing in the tub.
Sauce:
Yudofu sauce plus lemon and hot pepper
Daikon Oroshi (grated Japanese radish)
For this cooking any vegetable should be cooked before.

5. There are so many different kinds of Nabemono in Japan. Yudofu and any meats
with Kimchee is delicious Nabemono.