After an 11 1/2 hour flight, a 2 1/2 hour train ride, and a 5 minute jaunt in a taxi, we arrived at the door of our Tokyo apartment on Wednesday. It’s been nearly 5 months since I’ve been here and it feels wonderful to be back. Back in my own kitchen, my own bedroom, my own home. Granted, life is completely different now that I am 5 1/2 months pregnant. Rather than riding my bicycle to the grocery store, I have to take the bus or walk. Which in this heat is just about one of the most miserable tasks. Still, aside from minor adjustments, I have never been so happy to be here. As we landed at Narita Airport, I watched out my airplane window as the ground grew closer and closer. I could see the neatly planted rice patties, the thick, lush forests covering the countryside, the canals and rivers that wind their way (in an orderly fashion, of course) through the landscape and the muted sunlight that placed its highlights in just the right places. I had never truly appreciated this scene until now. It was beautiful.
Once the jet lag has subsided, I will take more time to reflect on returning to Japan. I have so many thoughts that need to be shared. For now, I’d like to talk about food.
In the days before leaving for Tokyo, I spent a lot of time baking. Since I don’t have a proper oven here, I like to take advantage of my mother’s as much as possible when I’m visiting. My dad and I made, as we called them, “the best peanut butter cookies ever“. I felt like a little kid again, in a sense. Pressing a fork into peanut butter cookie dough to create that criss-cross pattern on the top, eating the first piping hot bite of a cookie right out of the oven, and spending time with someone you love immensely- it doesn’t get much better than that.
I also made these dulce de leche empanadas. I had made them a few weeks earlier and promised I would share the recipe here, but I had to get some decent photos first. My mom saved my life with these. I was having a miserable time with the dough. I had to make it more than once, which never happens with this recipe. It has consistently worked marvelously up until this incident. (I blame the fact that I am pregnant- that is really the only change. That can impact the success of a recipe, right?) When I felt like all I wanted to do was throw the dough against the kitchen wall, my mom hopped in and somehow made it work. You can all say a big thanks to her for the fact that this post is up!
These empanadas are the kind of thing you could throw together at a moment’s notice. They are perfect right out of the oven if you are serving them to guests, but they also make a delicious (though less impressive) snack when they are room temperature. Using the dough recipe from my Argentine empanadas, I simply fill them with a teaspoon of dulce de leche (which you can buy in the baking aisle by the sweetened condensed milk, or you can make yourself like this), and top them with a sprinkle of sea salt (you can use sugar if you prefer) after brushing them with lightly beaten egg white. A brief 15 minutes later, you have an ooey-gooey-oh-so-heavenly dessert that is perfection with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
So, with this recipe, I said good-bye to Minnesota (and its ovens), and hello to Tokyo (where the weather feels like an oven). More Japanese-inspired food is sure to follow here at Tokyo Terrace, so please stick around!
And by the way, if you haven’t done it yet, make sure to enter my giveaway for 6 free pints of ice cream! You still have time!
