Cooking with Ryo-chan!

5.10.08

Today was my first day back at work after a week long break. As much as I enjoyed the time off, it was also a relief to get back into my normal routine. It's strange to think that after today I will have exactly three months of classes left. It's amazing how quickly the time has passed.

Lauren's last lesson never showed so we could both leave together. We grabbed our umbrellas and head out into the rain to meet our friend Ryoji at the closest Starbuck's Cafe. Today he promised to cook dinner for Lauren and me. To be honest, Lauren and I had no idea what we were getting into, but when we tasted the final product, we were overwhelmingly convinced. Ryoji showed us how to make two dishes: seafood paila and avocado salad. Everything was honto honto oishii (very very delicious).

Ryoji and I are having a serious cooking conversation. This picture makes me laugh. :)

The main ingredients of the seafood paila are vegetables (green, yellow, red pepper, green peas, onion and garlic), seafood (shrimp and squid), broth and rice. The idea is to let it all mix together so that the flavors can infuse into everything. It reminds me of rice pilaf in that respect.

The finished seafood paila with extra decoration on top. All of the water/broth has been boiled away and it's ready to eat! :)

This avocado salad is one of my new favorites, and thanks to Ryoji, now I can make it myself! If you teach a man to fish, you have fed him for a lifetime, right? It's so easy to make this salad and the taste is so refreshing. The cucumbers are cool and crispy contrast to the smooth and creamy avocado. I hope my family will let me make if for them back home.

From left to right the avocado salad and the seafood paila. They are both so colorful and make such a beautiful contrast when put on the same plate together.

On another note, Lauren and I found these interesting flavored Jelly Belly's the other day at the large grocery store near our school. The grocery store has a large assortment of foreign goods at reasonable prices (sometimes).

Here is the 3x3 inch box of Bean Boozled Jelly Belly beans.

Please notice all the rather strange flavors.