Send him off to Russia

As a sequel to my little exchange with my son, SB, about his calling me lazy last week, I thought of something that I should do.  He missed carpool twice last week; once because he decided to go to a friend's house to work on a school project (whereupon Dad picked him up 4 hours after he was supposed to have come home in carpool), and the next day because he decided he wanted to play tennis against the girls on the middle school tennis team.

At that point, I decided what to do, what any smart mom would think of.  I decided to pin a note onto his shirt and send him on his way to Russia... sort of like the mom who returned her adopted son because he was too much trouble for her.  I'm not saying I agree with or condone her actions.  But I am saying that I felt like doing that to my own son last week, after he missed carpool for the second time... just for about, say, the next 6 years or so.  I suppose I could take him back after he turned 21!

Chicken Tonkatsu and Inari Sushi: An Easy Japanese Dinner

Well, truthfully, it's not really that easy.  For me it is... I've made this dinner many times over in the last couple of decades, but it's not that hard, either.

Japanese food is an art form, really, rather than only a means of nutrition or provision of fuel for the body.  The Japanese culture focuses on beauty, simplicity, form, and presentation.  I won't go into my vast knowledge of Asian culture gleaned from the one semester of Asian history in 10th grade at Punahou (ha, ha!), or from my extensive travels to Asia (the two times I went to China, it was still VERY communist and I remember the noodles at a Japanese restaurant better than the Temple in Kyoto).  But I do know that over the years of eating Japanese food, I've learned that it's become a wonderful comfort food to me:  the noodles, the sushi, the simple root vegetables... YUM!

So tonight I decided to make An Easy Japanese Dinner:  Chicken Tonkatsu and Inari Sushi.

Ingredients:

Chicken Breasts
Flour
Eggs
Panko Flakes
Salt and Pepper
Vegetable Oil
Tonkatsu Sauce purchased in a bottle
Pre-packaged Aburage shells or canned
Rice, flavored with Japanese Vinegar (Mirin) and Sugar and Salt, or just plain

TONKATSU

Step 1.  Slice the chicken breasts as thinly as possible, or pound flat to desired thickness, the thinner the better.
Step 2.  Dip the chicken breast into flour, salt, and pepper mixture until covered.
Step 3.  Dip the chicken breast into an egg wash until coated.
Step 4.  Coat the chicken with panko flakes.... cover really well.

Step 5.  Fry in electric skillet at 375 degrees until golden brown and crispy; turn once or twice if needed.  Use only 1/4 " of oil or so.

INARI SUSHI

Step 1.  Cook white rice in a rice cooker.
Step 2.  Stuff aburage with rice or, if you would like to season the rice, use Japanese vinegar, sugar, and salt.

Serve above items with salad and soy ginger dressing.  Tonkatsu sauce for the chicken is the best!

My family really likes this dinner, but who wouldn't?  I know, it's not the best to eat anything fried, but it is so delicious.  Please try it for yourself.  I think you'll like it!