It's been one week since the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. I am a Japanese living in London, being unable to do nothing to help. I didn't know what to say or think because I knew that nothing we say or do can take away the grief, pain, and sense of devastation of the people who suffered from this catastrophe. I can't even imagine what they have had to go through. My heart goes out to all the victims, and words fall short of my condolences.
I seriously thought about flying back to Japan and go to these areas to just help, but then I know that untrained volunteers in disaster areas would be a liability for other people. Donation is the only thing I could do, but even that seemed irrelevant. I've been watching live images and listening to stories, which then flooded my head, calling my parents in Tokyo everyday, and talking about this disaster every time I e-mailed, phoned, or met someone.
Then I was talking to a friend of mine last night and realised that none of these things actually do anything to anyone. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the mode. I decided to snap out of this. I've decided to have images, in my head, of these people building their lives back up again and of Japan being resurrected, as it were, and to slowly release my positive energy. (My teenage son hates it when I start to talk like this...) That would surely be better than being sad all the time. Everything that has a beginning has an ending.
One thing I was very touched is that all the media around the world noticed and mentioned how dignified, polite, and self-disciplined Japanese people are even in the middle of this horrendous disaster. One of my best friends, Patrizia, in Italy even phoned to say that all her family thinks no other nationalities would have behaved this way in this situation. I'm very proud.
With my mode having been somber, cooking wasn't the priority, and now I realised that we've been feeding ourselves on lots of pasta and rice. "Where are vegetables?" I thought. Here is an answer to consume lots of different vegetables at one go.
Ingredients (for 1-2 vegetable-craving people):
(veg)
3 sticks of celery
1 cucumber
a pack of mushrooms (about 400g?)
2 carrots
a head of small cauliflower
(marinade dressing)
50cc Shoyu (soy sauce)
50cc white wine vinegar
50cc Sake (or dry Vermouth)
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped small
1 tablespoon sugar
1 garlic clove, grated
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
Cut all the vegetables into chunky (about 4-5cm) pieces. Lightly boil carrot and cauliflower pieces in salted boiling water for about 2 minutes. Drain them to cool.
Mix all the dressing ingredients, except sesame oil, in a small pan and bring to boil. Turn off the heat and add some black pepper and sesame oil. Pour this mixture over the vegetables and leave them to absorb the dressing for a few hours. Add some roasted sesame seeds, if you like.