Egg-ology (2)

So my father, born on the Pearl Harbor Day, has never cooked hard-boiled eggs. That's a critical domestic issue to address.

But now I wonder, what about me, then? What makes me so sure I'm any better?

So I googled as usual, because being egg-headed is the last thing I want to be. But I must confess I was beaten more or less this time, to find out merely in minutes, my complete egg-norance of the situation abroad.

As far as I know, most people in Japan make boiled-eggs by keeping eggs simmered just until cooling them with running tap water (unless they've got a microwavable egg-cooking gadget.) However, apparently that's not a universal standard. For example, Betty Crocker's cookbook and American Egg Board, which I think are influential in the US, recommend the following:
1) turn off heat as water comes to a boil
2) let stand for minutes
3) then cool with water

"Remove from heat?! Um, okay," I bitterly smiled and nodded... until AEB proudly called it's let-stand method "more energy efficient."

EFFICIENT.

"Hey, do you mean I'm an inefficient person?"

Calm down, calm down. (I have a tendency to overreact to the word.)

Then self defense:
"Actually, I strongly believe 'keep-simmering' is more prectical here in Japan, considering the nation's family size, pan size and so on. Moreover, it agrees with our perfectionism or sophisticated sense of beauty: would rather gently stir eggs while heat is on, in order to get the yolk just right in the middle…" And eventually, my imagination went so far as to picture US-Japan secretary-level talks over which is more civilized in the way of cooking eggs.

But all in all, it wasn't that bad to get all these eggs on my face. Actually, it, uh, egged myself on, to enhance my egg-ability.


[一般的な ゆで卵のつくりかた]

日本では「沸騰してから5-10分ゆでる」だと思うのですが
参照：NHKきょうの料理　ゆで卵のきほん

米国では「沸騰したら火からおろし、余熱で凝固」がより一般的なのでしょうか？
参照：American Egg Board　米国鶏卵委員会

しかも「より省エネで効率的です」みたいなこと書いてるし。
なんかいやですねえ・・・　
「あなた非効率、要領悪い」って言われてるみたいで。（考えすぎ）

じゃあなぜこの「効率的」な方法は日本に浸透しないんだろう、と
ふと実践してみました。

2個目むきかけた時点で、自分なりの答えは出ました：
黄身、思い切り片寄ってました。しかも5個とも全部・・・
これが、日本の美意識に反するのかな、と。

ちょっと、アメリカ人に勝った気がしました。

Egg-ology (1)

Surprising fact about my father that I learned this past weekend:

I called my mother and he got it instead.

"Oh, she's gone on a trip… to Iceland or somewhere, I guess. (okay, that doesn't surprise me any more) …By the way, you called me at the right moment. Tell me, how do you make boiled eggs?"

What? I mean, how could a 63-year-old man manage to spend his whole life without knowing such a thing?? I even felt shell-shocked.

But as I gave him directions, I realized that boiled eggs ("cooked eggs" according to American Egg Board) are not so simple at all:
- Start with water or hot water?
- Need to add salt to water?
- Boil at high/low & how long?
- SOS: What if egg white starts leaking out of a shell crack?
…and more.

Besides, I found the talk so pleasing, because he was listening earnestly, apparently jotting down all I said, just like a Cub Scout kid with his senior telling him how to spot a perfect site for a tent, or how to keep snakes off at night.

Maybe I should visit him this Father's day so we can make egg sandwiches together (then hopefully move on to egg Benedict).


「ゆで卵ってどうやって作るん？」と父。
「はぁ？　ゆでたらいいだけやん。」と言いかけましたが
いや、もう全然「だけ」の話じゃないわってことに気づかされました。

電話切ったあとも、気になって調べてみたら
自分の信念揺るがす事実が次々と・・・（続く）

Extraordinarily Ordinary

Vetiver Extraordinaire: my Saturday perfume.
I don't want to disappoint Dominique Ropion by describing this way, but the perfume reminds me of breezy LA afternoon, when I sit on grass under a big pine tree, flipping a textbook with fingers that still have a hint of the smell I got from lunch: orange & pumpernickel bagel w/ caraway seeds.
editionsdeparfums.com


「非凡」なほどに　「私の日常」な香り。

ふと一句：
草わかば　色鉛筆の赤き粉の　ちるがいとしく　寝て削るなり
（北原白秋）