Just a Coincidence?
Carl Jung had a notion about coincidence. He thought that the simultaneous occurrence of two or more seemingly unrelated but meaningful actions was more a trick of the mind than an overt act of the gods. After all, it is in the deep recesses of our memory that we notice these things happening; if they had no relevance to our own consciousness, the actions would pass without significance. Jung called the phenomenon of conscious coincidence “synchronicity,” and advised us to really notice what was going on in our lives when these shining moments strike.
I had an “aha-moment” while dashing through the Portland airport, late for a flight and bereft of a book. Dodging vacationers lingering at the pretzel stand, I brushed against a sales table from Portland’s quirky retailer, Powell’s Books. A brilliant crimson- and black-wrapped cover tumbled into my hands. I picked it up: “The Flower Master” by award-winning mystery writer Sujata Massey. I’d never heard of her, but I’d heard plenty about her subject, the flower masters of Japan’s famed Ikebana International. These are the people who put Zen into the art of posing a few strategic blooms into eloquent masterpieces of floral art. When I was in high school and we lived in Japan, my mother studied under the master and wound up editing the magazine craved by 25,000 society members throughout the world. I bought the book and caught the plane.
For two days, I hardly put the book down, transported by Massey’s trenchant descriptions to a place I remember as supple in its social graces and with mysteries that deepened the more I came to know it. For centuries, Japanese culture has been multilayered through caste and community; it is still a society where etiquette is important as much for its utility as a personal mask as for interpersonal grease. Massey captures all of Japan’s finest features as one who, like me, has come to love the land and the paradoxes of its people, yet Massey’s writing never shirks the tough stuff.
Synchronicity popped up this morning when I put down her book long enough to pick up the Sunday Times. It fell open to a tiny square-inch notice that this week, from August 13 – 21, is the 65th Annual Nisei Week in Little Tokyo. If you have an interest in Japanese culture, but can’t swing a trip abroad, all the basic elements are alive in downtown L.A.- tea ceremonies, flower arranging, food booths, handicrafts, anime, martial arts, kimonos, drum-banging parades and, yes, Hello Kitty. Check www.niseiweek.org for a schedule.
Oyako Donburi, a Japanese Omelet
Serves 2
At-home cooks in Japan tend to be specialists-one will craft perfect nabe, stews like sukiyaki and shabu-shabu for which the cuisine is famed. Others are skilled with the grill and prepare a daily diet of yakitori or teriyaki with rice and pickled vegetables. In most Japanese homes, take-out delivery is the order of the day and visitors to Japan are often flabbergasted to see skinny pedalers on battered bicycles wheeling through crowded streets with a dozen lacquer trays stacked high on the rear fender. If the boxes are steaming, it’s probably udon, noodle soup; if cool, it might be sushi. Home cooks rarely attempt either national delicacy.
The common denominator for home-cooked meals is rice-the sticky, short-grained kind-and a rice cooker is often a bride’s first gift. Donburi means “big dish;” anything cooked that sits atop a bowl of rice and boasts a dipping sauce. This easy dish may be the most commonly prepared recipe at home. It was certainly the one most often served by our classically trained cook! Made from eggs and sautéed chicken, its name has made it a fond joke among the country folk of Japan. Oyako asks the age-old question, “Which came first-the mother or the child?”
1 Tbs. butter
2 cups chicken, in bite-size chunks
5-8 scallions, sliced
5 medium mushrooms, sliced
2 cups dashi or chicken broth (see below)
4 Tbs. soy sauce
4 Tbs. mirin or white wine
2 Tbs. sugar
4 eggs, lightly whisked
Slivers of nori, sliced seaweed, and/ or black sesame seeds
1. Sauté chicken in butter. Add vegetables and dashi. Simmer until chicken is cooked.
2. Add soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Add salt to taste.
3. Pour eggs over chicken, stirring lightly until the eggs are just coddled. Serve over rice with nori, seeds and sauce.
Katsuo Dashi-basic stock
1 piece dried kelp (2-1/2 by 2 inches)
1 cup dried bonito flakes-katsuobushi
1. Boil kelp in 3 to 4 cups water for 3 minutes.
2. Remove the kelp and add flakes. Remove from heat and let steep 2 minutes, then strain. Do not overcook-dashi turns bitter.