quality project draft

INTRODUCTION
I am setting out to learn more about the cuisine of my ancestors by researching, gathering recipes and then actually making a day of food for my family and friends. My big questions are:
a. How are traditional Japanese meals different from the Japanese food we eat in America? How did this so-called "Japanese food" become to what we eat?
b. What is the etiquette of the Japanese in the past? How is it different from the present?
I don't really expect my readers to know much about my topic, although living in Hawaii gives us a little background and introduction to Japanese cuisine. I would expect my readers to know different Japanese terms like shoyu or soy sauce, nori or seaweed.
I chose to do this project because I have always been interested in Japanese cuisine and the traditions that have remained in the past and the ones that are still celebrated. I would also inform my parents about the traditions we celebrate and if they actually are traditional Japanese, and not influenced by America. This also allows me to build my cooking skills and learn new ones. The second part of my project, the scrapbook, gives me a chance to use my crafting skills to do something I have never done before. I enjoy paper crafting, like making cards, posters, signs, etc. I feel that making a scrapbook to gather up all the information I find, along with the recipes of the dishes I make will be the perfect complement.

LIT REVIEW
History/Evolution of Japanese Food:
After two millennia of culinary influences from the outside world, Japanese food has been refined to reflect local preferences in taste and presentation. One of the most important ingredients to the Japanese is rice. Rice came from China around 300 BC, which was used as a form of praise until the 20th century. In the 7th century, milk-drinking and meat eating was very common. But during the 8th century, meat eating was forbidden, resulting in the famous hand rolled, sushi. Later in the 8th century and in the early 9th century, the origin of soy sauce arrived in Japan from the mainland Asia. But it was not until the 15th century when Japanese-style of soy sauce was produced. During the Heian Period (794-1185) was when the Japanese began to form their distinct style. After the capital was moved from Nara to Kyoto, the nobility had time to enjoy arts, like literature, poetry, fine cuisine and games. "Elegant dining became an important part of the lifestyle and the aristocracy were not only gourmets but gourmands who supplemented their regular two meals a day with numerous between-meal snacks." Kyo ryori, or the cuisine of Kyoto represents ultimate Japanese dining. Shojin ryori, represents an simpler, healthier style of cuisine, made for the samurai lifestyle. This style emphasizes variety. In the meal, 5 methods of cooking are required, 5 colors and six tastes.

Presentation:
Generally, there are two contrasting meals in Japan, an array of a dozen or more small portioned food arranged on tableware, kaiseki ryori, and the basic meal which consists of simply a bowl of boiled rice, miso soup and seasonal dishes. Each meal is divided into a beginning, middle and end. The beginning is made of appretizers, clear soups and raw fish. The middle portion, the main part is seafood, meat poultry and vegetables, prepared by grilling, steaming, simmering, deep-frying or served as a vinegared "salad". Each, individual tray holds an assortment of bowls and plates, with a pair of finely pointed chopsticks. Generally, round foods like rolled meat, slices of lotus root are presented on rectangular or square plates, while square foods are presented on round plates.

Modern:
O-bento, a box lunch with white rice, an assortment of tiny helpings of meat, fish vegetables, egg, fruit and a pickled plum are the most common lunch in modern Japan. Making an o-bento is very time consuming since it consists of several different kinds of foods. The detail and presentation is also very important to all Japanese meals. Ebiken, the most famous o-bento is available at most of the nation's train stations in Japan. The contents depend and vary, depending on the region, but all consist of delicacies, customs and crafts of the city. For example, in the city of Takasaki, known for its doll-making industry, sells their lunches in little red plastic bowls shaped as Daruma dolls.


MY QUALITY PROJECT JOURNAL

April 14, 2010
Today, I surfed the web to research a little background information on teacup pigs, tiny, teacup-sized potbelly pigs. As I have been a pig-lover for nearly 15 years, I figured that I finally had a chance to research pigs. My dad recently showed me an article of teacups pigs since celebrities, like Paris Hilton, owns these cute, little pigs. I decided that to share my work with others, I will make a scrapbook containing the information with pictures.

April 15, 2010
I thought about possible different topics that I could research instead. There isn't much information on pigs, but more importantly, teacup pigs since they just recently became popular. I found an article on green tea and thought about researching the effects of green and the history of it instead. I jotted down a few notes on the article, which described the different kinds and grade of green tea.

April 19, 2010
Today, I googled how green tea promotes weight loss. While doing so, I found facts on how green tea in products, like sunscreen, helps aging. I also went to EBSCO host, the online research database, and gathered a few articles on green tea and weight loss and history.

April 20, 2010
Today, I downloaded several articles on green tea and continued to take notes.

April 21, 2010
I talked to Mr. Watson about my two ideas: pigs and green tea. I thought about going back to my initial topic of pigs. I briefly research the feral pig problem in Hawaii to help me decide which topic to take. I completed my project proposal, keeping the scrapbook idea and started my introduction.

April 22, 2010
With the Quality Project stuck in my head all day, I began to think of new topics. Since green tea, itself, as a topic isn't considered "Quality," I thought about expanding my topic to Japanese food, the evolution and history. I wrote a new proposal, keeping the scrapbook idea, again.

April 23, 2010
Today, I went to Cooke library and searched for books, using the online catalog. I found 4 books on the history and evolution of Japanese food, which included some recipes. Although I didn't find "how-to" books or tips on scrapbooking, Mrs. Peterson helped me to find several articles on EBSCO host which including helpful tips to make a scrapbook successful.

April 25, 2010
I started research on Japanese food using the book, "The Food of Japan." This book was helpful since it was too elaborate. It allowed me to get the gist of the history of Japan and their food, along with the modern cuisine.

April 26, 2010
I continued to research, moving on to another book, "The History and Culture of Japanese Food." I realized that learning about Japanese history with the course, Asian History, helps me understand the evolution of Japanese food. I also wrote up my literature review, which includes the information that I have found, so far.

April 27, 2010
I continued to research and take notes, taking a break from the history and evolution, moving onto the different meals and types of food.

April 28, 2010
Today, I googled and flipped through the recipe portions of the books I had. I thought of possible meals to make for breakfast.

April 29, 2010
After collecting information on the basic meal and lunch, I began formally writing. When the two sections were completed, I found some pictures that I could possibly use in my scrapbook.

April 30, 2010
Today, I jotted down each of the common ingredients listed in the book, "The Food of Japan." To accompany the ingredients in my scrapbook, I collected pictures of each while copying and pasting the URL for future references and to make the bibliography.

May 1, 2010
I found exact recipes online and from books for breakfast. After deciding what to make, I wrote down all the ingredients. I checked my kitchen to see if we had some, if not all the ingredients necessary. I went to the Manoa Safeway to buy a few of the ingredients I didn't have at home. Later, in the afternoon, I visited Ben Franklin, wandering around, gathering paper, crafter's tape and glue. I scanned through a few books to find inspiration. I ended up purchasing "The Encyclopedia of Scrapbooking." After dinner, I chopped up the cabbage, sliced the carrots and cucumbers for the pickled vegetables (tsukemono) that needed to soak overnight. I was in a "Quality Project mood" so I stayed up late, writing my portion about green tea and looked through the scrapbooking book right before bed.

May 2, 2010
I visited Safeway again before cooking breakfast to buy last minute ingredients. First, I combined the eggs, sake, mirin, soup-base, sugar, salt and soy sauce. After frying the tamagoyaki, I stirred together the soup-base, miso and water in a small pot for the miso soup. I cubed the tofu and soaked the seaweed to later add to the soup. Later, I wrote the rice portion for my scrapbook and drew the layout of the breakfast page, with inspiration from the scrapbooking encyclopedia.


May 3, 2010
Today, I took notes on the evolution of Japanese food and the history that lead up to the change.

May 5, 2010
I read the etiquette portion in "The History and Culture of Japanese Food" and took notes. Later, I formally wrote up the section of etiquette which including the basics of the art of chopsticks.

May 6, 2010
Today, I wrote out my Process & Methods portion, up to what has been done so far. I continued to gather information and finalized the writing portion of tea, rice and miso soup. After reading about mochi, I formally wrote up a few paragraphs on the importance and history of the sweets in Japan. I am excited to make mochi, rice cake, from scratch for the first time!

May 9, 2010
I began my morning my surfing the web for bento recipes. I came out empty handed so I decided that it might be best to visit the library or bookstore, so I searched for books on bento making. Before leaving, I checked our bookshelf of recipe books and coincidentally found the exact book I wanted, but five dollars cheaper, due to inflation, perhaps. I also found another very useful book, which consisted of recipes that I plan to make for dinner. I made a grocery list, quickly checked my kitchen for any ingredients I could cross off, then I was off the market. With a limp, I wandered around Don Quiote to find all the ingredients necessary to make daifuku, mochi with red bean paste, ginger pork bento and dinner for the next day. I started my afternoon by making the mochi, then moved onto cooking the different components of the bento.

May 10, 2010
Today, I was planning on cooking dinner, but my parents' schedule changed dinner moved to tomorrow. I prepared the tofu by slicing and draining the tofu and cut the vegetables. I also planned out a few pages on my scrapbook, the breakfast, bento, dinner and dessert pages.

May 11, 2010
After many days of avoiding the history and evolution portion, I finally decided to take some time wrap up this dreaded portion. After scanning through my notes from the previous week, I started to take more notes. I researched the different periods in Japanese history, like the Yamato Period and Jomon, then googled the cuisine in each respective time period. The search was somewhat a failure, as nothing relevant showed up. I then decided to email Mr. Straton, my Asian History teacher from last semester to see if he could help me out. He responded with a few websites to start at, along with a new traditional concept, kaiseki, a traditional Japanese dinner. Starting at around 5:00 pm, I began making dinner. While waiting for the tofu to marinate, I simmered the mushrooms in one saucepan and the other veggies and chicken in another. After two hours of simmering, I prepared the flour mixture, coated each individual tofu, and then fried them for a few minutes. Just before dinnertime, I sliced the sashimi and arranged the rest of the meal.

May 12, 2010
Five days overdue, I renewed my three library books with a fine of $1.20, just in case I need it for references while finished up my research.

May 13, 2010
Today, I gathered up my information on the history of Japanese cuisine to formally write it up. I got about half way through all the periods of history. Later at night, I started the cut out each title of my scrapbook, using my CriCut.