材料

1 block of tofu (This makes an enormous amount, you will have leftovers! Cut it in half if need be!)
1/2 – 1 cup of favorite assorted veggies (I used about ten baby carrots, ten broccoli pieces, a celery stalk, you get the idea. Just what I had lying around that need to be used before going off!)
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
2 Tbsp soy sauce or vegetarian oyster sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 Tbsp orange juice
1 tsp basil
1 tsp sea salt
oil for your pan

作り方

Making the innards
1. Take out the block of tofu and drain all the water. Press it firmly between your hands and push together as hard as you can, squeezing out all the excess water. Then slice your tofu block in half. (You can also quarter it, and one quarter is equal one serving.) The recipe is for a whole block, even if you save the rest for reheating later.)

2. If you’re using a food processor, combine the veggies and tofu well and pulse until crumbled (purée is fine too)! If cooking by hand, cube your tofu block into small squares and place into a medium sized bowl. Using a fork, mash up most of the tofu until it resembles scrambled eggs. Leaving a few (or many) cubes still in tact is preferable. Chop your veggies into tiny bits and combine!

3. Preheat your large skillet or pan over medium heat and add just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add the tofu & veggie mixture to the pan and spread it out evenly. Now add 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast and stir until well combined, spreading it back out when you’re done. Then add the second Tbsp and stir. After adding the final Tbsp, let it sit for a moment on the pan while the nutritional yeast melts.

5. Add the onion and garlic powder, and then the orange juice and stir until combined, cooking over medium heat. For the next ingredients we don’t measure them out, we simply make sure the tofu is spread evenly among the pan and then do a light to medium layer of coverage over the entire pan. First is basil. We just do one layer of basil over the tofu and then stir it until it’s combined. Then we do one sprinkled layer of salt, stir, let it sit for a few more minutes and then it’s done! Once the tofu hits the pan it takes us about 5-7 minutes to go through the whole process of adding the ingredients while it cooks.

Making the dumplings: After you’ve made the guts for your dumplings , scoop out a spoonful into your first dumpling wrapper. Dip your fingertip in water and run it along the outside of the wrapper and then fold the dumpling in half so the ends touch and seal together. You can make fancy dumpling lines with a fork if you don’t have a dumpling maker. Repeat until you’ve used all your wrappers, and then you’re ready to cook!

Cooking via Boiling: Place your dumplings into a bamboo steamer (or any steamer) lined with wax paper. Boil a pot of water and places your steamer on top and let steam for 10-15 minutes!

Cooking via Pan Fry: You’re innards are already cooked, and there’s no meat in it so you don’t have to worry about making sure it’s cooked all the way through, so really you’re just heating it up and cooking the wrappers. Put a little oil in your pan, add the dumplings, and cook on medium heat about three minutes per side. Dumplings are ready when they are golden brown!

Today I’d like to share more immersion mixes for you to help you with the listening portion of your study! After the release of the previous Japanese listening mix we made, we had some requests for more normal Japanese everyday speaking, because the story time mix was slower and, well, stories! We have two new talk show installments so you can listen to people talking normally, especially to each other, and then we have the second installment of Story Time. (For those of you that could understand Story Time Mix #1, you’ll be pleased to know these are all the next chapters in the right order.) Enjoy!

あけましておめでとう！

Another tradition in Japan is to sing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (Ode To Joy) at the end of the year. I thought I would share two videos of it. The first is from YouTuber Yōko Shibata of Yokomaririn. She posts videos of every day things (mostly in Japanese) and I really what I’ve seen of her channel so far. The second is twenty minutes long and is a full length orchestrated & choral version of the song, and aired on Japanese televisions across the country. Kind of puts you in the spirit, ne? 新年あけましておめでとうございます!


Here are the Japanese lyrics so you can decipher what you don’t know yet and sing it in Japanese!
「歓喜に寄せて」

おお友よ、このような音ではない！
我々はもっと心地よい
もっと歓喜に満ち溢れる歌を歌おうではないか
（ベートーヴェン作詞）

歓喜よ、神々の麗しき霊感よ
天上の楽園の乙女よ
我々は火のように酔いしれて
崇高な汝（歓喜）の聖所に入る

汝が魔力は再び結び合わせる
時流が強く切り離したものを
すべての人々は兄弟となる
（シラーの原詩:
時流の刀が切り離したものを
貧しき者らは王侯の兄弟となる）
汝の柔らかな翼が留まる所で

ひとりの友の友となるという
大きな成功を勝ち取った者
心優しき妻を得た者は
彼の歓声に声を合わせよ

そうだ、地上にただ一人だけでも
心を分かち合う魂があると言える者も歓呼せよ
そしてそれがどうしてもできなかった者は
この輪から泣く泣く立ち去るがよい

すべての被造物は
創造主の乳房から歓喜を飲み、
すべての善人とすべての悪人は
創造主の薔薇の踏み跡をたどる。

口づけと葡萄酒と死の試練を受けた友を
創造主は我々に与えた
快楽は虫けらのような弱い人間にも与えられ
智天使ケルビムは神の御前に立つ

天の星々がきらびやかな天空を
飛びゆくように、楽しげに
兄弟たちよ、自らの道を進め
英雄のように喜ばしく勝利を目指せ

抱擁を受けよ、諸人（もろびと）よ！
この口づけを全世界に！
兄弟よ、この星空の上に
ひとりの父なる神が住んでおられるに違いない

諸人よ、ひざまずいたか
世界よ、創造主を予感するか
星空の彼方に神を求めよ
星々の上に、神は必ず住みたもう

Recently I’ve been trying to get my hands on all the Pixar films in raw Japanese dub without paying an absolute arm and leg for them. So far I have Toy Story, which I find rather enjoyable (about twenty minutes in I forgot it wasn’t in my native language). We’ve also added The Matrix, V for Vendetta, and The Matrix Reloaded to our Japanese collection. I’ve been watching The Matrix frequently! Anyway, I hope you’ve been keeping up with your studying. Here are some photographs of Pocky that our friend brought us from his trip over seas. (I love Pumpkin anything.)