As American as Apple Pie...and Enchiladas!

Who would have thought that I would have to move to Japan before I finally learned how to make corn tortillas and enchiladas? I’ve eaten Mexican food all my life, but had little reason to make it. After all, it’s always more fun to go to a good restaurant and chow down. Even in Juneau, Aaron and I just waited until we had a chance to go to Texas to get stocked up on Mexican food. Every now and then we would break down and go out to eat Mexican food in Juneau, but rarely. However, with the prospect of our next Mexican food being a long two years away, I decided that my next dinner party would be Mexican.

Last time I invited people over to eat, there were a couple who couldn’t come, so I planned a second one. Part of the reason we are here is for “cultural exchange,” right? So, I have been cooking up a storm lately. The Mexican dinner required a significant amount of pre-planning due to the size of our oven, though.

First, about ten days before the dinner date, I ordered some more food from the internet shopping store I use. It’s a company based out of Tokyo. They have a lot of Western food in a storehouse, and ship it out all over Japan. To get to Hokkaido, it takes about one week. Then, on Monday, I began my making the tortillas. I wanted to feed about 8 people, so I made plenty to ensure everyone could eat their fill. The total number of tortillas came out to about 38 or so. It was just enough to make three small batches of enchiladas, with some left over to fry for tortilla soup topping. I even saved two so I could show some of my guests what a corn tortilla looked like.

Pressing the tortillas
Shaping the tortillas by hand
My set up
Cooking
Finished product - about three dozen tortillas

Tuesday is my night for English class, so I didn’t do any cooking. Wednesday was my day to make the enchiladas. I had to use three pans, so I made two batches of green enchiladas and one of red. I confess to using canned sauce for both. The tomatillo sauce was really yummy though. Even Ridge liked it! So, I made a huge mess, rolled a bunch of tortillas, and finished just in time to watch Desperate Housewives. They show it here bilingually and I have managed to get completely hooked. Shows that are shown bilingually are transmitted with two audio signals. One for the right speaker, and one for the left. So, if you want to hear only English, you just turn off the left speaker and the Japanese goes away. There are a few things transmitted this way: news twice a day, occasional movies, sumo, and Desperate Housewives.

Thursday was Apple Pie Day. Only women, about six of them, consistently attend my Thursday morning English class. We were tiring of grammar lessons, so I offered to teach them how to make apple pie. I obtained permission to use the middle school’s kitchen (they have a very nice teaching kitchen, with a mirror on the ceiling and everything!) at 10 am, despite the fact that it was in the middle of the school day. I think it helped that Kocho-sensei’s wife (the principal – kocho sensei = principal) attends my class. I arrived early and baked a practice pie, which I intended to take home for Friday’s dinner. The women arrived – my usual contingent plus another three. I showed them how to make the pie and everyone’s came out quite well. The things they commented on were funny, though. They all thought it was unusual that I used a vegetable peeler to peel my apples and they thought the way I cut my apples was funny. I think that it is funny that they think there is a right way and a wrong way to peel and cut things. Sugar was also an issue. One lady mentioned to her husband that I used SO MUCH sugar! It’s apple pie! It’s supposed to have a lot of sugar. Then, I couldn’t get them to commit to putting in a bunch of cinnamon. After a little bit of nagging from the bossy American, I finally got them to put in enough cinnamon that I could actually see it. “It’s supposed to be brown,” I said. They looked at each other and began dumping in cinnamon. The crust on this, my second pie, was a bit nightmarish for me. I have a hard time rolling out crust when I’m tense – even a little bit. It seems that it always tears when I’m anything other than completely relaxed. Now, picture me with ten Japanese women watching my every move as I roll out the crust for the bottom. It tore. Of course. Oh well…I patched it as best I could and went on.

In the end, we ate my pie and drank tea. The others split up the pies they had made (there were only four other ovens, so some women paired up) and went their ways. This meant that when I got home from work at 5:00 that day, I had to make my third apple pie of the day. My top crust was so pathetic that I cheated and made a latticework top. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures. I’m sure I’ll make apple pie for New Year’s, though, so I’ll take a photo of that one.

Friday arrived and I was feeling really ready. I came home from work, got the tortilla soup started, made the queso (which, unfortunately was uncooperative – it tasted great, but kept clumping), and put the rice on to cook. Colin arrived with guacamole, so we put that out with the chips and queso and Pace picante sauce I ordered online. The guests trickled in and we dug in. Everyone oohed and ahhed over the tortilla soup, so that was nice. I think the Mexican rice got a mixed review, but Mr. Usui and his wife loved it. The enchiladas seemed to go over well, also. I had a little teaching moment where I brought out the tortillas and some masa so I could explain how I made them. Turns out Mr. Usui’s wife had tried making corn tortillas before, but they were terrible. Colin and she translated the Japanese instructions that had been pasted on the bag of masa (internet shopping, again) and turns out the instructions were awful. It called for oil and salt, and said nothing about cooking the tortillas dry. I explained what to do, and even pulled out the cast iron skilled we are lucky enough to have in the house. The conversation then turned to how-to-make-taco-shells, and that was fun as well.

All in all, it was a great evening, I think. I had fun making the food and even more fun eating it!