Trying out the Manga Cookbook

The Manga Cookbook by Manga University is a manga style cookbook full of interesting insights on Japanese history and culture, but most importantly it brings to life some of the foods that are frequently referenced in many of the manga I read. The illustrated instructions looked fun and easy to follow so the kids and I got inspired to try some.

First we needed to acquire the necessary ingredients. There is a nice section at the front of the book that outlines some of the key ingredients that may be harder to find in the west. As we happen to live near a newly opened Asian Supermarket, it gave us an excuse to go and check it out. We managed to find pretty much everything we needed. Only the rice flour was a little challenging as there was a lot of it to choose from and none of it had same name as the ones in the book so I went with what I hoped would be an equivalent. 

My first Onigiri

Now for the cooking. I should make one thing clear: cooking is not one of my strong points. But the recipes seemed  relatively simple, so I dove in.

The first thing I made was steamed rice. I found the preparation to be the similar to making basmati rice (wash and soak before cooking). The water to rice ratio was different as was the type of rice, of course. With the steamed rice in hand, it was time to make Onigiri or Rice Ball. I’ve never seen one in real life so I wasn’t sure of the size, but I think they turned out alright. One thing I discovered is that I’m in need of a good sharp knife so that I can actually cut the nori rather than shred it. As for the nori (roasted seaweed) itself, I am still trying to get used to the taste. Where I live is probably as far from the ocean as you can get, it's not something I’m familiar with. 

3-Color Dango

Other recipes we have tried are the Tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet), Oshinko (pickled vegetables), Sushi Rice,Tamapoyaki (Japanese omelets) and Yakitori (chicken kebabs). We especially enjoyed the Miso soup, which I think I’ll be making a regular, particularly in the winter. We also had fun making the sweet dumplings called 3-Color Dango. I ran into a small challenge with the mixture at first, as the recipe called for 1 1/3 cup of water to 2/3 cup of jyoshiko (rice flour) but that just made a soupy mess. Either I had the wrong type of flour or the recipe actually meant 1/3 cup of water. Anyway, I tried less water and it seemed to work. Once again I wasn’t sure how big to make the balls, so after making the white balls I decided to make the pink and green ones smaller. Dango is pretty to look at and strangely addictive to eat.

We are continuing to try the different recipes, as there are many more that we need to explore. I’m predicting that this year’s school lunches are going to be a lot more interesting.

Our family recommends this book; it’s a great way to try some simple new and tasty dishes and has proven to been a fun summer discovery.

The Manga Cookbook is presented by the Manga University Culinary Institute, recipes by Yoko Ishihara and illustrated by Chihiro Hattori, Published by Japanime Co. Ltd.

K-On Volume 1 by Kakifly

This is a manga I’ve heard buzz about online, and the large posters at the local anime shop got me thinking that I should see what the fuss is all about. K-On turned out to be a nice surprise. It’s isn’t hard-hitting or dramatic, it’s just a whole lot of fun.  

The first few pages are in colour which is immediately refreshing, just like with Chi’s Sweet Home. I admit that at first I was a little confused by the 4 panel layout, and it took me a little time to realize that the panels are to be read in a top down, left to right direction.

Synopsis: Two girls convince another two girls to join the Pop Music club in school in order to prevent it from being disbanded. Three of the girls are already familiar with instruments. Ritsu plays drums; Mio plays bass and Tsumugi’s on keyboard. The fourth member, Yui, agrees to play guitar although she has no experience. In the end they all decide to form a band. The pop club meets in the music room and they end up spending large amounts of time drinking tea and eating desserts thanks to Tsumugi who appears to be from an affluent family, and I have a feeling we will find out about who they are. Yui buys her first guitar and is so enamored with its beauty she is reluctant to play it. Eventually Yui does start learning to play, and in the process neglects her school work. The band needs to work together in order to to help get her grades up. Although the club now has enough members to remain valid, they discover that they are in need of a teacher-advisor before they can be official. The girls try to recruit the music teacher, Sawako Yamanaka, who turns them down.  Ritsu finds a photo album in the music room with a picture of the pop club members from years past and recognizes the music teacher who, despite her current “ladylike” teacher demeanour, was a hardcore rocker back in the day. They do some arm twisting and she agrees to become the advisor. The girls are now ready to prepare for their debut at the school festival leading them to deal with such issues as song writing, singing and costumes.  

Thoughts: The things I enjoyed about this manga, apart from the characters, was the little bits of detail Kakify put in, like how your fingers tips get really sore when you first start playing, and how callouses eventually form to help. I also enjoyed the part where Yui would just stare at her new instrument, polishing it and admiring it’s beauty. She even went so far as to sleep with it. As a one-time bass guitar player and band member, this was sort of a trip down memory lane (apart from all the tea and cakes). I feel a bit like the music teacher: I am now the serious mom who had a rockin’ past. I still have my guitar to prove it!

K-On by Kakify is published by Yen Press. Volume 3 is set to be released later this month.

Naruto 532 international

Sticky: Latest Manga ReleasedThis release is international (Japanese Raw 532)Uploading.com [14.7mb] Naruto 532 JapaneseFound this article useful? Mention us in your post, link to us, or bookmark this site. Your Feedback is Greatly Appreciated! So if you are a regular to this site or are new, thank you for being here. Thanks for your support

Naruto Manga Chapter 532

Naruto Manga Chapter 532 Mifune Vs. Hanzou, The Conclusion
Mifune and Hanzou meet in a flash, but the result was in the opposite one with their last fight before. In their past, Mifune has been lost once till almost death from his battle with Hanzou. But during the battle, Hanzou realized that Mifune wasn't a dull opponent, because he stood before Hanzou to protect his fellow samurai. Even for exchange for his life, Mifune asked Hanzo to leave his fellow samurai alone. Hanzou known that Mifune didn't lost his faith and decided to saved his life by gave him an antidote and let Mifune to choose by himself to be death while still holding strong to faith or a long life gained by renouncing it. For a long time ago in the past, Hanzou has been putting his faith to Mifune. Rather than let himself lost his faith by Kabuto, Hanzou stabbed his own body to released the venom sac which was implanted in his body and gave Mifune an opening to sealed himself. on the last part of this chapter, the scene changed to battle between Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino Vs. Asuma.
Read the rest of story by download Naruto Manga Chapter 532 Mifune Vs. Hanzou, The Conclusion directly or here.

Naruto Manga Chapter 529 Golden Bonds

Naruto Manga Chapter 529 Golden Bonds

Naruto sense a disturbance during his training and lost his concentration. Probably Naruto sense chakra from Kinkaku which was released nine tailed chakra from his body. Long time ago, Kin and Gin were swallowed by nine-tailed fox and spent two weeks inside its gut and survived by eating the meat of its stomach. Darui's division is in danger, without backup its almost impossible to stopping Kinkaku. There is only one way to stop Kinkaku, by using The "Amber Purifying Pot", one of the five ultimate treasures, they planned to send it to Darui and trap Kinkaku inside. The "Amber Purifying Pot" is the tool that they used to seal the eight tails. So using Mabui's (Raikage's secretary) transfer technique, The Pot has been sent to Darui's place in speed of light. And with shikaku's plan they finally succesful to defeat Kinkaku.
Read the rest of story by download Naruto Manga Chapter 529 Golden Bonds directly or here.

Naruto 531 international

Sticky: Latest Manga ReleasedThis release is international (Japanese Raw 531)Uploading.com [11.7mb] Naruto 531 JapaneseFound this article useful? Mention us in your post, link to us, or bookmark this site. Your Feedback is Greatly Appreciated! So if you are a regular to this site or are new, thank you for being here. Thanks for your support

Naruto Manga Chapter 531

Naruto Manga Chapter 531 Team Asuma, Together Again!

Asuma reunion with Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino by a chance meeting born on the battlefield. But its not good reunion, they have to fight each others eventhough they loved each others. On the other place, Mifune and his samurai warrior has came to saved Kankuro's division. Mifune fought with Hanzo the salamander which has ever known as the strongest samurai which is able to controls poison. And Chiyo sama try to revealed Hanzo poison's secret to Kankuro but its not gonna change the worst situation in there. Kimimaro and Hanzo never stopped their attack and so the battle become more and more serious between Danzo and Mifune. When Danzo used his Salamander to trapped Mifune with poison, unxpectedly Mifune's Katana slashed the Salamander and sucessfully cut Danzo's sword and body with slash of faith.
Read the rest of story by download Naruto Manga Chapter 531 Team Asuma, Together Again! directly or here.