Kansai Airport is built on an artificial island, a pile of rocks in the middle of Osaka Bay. The buildings are designed with spare Japanese efficiency. Most of the restaurant options are before security; there isn't much at all to choose from near the gates. In any case, I wasn't very hungry before I boarded the plane but I did want a snack. This rice cake fit the bill. The wrapping is very clever: on the shelf, it appears that the seaweed is wrapped around the rice, showing its final presentation; in fact, the seaweed is kept dry and crispy with a separate pouch. I wrapped my rice cake and enjoyed. Inside was a bit of red bean paste to enliven things. A few minutes more waiting, then onto the plane.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...

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