Living abroad is not easy but also not too difficult. As long as you know how to adjust yourself to the environment, then you will be fine living anywhere on earth. Even though it may not me as convenient as your own home country, but I believe that all humans can live together in harmony. With that belief, I also live my life as happy as I can. As a Japanese housewife, there are so many things that I encounter and trying to cope with.
Coming from an office worker background that I used to live with quick-dish vendors when I was in Thailand. Not to mention about my cooking skill that I could not even cook simple omelet menu. This was the most problematic situation I encountered when started living abroad. I learned cooking how-to from various online channels. My cooking skill gradually improved as much as my sourcing skill for Thai recipes in Japan.
Turning back 8 years ago when I was very new to Japan. Everything seemed very expensive to me especially Thai recipes such as a vegetable like coriander where it was only 20 THB in Thailand, but 100 THB when sold here in Japan. The price is insane. I had this kind of shock on top of the culture shock and drove me crazy in terms of how expensive things get.
At that time, I tried to adjust by cooking simple local recipes such as miso soup, curry rice, yakisoba, and stir-fried pork with ginger and so on. It seems like Thai culinary menu was somehow out of my reach due to the expensiveness of the recipes. I sucked it up and waited till I came eat them in Thailand. This solution was not very sustainable for me. But if I had to plant my own vegetables, I did not think I can either due to the limited space and my little knowledge about planting stuff.
In addition, the weather condition also did not allow me to plant tropical crops. So, I paused this project and instead, I started sourcing the recipes. I think this is the most optimal solution that I can go along with.
I think the first thing that being a housewife in Japan that I should know and adapt to is 'littering' as Japan is considered a country that has one of the best waste management systems in the world. Regardless of what we will discard, we have to separate the garbage first. With some garbage, you will have to wash them thoroughly, dried, and then you can proceed to discard. At some point, I sometimes have a thought that these things that are discarded may not be called 'trash' because they are just as clean as new. To throw away the frying oil here, you must pour particular substance into the oil to solidify it, and then wrap the newspaper before disposing it with combustible waste. Because such procedure can help protect the environment.
In addition to the detailed separation of garbage, the waste should be disposed of on the day as well. Because each week, there will be a clear dumping schedule. The garbage truck will come to collect only on time. I know that separating waste is difficult at the beginning. But once we get used to it, everything is not as difficult as we were concerned at all .. If I could do it, everyone can do it!
Speaking of mint, Thai people often have the impression on having them with our ‘Lab’ which is the main course. However, mint here is used in the dessert or drink menu. My Japanese friends were quite surprise to see me putting mint in the main dish. I think this is just the different eating culture. Mint here is also sold in any supermarket, however, the portion is different as mint here is sold in a separated leaf packaged on shelf.
Nowadays, Thai vegetables are not hard to be found as they are planted in Japan for sale and import some from Thailand. This includes coriander, morning glory, papaya, lemongrass to name a few. The seasonings and pastes are also available here in both general supermarkets as well as in Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese supermarkets.
When I was in Thailand, I could never know where do my recipes come from. These days, cooking on my own is a good thing that allows me to source and find the recipes myself. It makes me feel confident that foods I and my husband eat everyday is safe. In fact, this is not just a case in Japan but everywhere in this world. Besides feeling confident that you will get to eat safe food, cooking is also a way to show how caring you are for one another as well.
Author
Uboltip Settasakko
TKLS The Sassy Saitama Lady / The owner of Krobkrueng Japan Page