A Heavenly Match: Shrimp Reimen / Fire Roasted Shishito / O'Doul's

Song:  You're The Best Thing

Group:  The Style Council

Reimen is Japanese for Cold Noodles.

Although there are many types of cold noodles...

we have always called this particular style...Reimen.

It is known by several different names...

depending on the location where it is eaten.

This, along with Somen, is my favorite type of noodle dish.

This brand is excellent.

It comes with noodles, a sauce packet, and a mustard packet.

It can be made in a matter of minutes...

and although one of my favorite meat additions is shrimp...

steamed or rotisserie chicken is also excellent in it.

My mother and I had two packets each for supper...

with shrimp added, and with fire roasted shishito as a side dish...

and with some ice cold O'Doul's to wash everything down.

I defrosted the shrimp in a hot bath.

I then started baking some Yaki Imo for snacks for my mother on the morrow.

I then fire roasted some shishito as an accompanying dish...

and for a starter for my mother.

(I explain the fire roasting process for shishito in an earlier article).

The dipping sauce I use for the shishito is Ponzu.

It is used straight...

and the whole roasted pepper is dipped in it just before eating each one.

I then started boiling a gallon of water to cook the noodles.

You should always put far more water than necessary to submerge the noodles...

to cook the noodles.

Pasta partially dissolves in the water as it cooks.

Putting in plenty of water allows the starches to go into solution without gumming up

the noodles...and it allows the roiling boil to naturally stir the noodles.

I then had my mother peel the tails from the shrimp.

I then put them aside for inclusion with the finished noodles.

These are the ingredients of one package

(we used a total of four packets).

I then staged the mixing area.

Notice how much extra water was used.

We did not have to stir the noodles...

as the roiling boil did the mixing.

The noodles cooked in a few minutes...

and I then strained them.

I then had my mother give the noodles a cold water rinse...

to not only rinse away the excess starch...

but to cool the noodles.

I then bowled the noodles.

My mother then added the sauce and mustard packets.

The shrimp was then added.

Each bowl was then thoroughly mixed.

This meal is so delicious...

and the noodles are so satisfying.

Often times...

other ingredients are added to the mixture...

such as certain vegetables and cut up fried egg slices.

However...

I like to have just a simple meat and noodle mixture.

 As you can see on my mother's plate...

she likes to line up the pepper stems and keep count of the shishito peppers she eats.

The fire roasted shishito really adds a unique and refreshing flavor to this meal...

and they are highly nutritious.

The only beer we drink is O'Doul's.

It is essentially Non-Alchoholic...

so we drink this beverage often.

Ice cold O'Doul's goes especially well with this dish.

At the conclusion of our meal...

my mother had fun counting how many peppers she had eaten.

She bragged that she had eaten 20 of them...

and then she ate one more to make it 21  :)

Reimen can be bought online...

or at almost any Asian market.

This is one of our favorite noodle dishes...

and it is a very quick and easy meal to make.

And, most of all...

it sates the deep craving of any cold noodle lover...

like nothing else...

other than somen.

Be sure to stock up on both of these Japanese favorite cold noodles...

somen...

and reimen.

A meal in minutes...

and it satisfies all day long.

Mission: Tropical Fish

Song:  A Pillow Of Winds (Cover)

I took my mother to get some fish for her aquarium.

She wishes to raise different types of fish now.

Reno doesn't have the selection as do other stores on the other

side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

So...

I decided to make an enjoyable day trip for my mother.

We started out our day in late morning

by stopping at Jack in the Box for a quick breakfast sandwich before heading

over the mountains.

We had over an hour and a half drive to Rocklin, CA. ahead of us.

We just took in the scenery over the mountains.

We arrived at our first tropical fish store in Rocklin.

It had just opened...

and I had high hopes...

but I was soon disappointed by their lack of selection.

I was even more disappointed at their set up.

What you cannot see is the many slots in the sides of the tanks.

This means that all of the tanks in each row...

shared a common, and open flow of water.

It was set up this way to limit expense.

What it also does is allow disease to spread from one tank to the next...

all the way through each row.

I had found diseased fish in two of the tanks.

I called over an attendant...

and although he had removed the diseased fish...

I knew that the disease had spread throughout all of the tanks in... 

at least, the same row, even though none of the other fish were yet showing symptoms.

We looked at a few of the other tanks...

and left for another fish store.

We arrived at this store.

It was clean, well maintained...

and, not only had I not seen any diseased fish...

but they had correctly set up their water flow system.

Each tank was isolated from the others.

Each tank was separate...

and each had its own biological filter.

I had explained to the attendant that we would have an almost two hour journey

with the fish.  He said that they would be double bagged...

and that he would not only leave extra air room in each bag...

but that he would use the oxygen tank to fill each one to ensure

the fish would have plenty of oxygen for the trip back.

He also had asked us if we would like a styrofoam container to place the fish in.

I told him that I had already prepared an insulated compartment in the car.

I appreciated their level of service, the quality of their fish, as well as their selection.

We had picked out the fish we wanted...

and we then started on our return journey.

I was feeling so good on the return journey...

I started singing some of my favorite songs.

The only reason my mother could tolerate my lack of singing ability...

is that she is also slightly tone deaf  :)

We are going up the hill towards my mother's house here.

Many of the trees are now turning to their fall colors.

I floated the bags of fish for half an hour...

during which I went online so I could order my mother more fish food.

We had been looking for Dwarf Coral Platys.

My mother had bought 6 breeding pairs.

She had also gotten 3 Sailfin Mollies.

And...

three Clown Loaches.

I placed all of the females in the corner tank...

and all of the males in the large tank.

After they settle in...

we will then pick the male and female with the most positive attributes...

and then place them in the breeding tank until the female shows signs of being pregnant.

I will then remove the male...

and allow the female to give birth in the, then, nursery tank.

After giving birth...

I will place the female back into the female corner tank so the babies can grow

in a tank of their own, with their own specialized diet.

We later went to a local pet store...

and bought a couple of breeding pairs of bright yellow Cobra Guppies.

We will breed them first.

My mother is looking forwards to breeding her new fish...

and sitting in her relaxation room while enjoying them.

My mother loves her fish breeding hobby...

especially since, all I want her to do is to pick out the pairs to breed, and enjoy watching them.

I do all of the tank maintenance and feeding :)