Back Blogging!

All,

It has been a horribly busy summer and I hope to resume blogging. I have a dozen emails in my inbox from folks wanting to talk about hunting in Japan and other Yabanjin stuff. I will try to get back to everyone in the next week or so (gomen na!). I have lots of news about the 'super house' and 'solunar tables' and much more!

The 2009-2010 hunting season has arrived. Opening day was Sunday 15 November. Our group could only manage to get 8 of us together and we conducted two hunts. We were very successful with Takanobu taking a huge Shika (he is sending the head to the taxidermist), and Kato taking a very big Inoshishi (Wild Boar)! These pictures are from my cell phone so please excuse the poor quality:

Mount Fuji Summit

31 July 2008: Summiting Mount Fuji. The Yabanjin ascended the Fujinomiya trail and descended the Gotemba trail. Today a large group of US Marines from nearby Camp Fuji tackled this fun but challenging climb. The Yabanjin and his buddy Jay Ogawa jumped in with them.
The climb up looked like it was going to be miserable with heavy rain at the house at 0315 but it cleared up as soon as we arrived at the Fujinomiya trail head (Station 5 entrance) at 0545. The sun blazed for most of the ascent but we did get some relief when the clouds rose up and surrounded us. The summit was clear and breezy for my third summit. I choked down some of the worst cup-o-udon I have ever had at the summit mountain hut then headed down towards Gotemba. The trail is always long and boring and this year we were also hindered by some "Pea Soup" quality fog and intermitent heavy rain. After the perfectly straight torture of the 9km of Gotemba trail ash slide, we made it to the 5th station! Not too bad for a couple of old guys!

Venison Teriyaki REDNECK FUSION

East Meets West - REDNECK FUSION
Authentic Teriyaki Marinade Recipe
“Conjured Up” by SK-1 & SK-2, Gotemba City, Shizuoka, Japan 2001

Ingredients:

Shoyu (Soy Sauce) 3 tablespoons (low sodium is recommended)
Lemon Juice (fresh or bottled) 3 tablespoons
Cold Water 4 tablespoons
Mirin (Japanese sweet cooking liquid) 3 tablespoons (may substitute with Karo syrup)
Pineapple Juice 1 tablespoon
Olive Oil 1 tablespoon (may substitute with vegetable oil)

Fresh Ginger (minced or crushed) 1 tablespoon (Don't add too much!)
Fresh Garlic (minced or crushed) 1 tablespoon (Don't add too much!)

Salt ½ teaspoon
Black Pepper ½ teaspoon
Sesame Seeds (dried) 1 teaspoon (should be crushed with mortar & pestle, or ground)
Brown Sugar 1 ½ teaspoon
Corn Starch Powder 1 teaspoon

Directions:

1. Mix all liquid ingredients in plastic bowl with wire whisk
2. Mix in all crushed ingredients
3. Mix in all powdered ingredients and whisk very well, until thoroughly blended
4. Add the meat of your choice and marinade as normal. Mix often and keep refrigerated.
5. Marinade for a minimum of 30 minutes. Overnight is great but 24 hours is ideal!

Hints:
-This marinade was originally designed for venison, but can be used for Beef, Lamb, and Chicken, as well as some types of fish, pork and other wild game. Try it and modify it to your particular taste!
-Minced onions can be added if you like (1 – 2 tablespoons). Don't add too much!
-A few spoonfuls of “Liquid Smoke” seasoning make this perfect for a BBQ!
-Recommendation for deer meat is to use backstrap cut into thin steak ¼ inch or thinner. Grill over open fire, flat grill on the BBQ, or in a pan on the stove. DO NOT OVERCOOK VENISON, SERVE IT MEDIUM RARE !
-Any cut of deer meat can be used just be sure to cut across the grain of the meat and cut it thin. Also remember to cut off all the fat, sinew, and silver skin since these contain the strong “gamey” flavor some folks don’t like.
-If you have a vacuum sealer, marinade inside the vacuum packed bowl or bag and cut 90% of the marinade time. One hour is all it will take!
-If your going camping or to the beach, marinade the meat the night before and take it in the cooler in double ziplock bags! You will be the start chef on the beach!
-If you pan fry meat with this recipe, be sure to deglaze the pan to make gravy. Add corn starch to thicken it. Be sure to add some Jack Daniel’s whiskey to dramatically change the flavor of the gravy. Serve with mashed potatoes.
-Marinate a few slices of fresh apple in this marinade and lightly pan fry for 2 or 3 minutes and use as an edible garnish!
-For the squeemish, nervous about trying wild game, try this: After slicing the meat, before marinading, soak in very cold clear water for 5 minutes to wash away any blood. Drain. Soak in Japanese Sake for 5 minutes (presumably to kill any germs), drain all the sake and put meat in the martinade as described above. The Sake will definately kill any germs and also helps to tenderize the meat. And it adds a great additional flavor!