Banana Bread!!

I have just made a batch of banana bread! My first in a very long time. Baking in Japan presents quite a few challenges and until recently I didn't have the willingness or reason (bananas quickly going off) to tackle the challenge.

For those of you who don't know the baking challenges of Japan, I'll review a few of them here.

1. Ingredients. Baking in Japan is made challenging (to say the least) due to lack of readily available ingredients. Yes, there's the standard flour, sugar, eggs and butter. But how about chocolate chips, the size and taste of the ones here is laughable! How about baking soda? Yes, I know baking powder can work, but... There's a very LONG list of common ingredients that we take for granted in the US that are difficult to find here. Particularly if you want to do your shopping at one store!
2. Baking Implements. Pans. Spatulas. Whisks. You name it and it's not cheap to get here in Japan. Yes, they can be found. Found fairly easily in fact. But the prices that one might pay for some of these implements borders on the absurd. Also, you may (like with the above ingredients) not be able to find them all in one place or at all. It's a bit hit or miss. Things that are easy to find?? Measuring spoons, measuring cups, and wooden spoons. Even cooking chopsticks (very useful for beating an egg!) are quite handy.
3. Ovens. In general, cooking culture in Japan does not require an oven. Therefore ovens in Japan are not like ovens at home. Where ovens differ most is in size. The average Japanese oven is about the size of a microwave, sometimes a very large microwave, but still a microwave. There are also to types of ovens. One that is essentially a function on your microwave, which means it is not as strong and things take much longer to cook. Example, a 20minute brownie mix took closer to 45 minutes to cook. The second type of oven is one that is designed to be an oven and has microwaving capabilities. This second type of oven is very useful and can cooks items like small turkeys and hams (for holidays) and such. They are a bit bigger and really get the job done. I do not have one of these ovens yet!

So, maybe you understand why undertaking baking in Japan is something I've been putting off. I really do like to cook and bake though, so I finally decided to give it a try again (I used to bake a lot when I lived in Yamagata) and faced with very dark brown bananas, decided banana bread would be the perfect beginning.

I used a recipe from Simply Recipes that looked, well, simple and also delicious. I know there will probably be some tweaking to be done, but I'm prepared for that. With a little persuasion and another paycheck, I should be able to get Shimon on board to buy a new oven. One of the good ones that I mentioned above. If we're going to have a good Christmas in Japan, it's going to be a must! :-)

Hope you're have a great day... I'll be posting pics of the banana bread pass or fail... later on!