Sado - Mapo Tofu Cooking and field work with Megumi

Today we are back at Megumi's place to cook and help her with her field work. In the morning, we start by collecting these fake strawberries that we sometimes have in Germany. Megumi uses them to make medicine for mosquito bites with alcohol. After that, we split into two groups. The two boys go to the field to cut grass, just like last time. Grace and I, who are staying in the same room, ride with Megumi in the car to get some soil. Megumi needs good soil to mix with her compost piles. The soil from the forest is the best, but it's not easy to get it from there. So she takes the soil from the rain gutter on the side of the road. Some of the soil gets washed out of the forest by the rain. When she takes soil from there, she also clears the road of weeds. We collect three bags of soil, trying to remove as much of the plants and roots as possible so that they don't grow in the field later. Megumi also takes some of the plants that have grown on the roadside. She wants to plant the yellow raspberries and oak trees in her garden later. We drive back to her house and start cooking for lunch. This time, we're making a Japanese version of Mapo Tofu. Normally, it's made with tofu, ground meat, and some spicy seasonings, but we use shiitake mushrooms and miso paste instead. Of course, we still add some spiciness, using chili paste in the traditional way. After lunch, we go back to Koninji Temple with Megumi. We bring some tools, like an axe and a hoe, into the bamboo forest. It doesn't take long for us to find some bamboo shoots, which we diligently dig up despite the rain. After digging them up, we carefully separate them from the root. Then we peel the shoots, which look like alien eggs. About one-third of it remains after peeling. We take them to the kitchen and cook them with a little vinegar for a while, and then they're ready to be processed further. Megumi also tries some of our curry, which we have now cooked for the second time, before she has to go to a rehearsal with her string ensemble.