3 tbsp. sunflower oil or coconut butter
4 tbsp. whole wheat or brown rice flour
A half onion chopped fine
2 cups vegetable broth or mushroom broth
2 tbsp. soy bean miso*
1 tbsp. tamari
Dash of nutmeg
Fresh ground black pepper
In a caste iron pan add the oil and onion and gently fry until the onion is transparent. Then add the flour and roast until the flour has turned a few shades darker. Whisk in the vegetable broth and tamari until all the flour had dissolved into a smooth gravy; add more broth or water if the gravy is too thick. Add the nutmeg, pepper and miso, and simmer for 5 minutes until the gravy is the right thickness.
*There are many types of miso. Some have a very strong flavor and others are mild and sweet. So you may need to adjust the amount of miso depending on the variety.
SEITAN:
Gluten flour
Water
Optional tamari and oil
Seitan is made from the gluten of wheat. It is traditionally made by kneading whole-wheat dough underwater until all the starch has dissolved, leaving you with the gluten or protein part of wheat. That’s a pretty taxing process; these days, it’s easy to find gluten flour in the health food markets. You can make seitan by simply mixing gluten flour and water into a dough. (Put the flour in a bowl and add water a little bit at a time, mixing it with your hands until it feels like a rubbery dough. If you add too much water, just add more flour.) If you can spare some time to knead the dough for a while, the consistency will be better. Put this dough in boiling water and cook it for about 20 minutes. Seitan itself is all protein and no flavor, so you will probably want to season it before you eat it. Simply cut it into chunks and stir-fry it in some oil for 5 minutes then add tamari to give it color and taste. The gravy above will really give it flavor.
If all of that is still too much work, you can buy seitan ready made in the health food store.
Put the seitan chunks in the gravy and simmer for a few minutes. For extra Thanksgiving effect, you can serve it over mashed potatoes.
ONIBI, a comic book about the invisible spirits haunting the Japanese countryside
We are currently in Strasbourg, France, at Issekinicho’s place. It’s a small publishing house created by a French couple: Delphine and Alexandre. They publish beautiful books about Japan. We are working together on a comic project inspired by our life in Japan. Stay tuned for more news!
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A Strasbourg en compagnie de Delphine et Alexandre des éditions Issekinicho pour préparer Onibi, une BD sur les esprits japonais, inspirée de nos souvenirs de voyage. On a hâte de vous en dire plus !
Contributing to Hidden Women of Design, Gurafiku will be nominating the work of female graphic designers from Japan, recognizing the importance of documenting the influence of women designers within the history of design, as well as the work of less known designers from cultures around the world, including Japan.
There are currently over 200 works by women designers from Japan in the Gurafiku archive with new designs added every week. These works can be viewed under the tag female designer. Recommendations are always welcome by contacting Gurafiku.
You can contribute to the Hidden Women of Design project by using the hashtag #HWODESIGN on Instagram, nominating women who you feel deserve recognition for their talent and skill in graphic design.
Bellow is an assortment of works by female graphic designers in Japan:
