By Mid-February. Valentine's Day was chocolate mochi and a card from Miya that said "I love you more than miso soup" which is, in this house, the largest declaration of love possible, larger than any greeting card Hallmark has ever produced, because in this house miso soup is the unit of measurement for love and "more than miso soup" is infinity.
I made a test batch of the food I'll serve at the Powell's reading — onigiri (of course), matcha shortbread, and a small sample of miso soup in paper cups. The food at the reading is not just refreshment. The food is the book. The book is about food. Serving the food at the book reading is letting the audience taste what they're reading, which is the only honest way to promote a food book: not by talking about the food but by serving the food, not by describing the soup but by offering the soup. The offering is the promotion. The promotion is the love.
Four weeks. The countdown is physical now — I can feel it in my body, the tightening, the anticipation, the specific anxiety of a woman who is about to be publicly seen in a way she has never been publicly seen. The blog is public. The columns are public. But the book is a different kind of public: the book is permanent, the book is on shelves, the book has an ISBN and a price and a jacket photo. The book is the thing I cannot take back. The blog I can edit. The book I cannot. The permanence is the terror. The permanence is also the point.
I called Ken and told him about the New York Times essay. He was quiet. Then he said: "Your grandmother would not understand the New York Times." He is right. Fumiko would not have understood why anyone would want to read about her miso soup in a newspaper on the other side of the country. She would have said: "The soup is for the kitchen. The kitchen is for the family. The family does not need the New York Times." She would have been wrong. The family doesn't need the New York Times. But the world needs Fumiko's soup. The world just doesn't know it yet.
Miya’s Valentine’s card sat on the counter the whole week I was testing recipes for the Powell’s reading — "I love you more than miso soup" — and every time I walked past it I thought about how love in this house has always been edible, tangible, something you can hand to another person. The chocolate mochi she gave me was gone by Thursday, but I kept wanting that same simple alchemy: chocolate, something to break it up, something sweet and a little sharp, the whole thing made to be snapped apart and shared. This bark is that. It is not the book, and it is not the soup, but it is the kind of thing you make when the offering is the whole point.
Oreos — Candy Cane Chocolate Bark
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes (includes chilling) | Servings: 16
Ingredients
- 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 6 oz white chocolate chips
- 10 Oreo cookies, roughly crushed
- 3 candy canes, crushed (about 1/3 cup)
- 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract (optional)
- Pinch of flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Prepare your pan. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Melt the semi-sweet chocolate. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until fully smooth. Stir in peppermint extract if using.
- Spread the base layer. Pour the melted semi-sweet chocolate onto the prepared baking sheet and spread into an even layer roughly 1/4 inch thick.
- Melt the white chocolate. Melt the white chocolate chips in the same manner, in 30-second microwave intervals, stirring until smooth.
- Add the swirl. Drop spoonfuls of melted white chocolate over the dark chocolate layer. Use a toothpick or skewer to swirl the two chocolates together gently.
- Top generously. While the chocolate is still warm, scatter the crushed Oreos and crushed candy canes evenly across the surface. Press lightly so toppings adhere. Finish with a pinch of flaky sea salt.
- Chill until set. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or until completely firm.
- Break and serve. Lift the parchment from the pan and break the bark into irregular pieces by hand. Arrange on a plate or layer in a tin to give away.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 185 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 25g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 95mg