By The book tour. San Francisco first — Powell's sister store (not Powell's, different city, different bookstore, same energy: books stacked to the ceiling, the smell of paper and possibility). The reading was attended by sixty people, including Barbara and Gerald, who had driven down from Ashland as promised. Barbara sat in the front row and wept through the Fumiko chapter and laughed through the Barbara chapter and did not notice the irony of weeping and laughing at a book about weeping and laughing, which is the most Barbara thing possible.
Los Angeles next: a bookstore in Silver Lake, thirty people, a quieter reading, the audience more literary, the questions more pointed. A woman asked: "Do you think of cooking as writing or writing as cooking?" I said: "Yes." The answer was both a joke and the truest thing I have ever said. The two are the same. The cooking is the writing. The writing is the cooking. The practice is both. The both-ness is the answer.
New York: a bookstore in Brooklyn, fifty people, the biggest out-of-Portland audience I have faced. I read from the Japan chapter — the chapter about the trip I had not yet taken (when I wrote it) and that is now two years away. The chapter is still a wish. The wish is still a map. The map is still being drawn by a woman who has never been to Japan and who carries Japan in her kitchen and who will, in two years, stand in the country her grandmother left and say: we are still here. The audience was quiet. The quiet was the distance between Brooklyn and Japan, bridged by words, bridged by a bowl of soup described on a page, bridged by the practice that does not require geography.
I made miso soup in every hotel room. A portable kit: kombu, bonito, miso paste, a travel bowl. The practice traveled. The practice held in San Francisco and Los Angeles and New York. The practice holds everywhere. The practice is the home that is not a place. The practice is the home I carry.
The miso kit was my anchor, but it was not my only one. In the hours between readings — in airport terminals and hotel lobbies and green rooms that smelled of old coffee — I reached for something I could eat with my hands, something salty and savory and small enough to slip into a coat pocket, something that carried the same depth of flavor as the broth I was making in the room upstairs. These seasoned fish crackers were that thing: humble, portable, and tasting faintly of the sea, which is to say, tasting faintly of Japan, which is to say, tasting faintly of home.
Seasoned Fish Crackers
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 6 oz small fish crackers (such as goldfish or similar bite-sized crackers)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, for finishing
Instructions
- Preheat. Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C) and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the seasoning. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, ground ginger, and cayenne (if using) until fully combined.
- Coat the crackers. Add the fish crackers to the bowl and toss gently until every cracker is evenly coated in the seasoning mixture.
- Spread and top. Spread the coated crackers in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Scatter sesame seeds evenly over the top.
- Bake. Bake for 12–15 minutes, stirring once at the halfway point, until the crackers are dry, fragrant, and lightly toasted. Watch carefully in the final few minutes to prevent burning.
- Cool completely. Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully on the pan — the crackers will crisp further as they cool. Store in an airtight container or small zip bag for up to 5 days, making them ideal for travel.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 145 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 16g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 310mg