しっとりした (shittori shita): moist (food)

It’s been a rough couple of weeks here in Japan, and even though my region is perfectly fine and safe, the mental strain of having to reassure people that we are not being irradiated is starting to wear on us. The latest (actual) issue with the Fukushima plants has been the possible contamination of food, specifically milk and leafy greens, from that prefecture and three others. The Japanese government has wasted no time in stopping the shipping of those products, and most of the food in my prefecture comes from Aichi, anyhow. That said, if you are ever curious where your meat and produce come from in Japan, read the packaging or the sign above the display: ____産 (for example, 福島県産 or アメリカ産), means “grown/raised in ____.”

I feel a bit silly writing a muffin recipe when so many in Tohoku do not have good access to food and shelter, but these muffins are perfect for my mood right now: a snap to throw together, which is great because I’m mentally exhausted; the muffins turned out wonderfully moist, and their bright flavor is lovely on a dreary morning.

If you are wondering what you can do to help relief efforts after enjoying your muffins, please consider contributing to Second Harvest, an NPO whose efforts to bring food and supplies to the affected areas have paid off, according to their twitter feeds. There is still a lot of work to be done here, so please continue to contribute to this NPO, the Red Cross, or your favorite trusted charity. Foreign Buyers’ Club, the source that feeds my addiction to Alishan peanut butter, is also supporting Second Harvest as they get their own business fully up and running again.

Whole-Wheat Strawberry Orange Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 ½  Japanese cups’ volume  of [1 ¼ US cups] halved strawberries (ichigo, イチゴ, 苺)
• 15 grams [1 Tablespoon] butter, melted (bataa, バター)
• 2 Tablespoons applesauce (appurusousu, アップルソース)
• 2  teaspoons orange zest (orengi no kawa, オレンジの皮)
• 2  large eggs (tamago, 卵)
• 75 grams [¾ US cup] all-purpose flour (komugiko, 小麦粉)
• 100 grams [¾ US cup] whole-wheat flour  (zenryuuhun, 全粒分)
• 190 grams [1 US cup] sugar (satou, 砂糖)
• 1  teaspoon baking powder (beikingu paudaa, ベーキングパウダー)
• ½  teaspoon  salt (shio, 塩)
• optional: extra sugar to sprinkle on top

Equipment

Blender (mikisaa, ミキサー)

Muffin tins (mafin kata, マフィン型）or muffin cups (mafin kappu, マフィンカップ)

Procedure

1. Preheat (yonetsu, 予熱) oven to 210 C (400F).
2. Put strawberries, butter, applesauce, zest, and eggs in a blender and process just until blended.
3. Combine flour, 1 sugar, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
5. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups (greased if metal; I have silicone ones). If desired, sprinkle with sugar.
6. Bake at 210C (400F) for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove from pan immediately.

Original from Cooking Light