Author Archives: Nicole Bonnell

Family Recipe

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Nationality: Japanese
Age: 48
Residence: Palos Verdes, CA
Performance Date: March 15, 2008
Primary Language: English

Chicken Soup Custard Recipe

Ingredients:

-Lipton’s Chicken Noodle Soup

-4 eggs

Prepare 1 pot of Lipton’s Soup.  Let the soup cool to a luke warm temperature.  Whisk 4 eggs in a bowl.  Pour eggs into chicken soup and mix well.  Pour soup/egg mixture into small Pyrex bowls and cover each with foil.  Place foil covered soup bowls into a large pot.  Add water into until water level is 1/2 inch from top of foil covered soup bowls.  Cover large pot.  Bring water to boil, reduce to simmer.  Simmer for 30 min.

My mother told me that the recipe above was made and passed to my maternal grandmother, Mary Sasaki.  A woman made it for my grandmother when she was sick while in a Japanese Internment Camp during WWII.  My grandmother really liked the recipe and asked the woman for it.  However my mom told me that my grandma did change the recipe slightly from the version the woman in the internment camp made and gave to her.  My mom said that originally it was Campbell’s soup that was used but my grandma decided to switch to Lipton’s chicken soup because she liked the flavor better.  My grandma kept the recipe and then used to make it for my mother and my uncle when they were sick.  My mom said that she and her brother loved the chicken soup custard so much that my grandma eventually used to make it for them not only when they were sick but also randomly sometimes as a treat for them or if there was a special occasion and they asked that she make it for them.  My grandmother passed the recipe down to my mom and according to my mother, she tried making this chicken soup custard for my brother and I when we were young but we both did not like it.  Truthfully I don’t remember ever eating this but my mom says that is probably because she didn’t make it again for my brother and I after we both said we did not like it very much.

The recipe itself is not extremely difficult or complex, but the story behind it is fascinating to me.  Food tends to bring people together in social settings and as far as recipes are concerned in folklore the person who makes the food, the people they make it for and when or why they make it can be equally if not more meaningful that the recipe and the food itself.  This recipe ties my grandmother to that woman in the internment camp who made it for her.  Even though she doesn’t remember the woman’s name I believe the that aside from the fact that my grandmother liked the way it tasted, it is was the thoughtfulness and kindness behind it that led her to keep the recipe and make it for her children, and then pass the recipe on to them.  Additionally, this recipe reminds me of the folk medicine discussion we had in class about different things people do when they are sick despite the fact that there is no concrete or scientific evidence that says that doing that particular thing or eating that particular food will make you better.  This recipe reminds me of the popular notion that you should eat chicken noodle soup when you are sick.  I suppose the recipe could even be considered a variation of the chicken noodle soup because it does involve chicken soup.  I doubt the chicken soup custard made my grandmother better but I’m sure there is an emotional connection to the recipe and I’m sure she appreciated the woman kindness and generosity especially because when WWII broke out my grandmother and her father were living in American while her mother and other siblings were still in Japan, therefore it was only her and her father who were put into the internment camps.  I think that gender stereotypes and gender roles in society most certainly in the past have assigned domestic duties such as taking care of the children to women which explains even today, though gender roles in society are changing typically the mother takes care of the children, especially when they are sick.  However my grandma did not have her mother around during this time so a small gesture from a stranger such as making chicken soup custard must have meant a lot to her.  It is interesting to see how this piece of folk medicine evolved into somewhat of a family recipe as my grandma started to make the recipe not only when her children were sick but as a regular dish.  I told my mom that she broke the family tradition by not continuing to make the recipe, but I suppose its hard to pass on a recipe to your children especially if they don’t like eating what the recipe is making.

Fairytale – Japanese

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Nationality: Japanese, Caucasian
Age: 53
Residence: Palos Verdes, CA
Performance Date: March 15, 2008
Primary Language: English

Momotaro (???)

My father said that when he was a little boy my grandmother sometimes would tell him bedtime stories.  His favorite story was a japanese fairytale called Momotaro.  In direct translation Momotaro literally means Peach Taro, Taro being a common name for a Japanese boy.  However Momotaro is often translated as Peach Boy.  I asked my father to tell me the story but he said he didn’t remember all the exact details of the fairytale.  He said the story starts off with an old couple living in rural Japan.  The couple desperately wanted to have children but couldn’t.  Then one day the old man found a giant peach in a thicket of grass near the edge of the river.  He brought it home to his wife and when she cut it open there was a small boy in it, and they named him Momotaro (Peach Boy).  My father said what was special about Momotaro was that he fought off demons.

My grandmother speaks fluent Japanese and English, however my father only knows English.  My grandmother used to tell him this story in English.  As a kid I remember hearing this story, but my mother read my the tale from a book of Japanese children’s stories.

Below is a version of the Momotaro from a book cited in the annotation.  This is the version I remember my mother reading to me from Japanese children’s story books:

Once upon a time there was an old man and his old wife living in the country in Japan. The old man was a woodcutter. He and his wife were very sad and lonely because they had no children.

One day the old man went into the mountains to cut firewood, and the old woman went to the river to wash some clothes.

No sooner had the old woman begun her washing than she was very surprised to see a big peach come floating down the river. It was the biggest peach she’d ever seen in all her life. She pulled the peach out of the river and decided to take it home and give it to the old man for his supper that night.

Late in the afternoon the old man came home, and the old woman said to him: “Look what a wonderful peach I found for your supper.” The old man said it was truly a beautiful peach. He was so hungry that he said: “Let’s divide it and eat it right away.”

So the old woman brought a big knife from the kitchen and was getting ready to cut the peach in half. But just then there was the sound of a human voice from inside the peach. “Wait! Don’t cut me!” said the voice. Suddenly the peach split open, and a beautiful baby boy jumped out of the peach.

The old man and woman were astounded. But the baby said: “Don’t be afraid. The God of Heaven saw how lonely you were without any children, so he sent me to be your son.”

The old man and woman were very happy, and they took the baby to be their son. Since he was born from a peach, they named him Momotaro, which means Peach Boy. They loved Momotaro very much and raised him to be fine boy.

When Momotaro was about fifteen years old, he went to his father and said: “Father, you have always been very kind to me. Now I am a big boy and I must do something to help my country. In a distant part of the sea there is an island named Ogre Island. Many wicked ogres live there, and they often come to our land and do bad things like carrying people away and stealing their things. So I’m going to go to Ogre Island and fight them and bring back the treasure which they have there. Please let me do this.”

The old man was surprised to hear this, but he was also very proud of Momotaro for wanting to help other people. So he and the old woman helped Momotaro get ready for his journey to Ogre Island. The old man gave him a sword and armor, and the old woman fixed him a good lunch of millet dumplings. Then Momotaro began his journey, promising his parents that he would come back soon.

Momotaro went walking toward the sea. It was a long way. As he went along he met a spotted dog. The dog growled at Momotaro and was about to bite him, but then Momotaro gave him one of the dumplings. He told the spotted dog that he was going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island. So the dog said he’d go along too and help Momotaro.

Momotaro and the spotted dog kept on walking and soon they met a monkey. The spotted dog and the monkey started to have a fight. But Momotaro explained to the monkey that he and the spotted dog were going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island. Then the monkey asked if he couldn’t go with them. So Momotaro gave the monkey a dumpling and let the monkey come with them.

Momotaro and the spotted dog and the monkey kept on walking. Suddenly they met a pheasant. The spotted dog and the monkey and the pheasant were about to start fighting. But when the pheasant heard that Momotaro was going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island, he asked if he could go too. So Momotaro gave the pheasant a dumpling and told him to come along.

So, with Momotaro as their general, the spotted dog and the monkey and the pheasant, who usually hated each other, all became good friends and followed Momotaro faithfully. They walked a long, long way, and finally reached the sea. At the edge of the sea Momotaro built a boat. They all got in the boat and started across the sea toward Ogre Island.

When they came within sight of the island, they could see that the ogres had a very strong fort there. And there were many, many ogres. Some of them were red, some blue, and some black.

First the pheasant flew over the walls of the fort and began to peck at the ogres’ heads. They all tried to hit the pheasant with their clubs, but he was very quick and dodged all their blows. And while the ogres weren’t looking, the monkey slipped up and opened the gate of the fort. Then Momotaro and the spotted dog rushed into the fort and started fighting the ogres too.

It was a terrible battle! The pheasant pecked at the heads and eyes of the wicked ogres. And the monkey clawed at them. And the spotted dog bit them. And Momotaro cut them with his sword. At last the ogres were completely defeated. They all bowed down low before Momotaro and promised never to do wicked things again. Then they brought Momotaro all the treasure they had stored in the fort.

It was the most wonderful treasure you can imagine. There was much gold and silver and many precious jewels. There was an invisible coat and hat, and a hammer that made a piece of gold every time you hit it on the ground, and many other wonderful things. Momotaro and his three helpers carried all this in their boat back to the land. Then they made a cart and put all the treasure in the cart and pulled it back to Momotaro’s house.

How happy the old man and woman were when they saw their son return safely from Ogre Island! They were very rich now with all the treasure that Momotaro had brought, and they all lived together very, very happily.

Annotation: Sakade, Florence. Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories. Toyko: Charles E. Tuttle Company: 1958.

Momotaro is a Japanese folktale but is seems to follow Propp’s sequence fairly well and contains many of Propp’s 31 functions.  For example,  the story starts with a lack of something.  The old couple lacks a child/children, but then they find Momotaro in a peach.  Then their son or rather the hero of the hero of the story grows up and leaves home (departure) on a quest to defeat the demons on Ogre Island (villainy).  Momotaro meets some obstacles along the way (i.e. the dog and the other animals) but cleverly gets them to join and help him on his quest.  Then there is the struggle which is the fight between the ogres and Momotaro and his friends.  Finally Momotaro earns his victory over the villainous ogres and returns home a hero with riches.  It is interesting to see Propp’s Functions can be applied to folklore from many different cultures.