Oklahoma Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Since I grew up with my mother's cooking, as well as my grandmother from her side, I am definitely more influenced by my Japanese roots when it comes to cooking. However, my father could be called a comfort food connoisseur, and it is funny to realize that some of his favorite foods have roots in his heritage.  Introduced to me at an early age, biscuits and gravy definitely harken to his Oklahoma heritage, where a majority of the Choctaw Tribe (our tribe) was relocated to.

I definitely won't say that this is my healthiest recipe on here, but it is delicious! Plus, I think Southern food gets a bad rap-- this has less calories than stuffed french toast (over 400 per serving, per Mimi's), and more protein. Per livestrong.com, one biscuit with 2tbs. of gravy is only around 256 calories.  Plus, if its homemade gravy, you will drastically cut down the salt. Okay okay, this may just be me rationalizing my favorite "bad" food. BUT ITS SO GOOD!

New Mexican Style Enchiladas

The funny thing about food and culture, is that unlike religion and language, I think food is the last thing someone gives up when moving to America. Most Japanese American kids who have never spoken Japanese or been exposed to Shintoism or Buddhism will happily dig into donburi bowls without realizing that it is something uniquely Japanese. Recently, I realized I have been doing this with traditional New Mexican food.

So while I cook a lot of Japanese, I am also aware that I have been influenced by other cultures as well. My father's side of the family is Native American and Caucasian and originally hail from the state of New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Butter Mochi: Hapa Food

I love butter mochi, because not only is it delicious, but its a great example of Hapa culture. Butter mochi takes mochiko, sweet rice flour normally used for making traditional wagashi, and turning it into something uniquely hapa Hawaiian. Drawing from Japanese ingredients and American ingenuity, Butter Mochi was born! People say it is pretty close to Bibingka, a rice cake from the Philippines that is also made with rice flour. The glutinous rice flour makes the bread plump and chewy, as opposed to a cake made from wheat flour that can be dry.