ASIA / RECIPE
August 21, 2017
U.S. veteran returns dead
Japanese soldier’s flag
By Mari Yamaguchi
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 13
Cooking on a deadline:
Korean-Style Grilled Short Ribs
By Katie Workman
The Associated Press
The Associated Press
IGASHISHIRAKAWA, Japan —
Tatsuya Yasue buried his face
into the flag and smelled it. Then
he held the 93-year-old hands that brought
this treasure home, and kissed them.
Marvin Strombo, who had taken the
calligraphy-covered Japanese flag from a
dead soldier at a World War II island
battlefield 73 years ago, returned it to the
family of Sadao Yasue. They had never
gotten his body or — until that moment —
anything else of his.
Sadao and Tatsuya’s sister, Sayoko
Furuta, 93, sitting in her wheelchair,
covered her face with both hands and wept
silently as Tatsuya placed the flag on her
lap. Strombo reached out and gently
rubbed her shoulder.
“I was so happy that I returned the flag,”
Strombo said. “I can see how much the flag
meant to her. That almost made me cry ...
It meant everything in the world to her.”
The flag’s white background is filled
with signatures of 180 friends and
neighbors in the tea-growing mountain
village of Higashishirakawa, wishing
Yasue’s safe return. The signatures helped
Strombo find its rightful owners.
“Good luck forever at the battlefield,” a
message on it reads. Looking at the names
and their handwriting, Tatsuya Yasue
clearly recalls their faces and friendship
with his brother.
The smell of the flag immediately
brought back childhood memories. “It
smelled like my good old big brother, and it
smelled like our mother’s home cooking we
ate together,” Tatsuya Yasue said. “The
flag will be our treasure.”
The return of the flag brings closure, the
89-year-old farmer and younger brother of
Sadao Yasue told The Associated Press at
his 400-year-old house. “It’s like the war
has finally ended and my brother can come
out of limbo.”
Tatsuya Yasue last saw his older
brother alive the day before he left for the
South Pacific in 1943. He and two siblings
had a small send-off picnic for the oldest
brother outside his military unit over
sushi and Japanese sweet mochi. At the
end of the meeting, his brother whispered
to Tatsuya, asking him to take good care of
their parents, as he would be sent to the
Pacific islands, harsh battlegrounds where
chances of survival were low.
A year later, Japanese authorities sent
the family a wooden box with a few stones
at the bottom — a substitute for his body.
They knew no details of Sadeo’s death
until months after the war ended, when
they were told he died somewhere in the
Mariana Islands presumably on July 18,
1944, the day Saipan fell, at age 25.
“That’s all we were told about my
brother. We never knew exactly when,
where, or how he died,” he said. The family
had wondered whether he might have died
at sea. About 20 years ago, Tatsuya Yasue
visited Saipan with his younger brother,
trying to imagine what their older brother
might have gone through.
So Strombo was able to give Yasue’s
family not just a flag, but also some
answers.
He said he found Sadao Yasue’s body on
the outskirts of Garapan, a village in
Saipan, when he got lost and ended up
near the Japanese frontline. He told
Yasue’s siblings their brother likely died of
hose who love short ribs LOVE
them. Those who haven’t cooked
them at home before might be a
little intimidated by them. Let’s bridge
that gap.
In general, short ribs should be cooked
either low and slow, or very quickly over
high heat so they don’t become tough. This
recipe calls for almost flash grilling, just
three or four minutes on each side.
Because this is a fast-cooked short rib
recipe, the cut you’ll want to buy is
“flanken style,” where the ribs are cut
across the bones into thin slices. This
allows the surface to caramelize while
keeping the middle juicy and tender.
Sometimes, if you find a very, very nice
butcher (and I surely did), he or she will cut
the flanken in strips in such a way that
there are no bones in the slices. This might
be more expensive, and some flanken
purists might insist that the bones add
flavor and are part of the point of short
ribs. But when it comes time to eat the
meat, boneless flanken strips make for
very easy dining.
You can serve these on their own, with a
big pile of fluffy rice. I like to serve them
the way a number of Korean meat dishes
are served, with rice and lettuce leaves,
and some condiments of your choice. A bit
of the meat and a bit of the rice goes into a
lettuce leaf, along with any extras, and
then you fold up the lettuce around the
filling. This is known as ssam, or lettuce
wraps, and they are a lot of fun. The
balance of the crisp vegetables, fresh
T
H
FAMILY TREASURE. World War II veteran
Marvin Strombo, top photo, right, returns to Tatsuya
Yasue, left, a Japanese flag with autographed mes-
sages which was owned by his brother, Sadao Yasue,
pictured in the bottom photo, who was killed in the
Pacific during World War II, during a ceremony in
Higashishirakawa, in central Japan’s Gifu prefecture.
Strombo returned to the fallen soldier’s family the
calligraphy-covered flag he took from the man’s
body 73 years ago. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
a concussion from a mortar round. He told
them that Sadao was lying on the ground
on his left side, looking peacefully as if he
was sleeping and without severe wounds.
And there is one more thing Strombo
delivered: a little hope that Yasue’s
remains might one day be recovered, given
the details about where he found the body.
The remains of nearly half of the 2.4
million Japanese war dead overseas have
yet to be found. It’s a pressing issue as the
bereaved families reach old age and
memories fade.
Allied troops frequently took the flags
from the bodies of their enemies as
souvenirs, as Japanese flags were quite
popular and fetched good prices when
auctioned, Strombo said. But to the
Japanese bereaved families, they have a
much deeper meaning, especially those,
like Yasue, who never learned how their
loved ones died and never received
remains. The Japanese government has
requested auction sites to stop trading
wartime signed flags.
Strombo said he originally wanted the
flag as a souvenir from the war, but he felt
guilty taking it, so he never sold it and
vowed to one day return it.
He had the flag hung in a glass-fronted
gun cabinet in his home in Montana for
years, a topic of conversation for visitors.
He was in the battles of Saipan, Tarawa,
and Tinian, which chipped away at
Japan’s control of islands in the Pacific and
paved the way for U.S. victory.
In 2012, he was connected to the Obon
Society, an Oregon-based nonprofit that
helps U.S. veterans and their descendants
return Japanese flags to the families of
fallen soldiers. The group’s research
traced it to the village of 2,300 people in
central Japan by analyzing family names.
The handover meant a closure for
Strombo too. “It means so much to me and
the family to get the flag back and move
on,” he said.
To learn more about the Obon Society,
visit <www.obonsociety.org>.
Give blood.
To schedule a blood donation
call 1-800-G IVE-LIFE or visit HelpSaveALife.org.
SUCCULENT SHORT RIBS. Pictured is a
serving of Korean-Style Grilled Short Ribs in New
York. In general, short ribs should be cooked either
low and slow, or very quickly over high heat so they
don’t become tough. This recipe calls for almost flash
grilling, just three or four minutes on each side.
(Photo/Katie Workman via AP)
herbs, rich meat, and fragrant rice works,
even though it might be slightly different
every time. Part of its charm. Add what
you like, skip what you don’t, and wrap
and eat.
Along with the easily available
suggestions for add-ins below, sometimes
kimchi is offered, and a condiment called
ssamjang, which translates to “wrapping
sauce.” If you can find either, add them to
the offerings.
You can also broil the ribs instead of
grilling during the months when you are
cozying up to your stove instead of your
grill.
Katie Workman has written two cookbooks
focused on easy, family-friendly cooking,
Dinner Solved! and The Mom 100 Cookbook.
Korean-Style Grilled Short Ribs
Serves 8
Start to finish: 13 hours
(includes 12 hours marinating time)
5 scallions, trimmed and cut into pieces
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 1/2 pounds bone-in beef short ribs, cut across the bones into 1/2-inch slices
Cooked rice
Optional, for serving:
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Large lettuce leaves, such as tender Boston or Bibb
Slivered scallions
Cucumbers and carrots, cut into matchsticks
Slivered radishes
Fresh herbs, such as basil, mint, and cilantro
Sriracha or other hot chili sauce
Place the scallions, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, vinegar, sesame oil,
black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a food processor or blender and blend until
smooth.
Place the short ribs in a container, pour the marinade over them, and turn to coat
well. Cover the short ribs and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.
Just before grilling, toast the sesame seeds, if using, by heating a small skillet
over medium-high heat, then adding the seeds. Toss and stir for a few minutes until
they become deeper golden in color, but watch carefully as they can burn quickly.
Transfer to a small plate.
Preheat the grill to medium high. Remove the short ribs from the marinade. Grill
for about four minutes on each side, until the outside is caramelized and the middle
is medium-rare. Allow the meat to sit for five minutes before slicing across the grain
and serving with the hot rice. Or, if you prefer (and do consider this), slice the meat
thinly and serve it with any or all of the suggested accompaniments. Let each diner
wrap up some meat and rice with whatever extras they want, and make it an
interactive dinner.
Nutritional information: 241 calories (113 calories from fat); 13 g fat (5 g
saturated, 0 g trans fats); 67 mg cholesterol; 365 mg sodium; 8 g carbohydrate; 0 g
fiber; 7 g sugar; 23 g protein.