Most people who have never been to Japan but are interested in Japanese culture and cuisine believe the litmus test for tolerating said cuisine weirdness is an enjoyment of sushi, or perhaps, sashimi. If you can stomach raw fish, you may believe you earned your member's badge. If you've actually lived here, you know that adoring sushi is something only lightweights regard as an
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est food. Afficher tous les articles
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est food. Afficher tous les articles
mercredi 21 décembre 2011
Won't Miss #400 - natto questions
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
Most people who have never been to Japan but are interested in Japanese culture and cuisine believe the litmus test for tolerating said cuisine weirdness is an enjoyment of sushi, or perhaps, sashimi. If you can stomach raw fish, you may believe you earned your member's badge. If you've actually lived here, you know that adoring sushi is something only lightweights regard as an
mardi 20 décembre 2011
Will Miss #399 - chinsukou
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
There are a lot of efforts in Japan to simulate Christmas, but most of it comes off as simply copying images without any of the concurrent spirit. Strangely enough, the thing that really tastes like Christmas to me are chinsukou cookies. They smell like what mom was baking for the holidays when I was growing up and taste like heaven. There are many things that are like them made in other
lundi 28 novembre 2011
Will Miss #391 - amashoku
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
Back in my early days in Japan, there were few foods that I liked and trusted not to present me with a filling of sweetened beans. At that time, I was pretty squeamish about any of "that Japanese stuff". One of the easily enjoyable and reliable treats is/was amashoku, a half-cookie/half cake sort of baked good which is lightly sweet and has enough dryness to give it a pleasant cookie texture
jeudi 24 novembre 2011
Will Miss #390 - food fads
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
Bagna Cauda on display, the big fad of 2011.
All countries have fads, and I'm sure many have food fads, though Japan's seem to occur with greater intensity and frequency than I recall experiencing back home. Many of them get started by a T.V. program which highlights a particular dish, restaurant or food. Sometimes it is impossible to trace, but once the ball gets rolling, everyone jumps on
mardi 15 novembre 2011
Won't Miss #387 - whining about American portions
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
One of my students has a brother who lives in San Diego. He has gained 15 kg. (33 lbs.) in two years due to eating American-size meals. I suggested that he not eat everything he is served and prepare his own food more frequenlty, but she wasn't having any of that sort of crazy logic. No, it was the American food that was the problem, not his laziness about cooking or inability not to gobble
vendredi 11 novembre 2011
Won't Miss #386 - lack of strong flavors
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
One of my coworkers was a chef in Australia and he remarked that he should appreciate the fact that Japanese food is quite subtle in taste, but the truth is that he actually finds Japanese food rather bland. I'll admit that my foreign taste buds also favor intense flavors. It's not that I can't appreciate some of the subtler flavors, but my favorite things are definitely stronger (yuzu
jeudi 3 novembre 2011
Won't Miss #383 - okonomiyaki
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
In theory, I should love okonomiyaki. Well, I should love it as much as you can love a food that looks like someone hurled the contents of their dinner onto a grill. For a society so obsessed with the appearance of food, it's surprising that this "Japanese savory pancake" is so popular. Okonomiyaki is a food that is prepared "as you like it", so you can customize the composition.
Posted in food, Japanese people, manners, personal life, rude behavior, socializing, will not miss
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mardi 1 novembre 2011
Won't Miss #382 - sugar in "everything"
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
When you think of Japanese food, the last thing you probably think of is sugar. It is absolutely true that the sweets have less total sugar than a lot of Western sweets. However, sugar (or artificial sweetene) is added to plenty of savory foods and traditional dishes. Sukiyaki, nimono, and other dishes have sugar and/or sweet sake as components. A great deal of savory sembei also includes
vendredi 14 octobre 2011
Will Miss #376 - corn is king
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
Corn is everywhere in Western food, but it's usually a background ingredient except when it is served whole or shucked as a side dish. For our snacks, you find that we cover up the corn with strongly flavored powders and spices, or, in the case of cereal, sugar. In Japan, "corn" is often placed front and center as a flavor and a component. I've had corn sembei, and even corn caramels, and
jeudi 6 octobre 2011
Will Miss #373 - hyuganatsu
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
Hyuganatsu is a Japanese citrus fruit which fragrant and a bit sour. When I was first given one of these fruits, I was told I'd have to put sugar on it to eat it. However, I ate it as it was and found it delicious. I may have gotten lucky and had the world's least sour hyuganatsu, but it made me wish I could get them more easily (they're not only a Japanese fruit, but regional and not
mercredi 5 octobre 2011
Won't Miss #373 - puny AM doughnuts selection
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
Actual selection at Mister Donut at 9:00 am.
There's a well-known commercial from the 80's in which a man stumbles out of bed at an ungodly hour to go off and make doughnuts so that they are ready for breakfast. In Japan, no one is getting up before the sun shines. In fact, I'm guessing most are sleeping in later than the average commuter salaryman. I'm not a huge doughnut eater, but once
vendredi 30 septembre 2011
Will Miss #371 - vinegar drinking
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
What's for dessert? Vinegar, of course!
Of course, when I say I'll miss drinking vinegar, I don't mean me personally, but the fact that the Japanese do it. And it's not that "only" they do it, because apparently folk medicine worldwide claims vinegar will cure everything that ails you. It's more the pervasiveness of vinegar for drinking and how it is more fully integrated into the culture
dimanche 28 août 2011
Will Miss #357 - yuzu koshou
Posted on 08:15 by Unknown
There are a lot of flavors in Japan which I think have the potential to be gangbusters back home if someone would just introduce them in the right fashion. One of those is kinako (toasted soy flour) when used as a flavoring on rice crackers, baked goods, or candy. Another is yuzu koshou, a type of citrus and vinegar blend which uses a Japanese fruit (yuzu) that looks like a lemon but tastes
mercredi 24 août 2011
Will Miss #355 - Japanese "soft cream"
Posted on 04:00 by Unknown
A lot of people talk out their asses about Japan. When I say that, I mean they assert something and offer a reason (often that elevates the Japanese people or cultural aspects above Western ones) which they have no real insight, understanding or evidence of. One of the things which consistently irks me is that people will say something about Japan is "better" when they have no evidence that
jeudi 11 août 2011
Will Miss #351 - WYSIWYG at restaurants
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
Click this small image for a bigger view of a lunch menu.
In America, there are two kinds of menus for the most part. There are those that display extremely unrealistic styled shots of food and those that have no pictures at all. The former is to make food look more appealing than it really is and the latter to avoid customer complaints (or even lawsuits) when people don't get what is shown in
In America, there are two kinds of menus for the most part. There are those that display extremely unrealistic styled shots of food and those that have no pictures at all. The former is to make food look more appealing than it really is and the latter to avoid customer complaints (or even lawsuits) when people don't get what is shown in
mardi 9 août 2011
Will MIss #350 - natural food dyes
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
Lunch meat in Japan is its own brand of "scary".
Many foods in Japan have common preservatives and chemicals added to them just like back home, but one thing the Japanese are careful about is food dyes. Unless a food is imported, it's quite rare to find a food that has had its color altered with chemical dyes. Most of the time, natural coloring extracted from carrots, potatoes, annatto, turmeric,
Many foods in Japan have common preservatives and chemicals added to them just like back home, but one thing the Japanese are careful about is food dyes. Unless a food is imported, it's quite rare to find a food that has had its color altered with chemical dyes. Most of the time, natural coloring extracted from carrots, potatoes, annatto, turmeric,
vendredi 5 août 2011
Will Miss #349 - taiyaki/imagawayaki
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
If you walk around nearly any city in Japan for a little while, you're bound to come across someone with fish-shaped molds pouring what looks like pancake batter into them. After a short while, a generous dollop of red bean jam or custard will be added to the center and two molds will be combined to sandwich the filling between the two fishy halves. The outer portion of this treat is like a
mercredi 20 juillet 2011
Will Miss #343 - lunch sets/deals
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
A fairly typical lunch set including salad, pickles, dessert, an entree, rice, and soup. This one went for a mere 650 yen ($7.94).
Eating out in Tokyo is expensive if you order dinner, but it can be both economical and awesome if you eat out at lunch time. Back home, I know that there were occasional lunch specials, but it's an art form with restaurants in Japan. You pay between 500-800 yen, and
Eating out in Tokyo is expensive if you order dinner, but it can be both economical and awesome if you eat out at lunch time. Back home, I know that there were occasional lunch specials, but it's an art form with restaurants in Japan. You pay between 500-800 yen, and
vendredi 15 juillet 2011
Won't Miss #342 - washing rice
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
Somewhere under that cloudy water is my rice. That color is telling me my work is far from done. And, no, I don't use a rice cooker for something as simple as making rice.
One of my students lives and works in Tokyo, but her home town is in Miyazaki. I've never been there, but she tells me it is vast tracts of nothing, but she goes there because she's a wonderful person and a good daughter.
One of my students lives and works in Tokyo, but her home town is in Miyazaki. I've never been there, but she tells me it is vast tracts of nothing, but she goes there because she's a wonderful person and a good daughter.
mardi 12 juillet 2011
Will Miss #340 - "food is fuel", as it is meant in Japan
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
Delicious, salted fuel.
It's very easy to misunderstand the statements made in other cultures, and one thing that I often hear American dieters who have spent a short period of time in Japan smugly assert is that the Japanese stay trim by viewing "food as fuel". When a Western person says this, they think this is about minimizing the pleasure of food such that it is diminished to being mere
It's very easy to misunderstand the statements made in other cultures, and one thing that I often hear American dieters who have spent a short period of time in Japan smugly assert is that the Japanese stay trim by viewing "food as fuel". When a Western person says this, they think this is about minimizing the pleasure of food such that it is diminished to being mere
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