Food Frenzy

I don't think there has ever been a time in my life when my daily routine was not scheduled around food and eating, and thus, my life in Japan is hardly any different. When the alarm goes off in the morning, I remind myself that getting out of bed means I can eat breakfast. In the office with very little to fill our time, we talk about our 45 min lunch time for an equal, if not longer period of time before it even happens. The ride home from work often involves a stop at the grocery store (always an adventure) and evenings center around dinner. Adjusting to cooking for myself as well as Japanese cuisine means that my simple breakfasts (cereal or bread) and left overs are pretty much the only meals when I know exactly what I will be eating. In restaurants, I can sometimes finish my meal and still not know exactly what I have consumed...

For lunch and dinners out, I have stuck with a fairly Japanese diet...ramen, udon, chikkin katsu, miso soup, sushi, sashimi, and sashimi (the exceptions being lunch at an Indian restaurant, a sandwhich and popsicle from 7-11, and a corn dog at the baseball game). While perfectly satifying, I think ramen and udon will become much better when the weather cools down. I am still getting used to sashimi (raw fish, sometimes served on rice squares or I've had it as a salad-ish concoction covered in a gelatin of some sort,) and don't think it will ever be a favorite, at least not while other options abound.

My two favorite food discoveries so far are kabocha and yuzu paste. Kabocha is Japanese pumpkin, but I know it as squash, and it is delicious. Yuzu paste is a citrus-y, spicy condiment made from yuzu, a small Japanese citrus. It is also very delicious. The need to have yuzu around to flavor just about everything is spreading up from Allison on the first floor into my second floor apartment.

Another delicious item in my kitchen right now is my popsicle collection. Its really hot biking back from the office and entering an apartment that has been locked up all day, and having a popsicle waiting for you really helps. Not wanting to come home to just one kind of popsicle, this week, I bought two boxes to add to the stragglers of the last bunch, allowing me to choose from 4 different kinds. The most Japanese of them all are the macha, or green tea ice-cream bars that are filled with red azuki beans and white mochi, rice pudding-y stuff. Very creamy and refreshing, and the only way I enjoy green tea.

Even with 4 flavors of popsicles to choose from, I crave more substantial food for dinner. I've really only cooked twice (just boiling spaghetti doesn't count as cooking), both were easy meals with loads of left overs. I have to get used to the idea that I am just one person with a tiny fridge, but its the left overs that have kept me from having to cook more often. My first culinary endeavor was to make rice and vegetable curry with the aid of a box of "Vermont Curry." I guess the box saved me from the hardest part, measuring the spices, but since it was all in Japanese, I did have to ask my mom how she made it at home (yes, you can find it in Japanese grocery stores in the states...I highly recommend trying some.) Armed with English instructions, I headed into the kitchen and cut up plenty of veggies and cooked them to the appropriate tenderness and added the curry. I was very happy with the results. My rice came out good too, a feat I was never able to manage in the States.

The next meal I made was by the seat of my pants and also involved vegetables, but this time I sauteed some of them and added them to pasta with some picante sauce to get a "Zesty Pasta Primavera." Since I make little to no effort to maintain my vegetarianism eating out here (too much trouble, plus I need to try everything) I look forward to my veggie meals at home. I've been looking for recipes on the internet, and have found a few I want to try, as well as a very well done blog called "Delicious Coma" all about eating and discovering new food in Japan. http://www.deliciouscoma.com/archives/2006/04/beginnings.html

When not in my apartment, I get to try lots of new things, like multi-colored boba at the baseball game we went to. I had no idea that they even existed! I thought boba only came in dark-brownish black and resembled deer droppings, only slimy. But, no--it comes in colors too! (Not that the colors make it taste any better, but it does stop it from looking like excrement)

Last night, I got to experience my first tabehodai/nomihodai or all you can eat/drink beer garden. Doesn't sound very Japanese does it? Following yet another orientation, this time at the prefectural level, the first of two after parties took place on the top of a tall building. The roof had been covered in astro-turf and there were lots of white plastic tables and chairs set up, as well as an extensive buffett and drink dispensing station. There were even mini-grills on each table to cook your own meat.

Even though I knew that in order to get my 3200 yen's worth (about $32, pretty reasonable), I would have to pace myself, there was so much good stuff, it was very hard, and I ended up leaving after about an hour and a half because I was so full. Just after one trip to the buffet, I brought back all this:

And this:

Just because Kirrin has the prettiest label does not mean it is my favorite. In fact, it is currently 3rd of the big three beers here. Number 1 is Sapporo, the two spot is Asahi, and lastly Kirrin. But the ranking could change at any time, so I will keep you posted :-)