Japanese Snacks II

Edamame has become fairly popular in the U.S. as a healthy snack, but it is ubiquitous in izakayas (Japanese pubs). Edamame are baby soybeans in the pod, usually prepared by boiling them in salted water and served cold. You don't eat the pods, but instead pop the beans out by sliding the pod through your teeth. Edamame are low in calories and high in protein and fiber, so I like having them as a snack. However, one day I was eating edamame at work when a Japanese staff member saw me and asked, rather aghast, if I was drinking beer. I said that of course I wasn't. She then informed me that edamame is a beer snack. "So I can only eat edamame when I'm drinking?" I asked incredulously. She simply shrugged and walked away. I later discovered that there are lots of foods in Japan (ones that I happen to love), that label you as a drinker. Often when I list my favorite foods for my students, they say in a knowing voice, "Ohhhh, you like alcohol very much, I think." I suppose it would be the equivalent of me listing beer nuts and stale pretzels as my favorite foods.

Tsukemono is the Japanese word for pickled vegetables and is a popular, tasty accompaniment to most Japanese dishes, as well as a bento (Japanese lunchbox) staple. Lots of vegetables are pickled in Japan, though cabbage (pictured above), cucumbers, daikon radishes, and plums tend to be the most popular. They are crunchy, sometimes spicy, and add a nice bit of color to dishes. In America we often have a pickle spear, coleslaw, or parsley as a garnish, whereas in Japan they have tsukemono.

Ichigo daifuku is a delicious Japanese confection made with mochi, wrapped around yellow cake, sweet whipped cream, and a strawberry. Mochi has the strangest texture: incredibly soft, gooey, and slightly chewy. It's used like a fondant, and is essentially pounded glutinous rice (it's not sweet but can be sweetened). I adore it, and ichigo daifuku (a modern variation on daifukumochi), is my favorite mochi dessert. However, the texture of mochi is a little off-putting at first. It's a lot like what I imagine the flesh of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters would be like.

The Guch and too much Hooch

I have Tuesdays off, as do my roommates Masako and Tetsu, so we decided to have dinner at the Guch (our house) last Tuesday. Wanting to introduce me to a new Japanese dish, they cooked suki-yaki, which is beef slices simmered in soy sauce, sake, and sugar, along with other vegetables and tofu. Whisked raw egg is used as a dipping sauce for the meat and vegetables. Masako and Tetsu provided the delicious meal, while I provided the alcohol. We started off slow, just a few beers, but once our roommate Judy got home from work, we opened a couple of bottles of wine. And then our roommate Cat came home, and we broke out the rum. At one point in the night Cat, Judy, and I all put on Halloween costumes, and then somehow Judy convinced us it would be a good idea to put a mustache on Cat and a full beard on me (using eyeshadow). I looked like Yitzhak from "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." Judy just pretty much had eyeshadow all over her entire face. I'm certain pictures were taken and I have no doubt they'll resurface in some form of blackmail later in life. Regardless, it was a fun night and a rare moment for us residents of the Guch, as we rarely get a chance to hang out together due to our conflicting work schedules.

Japanese Snacks I

Despite the obvious exceptions, Japan feels a lot like America. However, one way in which it's vastly different is the food. The snacks are often seafood- or curry-flavored. Two examples of popular snacks are dried squid (pictured to the left) and some sort of baked noodles that have a kind of cheesy curry taste. The dried squid looks like dry, shredded chicken, but it's actually really flavorful (very seafood-y with a slightly sweet, teriyaki-type flavor). It's a popular snack to have while drinking beer, and because it involves a lot of chewing (think beef jerky), it's not something you can just inhale like a plate of nachos.