Food

Today's theme is food. Yummy, yummy food. There might be some other things thrown in to add some contrast, but mostly food.

    Friday night we had what I'm starting to think of as a typical meal. There was tofu, rice (of course!), fish, and an assortment of vegetables. Okaasan had to leave in the middle of making dinner to go pick up Kayoko from school. So, Otoosan finished up and I helped him set the table. He put the extra bowl of rice in front of the small wooden shrine box, by  the table, as he does whenever rice is on the menu. He must have noticed me watching him do so, and he explained that he (they?) is/are Buddhist. The nightly ritual of leaving some food in front of the shrine is a way to honor their ancestors. I've also noticed that they leave pieces of fruit there too, usually whatever we have for desert. A couple nights ago we had frozen bananas, and there was an extra banana set up there. They don't leave the food up there indefinitely. For example, Okaasan adds the extra rice to her bowl, usually part of the way through dinner.

    I slept in a bit on Saturday, and only had an orange for breakfast. Lunch was just Okaasan and I, she was home from work for a while, but Otoosan was still at work, and Kayoko was at cram school. She made 'instant' ramen, and apologized for the 'bland' favor. The noodles were just like the instant ramen I've eaten in the states, but she added carrots and lettuce and ham to it! There was also an entire hard-boiled egg, split in half, floating around! It was the best instant ramen I have ever had!
    After lunch on Saturday, I headed off to school. There was a welcome party for any students that spoke French. There were 5 other international students there, 3 from France, 1 from Quebec, and 1 from England. There were also about 10 Kansai students who have been studying French. We ate Japanese snacks-I didn't catch most of the names, but there was some mochi and these things called milk balls. The milk balls are tiny (like bead on a bracelet) slightly crunchy balls made of egg, milk, and sugar, and were quite addicting! Mochi (もち) is a doughy desert made of rice and other things. It's usually got something else on top, like sugar. It was a fun couple of hours, hanging out and practicing my French as well as my Japanese skills.

    For dinner that night we had karaage tori (からあげ鳥、からあげとりあ, fried chicken), cabbage, tofu, and rice. The fried chicken wasn't like KFC, or picnic chicken, it was closer to chicken nuggets, except home made, and delicious! It was a close tie between this meal and the udon meal for my favorite meal in Japan so far.

    At least until today's lunch! I slept in a lot longer this morning (Sunday), and then I stayed in bed for even longer, reading. :D When I finally got dressed and made my way downstairs, I found the house empty. Actually, Kayoko was in the shower, but I couldn't hear that from the second floor. It was almost lunch time though, so I just sat on the couch, read, and pet the cat. Otoosan and Okaasan came back pretty soon and Okaasan started cooking lunch. We had yakisoba (やきそば, fried soba noodles). First, Okaasan chopped up all the ingredients, then she brought this big electric skillet out to the table, which Kayoko had already covered with newspaper. She plugged it in, add some oil and waited for it to get hot. Then she added the meet,  then the vegetables (carrots, onions, cabbage). After that had cooked for a while, she added the noodles, and on top of everything drizzled this brown sauce. This sauce has made an appearance at meals before. It was put on our hamburgers the one night, and Otoosan's potatoes another night, but I never seem to catch the name, and the bottle doesn't have the label.

    After everything was cooked, we were called to the table, and Okaasan filled our plates with the first serving. We each had too platefuls of it, and there was still some left over. Okaasan said something about yakisoba pan, a yakisoba sandwich. It sounds like it would be very difficult to eat, but yummy all the same. But we weren't done yet! She brought out four eggs, and fried them in the skillet too, one for each of us. I was instructed to pour the brown sauce over my egg as well, and it tasted a bit odd with the egg, but not bad. Currently, today's lunch wins the number one spot on my favorite meals in Japan list, but we'll see what dinner brings, huh?