Food

Anyone for the Soba Shop?

All I have to do is look at any serving of indigenous Japanese food, and it's as good as any diet pill .. thanks, but I'm not hungry .. I just ate, thank you .. I grabbed a sandwich just ten minutes ago .. or any number of excuses I used in Japan .. over & over & over & over. The closer it was to being alive, the queasier I became.

What do you do when all your
friends just LOVE the local food?? Do you stay home when they're going
out to get some munchies? Not really.

The soba shops just surrounded
the American housing areas. So, you try to train your taste buds to eat what
your friends eat. It (might) not kill you ..
(see below).

All the Japanese men seemed to have the
best time when they were were at a
soba shop with their pals and downing Asahis. The little curtains/advertising banners
also kept the flies out .. except those that
could read the "tasty lunch served here."

The entrance to a ramen shop.
Remember what they all used to entice (?)
you, just as you walked by the window --> That's right, plastic food! Before I left the
States, I had never seen this abomination,
and it was everywhere in Japan!

I would often order in a ramen shop .. .. never knowing what it was I was eating ..

.. and would order by pointing .. .. to some plastic replica in the window ..

I NEVER bought octopus from a cart .. .. or the eel .. yummy! (not!)

Squid-on-a-stick:
no festival should be without it! Backstage at the festival:
more octopus than I EVER need to see!

At least when it was served like this,
I knew enough to smile, be polite ..
and walk away! It's when they hid this stuff,
sliced and diced, in PIZZA
that they caught me by surprise!

...
Just a moment ago, I said ".. eat what
your friends eat .. it might not kill you!" I lied! Presenting .. FUGU!!

When you have gotten used to raw squid, fried grasshoppers, octopus, and eel, try something really adventurous .. Fugu .. blowfish. They contain the deadly poison tetrotoxin (an ounce of which is enough to kill 30 000 people), if Fugu is not prepared properly, it can kill a person in less than five minutes. Every year, some less-than-brilliant DIY (do it yourself) types are killed trying to save money by preparing this expensive delicacy at home.
Fugu can be eaten safely at Fugu Ryoriya where it is prepared by specially trained 'fish surgeons', who study the art of preparing Fugu for years before they are licensed, and who are said to be willing to take their own life if one of their customers is poisoned (yeah, right!)

Fugu can be served raw, or in a stew and is usually eaten with hot sake.
Chefs leave just enough poison in the fins to make your lips numb!
The best time to eat Fugu is between October and March, when the
fish is fresh, but it is available year round.
Fugu is also said to be an aphrodisiac. Uhhhhh ... no, thanks!

Tirasi Soumen

Soup .. of some (??) kind Orosi

Omu Napo

This page has been a public service for all of you who believe food is not tasty unless it is still moving around on your plate. Excuse me if I don't share your enthusiasm. Pass the beans and cornbread, please!

Contents


What do you do when all your friends just LOVE the local food??	Do you stay home when they're going out to get some munchies? Not really.


The soba shops just surrounded the American housing areas.	So, you try to train your taste buds to eat what your friends eat. It (might) not kill you .. (see below).


All the Japanese men seemed to have the best time when they were were at a soba shop with their pals and downing Asahis.	The little curtains/advertising banners also kept the flies out .. except those that could read the "tasty lunch served here."


The entrance to a ramen shop. Remember what they all used to entice (?) you, just as you walked by the window -->	That's right, plastic food! Before I left the States, I had never seen this abomination, and it was everywhere in Japan!


I would often order in a ramen shop ..	.. never knowing what it was I was eating ..


.. and would order by pointing ..	.. to some plastic replica in the window ..


I NEVER bought octopus from a cart ..	.. or the eel .. yummy! (not!)


Squid-on-a-stick: no festival should be without it!	Backstage at the festival: more octopus than I EVER need to see!


At least when it was served like this, I knew enough to smile, be polite .. and walk away!	It's when they hid this stuff, sliced and diced, in PIZZA that they caught me by surprise!