Here's a few more pics of food I've been saving up...
This is "miso katsu". It's a Nagoya speciality, and oddly enough this was the first meal I had when I stepped off the bullet train from Tokyo. I've had it once or twice more since I've been here. Thankfully, I really enjoy it!! It's kind of like a deep-fried, breaded pork cutlet slathered in a crazy barbecue sauce. Always served with cabbage on the side. The pink stuff in the dish at the top is with nearly every meal, but often different colors. People describe it as pickles, but I think they are much more bitter. Also served with white rice and soup.
My first homemade meal! All the comforts of home: grilled cheese, potato chips, and apple juice from a coffee mug!! Cheese is a rare commodity in Japan, and I have no idea what kind this was! It was light yellow, almost white, and probably a variety I've never had before.
Here's a pastry I got from a self-serve bakery. It has some kind of sausage in the middle, and I think there is melted cheese on top. This reminds me of a yummy meal I make at home: wiener wraps. The original version is a hot dog wrapped in American cheese and a crescent roll. This version was okay. I popped it in the microwave for a few seconds, and that helped a lot. I can't believe some people eat these at the counter of the bakery when they are cold! Oh yeah, and most of them are slathered in some kind of yellowish sauce (I'm presuming mustard), so I was thankful to find the cheese version.
Here's another pastry that I bought. It has a pie crust, and the filling is pecans and some other gooey stuff, drizzled in chocolate. I thought it looked amazing, but as it turns out it really has no taste. Such a let down!
We stopped at a coffee shop one morning before our Yourou park adventure, and although Japanese don't really eat breakfast foods like we do, they did serve us these free appetizers with our beverages. We each got a half a piece of toast and a warm hard-boiled egg. I took the picture mainly because this is the largest drink I've seen in all of Japan, and oddly, it was for orange juice! The other beverage at the top of the picture is Ema's: cold tea with milk. This combination is rather popular.
My favorite meal so far!! It's fried chicken bits!! Served with shredded cabbage, clear soup, and white rice. The other bonus is that this restaurant is right across from work and also served me the "hamburg" from a few weeks ago. This place is never busy, and I'm told it's perfect for the days during the summer rainy season when you don't want to walk too far!
Another hamburg restaurant. Although it's difficult to tell, this hamburg is in the shape of a doughnut and topped with an egg. When you cut into it and take a bite, the runny yolk goes every where! I think my dad would love it. I tried to eat around the runny yolk, and if I couldn't avoid it, then I also dipped it generously in the funky barbecue sauce to drown out the taste. I did like this rice bowl with the chopstick holes built right in. (I do pretty well with the chopsticks, so much that many Japanese are impressed and asked where I learned! But this meal had corn niblets, which were nearly impossible, except for one at a time. And I also struggle with noodle meals. Long skinny noddles are slippery and how the heck are you supposed to get them into your mouth without cutting them?!)
Another yummy meal: tempura, which today is fried seafood and veggies. I'm told this was a "dinner" meal, so I should feel lucky that we had it for lunch! Served with white rice, pudding*, soy sauce for dipping, Japanese pickles, clear soup, and tea. *The pudding is not at all like pudding in America. I've had it several times, and I just don't like it. It's served warm, is creamy, has some kind blah of syrup sauce on the top, and is filled with surprise bits of raw eel or other similiar seafood!
The ladies in my department, Ema & Mari, took me out for this special meal this week. They were really hoping I would like this traditional Nagoya meal, but I think they could tell that I wasn't too impressed. First of all, yes, that is a raw egg in a bowl. You are supposed to mix it up, and dip each bite into it. Considering they both know I'm not a huge fan of eggs, I'm still puzzled why they thought this was a good meal for me? After a couple dips in the raw egg, they told me I didn't have to eat the egg if I didn't want to. So anyway, what's in the pot of food (called suki yaki)? It's kind of like a thick stew with beef, onions, leeks, and 3 giant chunks of tofu. I ate everything in the mystery pot, but most of it without egg. This was also served with white rice, Japanese pickles, soup, and tea.
Yesterday at lunch I met my first Japanese person who admitted to not liking a specific type of food!! This was quite a revelation! And believe it or not, this Japanese girl won't eat WHITE RICE!! I have no idea how she survives!! All of her friends find this so funny! I found it rather ironic, too.
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