Pitaya

hello.

do you know "Pitaya"　?
well, i didn't know this name.

i knew the name, "Dragon Fruit"　.　
it is called it because it looks like dragon scale.

have you ever tried this fruit?
it is first time for me to try this fresh fruit.

it is the fruit of Hylocereus (one of cactai.
Hylocereus is native to central and south america.
the size of this fruit is as same as avocado.
inside is like this...

WHITE flesh!!! with seed looks like sesame.

it has mostly no taste.
it wasn't bad, but it wasn't delicious.
pitaya which sell in japan is not sweet,
because it has to keep long, so it is harvested earlier.
that is why it is not sweet.

however, in some asian countries, you may find sweet pitaya!

wanna try it!

Sesshy

BUNZOU -Izakaya in Funabashi-

hello.
today, i wanna introduce a japanase bar in Funabashi,
called BUNZOU!

i went there for first time.
but i really like there, and recommend you to go!
i ordered many food, and it is difficult to explain all of them,
so i'm gonna introduce the food which i impressed with.

when i entered, i got this tea.

the clerk said "it is good for health to drink this tea before you start eating!"

and i ordered UME-shu(plum wine),and got Otooshi(table charge)

what do you think this food looks like ball?
i was very surprised that the clerk told me
it is "nikujaga"(simmered meeat and potatoes).
minced meat is inside and covered with mashed potato.
it was really nice and so cute!

these are some food which i ate.

i also enjoyed "GariGari-kun sour"

whole GariGari-kun is in the sour.
i hesitated to order it(because it is silly), but i tried.
it was nice and kinda frozen drink.


and lastly, when i'm about to leave, i got this.

"Furikake"(seasoned dried food) with some message. i sometimes get candy or gum. but i've never got "Furikake".
how do you feel when you got this present when you leave the bar?
i felt happy, and wanna come back soon!


Sesshy

EAT HOT FOODS:)

hooott!
HOT!!!!!!!

is it still rainy season?
i wanna do nothing..
still i'm writing blog.
what a good girl←

the heat is getting to me.
this year would be hotter than usual,
but we have to save electric power.



how to survive this summer---
EAT HOT FOODS:)

Come to think of it,
there are many hot food in hot country such as india, thailand.
is there any connection between these meanings?
in english, "hot" means high temperature and taste hot.
well, i have no idea, does anyone know?

hot food, such as pepper, has perspiration.
when we eat hot food, people sweat.
by sweating, body surface temperature goes down, and people feel cool.

the reason why most indian food is
hot could be human instinct which want to be cool.

hot food increase appetite,
so it is good for people who don't have appetite because of hot weather.

just you can put some hot pepper in your soup, saute etc.

let's overcome this hot weather with hot food!!!

one coin lunch☆

hello.

it's too hot..., isn't it?
today, i wanna talk about "one coin lunch".

one coin = 500 yen :)

if you pay 1000 yen, you can get 500 yen back.

recently, i'm in tokyo and hav to have lunch alone... because of job hunting.

it costs much money for me. i have to find the place to stay, and cheap one.

when i think about TIME, i always go to cafe.
but it sometimes cost too much. and not enough for me.

so on last tuesday, i went to "kitchen HAREYA"↓↓↓

it's located in Hamamatsu-chou, Daimon area.

most of their costomer is worker around that area.

they serve cheap lunch, around 500 to 800 yen.

i wanted to eat Kara-age from day before that day, so i ordered kara-age set.

it's very simple, rice, kara-age, side dish, soup.

but it's very great deal as 500 yen, and valuable.

when i searched on internet, there are many choice.

and most of them doesn't look like 500 yen.

there are many one coin lunch in tokyo, so please try it and tell me your feedback.

Sesshy

vegan day ♪

hello. as you see from title, i tried becoming vegan.

vegan = eat only vegetable, plant resource (no meat, fish, dairy product)

i live in japan, and live far away from vegetarian style. i have some friends who are vegetarians but I have never take this issue as my issue.

so, on the Jan. 14,
i tried not to eat meat, fish and dairy product.
become VEGAN!!!

i didn't prepare anything. i just tried in my lifestyle, and wanted to see how it works.

on the morning, woke up at 7, and thought what i should eat... no egg, meat, fish. it means most of my breakfast can't eat. what am i supposed to eat?
so i chose this↓↓↓

rice, salad, soup.
i became full, because i don't eat big breakfast like this.
...and went to job hunting^^




the biggest problem was LUNCH. i should eat out, but i'm not sure where i am supposed to go. i think convenience store has something. but rethink what i always buy there, i buy rice ball with tuna, salmon etc… well, how about mcdonald? no need to think←. hummmm, starbucks? there might be something. japanese restaurant? there might be difficult. well, recently, i learned soba is not okay. soba itself is okay, but we normally eat it with japanese soy sauce soup. it contains animal derived ingredients. DIFFICULT!!!

go back to my lunch, i chose subway! (because just there is←
look at the menu, find veggie only. it wasn't difficult to find. but i also realized i am attracted by meat, fish and cheese.

i chose avocado and veggie with wasabi soy sauce dressing.
and i ordered ice tea.
...i love avocado very much, it was worth to try it. i like milk tea but i could not drink milk... mmm…


at night, my mother prepared for vegan. these are my supper.

some veggie, soup, and chimaki.
we always eat macaroni salad with mayonaise, but today olive oil, salt and pepper. soup did not use consomme because it has animal derived ingredinets.


...and i could not eat sweets. that was most difficult for me. no cake, also chocolate, cookie... but luckily, my grandfather just send me Sasa-Dango. so i ate it.




well, this is my jun. 14. how was your day? it wasn't easy at all. i was lucky to find subway at lunch. if i were not there, what could i eat? and i have 2 question through living as vegan.

1. how vegan or vegetarian find out which contains what?
2. what can vegan eat for dessert?

when i was a high school student, i worked at convenience store. and sell some fast food there. one of foreign people came, and asked me "is it chicken?" well, i was surprised and could not answer only myself. so i checked "it is definitely chicken, isn't it?", then i could answer it. it might be my fault, but if you worked at restaurant, could you answer all of ingredients of meal which you served? i think most of japanese hardly have "vegetarian" or "vegan" idea, and far away from other religion.
when i went to new york, i saw many vegetarian menu. (well, i didn't order.) still, we can find out which can eat as vegetarian. there are variety of people in new york, and most of people have understanding to other culture. i felt we should care more others in this globalized society.

being a vegan, i felt i relied too much on meat, fish, and daily product. i am sorry to say but i felt i could not be a vegan. still, i should reconsider my lifestyle. i should understand what is happening if i eat those. i felt my act have some affect on others. (to poverty, environment etc.)

thank you for reading looong report:D


Sesshy

DINNER at my home

hello.
what was you dinner today:D?
did you cook yourself? or your family?

this is one day's dinner at my home.

do you recognise what is this?
it's a bit difficult to find out from this pic.





it's trippa alla romana.

do you know trippa?
it's reticulum (cow's stomache) which is called "nest of bees" in Japan.
i was afraid of it when i heard, and i feel not to try it.


The reason why it is called "nest of bees", it looks like it.
most of you know cow has 4 stomaches. and 2nd one called trippa.

if i say this way, it seems special, but it's not.
it is kind of same as "Motsu Nikomi"(entrails stew) in Japan.
you can think as italian version stewed with tomato.


it's delicious. definitely!
you should try it if you never tried!


...well, you might tried in some italian restaurant.

but the point is my mother cooked at home.

what do you think?


huum, my food culture is... :D haha





sesshy

Pavlova ♡

hey hey!!!
do you have favorite food which is not common in japan?

btw looks delicious, isn't it? ↓↓↓

it's called "Pavlova"

have you ever heard? or tried one?

well, it looks homemade,

in fact, i didn't mak it←, one of my friend in aus did:P

it's very popular in aus n nz.

some of you might have tried it, but still not popular in japan.

this is a meringue-based dessert,

decorated with fresh cream and some fruits.

it's a cake with a crispy crust n soft, light inside.

sooo nice! indeed!! :D

i'm a big fan of this cake.

it can easily make at home,

try to make it if you are interested in!!!

n give some pieces← :D haha

recipe ↓↓

http://australianfood.about.com/od/bakingdesserts/r/Pavlova.htm

Sesshy

WORLD's school lunch☆

Hello.

Did you like school lunch?
if you do, what was your favorite food?

well, I like curry, Age-pan, Soft-men etc.
...and Reitou-mikan(freezing orange)!!!


The school lunch is different from your hometown.
and it has more difference between countries.

1. Korea : always has kimuchi
2. France : there are french flies
3. Swedish : image is stewing food
4. Czech : also stewing food
5. Italy : as suspected, pasta!!
6. Singapore : ethnic
7. Kenya : shows country's condition
8. Honduras : kind of rice gruel
9. Slovakia : sandwich (←healthy
10. UK : mix vegetables (←healthy?
11. Taiwan : looks same with Japan
12. Ghana : Rice gruel?
13. Chile : flowers?
14. Philippines : king of curry?
15. Estonia : Potatoes and meat
16. Brazil : beans and rice
17. China : whole fish
18. Djibouti : bean or curry
19. USA : fast food and snack

Look at this page. It shows 20 countries school lunch.
↓↓↓

What school lunches look like in 20 countries around the world

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/what-school-lunches-look-like-in-20-countries-arou

I think this is just a example of school lunch in these countries.

however, we can see its cultur and economy in only school lunch.

It's interesting, isn't it?

and which country's one do you want to eat?

I definitely wanna try korean one!!!

Sesshy

Kaki no Ha Sushi

My mother went to trip, and got this as a souvenir.
It is sold as Eki-ben(train lunch).

"Kaki no Ha Sushi"
↓↓↓














Have you ever tried? or heard of it??

Kaki no Ha Sushi is SUSHI which is wrapped up with persimmon leaves.

like this →→ What did you think when you saw this pic?

looks delicious? or GREEN?

...I might not eat it, if I were not Japanese and didn't know its culture.


This sushi is local dishes of Nara-pref. The origin dates back to Nanboku-chou era, and it is told persimmon leaves were used as plates to serve sushi. In the process, people made sushi wrapped up with it and lightly-pressed.

They hold it with hands and peel the leaf away and eat!, normally don't eat the leaf. it means they don't have to use chopsticks and also hands don't get dirty.

if i open, it looks...

from left,

Saba(chub mackerel), Sake(salmon), Aji(horse mackerel), Tai(sea bream).

I love salmon, but some said it's for children :P hehe

Well, I have a question. "WHY is it wrapped up with persimmon leaves?"

is it only for avoiding hands get dirty? not plastic wrap? not other leaf?


The answer is...
persimmon leaves have natural infection-fighting properties. it can preserve for a couple of days. Moreover, the taste will much better when the smell of the leaf would soak through sushi. But reason why they started to use was there are plenty of the leaves near-at-hand.

Sushi has a lot of varieties, especially as local dishes. I got more interest to sushi.
Do you have your local sushi in your hometown?

Asakusaaaaaaa!!!!!!!

Hello^^

What did you do on Golden Week??


I went to Asakusa with my friends.

we love to eat, so we mostly go there TO EAT←←



Firstly,,,

Senbei (rice cracker)
...freshly baked is the best!!

and

Imo - Youkan softcream (softcream tasted like sweet potato paste).
...it was hesitated to eat, but it worth to try it!!


After that, other friend joined us, and we went to Senso - temple.

and drew fortune slip!!!!!!!!!!

It was.....




....okay not bad←



Then

I truly wanted to eat Okonomiyaki, so we went to:P


We ate some

Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pizza)

and

Monja (savoury pancakes with various fillings ...thiner than Okonomiyaki).

...these are never betryed me←
many monja restaurants are in Asakusa.
so if you have a chance, go and try some!!!



But we still have time,
so we went back to Nakamise(shopping street infront of temple).

and ate

Age - manju (deepfried bun with sweet beans paste)
...I loooove this one.
You should try this one if you go to Asakusa!!!
it's necessary:P
it has varieties of flavour, pumpkin, sesami, sakura, maccha, cream...
It's crunchy outside and soft inside.

and lastly,
we went to Izakaya(japanese bar
and not only drink but also eat food←



this is my 1 day in golden week.
(sorry there are no photo, because I forgot to take←



Huuuummmm,
never say eat toooo.... haha



Sesshy

PEKO chan - yaki

Hello.

Do you know PEKO chan?

Last week, I ate "PEKO chan - yaki"!!


this is↓↓↓











It's a Japanese muffin containing bean jam.

But it has many varieties of flavor,
　such as green tea, cheese, chocolate etc...


"PEKO chan - yaki" is very special one,
　because it sells in only 1 shop in Kagura-zaka:)




but we have many kinds of that muffin,
such as Imagawa -yaki (round), Tai - yaki (fish shap) etc.


I thought this is very traditional Japanese food....


BUT,
This is also in Taiwan as "車輪餅"



I couldn't find how Japanese culture are move there.
but it probably connects to history between us.


I've never think that this is in Taiwan.

and I felt I have other food which thinks it's originally in Japan but it's not...



Do you come up with any food same as this case?


Hummm......



Sesshy

My food culture?

Hi, I'm Sesshy:D

I'm a Japanese, and I live in Japan.



BUT...

The FOOD which I've eaten during childhood wasn't only Japanese food.

or I could say that it wasn't Japanese food, mostly foreign food!! haha




The first memory which I remembered what I eat is CURRY.

I was in kindergarten, and what I felt was HOT!!!



I think Japanese curry is different from one's curry in India or Thai.

That curry wasn't Japanese one.

And, it isn't special at my home, it is normal.



...That is my food culture:)



Sesshy