Food and Drink/食べ物と飲み物

After two weeks in Japan I have yet to eat sushi, surprising right? Don’t worry world, I plan to eat my fill of sushi in the next 3 months. So what have I eaten? Well, during the work week I eat breakfast and dinner at the dormitory (assuming I don’t skip a meal). For lunch I usually buy a box lunch, bento, at the company. Then on the weekends I either buy food at the konbini or Kasumi or go out with some people (but not sushi yet). The bento lunches usually have some fried meat/fish/egg, pickled vegetables, rice, miso soup, some other vegetable in sweet soy sauce, and sometimes noodles. The breakfasts and dinners are also very similar. Thus I have eaten a lot of unhealthy things and I probably gained weight, I wonder what the Japanese secret is for staying thin.

One thing famous in the Ibaraki prefecture that is always in our dorm is nattoo. Basically it is fermented soybeans, and you eat them with soy sauce and Japanese mustard. And sometimes a raw egg. It has a distinctive odor which you either hate or tolerate. When you mix all the ingredients it becomes a sticky goo. It’s pretty tasty though, I think.

Wait a raw egg? Yeah I’ve had raw eggs on rice, with nattoo, and on other foods as well. I’ve also have raw fish/seafood, raw chicken, and raw beef (I think). One time I even tried eating raw horse, but they were out at the restaurant, maybe next time. It is actually tasty, but I think many people in the “Western” world tend to shy away from raw things because of germs or other things perhaps. Maybe the eggs and meat in Japan are healthier or maybe there isn’t that big of a problem in the first place, I’m not sure. But I’ve tried them several times, they taste good, and I haven’t gotten sick.

I’ve tried okonomiyaki, which is a pancake-like food with a bunch of different things mixed together. I tried a cheese one, a seafood one, and two different type of meat ones. There is a special sauce you can put on top of it (as well as mayo) along with thin flakes of fish and some green ground-up vegetable. Also delicious is takoyaki, which has a similar taste but is made with octopus (tako). One time after tennis practice I went with the team to an Italian place and I had a squid and anchovies pizza (and Tabasco sauce), it wasn’t terrible.

I have also tried tendon (tempura over rice) and gyuudon (beef over rice), very delicious and unhealthy. Speaking of more unhealthy food, curry is very popular here. I personally did not think it was that great tasting, but it is definitely easy to find for a quick snack, if needed.

Sweet bread is also abundant, which is great for a sweet tooth like myself. Also good desserts include different types of mochi, hanko, and Chinese-style sweet tofu (I forget the name).

Drinks, not many Japanese people drink tap water even though it is clean. I definitely refill my nalgene bottle every morning. There are vending machines selling drinks all over the place. They have both cold and hot drinks, and you can find soft drinks, water, tea, coffee, beer, energy drinks, and even milk (sold by Fanta…). Cold coffee at the supermarket is sometimes cheaper than other drinks, which is yummy for me.

On the alcoholic front, I have tried sake, which is very delicious and I learned before coming here you never serve yourself any drink; you always pour for and are poured by others. Japanese beer is so-so, but I’m more of a darker beer kind of person anyway. There’s another type of Japanese drink that is similar to sake but made from wheat or potato that is usually drunk with a mixer, I tried it with cold green tea. I also had a similar drink with a sour plum in the bottom that you crush and mix in with your drink to flavor it. Lastly one of my coworkers busted out a bottle of tequila one day after dinner and we all did some shots with salt, no lime, since many of my coworkers did not have experience with tequila.

Overall very good food and drinks. All the speak of raw food also reminds me of a Japanese tongue-twister: nama mugi, nama gome, nama tamago (raw [type of fish], raw rice, raw egg). Try that 5 times fast.