Today's Picture: 080

[akujunkan]

Is of:


is of a non-sushi, non-sashimi bento. Clockwise from the top we have: brown rice with egg and assorted "mountain vegetables;" cucumber pickes, a spiced beef "korokei" (think breaded, deep fried meat patty), some sort of starchy potato-type vegetable the name of which I do not know, a marinated carrot slice, devil's tongue, fish cake, deep-fried ship, egg omlette, and pan-fried salmon slice.

This particular bento cost about $3.50, but I'm lucky because the cafeterias and convenience stores on campus are subsidised by the uni.


That will be all.

Comments

[fragilistikal.livejournal.com]

That's a lot of food for 3.50. Tasty? Or not-bad? ...but I'd be worried for the state of my stomach a couple hours later.

I used to like Korean korokkes (usually only the bread/potato version in Korean places) but as I got older, the oil content had me feeling unwell.

I think it's ike having a supersize bag of kettle chips for a meal.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Pretty tasty, actually. One of my favorite everyday things about Japan is how much better the quality of cafeteria/convenience store food is compared to its American counterparts. I've also yet to have stomach issues after eating bentos.

Here's the thing about Japan I *don't* get though--many Japanese complain about how oily Western food is, but one of the most common types of Japanese food is agemono. That's "fried things," in case your Japanese needs some jogging in the absence of kanji. I'm not a huge fan of fried stuff in general (I think the last time I ate potato chips was about 15 years ago), but a bite-sized bit every now and then doesn't bother me.

[bran420-7.livejournal.com]

Must you continually tempt me with your delicious repast?!

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

...Says the woman who's forever posting about awesome books that aren't available here.

[bran420-7.livejournal.com]

I know you love to absorb information. I had no idea you meant intestinally....

[bloody-american.livejournal.com]

Looks tasty but what, on earth, is a "devil's tongue"? :)

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

"Devil's tongue" is "konjak," which is also completely not useful to anyone who doesn't already know what it is.

Which is essentially a substance like tasteless jell-o if jell-o were about 20% more solid than it is. I think it's made from some sort of root that's pounded and poured into molds.

[bloody-american.livejournal.com]

Tasteless? Does it have some health benefit or some other reason that would make people eat a tasteless jell-o like substance?

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

or some other reason that would make people eat a tasteless jell-o like substance?
I think the reason is that we're talking about Japan here.

Most people seem to favor it today because it is tasteless and has zero calories, but I can't imagine that either of those factors were of much concern to Japanese 300+ years ago...so who knows?