Food Frenzy, Part 2 - School lunch (kyuushoku)

Oden, 8.6/10

School lunch in Japan is quite different than America. Setting the actual food content aside, the idea of "choice" and having options for lunch is perhaps the greatest difference. In America (public schools at least) ,students have options for lunch: a) bring your own sack lunch, b) eat what crap the school provides c) don't eat at all. I usually chose a combination of a and b. I would trade the lunch I brought from home for a much unhealthier, more desirable school food (like pizza and chocolate milk!) or cash for vending machine candy and pop (thanks and sorry mom!). Here in Japan, there are no options. Everyone eats a mirrored meal, and everyone eats it whether they like it or not. When it comes to school lunch, Japanese students have no "choice" in the matter of what they eat for lunch.

Luckily, Japanese schools don't provide communist crumbs. All students get a balanced, healthy and (most the time) delicious meal. I've snapped a handful of photos, check 'em!

Ground salmon, eggs, soup, white rice - 8.0 / 10

Some really asian food, white rice - 7.8 / 10

Tofu / pumpkin mix, pickled veggies, white rice - 8.4 / 10

Tofu / beef, miso soup, white rice - 8.5 / 10

A huge bowl of white sloppy tasteless rice, with a small side of veggies - 3.0 / 10

For obvious reasons, these meals are nearly always steered towards Japanese tastes. I, for the most part enjoy them. What I don't like is that 50% of every meal is a big fat bowl of white rice. I just dont understand how they can love something so tasteless and empty so much? It's like blank filling in your belly. I suppose it's not so far off from a bowl of noodles or a big chunk a bread. I guess I've never been one for tasteless carbs.

At the end of the day, even an elementary schools lunch leaves a grown foreigner full and satisfied.

And at 240 Yen per meal (less than 3 bucks a grub), its a pretty great system if you ask me.

Mackeral, creamy soup, veggies, white rice - 8.8 / 10

Definitely more school lunches to come.

Food Frenzy, Part 1 - Okonomiyaki

Let me start this off by saying that there is just way too much delicious food in Japan to blog about. However, a central source of my joy here (and what keeps the marbles in my head sometimes) is the cuisine consistently put on my pallette. Food in Japan is nothing less that deliciously awesome. So, without further ado, I present to you the grub that most frequently passes through my digestive track:

Okonomiyaki

Perhaps you recall this from a previous post. Well, it's officially my favorite Japanese food. I average about one face full a week. There's a few different styles. My favorite? Kansai style baby!

Jam packed with everything edible; udon noodles, egg, kimchi, bacon, cabbage, cheese, cheese, and more cheese (by special request), along with lots of other fun foods I've forgotten.. Its topped with fish flakes and a healthy smothering of the tastiest sauce known to Japan, this pancake takes the... cake.

In a close second is Hiroshima style okonomiyaki. It's by far the most popular amongst the masses. Easy to understand why, it's simply delicious!

Starts off looking like this...

Then a double yolked egg gets slopped on top!

The restaurant I go to serves a killer variation called yakyudo, resembling something between an omlette and a football!

I seem to have forgotten how delicious it looks everytime I've ordered it, so I have a somewhat small library of photos. Regrettably, these quick snaps taken on an IPhone hardly do it justice. Anyways, here's a few!

Some restaurants let you even fry one up yourself. This was my first adventure flippin' my own.

This reads (Okaeri, おかえり), or "welcome back", when I hadn't been to the restaurant for 3 weeks, rofl.

Last but not least, one of my favorite my okonomiyaki photos my Iphone has snapped.

Great Okayama Grapes

Have you ever seen a bunch of grapes like this before?

Believe it or not, seeing a photo like this nearly 10 years ago is the reason I started learning Japanese. How wonderful it would be to get to travel to a country that took such meticulous care in fruit, I thought? Well here I am, in Japan, indulging in a gluttonous amount of purple perfection all these years later.

The best part about grapes, and all fruit in Japan for that matter, is that these aren't special bunches of grapes. This locally grown greatness is what you'll find everywhere all season long. It's astounding, really. No need to squeeze for ripeness or taste for quality. You're essentially guaranteed 100% satisfaction everytime. That's quite a bargain you might think, but it comes with a price.

Yes, that's right. That's 7000 Yen ($82) for 2 bunches of grapes. I went on to find a single bunch of grapes for as much as 8500 Yen ($100!) in one supermarket! So did I buy them? Heeeell no I didn't. I'd smoke crack just as soon as I'd pay 2 bucks a grape. 8500 Yen could get to me Hiroshima and back, twice. I'll take that over grapes anyday...

I was lucky enough, however, to receive a never ending supply of these brilliantly delicious treats all season long. Coworkers, neighbors, schools, friends; they all seemed to want to be the person that gave me (a foreigner) the most delicious grapes I'd ever taste. Well congratulations Japan, you not only gave me the most delicious grapes of a lifetime, you gave me 800 of them.

Can I Haz Hamburger?!?

Oh my God. Is it humanly possible? Does Japan actually serve a hamburger capable of satisfying a truly American craving? Indeed it does... at a place none other than Fukuyama's "BOOGIE BUNS", cooked up by a man named "DONKEY KONG".

Craving good ol' American grub is an inevitable part of life here in Japan. I find myself in an endless search for rich desert, greasy meats, and excessively sized portions (and that's coming from an undersized American...). But don't get me wrong, Japanese food is absolutely stellar. In fact, its so stellar that the next handful of blogs are solely devoted to just how awesome some Japanese grub can get.

In the end, though, nothing hits the spot like this half pound beast of deliciousness. Donkey Kong even privileged me with using some hot sauce illegal in Japan. Illegal solely because Japan thinks its too hot for the safe consumption of its modest little inhabitants mouths. My experience? One drop was hot beyond blogging...