My Life, My Imagination: Japanese Cuisine Part 1

Tna: Ima nanji, Kaoko-chan?

Kaoko: 10.15 am...
Tna: Nani

? We've been waiting for forty minutes already?

Kaoko: Sou~

20 minutes later...

Miwako: Yo, Anatatachi! O-matase~

Tna, Kaoko: Osoi!

Miwako: Sumimasen deshita~ I woke up late this morning...

Tna: Well, can we go now, Satou-basan?

Miwako: Nani-? You call me OBASAN?

Kaoko: Ochitsuke, Satou-san. By the way, let's go now! We're hungry already...

Miwako: Chotto, chotto... we have to wait for a certain some- Ah! Koko ni kite, Takagi-kun!

Takagi: Oh, hai! Satou-san!

Tna: Ah, sou... so you asked Takagi-san to come along then Kaoko and me just company you two dating?

Satou: Chigau, chigau... don't worry, we'll pay the treat... right, Takagi-kun?

Takagi: Ah-haha~ mochiron desu!

Kaoko: Oh, great then! Well, ikoo~

SUSHI RESTAURANT

Miwako: When you are at Sushi Restaurant, you can freely choose whether you want to sit in front of conveyor belt or at the common table...

Takagi: Let's have a seat on a normal table!

Miwako: Well, while we're waiting the orders to come, I'll explained you a little about Sushi. Maybe you both knew already, Sushi is a food of Japanese origin of cooked vinegared rice (shari) combined with other ingredients (neta). Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari. The most common neta is seafood...

Takagi: The term sushi comes from an archaic grammatical form no longer used in other contexts; literally, "sushi" means "sour-tasting", a reflection of its historic fermented roots.

Ten minutes later...

Waitress: Douzo~

Tna: Waah~ I always like Sushi! My most favorite is salmon sushi!

Kaoko: Mine is... tuna sushi!

Miwako: That's good, Kaoko-chan! But you should be careful since health risk in tuna sushi is the highest, because tuna can harbor high levels of mercury.... tonikaku, atashi wa... the salmon roe, ikura sushi ga suki!

Tna: Oh, no.. from all kind of sushi, the only thing I can't get deal with is ikura. It's fishy~ and one thing, I really hate wasabi! It has a weird mint flavor but bitter taste. Horrible!

Miwako: Ah yes~ maybe because you're not a native Japanese. Mostly the foreigner dislike this... Takagi-kun, which one do you like?

Takagi: Boku wa... ebi nigiri sushi!

Miwako: Actually, there are so many kind of sushi. They are unagi (eel) sushi, tamago (egg) sushi, kappa (cucumber) sushi, etc.

JAPANESE NOODLE RESTAURANT

Miwako: Minna! Do you still have some space on your stomach? We'll have Japanese noodle now~ There are ramen, udon, and soba.

Tna, Kaoko: What's the difference between them?

Takagi: Ramen. It's a Japanese noodle dish served in a meat- or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as sliced pork (チャーシュー chāshū), dried seaweed (海苔 nori), kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn.

Miwako: Udon is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle. It is usually served hot as noodle soup in a mildly flavoured broth, in its simplest form as kake udon, served in kakejiru made of dashi, soy sauce (shōyu), and mirin.

Takagi: Soba is a type of thin noodle made from buckwheat flour, and inJapan can refer to any thin noodle (in contrast to thick wheat noodles, known as udon). Soba noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup...

Miwako: Which one do you choose?

Tna: Ramen, of course!

Kaoko: Umm... yeah, ramen!

DONBURI RESTAURANT

Miwako: Now, you currently at Donburi Restaurant! Donburi, literally bowl in kanji, is a Japanese 'rice bowl dish' consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients simmered together and served over rice. Donburi meals are served in oversized rice bowls also called donburi. Donburi are sometimes called sweetened or savory stews on rice.

Takagi: There are some various types of Donburi, they are Oyakodon (simmered chicken, egg and onion on rice)...

Katsudon (breaded deep-fried pork cutlets, onion, and egg on rice)...

Tekadon (thin-sliced raw tuna over rice)...

Unadon (grilled eel on rice)...

Kaoko: Ano... Satou-san, can we go to the next restaurant?

Tna: Yeah, I'm bit full to try even one donburi...

Miwako: Ara? Ah, sou. Let's go to the Congee Restaurant!

CONGEE RESTAURANT

Takagi: There are two menus offered in this restaurant, okayu (porridge) and zosui ( A soup containing rice stewed in stock, often with egg, meat, seafood, vegetables or mushroom, and flavoured with miso or soy, similaar to risotto)...

Miwako: Kono okayu, usually served to an ill person...

And this is zosui...

Tna, Kaoko: Pass~

MESHI DISHES RESTAURANT

Miwako: Well, well, Tna-chan and Kaoko-chan! This is our last destination. Here we'll find all about meshi (rice) dishes. Maybe you've heard about onigiri and kare(curry) rice?

Tna: Hai! I once tasted curry rice, but not with onigiri... even it's simple to make, I never tried it~

Kaoko: I've ever eaten onigiri few times!

Miwako: That's nice! Well, onigiri is a Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or oval shapes and often wrapped in nori (seaweed). Traditionally, an onigiri is filled with pickled ume (umeboshi), salted salmon,katsuobushi, kombu, tarako, or any other salty or sour ingredient as a natural preservative. Because of the popularity of onigiri in Japan, most convenience stores stock their onigiri with various fillings and flavors.

Takagi: And kare(curry) rice is commonly served in three main forms: curry rice (カレーライス karē raisu^?), karē udon (thick noodles) and karē-pan (bread).

Tna: Okay, I'll try onigiri!

Kaoko: I'm curry rice!

All: Itadakimasu~

Miwako: Well, well, that's all for today's Japanese cuisine. Actually there's still many kind of them, but we're so full already, aren't we? But next time, we're gonna gave them a try!

Tna, Kaoko, Takagi: Haaaai!

Tna: Hontou ni arigatou, Satou-san and Takagi-san for the treat!