What's for dinner?

[torakris]

I found this interesting homepage of a Japanese person who takes pictures of their meals every night, it is in Japanese but you don't need it to understand it to look at the pictures.

From my experience eating in various homes it is VERY typical:

http://www010.upp.so-net.ne.jp/lelelenolen.../bangohan-5.htm

[IrishCream]

Very attractive servings. Is each dish typically prepared at home or would some be purchased ready-to-serve?

[torakris]

based on my experience eating in Japanese homes, I would say for most people up to 50% is normally some type of prepared food. pickles or gyoza was bought, the flavored rice was made with a packaged mix, fish was seasoned at the store and then grilled at home, pasta sauces are almost never home made rather canned, etc.

There are of course variables depending on the family, the farther out in the boondocks you live teh more homemade food you see, the busier the person the more pre-made food you will see, having a mother or grandmother living with you and you may have freshly made pickles and other goodies.

[donk79]

Please tell me that wasn't an omlet with catsup that I saw.

To each their own, I guess, but has the madness spread that far?

[smallworld]

That's 'omu-rice', an omelette enclosing or on top of flavoured rice. The rice is kind of like a pilaf, and actually is flavoured with ketchup, so including the stuff you saw on top it's a really ketchupy dish!

I like omu-rice, but prefer less ketchup- I tried one once with Chinese fried rice inside and some kind of oyster sauce kind of sauce on top. Yum!

Ketchup is widely used in western-style cooking, unfortunately. A really old-fashioned pasta dish here that I've (fortunately) never tried is called Napolitan (also pictured in the link) which seems to be basicly ketchup on spaghetti. Eeeew!

[torakris]

omu-raisu (omelette rice) and napolitan spaghetti (usually onions, carrots, peppers and cocktail sausages in a ketchup sauce, not ketchup based, just ketchup!) are two "Japanese" foods I have eaten just once and have no desire to ever eat again. But they are very popular especially in homes with kids and make freuent appearances on dinner tables.

This person had omu-raisu twice in less then one month.

[torakris]

here is another site of a Japanese woman in Japan who posts pictures of food along with recipes and the best thing this it is all in English!

http://www9.ocn.ne.jp/~japamom/japanesemom...le/receipe.html

[KNorthrup]

Ketchup is widely used in western-style cooking, unfortunately. A really old-fashioned pasta dish here that I've (fortunately) never tried is called Napolitan (also pictured in the link) which seems to be basicly ketchup on spaghetti. Eeeew!

I've done ESL tutoring on and off. During college, I worked with a Chinese woman. We spent as much time on culture as we did on language. (And you learn a lot about your own culture when you try to explain it to someone else. You have to think for the first time about why we do things. It can really get interesting.) I would always stay for dinner, which was usually as close to traditional Chinese as they could get in Fairbanks AK. It was her, her husband (a grad student), and a very indulged six year old boy. One evening, inspired by a dinner party they'd been to, she made lasagne. With ketchup instead of tomato sauce. The most noteworthy part is that, to them, it tasted just the same.

[torakris]

I once was served, in a Japanese house, a ratatouille (sp?) made with eggplant, yellow peppers and cucumbers (instead of zucchini?) with ketchup as the base instead of adding tomatoes. She said she didn't have any toamtoes and thought ketchup would work just as well. I politely declined seconds!