eG Foodblog: torakris - Pocky and the geisha

[prasantrin]

dryers are still not commonplace in Japan. I have a yard, which it quite rare in suburban Japan, so I hang mine out there.

I've been lucky enough to have dryers in two of the three places I've lived (very generous employers in both cases). I love my dryer--especially during rainy season and those hot humid summers. However, Japanese dryers are very, very weak. Mine is something like 1800W (compare with the more than 5000W of dryers back home) and it usually takes 2-3 hours to dry a load of laundry. I think I had a hair dryer that was about as powerful . They also have very small capacities compared to North American dryers.

Are you going to show pictures of the insides of the boxes, too? I want to see the coconut one! I've been tempted, but have not given in--I'm afraid I'll like it too much!

[torakris]

dinner...

I didn't make it to the store today so I fell back on one of my staples, pasta. I especially love tomato based pastas but my husband doesn't care them (he prefers cream sauces), he does love the fresh tomato sauce that I make though. It is from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything and it consists simply of fresh tomatoes, butter and salt and pepper. This is not how my (Italian) grandmother made pasta....

My friend raved about this pasta for over a year but I jut couldn't imagine butter in pasta, then I tried it and wow! It is my favorite now and sometimes in the summer I make it every week!

the prep

I also had some beets that I had roasted last week, thanks to all of the advice I received here at eGullet. I always have some kind of citrus in the house so I decide to make a salad with oranges and parsley (from the garden), I dressed it with EVOO, some of the orange juice, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper.

the pasta with romano cheese, this is the cheese I grew up on...

we also had a baguette with butter but it disappeared before I could get a picture.

and sitting at the computer I had two more sticks of coconut pocky...

[torakris]

Week before payday...that's a Japanese way of life, isn't it!

What are your favorites for the week before payday? We sometimes have beansprout rice around then.

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bean sprouts are a lifesaver aren't they?!

The week before payday sees me pulling out the dried and canned foods... As we saw with last night's dinner with the fu (wheat gluten) and wakame (seaweed). I also tend to avoid dinners that us too much rice, so we tend to have non-rice meals more often as well. I would hate to run out of rice right before payday.

[helenjp]

hate to run out of rice right before payday

We've run pretty close...

I really envy you those beets!

[torakris]

I've been lucky enough to have dryers in two of the three places I've lived (very generous employers in both cases).  I love my dryer--especially during rainy season and those hot humid summers.  However, Japanese dryers are very, very weak.  Mine is something like 1800W (compare with the more than 5000W of dryers back home) and it usually takes 2-3 hours to dry a load of laundry.  I think I had a hair dryer that was about as powerful .    They also have very small capacities compared to North American dryers. 

Are you going to show pictures of the insides of the boxes, too?  I want to see the coconut one!  I've been tempted, but have not given in--I'm afraid I'll like it too much!

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Rona I have looked into driers a couple of times but they just aren't worth it yet, they are just too weak and most only hold half the capacity of a regular washing machine so you would have to do two loads in the dryer.... I actually enjoy hanging out the laundry, it is the folding and putting away that I dread, but a dryer wouldn't help me there.

Those coconut ones are the best!

You HAVE got to try them Rona you will love them!!

[torakris]

hate to run out of rice right before payday

We've run pretty close...

I really envy you those beets!

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Those beets were a steal!

I got them at Nissin in Azabu Juuban, 6 decent sized ones for only 480 yen (about $4.50).

For those not in Japan, beets are next to impossible to find here and when you do they are about $5 to $6 for 1, so I got a really good deal.

[helenjp]

I should let you know...gas dryers are the way to go! They are more expensive than electric ones to buy (but around now, and again in the fall, gas appliance shops offer discounts), but they last much, much longer than electric appliances, dry heaps faster than Japanese electric dryers, and do surprisingly little damage to my gas bill.

I even had one outdoors when we were renting...would never have thought of it if a friend hadn't recommended one when she saw us with a new baby in cloth diapers, living in a north-facing apartment shaded by trees...

I won't even try to make that post relevant to food! Though Japanese baby food is a topic in itself, I guess.

[Dejah]

Week before payday...that's a Japanese way of life, isn't it!

What are your favorites for the week before payday? We sometimes have beansprout rice around then.

←

bean sprouts are a lifesaver aren't they?!

The week before payday sees me pulling out the dried and canned foods... As we saw with last night's dinner with the fu (wheat gluten) and wakame (seaweed). I also tend to avoid dinners that us too much rice, so we tend to have non-rice meals more often as well. I would hate to run out of rice right before payday.

←

Pardon my ignorance...but is rice very expensive in Japan? Am just curious because of the statements above.

Great blog, again, Kris.

[lexy]

matcha kit kat!

whoa, that's kind of uncanny, I was really just fantasizing I bet they're good, I wonder if they're sold outside of Japan

[Wendy DeBord]

Thank-you so much Kris for indulging me. Your life seems so different and then you show that cute photo of your son on the slide and your life seems so much more similar to mine. All aspects of your life fascinate me........ I've never even been across a ocean, so I'm very nieve.

Your refridgerators' insides look alot like mine. I'm not certain why, but I was expecting it to be loaded with vegetables and nothing I'd recognize.

When you mention getting paid once a month and having to budget out your spending....over all, do you consider your grocery costs to be a large drain on your income or is it minor?.....comparing it to an American way of life. I guess I'm asking if food is very expensive?

I so envy your access to good seafood. I can't get fresh fish in stores near me and bad seafood is still more expensive then beef, pork and chicken. Do you eat shellfish like lobster, crab and shrimp on any regular basis? If so hows the price on those seafood items compared to fish?

Thank-you so much for teaching me.

P.S. I have too many questions, sorry.

[johnnyd]

The majority of Japanese get paid once a month (on the 25th of the month)

When I started sea urchin diving here in the Gulf of Maine there was always pressure to collect as many urchins as possible in the week prior to the 25th of each month. The prices paid to divers for their catch was always a bit higher at this time and when the weather was too bad to go diving everybody was really stressed out.

I knew 95% of our daily harvest was flown directly to Japan within 24hrs. I was told by a Japanese buyer that everyone(sic) in Japan was paid on the 25th of each month so the sushi bars had to have a lot of expensive uni on hand for people to buy after they got their paychecks.

Two weeks later, the market prices were usually low as japanese people were stretching what was left of their monthly paycheck. I never knew if the buyer was telling the truth, because others I had asked hadn't heard anything like it, but today I can finally lay this question to rest. Thanks!

[jhlurie]

Week before payday...that's a Japanese way of life, isn't it!

What are your favorites for the week before payday? We sometimes have beansprout rice around then.

←

bean sprouts are a lifesaver aren't they?!

The week before payday sees me pulling out the dried and canned foods... As we saw with last night's dinner with the fu (wheat gluten) and wakame (seaweed). I also tend to avoid dinners that us too much rice, so we tend to have non-rice meals more often as well. I would hate to run out of rice right before payday.

←

Pardon my ignorance...but is rice very expensive in Japan? Am just curious because of the statements above.

Great blog, again, Kris.

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I'm not sure if the laws have changed, but for many years Japan was somewhat infamous, trade-wise, for levying huge tariffs on foreign rice.

EDIT - Actually... yup. Still an issue... 407% is the current figure.

Edited April 6, 2005 by jhlurie (log)

[Behemoth]

I'm really curious...in terms of setting up a household budget. How far along is online banking in Japan? In Europe it is really far ahead of the States (you can transfer to other people's accounts for free, for example) though here we finally seem to be catching up. The reason I ask is that I have found tht online banking a great way to manage things -- you get pay deposited and rent, utilities etc paid out of the main savings account, and then set up a second account into which you can transfer 1/4 of your monthly food & misc budget each week. It's a practical way to keep track. The other option is of course managing it all through credit cards, though credit doesn't seem to be as widely used in Europe as here, and I am assuming it is not as popular in Japan either. Sorry, former banking nerd here. Then again, maybe it is messing with tradition to remove the stress before the 25th of the month

[Papaya]

I also had some beets that I had roasted last week, thanks to all of the advice I received here at eGullet.   I always have some kind of citrus in the house so I decide to make a salad with oranges and parsley (from the garden), I dressed it with EVOO, some of the orange juice, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper.

We had the same salad for dinner yesterday too (with the addition of some sliced fennel) - it's one of my family's favorites. How about that!

[Chufi]

What a fascinating blog Kristin. Though your life has some similarities to mine (I also get paid once a month and I don't have a dryer, and believe me, it rains a lot in Holland) your meals look totally different from mine!

I have a slightly romanticized view of Japan, mostly based on seeing too many Ozu movies, so I'm glad to be able to see some of your daily life!

[Ling]

Japanese food, cute kids, AND Pocky....this is turning out to be one of my favourite blogs. My favourite Pocky flavour is "Milk".

[torakris]

Pardon my ignorance...but is rice very expensive in Japan?  Am just curious because of the statements above.

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Yes it is.

A 10kg bag (25lbs) averages $35 to $50 and a "brand name" can be twice that.

My family uses about 15 kg a month so it can get expensive. Last year because of bad weather the prices shot up so that the cheapest (and not good) rice was over $40 per 10kg so I cut back our rice based meals to only 3 or 4 times a week.

We are back up to about 5 times a week now. If you remember the picture I took of my rice stash on the previous page all of that (except the Japanese) was bought in the US and brought back in my suitcase.....

[mizducky]

If you remember the picture I took of my rice stash on the previous page all of that (except the Japanese) was bought in the US and brought back in my suitcase.....

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Yikes! Is there a risk of having the rice confiscated as you come in through customs, because of the tarriff thing or some other regulation?

I've gotten the impression that foodstuffs are just more expensive in Japan all across the board. Erm, not wanting to pry into your personal finances or anything ... maybe you could say something about what percentage of the average Japanese person's/household's income goes to pay for food.

[torakris]

When you mention getting paid once a month and having to budget out your spending....over all, do you consider your grocery costs to be a large drain on your income or is it minor?.....comparing it to an American way of life. I guess I'm asking if food is very expensive?

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food is expensive. If you look at this chart is shows that food is the biggest expenditure in Japanese households.

I am very good with my food bill and spend about $400 a month for my family of 5, the average spending is more than twice that. We get hurt in housing, most Japanese salaried workers get an allowance for housing, it depends on the company but it can be as high as 75%. my husabnd and I started our own construction company 3 years ago after his father's (that had been started by HIS father) construction company went bankrupt. We get no money for housing..... it comes entirely out of our pockets.

In general food is more expensive in Japan, last summer on my trip back to the US I was trying to figure out what was cheaper in Japan and all I came up with was chicken breasts....at the cheapest I can buy them here (and I only buy at this price) is about $1.40 a pound.

[torakris]

If you remember the picture I took of my rice stash on the previous page all of that (except the Japanese) was bought in the US and brought back in my suitcase.....

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Yikes! Is there a risk of having the rice confiscated as you come in through customs, because of the tarriff thing or some other regulation?

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I have never been caught and I have never asked... About 30% of my bags on return trips to the US are food...

[torakris]

I so envy your access to good seafood. I can't get fresh fish in stores near me and bad seafood is still more expensive then beef, pork and chicken. Do you eat shellfish like lobster, crab and shrimp on any regular basis? If so hows the price on those seafood items compared to fish?

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Compared to chicken and pork, fish and seafood can be quite expensive here. But compared to the fish and seafood prices and quality in Cleveland they are quite good here.

Seafood we don't eat too much of, it is quite expensive and my kids really love crab and shrimp, shrimp often sell for $1 a piece....

Prices vary on time of year basically if you buy what is in season you will get the best prices. I shop sales, buy a lot and freeze. Meat prices have been high for a couple months now so we have been eating a lot of fish recently. We had fish two nights ago, no meat last night and fish will be on the menu again tonight...

[torakris]

The majority of Japanese get paid once a month (on the 25th of the month)

When I started sea urchin diving here in the Gulf of Maine there was always pressure to collect as many urchins as possible in the week prior to the 25th of each month.

I knew 95% of our daily harvest was flown directly to Japan within 24hrs. I was told by a Japanese buyer that everyone(sic) in Japan was paid on the 25th of each month so the sushi bars had to have a lot of expensive uni on hand for people to buy after they got their paychecks.

←

This country revovles around the 25th, do not try to enter a bank on the 26th! the lines will stretch down the street. Restaurants will always be full the weekends immediately following payday and so will the stores. Being on a different pay schedule is nice in that way. I avoid the crowded banks and we still have money at the time of the month most Japanese don't The downside is all of the bills are due between the 26th and the beginning of the next month and that hits us when we are at our weakest....

[torakris]

I'm really curious...in terms of setting up a household budget. How far along is online banking in Japan? In Europe it is really far ahead of the States (you can transfer to other people's accounts for free, for example) though here we finally seem to be catching up. The reason I ask is that I have found tht online banking a great way to manage things -- you get pay deposited and rent, utilities etc paid out of the main savings account, and then set up a second account into which you can transfer 1/4 of your monthly food & misc budget each week. It's a practical way to keep track. The other option is of course managing it all through credit cards, though credit doesn't seem to be as widely used in Europe as here, and I am assuming it is not as popular in Japan either. Sorry, former banking nerd here. Then again, maybe it is messing with tradition to remove the stress before the 25th of the month

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Online banking, as in using your computer to do the banking, is still fairly new here but direct deposti (of paychecks etc) and direct withdrawls( of bills) etc have been here as long as I have (10+ years). I am unsure of when they started though. I really have no need to go to the bank at all. Our paycheck is deposited and all of our bills like the rent, utilities, credit cards, even preschool and school payments are automatically withdrawn every month. There are no checks in this country, so everything is paid through a direct banking of sorts. If you don't want to do the automatic withdrawl, you can take the cash of use your bank book and transfer the money to your credit card company's/ phone company's/etc account, this can be done at the ATMs as well.

Japanese still don't use credit cards as much as people in other countries. Here bills are paid in full every month, there is no minimum balance payment. If you are buying something that you don't think you will be able to pay for all in one month, you tell the store how many months you want the bill to split into. When I bought my new tv I asked the store to charge me three times and I paid a third of it for te next three months. Almost anytime you hand a credit credit card to a sales clerk they will almost automatically ask you how many times do you want to pay.

[torakris]

while answering all of the above question I was also eating breakfast.

today was leftover baguette spread with nutella

and my iced coffee

[Priscilla]

Really beautiful children, Kristin. And a fascinating blog!

If you don't mind, a bit more about rice -- the rice you buy in Japan, is it Japanese-grown? Is there a price difference between Japanese and non-Japanese-grown rice of the same variety?

When you buy rice in the U.S. to bring back, do you have a favorite brand?