Job Discussion Forums

Shonai Ben · Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Posts: 617

I have to say that the most disgusting food that I have ever eaten in Japan was natto,and next to that was mochi.How do people eat this stuff??
Yuck. Confused

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

I kinda like Mochi. There's a special dish in Tochigi prefecture called Shimotsukare. Ask you students about it. It's too disgusting for most Japanese people.

TokyoLiz · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1548 Location: Tokyo, Japan

You don't like mochi?! I'll eat what you won't.

One of my favorite dishes is zenzai, red beans, warm, with balls of mochi floating about in it. It's heaven on a cold day in winter.

Natto, well, the only way I'll eat it is as nigiri or maki zushi. Other wise, I just can't handle the texture.

There are much more repulsive foods in this world than mochi and natto. Cheese is one of the most horrible things I can think of to eat. It's fatty and some fungus got to it before you did. Bleh.

azarashi sushi · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Posts: 562 Location: Shinjuku

Yep ... Natto gets my vote !

Celeste · Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2003 5:51 am Post subject:

School lunch: hamburger day. Overcooked tofu burger on dry white bread. No sauce. No lettuce. No cheese. Hold the moisture. Choke it back with full fat lukewarm milk. MMMMMMM.

Very Happy

"Teacher, is it very delicious?"

Sad

"not really"

Very Happy

"Teacher,Gambatte! Tabette kudasai!"

Sad

Lucy Snow · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 218 Location: US

Anything involving tripe.

I lived in Ibaraki-ken (natto capital of Japan) and never could stand the stuff.

tjpnz2000 · Joined: 22 May 2003 Posts: 118 Location: Japan

If we are talking about food we have actually eatern, quale eggs in my soup, YUK! Followed closely by `agepan`, deep-fried bread, YUK.

Stuff I have heard of but not eatern, you can't go past horse sashimi, a speciality of Nagano.

Mind you my grandfather back in New Zealand used to eat brain, that is just as vile to me as anything the Japanese eat.

T

homersimpson · Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 569 Location: Kagoshima

Two words: School lunch. 'Nough said.

As Das Fads · Joined: 06 Mar 2003 Posts: 44

School lunch is great (well it is my city anyway). At least 3-4 different dishes plus rice/bread and milk and for the teachers, tea. A different meal everyday, sometimes Japanese, sometimes Japanised western food (i got four potato chips the other day as part of lunch).

HOwever i don't like ?sp shishamon. The deep-fried whole fish with the eggs inside. Bleuch.

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

In one of my classes (consisting of five 6-year old boys) one of the questions I ask them in the "meet & greet" or "introductions" section of the class is: "What's your favorite drink?"

Well, it seems that my students have fallen in love with the word "juice" and since they've already learned about apple juice and orange juice, would sit there and compare who could come up with the weirdest juice... So I got everything from "alligator juice" to "octopus juice" or "onion juice." Heck, I even got "Gogo juice" (for you veteran teachers you know what I'm talking about... For those who don't, Gogo Loves English is one of the textbooks we use -- published by Longman I believe)...

Anyway, after the second day of this I figured I'd contribute to their little "juice" session and recommended that they all try NATTO JUICE! The resounding "ewwwwwww!" that ensued was priceless... Except now I'm sure that the mothers of these kids gotta think that this nutjob gaijin teacher that's teaching their precious youngsters eats and drinks all sorts of heathen abominations in his spare time....

Anyway, just thought I'd share something from the lighter side.... Smile

Cheers,

JD

run-jp

OK, i ll admit that natto isn so appetizing (but you DO refrigerate as you have to, desho? if not the bacteria "wakes up" like in blue cheese and triples the smell) theres also less odiferuous kuro-natto. what kills me is that Js refuse to market or eat natto anyway but
the way its been done for centuries ( just changed the box to polstyrene is all). What if you put it in a spicey vegeterian chili? it wouldnt smell or hardly taste then. Point is that Japan is importing its way into more joblessness by eating so much foreign beef and fish Sad

Natto is 17% protein, the same as beef, gram for gram, without the fat. it is super cheap and ecological (you Westerners still remember what ecology is..?) If you cant make chili or stew, put some tabasco on it and the mustard that comes with it. after a while you will lose your squeemishness and can likely eat it plain too (if it is cold of course). you get the added plus of feeling quite the Edo dude (dudette)and can accuse students of being not real Japanese. Of course I joked when I was saying they weren't real Js. ...but there is more and more truth to that. Think how many students cannot speak Japanese politely,talk of their own history (even in Japanese), wrie kanji, etc. getting to be that the essence of some Js is " NOT being western or truly Asian"

also, allowing kids to complain alot about food is inviting them to become chronic complainers. Natto is smelly. i hate green peppers. My mom trims the crust off my bread. Ehhw green peas! this a suki-kirai mentality" this whimpiness explains how a guy with a gut (myself) could rack up a bagof distance running medals every year against subsidized SDF runners.

do a little study, if you teach kids. count how many foods a small group of good students dislike. do the same with a group of poor or lazy students. the results are obvious. the poor students will hate many more foods. It reminds of one kids group that said that hated singing, but when i started doing some comic mimes while leading the songs they forgot they hated it and could remeber songs we hadnt done in a couple months.

Sorry for getting of base of natto talk, but I found in my years in japan, that if you allow students to criticise food, culture, koreans, natto or whatever you reinforce the J tendency of avoiding problems ....just as if you never ask a kid who is always late ,"WhY?", he ll never bo on time

Personally Id rather be libeled and shunned as one of "the cult of the smelly protein bean" than the "Cult of Perpetual Dislikes & Excuses"

lastly, i read a very entertaining comment from a Czech who was studying at Hokkudai in Xene magazine. When he was, inevitably, asked what J-foods he couldnt eat he always replied "Mayonnaise, you guys smother food with it" I agree plus always wonder what preservative chemicals allow it to sit on eatery tables w/o refrigeration. so i find this a great answer that makes people think bout what food they REALLY do eat. sore ja.,
Tom

Lynden · Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Posts: 24 Location: Alberta, Canada

Horse sashimi tastes a little like gingerbread. Not bad at all. I never tried the grasshopper fried in brown sugar but it would probably get my vote for most digusting food.

Guest · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2003 6:15 pm Post subject:

My students managed to talk me into eating bees. It was my own fault. As a fish eating vegetarian I just didn't know which side of the fence I fell on with regard to small things that crawl and/or fly. The bees were ordered in those vital seconds of hesitation. Not exactly oishiiiiiii, but not the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted. That would have to be natto.

Lynn · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 696 Location: in between

Sherri · Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2003 6:06 am Post subject:

As far as Japanese food goes, I am not fond of the slimy yama imo (mountain potato). I also don't actively seek out opportunities to eat kani miso (crab brain) or sazai (looks like a big snail).

As for western food, I can't stand salad cream (a fav in the UK) and I cannot understand why anyone would choose to eat margarine--yuck!--when you could have butter.