The Fun is In the Food

Part of the fun living in Japan is discovering all the great new foods.  Of course a staple for any good missionary is "Yellow Death".  This is Kraft (it has to be Kraft) Mac & Cheese with hot dogs.

Then there are the more simple dishes in Japan that are best found at the local 7-11 Convenience (Conviny) Store.  In this case we have a very simple soba (wheat noodle) soup with a port "nikomon", which is a steamed dumpling with pork in the center.  Really good!

Moving up the food chain we have "yakiniku" which is various cuts of meat, fish, chicken and vegetables that you grill for yourself at your table.  In many places this is offered as "tabihodi" which means something every mission loves to hear, "all you can eat"!

A more traditional dish that I learned to love when we first came to Japan in 1988 is "katsudon".  This is a fried port cutlet cooked with egg, onion and other vegetable and served over a bowl of rice.  In this case, I ordered the "set-o" which came with soup and diakon pickles.

Another staple here is curry.  In this case it was curry with rice and a fried pork cutlet.  The curry also contained strips of pork cooked with it.

 Another great treat is "okonomiyaki" which is hard to describe, but delicious.  It is a crepe (sort of) with cabbage and pork and egg and lots of other stuff, cooked right in front of you and eaten right off the grill.  See my earlier post for a better description.

It is not uncommon to come across unusual combinations of foods and flavors.  In this case it was popcorn ice cream.  When served, we discovered that it was indeed vanilla ice cream with caramel popcorn as a topping.  It made for an interesting combination that I might try again.

Of course there are opportunities to enjoy good ole American food like this 3/4 pound cheeseburger with fries and a shake.

A trip to the mountains and you can enjoy some freshly grilled chicken on a stick at the "Chicken Shack"! (Not its real Japanese name.)

Then there are special occasions like Thanksgiving where the Branch members put on a great traditional dinner.

Of course the most important part of any meal is quantity, because most missionaries are a bit insecure as to where their next good meal will come from.  Sort of like a camel storing up water in their hump.

In this case the Elder knew about the "secret" menu and he order the King Size beef and rice bowl (normally S/M/L).  He did us proud by licking the bowl clean.  It was a sight to behold.  (Pay no attention to the extra tie, that's another story.)

 Not to be outdone, the next night, I hit the Mongolian BBQ at the Iwakuni Base Club.  I will report that I did not come even close to finishing mine, and in fact ate on it for another 3 days.  But, it was good!

One of the best parts about eating in Japan is sharing a meal with the Elders and Sisters.  It is always good fun.  The Japanese sometimes don't know what to think about us, especially when we stuff 13 missionaries into a room made for 8.

They say that love makes the world go 'round, but I think it is food!