Slaughtering Japanse Meals

[StangGuy]

Originally Posted by MMM

In Osaka they use the mini metal spatula to eat okonomiyaki, but I hear they don't do that in Hiroshima.

Most places in Hiroshima have the spatula but I would say at most half the people use it. And even the amount it's used varies, some people only cut their okonomi with it while others use it as a sort of spoon. And even when I use it to cut the okonomi I have problems. I don't have any problem cutting Kansai style okonomi, but cutting the much superior Hiroshima style gives me fits.

Originally Posted by Tenchu

... I think it is funny when my wife drops food on the floor and then eats it anyway...

My wife just shakes her head when I do that.

[Nyororin]

In Nagoya, they give you the little spatula too - but I don`t think I`ve ever seen anyone use it to eat with. You just cut the okonomiyaki into so many pieces and use the spatula thing to move a chunk of it to a smaller plate where you cut it up into bite sized bits with your chopsticks.

I don`t think I`ve ever butchered anything. My worst Japanese food experience has to have been finding out that I was allergic to ginger... A few hours after eating a big chunk of it.

A few weeks ago, there was some sort of financial documentary on talking about companies in the US... We were only vaguely watching it, but at some point they had a meeting in a sushi place - and EVERY SINGLE person there sat their sushi in little dishes full of soy sauce until the rice was almost black.

My husband nearly choked to death just thinking about it. His words were literally "I`d always thought that was just an urban legend."

[cridgit001]

"Urban legend", that made me laugh, my friends claim I put to much ketchup on my burgers, I eat it all so I don't see what the problem is.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

In Nagoya, they give you the little spatula too - but I don`t think I`ve ever seen anyone use it to eat with. You just cut the okonomiyaki into so many pieces and use the spatula thing to move a chunk of it to a smaller plate where you cut it up into bite sized bits with your chopsticks.

I don`t think I`ve ever butchered anything. My worst Japanese food experience has to have been finding out that I was allergic to ginger... A few hours after eating a big chunk of it.

A few weeks ago, there was some sort of financial documentary on talking about companies in the US... We were only vaguely watching it, but at some point they had a meeting in a sushi place - and EVERY SINGLE person there sat their sushi in little dishes full of soy sauce until the rice was almost black.

My husband nearly choked to death just thinking about it. His words were literally "I`d always thought that was just an urban legend."

There is a place I go to when I am in Osaka where they give you the stuff and you cook your own okonomiyaki (near JR Umeda) and they give you chopsticks, but most people seem to use the mini spatula (I don't know the name in Japanese).

For some reason "plain rice" is a problem for some people. Where my friend works, sometimes people pour the extra salad dressing on the rice. Of course. others pour soy sauce on the rice. Japanese food tends to have more subtle flavors...so maybe that is why...

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by MMM

For some reason "plain rice" is a problem for some people. Where my friend works, sometimes people pour the extra salad dressing on the rice. Of course. others pour soy sauce on the rice. Japanese food tends to have more subtle flavors...so maybe that is why...

I definitely agree about the more subtle flavors. Having lived here for so long, I find that most American foods are appallingly over seasoned - if that`s even a good way to term it. Most of the time it seems like everything has been soaked in salt and whatever else. Sweet things are also incredibly sickeningly sweet.
Japanese food seems to be more about actually enjoying the flavor of the ingredients - with condiments to enhance only.

It takes us months to go through a bottle of soy sauce.

That reminds me - a friend recently came to Japan for a few months and mistakenly bought oyster sauce instead of soy sauce... Poured it directly on to the rice to eat it - and apparently enjoyed it.

[Aniki]

Originally Posted by MMM

For some reason "plain rice" is a problem for some people. Where my friend works, sometimes people pour the extra salad dressing on the rice. Of course. others pour soy sauce on the rice. Japanese food tends to have more subtle flavors...so maybe that is why...

I thought, in Japan, it's considered very inappropriate to pour soy sauce on rice?

[MissMisa]

Originally Posted by MMM

I have a friend from Japan who is a sushi chef here in the US. She has some great stories of how some (a small %) of customers have a unique way of eating.

One couple who come often to the sushi bar use nearly an entire bottle of soy sauce every time the come. They fill their soy sauce bowls to the brim, grab a piece of sushi, place it in the dish, chat for a few moments while the rice soaks up the soy sauce and then eat.

I have some more stories. Does anyone else have any?

To be honest that sounds awful D: It's obviously not meant for that type of thing D: It's quite a strong flavour as it is, I can't believe they would fill it to the top?! That's weird to me as it is... I can't imagine how strange it would be for a Japanese person to witness that! [Can't be amazingly healthy either to have all that in there.]

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by Aniki

I thought, in Japan, it's considered very inappropriate to pour soy sauce on rice?

It is. We`re talking about the weird ways that some people (not Japanese) choose to eat Japanese food.

That`s why the strange popularity of pouring soy sauce directly on rice outside of Japan is of interest.

[nobora]

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Is that much soysauce bad for you?

[Salvanas]

I love sushi, and although I can eat it without soy sauce, I always prefer a small amount. But I love spiciness, so I put quite some amount of wasabi into the bowl, with a smaller amount of soy sauce.

The worst was when I took my friend to a Japanese store, and he repeatedly kept stabbing his chopsticks into his bowl of rice. I almost flipped after the third time, so I told him not to do it, and how to place the chopsticks properly when not eating.