Monday, August 27, 2012

Meal In Hokkaido And One Proverb

Food always looks perfect in Japan, like tiny works of art placed on various dishes. Food is an important and constant topic of daily conversation. There are several food-related proverbs as well.

武士はくわねど高楊枝 bushi wa kuwanedo taka youji - the samurai holds his toothpick high even without having eaten.
武士 bushi means samurai, and 楊枝 youji means toothpick. 高 taka is high.
Of course, it can mean to consider every meal a feast, even a modest one. And also, to behave with dignity and honour when things tend to get you down.
































Pickles are called otsukemono 漬物 and accompany quite every meal.




Sashimi means ad litteram "pierced body" - it is very fresh meat or fish cut into thin slices. It is served with perilla leaf, called shiso. And wasabi paste - Japanese horseradish with very strong taste.














4 comments:

  1. Yummy!!!! I like sashimi! It's so fresh and soft. I always eat it with shoyu.

    The last photo shows konnyaku (konjac) or am I wrong? I usually eat this in nishime, a vegetable stew.

    My favorite dish in Japanese cuisine is Sukiyaki... (* _ *)~

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  2. Li-chan, the shoyu bowl is called murachoko, you knew it? O-choko is plate, and murasaki is a type of soy sauce. I have learnt about it recently. You probably know it since long. Sashimi is often eaten with daikon, too.

    I like nabe. :-)

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    Replies
    1. What is nabe? (O . o) I never heard about this dish.

      Nobody told me about murachoko! ^^ It's really interesting to know about these things. I like japanese culture, I keep these traditional Japanese customs (eat with ohashi and tchawan, yummy shiragohan (* - *)~) ... ^^

      Oh, I don't like daikon. Curiously, I like yellow pickled raddish (danmuji). (^ _ ^) It's so stinky, no?

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  3. Nabe is the hot pot. Later on, I will surely present it in some post.

    Murachoko is a less known word, that was the reason to mention it.

    Danmuji is served as a side dish in Korean Chinese cuisine. It is the sweet radish pickled and even written 단무지 in Korean alphabet, read danmuji - pickled radish. The Japanese one is made from daikon radish, and called 沢庵 takuan, pickles.

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