A Saturday Well-Spent
Nov. 15th, 2009 12:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddMy brain, she is not working so well today. Wasn't yesterday either, apparently, because I checked the wrong train schedule for today, and though K and I didn't end up being late to the English Fun Fair, I made us run through Shibuya Station just in case. K didn't really mind, because she's been hopped up on Contact cold medication all week. The other day at work:
K: Omg, why didn't I start taking this stuff sooner?! :D
Me: --__-- What?
K: It's got something like 70mg of caffeine in every dose! :D
Me: *yawn* ... isn't that the equivalent of a can of Redbull?
K: I don't know, but I haven't felt this genki in ages! :D
Me: ... it can be nap time now? ---__---;;
I went to Chukagai (Chinatown) in Yokohama this afternoon, and felt slightly ridiculous for having to supress waves of homesickness (seriously, I was feeling nostalgic about the little cups of lychee jelly, exactly the same brand I used to buy back in Ottawa!). It's not my native culture, of course -- though I was married into it for a time -- but my life back in Canada did include lots of Chinese (and Vietnamese) food at home and when going out, and shopping in Chinese stores. When I was back home in August, I had that same feeling the evening before the wedding, when the happy couple treated the wedding party to a nice meal of evening dim sum, and the wedding banquet itself was the requisite 10-course Chinese feast, and quite a good one at that; to me, Chinese food means good friends and fun times, which is why I want to cook it myself, so I can feed people.
To that end, I returned poorer in money but richer in other goods. My haul:
- A shiny new wok! Not a cast iron one like the one I used to have, but it was a bit too heavy anyway. This one is quite light, and has a wooden handle for easier... handling;
- A bamboo steamer;
- Bok choi and kai lan! ^o^ I didn't find any pea shoots, but I spied them on a couple of menus, so they have to be sold somewhere, right?
- Sichuan peppercorns! Or at least, that's what I believe they are. I asked the guy to make sure, because they seem to go by a different name here, so here's hoping;
- Mapo tofu mix, in case the Sichuan peppercorns turn out to not be what I think they are;
- Oyster sauce;
- Soy sauce, both dark and light;
- Fish balls! Well, some sort of sea-food balls, for hotpot;
- Sichuan hotpot mix, which helpfully suggests adding "battered garlic" to make it more delicious -- oh Chinglish, I love you;
- Tea, jasmine and pu-er, both cheap! :D
Now I need fermented black bean paste, chili sauce, chili powder, rice vinegar, cooking-quality (i.e. undrinkable) rice wine, a mortar and pestle to grind up the Sichuan pepper, and also lots of other things I didn't have the strength to carry home with me, but which I know I can find in Kichijouji. Also... a rice cooker might be useful, what say you? XD
I got to speak a bit in Mandarin (it ended up being this weird mix of Mandarin and Japanese, as the cashier and I kept switching back and forth, not quite knowing which was easiest XD) at one store, and found that my memory of Yokohama Chukagai wasn't quite accurate. Or maybe it would be fairer to say that when I went 3 years ago, I'd just arrived in Japan, so Canadian Chinatowns were still fresh in my mind, and that one seemed most un-Chinesely neat. Now that I've been here for such a long time, anything less than super-organised is refreshing. Also, I spent more time wandering around the back alleys and did find a couple of those tiny, cramped stores with boxes piled up any which way, where the air is redolent with the smell of fish and spices. *cue most likely super-cheesy Mando- or Canto-pop ballad sung by male vocalist, because those ALSO always make me feel nostalgic for some reason*
Heh, looks like the fluffy, perfect fried rice and fried shrimp rolls I had for lunch were even more filling than I thought -- I totally forgot to eat supper! D:
K: Omg, why didn't I start taking this stuff sooner?! :D
Me: --__-- What?
K: It's got something like 70mg of caffeine in every dose! :D
Me: *yawn* ... isn't that the equivalent of a can of Redbull?
K: I don't know, but I haven't felt this genki in ages! :D
Me: ... it can be nap time now? ---__---;;
I went to Chukagai (Chinatown) in Yokohama this afternoon, and felt slightly ridiculous for having to supress waves of homesickness (seriously, I was feeling nostalgic about the little cups of lychee jelly, exactly the same brand I used to buy back in Ottawa!). It's not my native culture, of course -- though I was married into it for a time -- but my life back in Canada did include lots of Chinese (and Vietnamese) food at home and when going out, and shopping in Chinese stores. When I was back home in August, I had that same feeling the evening before the wedding, when the happy couple treated the wedding party to a nice meal of evening dim sum, and the wedding banquet itself was the requisite 10-course Chinese feast, and quite a good one at that; to me, Chinese food means good friends and fun times, which is why I want to cook it myself, so I can feed people.
To that end, I returned poorer in money but richer in other goods. My haul:
- A shiny new wok! Not a cast iron one like the one I used to have, but it was a bit too heavy anyway. This one is quite light, and has a wooden handle for easier... handling;
- A bamboo steamer;
- Bok choi and kai lan! ^o^ I didn't find any pea shoots, but I spied them on a couple of menus, so they have to be sold somewhere, right?
- Sichuan peppercorns! Or at least, that's what I believe they are. I asked the guy to make sure, because they seem to go by a different name here, so here's hoping;
- Mapo tofu mix, in case the Sichuan peppercorns turn out to not be what I think they are;
- Oyster sauce;
- Soy sauce, both dark and light;
- Fish balls! Well, some sort of sea-food balls, for hotpot;
- Sichuan hotpot mix, which helpfully suggests adding "battered garlic" to make it more delicious -- oh Chinglish, I love you;
- Tea, jasmine and pu-er, both cheap! :D
Now I need fermented black bean paste, chili sauce, chili powder, rice vinegar, cooking-quality (i.e. undrinkable) rice wine, a mortar and pestle to grind up the Sichuan pepper, and also lots of other things I didn't have the strength to carry home with me, but which I know I can find in Kichijouji. Also... a rice cooker might be useful, what say you? XD
I got to speak a bit in Mandarin (it ended up being this weird mix of Mandarin and Japanese, as the cashier and I kept switching back and forth, not quite knowing which was easiest XD) at one store, and found that my memory of Yokohama Chukagai wasn't quite accurate. Or maybe it would be fairer to say that when I went 3 years ago, I'd just arrived in Japan, so Canadian Chinatowns were still fresh in my mind, and that one seemed most un-Chinesely neat. Now that I've been here for such a long time, anything less than super-organised is refreshing. Also, I spent more time wandering around the back alleys and did find a couple of those tiny, cramped stores with boxes piled up any which way, where the air is redolent with the smell of fish and spices. *cue most likely super-cheesy Mando- or Canto-pop ballad sung by male vocalist, because those ALSO always make me feel nostalgic for some reason*
Heh, looks like the fluffy, perfect fried rice and fried shrimp rolls I had for lunch were even more filling than I thought -- I totally forgot to eat supper! D:
