I spoke with Bahiyyih and the gang again this morning (which was their evening), and her instructions were that I was to bring back “adventures”. I have to admit to being a little bit intimidated with such an assignment when I only have a single free day to fit it in. So I’ll have to settle for little adventures for the moment. Suffice to say, choosing food based solely on a small photograph on a menu is a good recipe for small adventures, as I learned today at lunch. Fermented soybeans. ‘Nuf linked. At least it was only my appetizer.
Tune in next time when I choose a Bullet Train ticket based solely on photos of the destination.
P.S. You can try this at home.
EEEWWW! Natto! EEWWW! That stuff is SO disgusting! Wait a second.. you like drinking orango juice with nutritional yeast in it, raw oatmeal with grape juice concentrate and maybe throw in a little tahini. And okra! What about slimy okra! Surely you can’t be so grossed out by natto. So innocuous, a whole nation eats it for breakfast. (I’m exaggerating here.) And often with a raw egg mixed in for good measure. (I’m not exaggerating here. As if it weren’t slimy enough, people!) OK, OK, I’ll stop harrassing you and Japanese food. I’m so proud of you for ordering it (adventurously!). You’ve provided me with a great deal of amusement and reminded me of good times I’ve had making fun of natto in the past. Hee hee hee. Ganbatte! (Go for it! Keep it up! Try really hard!)
Wow, did I really refer to natto as an appetizer? Today at lunch, our guide, a Dutchman living near Yokohama, introduced our table to “Okra, something they eat here; it’s a little sticky.” Somehow, its preparation had really brought out the sliminess. A different aesthetic at times, the food here.