Do you know Nasi Goreng?

Nasi Goreng

Hi, today I'll introduce Nasi Goreng.
Do you know it? Have you ever heard it?

Nasi Goreng is a popular dish in Indonesia.　Nasi means rice and　goreng means fried in Indonesia. Indonesian put nashi goreng with egg fried sunny-side up or raw tomatoes and cucumbers.
Last week, I was given it by a member of the volunteer club I belong to. He went to Bali and bought them for our members. 
I have eaten it for the first time, but I feel it's very tasty. I also suppose the taste is suitable for Japanese.
If you have a chance to eat it, Please try to eat it!

Nagoya Food (Nagoyameshi) Part 1

Popular Food in Nagoya

I want to introduce Nagoya food (Nagoyameshi). My grandparents' house is in Gifu and Nagoya is a connected station to Gifu. So, I have got off at Nagoya Station many times since I was a child and I have bought souvenirs there. Therefore, I ate many kinds of Nagoyameshi and I knew almost of it. I suupose that Gifu doesn't have much less delicious food than Nagoya. Maybe, my grandparents will be angry if they knew what I said.

Nagoya has an unique food culture and Nagoyameshi often fascinate many people. The feature is a strong taste. Especially, people in Nagoya prefer to use miso. The miso is sweetish and the color is dark brown. They use it with oden and katu.

Today, I will introduce Sugakiya Ramen. Sugakiya Ramen is a very popular instant Ramen in Tokai area. The taste is Wafu Tonkotsu and is different from nomal Tonkotsu. The price is 290 yen. It's cheap. I feel that Sugakiya Ramen is tasty though it is instant Ramen. I had never thought that instant Ramen was delicious before, but Sugakiya Ramen changed my thought. In my opinion, Sugakiya Ramen is most tasty in all instant Ramens I have eaten so far. If you have a chance to go to Nagoya, try to eat it! I'm sure you like it.

Food for All and Second Harvest Japan

What are some of features that groups have in common? How do they differ in ?

Both of them supply poor people like homeless with many foods which can be eaten, but became waste.
Food for All is a philosophy of community and mainly collects money from charity shop. While, Second Harvest Japan cooperate with many food companies and gather foods from them.

What are the main activities or events of them?

Food for All: The group make poor people like homeless study new skills and help them make informed choices and discover their solutions themselves. They make them have self confidence and responsibility by involving with procedures and volunteers.

2HJ: The group has four volunteer activities mainly; supplying homeless with foods at Ueno Park every Saturday, delivering foods directly for people or families who can not eat enough food, collecting foods from food companies, supermarkets and farmers and telling many people in their lectures.

From what you saw on their websites, what surprised or interested you the most?

 The most surprising thing for me is that the number of the poor is aaout two hundred million although Japan is one of developed countries. Also, I was surprised the amount of waste food is as much as the amount of producing rice.

How would you be able to offer help to either organization -- as a volunteer or supporter?

I think we can donate money or our time in Second Harvest Japan. I suppose that it is difficult to donate food from our houses because we usually use all foods we bought. Therefore, we can contribute some money within our salary of part-time jobs as possible. Also, we can cook and distribute  foods as volunteers with using our time.

Which groups seems to be more active? Why do you think so?

I suppose Second Harvest Japan is more active than Food for All because the former connect with many food companies directly and can prevent wasting food faster than the latter. Also, because of this, the freshness of food can be kept more.

Food Culture Quiz in Christine Science Monitor

How many scores did you get?

Today, I took a food culture quiz in Christine Science Monitor. I'll tell you my score.

 

 

 

 

My score was 76 and it was higher than the average users' score. But, I feel that the quiz was difficult for me and it can't be said that I am not a real foodie yet. After I took this quiz, I decide to deepen my knowledge related food more.

 

 

 

I'll tell you the problem that I made a mistake.

 

 

To begin with, I mistook the question " What is foie gras?" I didn't know foie gras. Foie gras is a French dish and it is a paste of foie gras. Also, it is used duck liver. From the beginning, I thought the dish is French because the spell is not English. After I searched the word, I knew it and Japanese call it フォアグラ. The food is very expensive and I have eaten it only once.

 

 

Next, I mistook the question about the salad fork. First, I thought salad fork is a serving fork. But, my thought was wrong. Salad fork is smaller than the other fork and it is located in the furthest from the dish. we, Japanese usually use chopstick and we don't use some types of fork even if we eat dishes with using fork. It comes from the differences of each cultures.

 

Finally, I want to introduce the quiz I was most surprided. The quiz is about how to clean a cast iron skillet. I thought that the answer is the way soak in water and soap it. But, it was wrong. The answer is " Rinse with hot water and use a little salt." I was surprised because I have been soaking in water and soaping it. According to the explanation, soaping accelerate to cover with rust. I will clean a cast iron skillet in this way.

 

 

I thought that the merit of this quiz is related to food of all types. For eaxample, there are how to clean a cast iron skillet, some French dishes, spice, the type of food and so on. I will get new information about food if you take this quiz.

 

Who will be a foodie? I hope someone will get high score.



Today's Breakfast

Green Curry and Rice

Today, I ate green curry and rice in breakfast. The name of the can is "Chicken and Thai Curry of Inaba"
The can of curry is very famous. Besides, it's cheap and maybe I bought 90 yen.

I ate the curry with fish sause, "num pla". Num pla is a popular seasoning in Southeast Asia. It has strong  and unique smell. Maybe, some favores it, but others don't.  I felt that Adding num pla made the taste  of green curry mild.

Green curry was tastey for me. But, it was hot. Today, I ate it with Japanese Rice (Japonica). But, I want to eat with Indica if I have a chance to buy it. People eat green curry with Indica in authentic flavors.

The green curry, "Chicken and Thai Curry of Inaba" is sold in many supermarkets and please try to eat it.

Book Review Part 7

The Problem of Importing Rice

Rice Millers Association (RMA) react against the situation Japanese government close their market. Japanese government has a duty they have to protect Japanese rice and they resist the pressure of RMA. But, most remarkable thing is that Japanese consumers oppose the import of rice. Most of the opponent are women and elderly people, while young people insist that Japan should import rice with restrictions. Japanese consumers maintain that they would continue buying Japanese rice because the quality is better than imported rice and America would not very profit if Japan imported rice from America. They also assure that the cheap and imported rice would be used in restaurant.

However, various grocery are imported from America. For example, Japan imported fish and shellfish 35.9%, grain 14.6%, meet 14.8%, fruits and vegetables 12.7% in 1988. America exported 40 % of whole farm products and the total export of all items was supplied toward Japan. Like this, Japan depends on importing  of the majority of food, so consumers do not oppose it. It is true that Japan is the major export counterpart for America. 

Needless to say, the rice importation issue is concerned with political aspects. Because their votes depend on the huge impact rural farmers have. Thus, politicians　respond to their requests and they get many votes from them and they win the election. The reason why farmers have big influence with elections is that their vote collect in each unions, but urban vote is independent on each. 

Book Review Part 6

Consumers' View toward Rice and its Agriculture

The price of Japanese rice is several times as American one. Obviously, Japanese government subsidize rice farming and the subsidy obstructs the demand and supply of the market economy. However, expensive and brand rices like Koshihikari and Sasanishik are not controlled by the government and the consumers buy them independently. The consumption of rice is apt to be influenced by  the number of family members, ages, their lifestyles and so forth.

World War 2, the consumption of rice per person is 150 kilo in a year, but it became 72 kilo in 1987. Japanese families of three or four spend 1200 yen for rice in a month and the sum of rice is far less than other money for food. Especially, middle or high classes family tend to do. According to the survey in 1989, the expenditure of rice was about 2 percent in total, while it was 27 percent in Taisho Period. 

Also, the amount of eating rice in Japan has been decreasing. So, the cost of rice is not expensive. Therefore, they can buy expensive one like Koshihikari.