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| One of things I enjoyed most
about Japan was the food.
I love seafood, and in Japan, I was able to get plenty of it. |
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McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, even a Dunkin' Donuts could be found in Tokyo...but the menus offered items unique to Japan like Tofu & Sweet Potato donuts!! |
| I never thought that I would ever see a $10 apple...but here it is!! One apple for 1000 yen the rough equivalent of $10. These were for sale in an upscale, hotel grocery in Tokyo. |  |
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Also on the pricey side were these
beautiful strawberries for 1500 yen the rough equivalent of $15 for a pint!!! |
Others foods required an adventurous spirit...
| This is the dessert sculpture that greeted the FMFers at our "welcome" banquet in Tokyo...truly a work of art! |  |
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As you can see, seafood is at the heart
of Japanese cuisine. All meals are prepared to be a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. |
| This is the meal that welcomed us to Shikoku Island...we stopped in Matsuyama at an Indigo factory and this is a picture of the lunch I had there. Fried prawn at the top, raw fish at the bottom, the swirled pastry is a sponge-cake with sweet red bean paste, the bowl in the upper left is fish, the bowl under it is raw sea bream. |  |
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These are noodle dishes. Soba, made from buckwheat flour, can be eaten hot (kake-soba) or cold (zaru-soba). Udon, made from wheat, is thick and served hot. |
| These are more noodle dishes...and although they look real, they are actually made of plastic. Many restaurants had these plastic replicas to aid in the foreign language ordering process...just point to what you'd like to order. |  |
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This was my breakfast at the
ryokan (Japanese inn). A personal habachi to grill my fish fillet on the left, miso soup at the lower right, pickles in the purple bowl on the right of the tray, ginger and gingko nuts in the center bowl, and fish balls on the left. Breakfast of champions!! |
| This was the spread the ryokan prepared
for us
at supper. The larger pot on the left is actually a kettle for me to cook my shabu-shabu. The meat at the top center is placed in the kettle and boiled at the table to form a sort of soup. The boat at the right hold many types of raw fish including tuna, tai (sea bream), ika (squid), and unagi (eel). |
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This obento (boxed lunch) type lunch
was provided to us at our visit to the Nihon Shokken meat processing factory that we visited in Imabari City. Quite a spread with shrimp (ebi), crab, roast beef, chicken, rice, and vegetables. |
| This is the lunch that I enjoyed with my
host family on
our last day together. This kaiseki style meal is based on the season of autumn...notice how all of the food is shaped like or garnished with maple leaves. This meal was so beautiful, I had to take a picture of it. |
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Last, but certainly not least, it tai
or sea bream. This is a favorite in and around Imabari City. Due to the fast current in the Seto Inland Sea, the tai exert so much energy swimming that there is very little fat in the fish. Raw, steamed, broiled, or baked...tai is a mild, delicate tasting fish. |
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