Weird Japanese, wait, Korean Snack #9

I had finished my lunch yesterday when I felt like having some potato chips. Specifically salt and vinegar. Well, the thought of getting up and taking the elevator down to the convenience store was daunting. Only one elevator was working so the possibility of getting stuck with someone I'd have to make work-related small talk with was uninviting. Then I remembered the Weird Japanese Snack larder right next to me. Jack pot! These, as you may or may not be able to tell are from Korea, Japan's closest rival in the off-the-wall snacks stakes. Kankuro looks on in anticipation......



These only cost 1,000 won. Wow, pretty cheap! Or really expensive. I have no idea how much a won is worth....


They listed mackerel powder as one of the ingredients. Last time I had a Korean snack things didn't turn out so well. Upon opening this bag, however, unlike last time, there was only a mild fishy smell. Not appalling but not appealing either. Kankuro is transfixed.


Screw it, I'm goin' in...


They came in these completely weird but, apparently, symbolic shapes. My best guess? Upper left: squid. Center top: fish. Upper right: whale. Lower left: Gary from Spongebob? Bottom center: starfish. Bottom right: that's either a puffer fish, lips, or a distorted fish shape from top center. The flavor? A slightly sweet coating, which seems to be real common with these, and a not unpleasant, slightly seafoody taste. I actually plowed through a goodly part of the bag. Nice one. This goes in the win column.......

A man and his blog.

On my trip to Florida in August, one of my fellow travelers was old high school buddy Craig. Below, you can see him as he studies the selection of deli meats at the Publix in Coral Ridge Mall. (See Craig, I'm respecting your anonymity....)


And another. Craig rented the van and was insistent that he drive it. That suited the rest of us as, well, after a visit to the beach bar Craig, (a comparatively light drinker) would have been the logical choice anyways. He actually likes driving. Me, um, no. One of the gang, Luther I think it was, wanted to rent a convertible. Firstly, six grown men aren't going to fit in a Chrysler Sebring. Secondly, Sebring's are dorky. And thirdly, even if we did fit and even if a Sebring in some alternate reality was cool, we'd still look like the stars of a commercial for men with prostate problems......


I know many, many funny people. Craig, when he's on, which is often, rockets to the top of the list. He's also extremely and entertainingly sanctimonious. One rule with Craig is, "Respect my meal times or there's gonna be trouble.." As a result, whenever possible, we completely disrespect his meal times.

He has gotten several letters to the Washington Post published over the last few years. To us, that pretty much makes him a published author. As a result of these successes, Craig began a blog self-reverently named "Makes Sense to Craig". You can see his cherubic face there. His latest entry on the well worn topic of the commercialization of Christmas is pretty darn funny. If you can't experience him live, this is the next best thing......

Craig was in the Navy for nigh on two decades. Amongst the many stories and characters he's told us about over the years, the lady of the evening in Naples, Italy known as "Humpty Dumpty" (She used to sit on a wall. Get it?) being a personal fave, there's a story involving the Sapporo beer garden in Tokyo, plumbing, clothing, and Mongolian hot pot that I would dearly love to recount. However, I don't want my blog pulled for inappropriate content. Here's to you Super!

Weird Japanese Snack #8

Alrighty, slightly better pictures as I brought me camera to work...... This one is kind of confusing. It looks like it's going to be, well, maybe like a milk ball. The stuff on the right is brown sugar apparently. Coffee locked and loaded in case this lends itself to that sort of combo.



You can see there is an inner honeycomb sort of structure, thus the milk ball suspicion.


See, they even have it again on the back. Apparently this is the big sell for this sweet.


Okay, first surprise, they're individually wrapped.


Well, it turns out they are hard candies, not unlike cough drops.


Dr. Terry described the taste as "molasses-like". That pretty much described it. Almost a hint of licorice. There was a center of some brown sugar. Not very imaginative, to be honest. The packaging promised something a little more kooky. Still, not bad if you're a hard candy fan. I'm not.

Ichiraku Ramen!

That was another nerdy Naruto reference. What's worse is I don't even think I have the name of the ramen shop right. Anyway....ramen is a great autumn food, obviously. I had some pork loin I had seared and roasted earlier in the week. The glaze was simply coarse ground French mustard and vinegar. Works a treat. Perfect. Anyway, slivers of that, some tofu, some scallions, some dumplings...well, you get the idea. Loverly.



Yeah, those look a little past their prime. However, they are of the onion family and, as we all know, peeling them back.....



Tofu chunks! Tofu is so strangely great that, well, I dunno Google it. I know everyone knows what tofu is but, read on.... (not here, on what you get when you Google)....



Health, health, health.....



Super chunky........



Alrighty, here comes the meat......



Below the gyoza. I think there was a thing in Japan last year where this brand, which is sourced from China on the other side of the Pacific, had some weird, gulp, pesticide issue.


Yeah, they look like slugs. Tasty, tasty slugs.....filled with pork....and preservatives....and let us not forget.....love.......Oh. Okay. Below, the cast for my evening floor show. Asahi (more on that in a moment), big awesome bowl from Maruichi, dumplings, noodles, pork, etc. Places everyone, places!!




Scot F. if you are reading....yes it was sooooo good. Not as good as the sushi place in Sunrise Plaza in Lauderdale, etc.


This close up isn't so bad. Lovely broth. I bolstered it with some dashi and soy sauce. Slept well that night, for a change.


Love Asahi beer. Well, the original is from the Far East. They cleverly got Molson Brewery up in the 51'st state (Canada) to contract and brew for them. If you're not careful you won't catch that your Asahi and Kirin are IMPORTED and covered with what looks like straight from Japan stuff. Sorry mates, brewed in Toronto. That's why they can advertise "Imported" so boldly. I, as a rule, buy Sapporo, all of their brew comes straight from Japan......

Samosa follow-up...

Okay, in an earlier post (you can find it here) I showed you the very tasty samosas I made. I neglected to show the rather tricky preparation, however, not this time! Lots of chopped ginger and onion. This picture was taken with the camera on the little "heart" symbol. Not too good.


Below, the ground chicken, onions and ginger softening up. This was taken with the camera on the "lampshade" setting. Maybe I should stick to that one.....


Here is the filling now with the spinach and chick peas added. I modified it ever so slightly and threw in some peas. Samosas without peas just doesn't seem right.


On to the dough. This is really, really easy to make and yet, I had some difficulty! Two cups of flour, six tablespoons of oil, and a teaspoon of salt. Put this in a food processor and then slowly add about six tablespoons of warm water until it balls up. Better to have a little too much water rather than not enough. I was a little flinty with the water and the dough was a little too tight.


Cut the ball in half and then cut those in half again. Turn that little blob into another ball. Roll it out into something that resembles a circle...


Slice down the middle.....


Here's the tricky part. That reminds me of this goofy Fig Newtons commercial from the 70's. A guy is in a Fig Newton outfit singing some song about, obviously, Fig Newtons. As he's coming to the end, he says "Here's the tricky part!" and he sticks one leg out behind him and finishes the song. Funny. Come to think of it, Fig Newton is a weird name. I mean consider it on it's own. Fig Newton.

Fig Newton.

Fig

Newton.

Newton.

Fig.

fignewton

Anyway, got side-tracked. Here's the little snow cone sort of thing you stuff with the filling.


Okay, the dough in the background pulled focus. But you get the idea. Again, I left the setting the same as the better, I won't say good, photos above. Operator error, I know, but what?


Deep fry and you have an extremely satisfying, albeit, highly caloric treat.

Weird Japanese Snack #7

I'm way behind on these. Good Dr. Terry has been dutifully stocking my weird Japanese Snack larder and I have flagged. What's worse, I had a bunch I was gonna bring home and review this weekend (many with small, dried fish) but in my haste to flee the office yesterday (I was in a big hurry to rush out into traffic and sit still) I left them on my desk. However, I did have one that I tried week before last. Pretty standard strange snack.


Replete with loads of little dried fish....see photo...



I really have no business posting blurry photos. My camera has about 97 different settings all of them represented by symbols that have absolutely no meaning to me. I mean, what setting does three horizontal wavy lines mean? Or a heart? Or lampshade? Anyway, I don't know if you can see it but I was pretty let down by the paucity of little feeshes. The other bits were just sort of puffed rice shaped into little balls, some with pretend sea weed bands, peas, rice crackers, etc.


I went straight for a fish. They were very few and, to be honest, had very little flavor. Maybe the teensiest tang of the sea but that's it. Actually, the whole thing was pretty good tasting. Thumbs up for this one....