Adventures at the Suu-pah

When originally thinking about applying for JET early on in my senior year, I thought a bit about what it would like to live alone. Out of all possible considerations, this was by far the scariest and the least avoidable-- even if I didn't do JET and stayed in the states, chances were I'd be by myself, alone, in an apartment somewhere. I thought it might be lonely sometimes, but I'd get a cat and everything would be okay.

I failed to consider finding myself in an apartment that restricted pets. I haven't actually asked, but I cringe to think about what a kitty would do to my tatami mats. In the states de-clawing would be an option, but out here in the sticks where cats are more homeless outdoor creatures than furry balls languishing away until their next can of tuna, I don't know if that would be an option. So far, it hasn't been that big a deal. I glimpse a fluffy kitty now and then, and it suffices my base level of feline companionship.

A much more difficult problem and one I hadn't really considered was cooking for myself. Not only cooking, but making a list and getting the things on it while wading through an avalanche of kanji characters and pushing through a crowd of obaachans (old grandmothers), trying to find something edible or easy-to-make-edible. I think it's about time for a run-down of how my visits to the suu-pah (the Japanese abbreviated version of "supermarket") are going.

When I first arrived, food was kind of an issue because I didn't have a car and didn't know that there was a suu-pah within relative walking distance. I relied solely on some food that my supervisor put together for me for the first day. On day 2, we went to the suu-pah and got food that was supposed to last me until I got my car-- 4 days, which turned into 5 when we learned the car wasn't ready for pick-up on the expected day. Subsequently, I had to get a little creative with what I had left and what canned things my predecessor had left me. This resulted in original and nourishing but perhaps not repeatable meals like mushroom-hot-dog-rosemary-spaghetti sauce over pasta. (I think I deserve a little credit for getting nearly all the food groups in).

Once I got the car, food seemed easier to deal with. I could choose when my battles with the grandmothers would be and take the brightly-colored kanji packages slowly. And, for the most part, I think I've succeeded. Making a good list, however, and sticking to it is still a little problematic, especially now that I've started school (more on that later) and have less time.

... just for kicks, here's my most recent shopping list and a concurrent list of the things that I actually got.


1. Cereal

... well, I did get cereal, delicious Fruits Granola, which is basically an assortment of mostly unidentifiable but delicious grains, dried fruit, and nuts. Awesome with...

2. Milk

... for some reason, all fresh milk in Japan is whole-fat or tastes it. There are many different kinds of milk to choose from, though, which makes me think that they do have different levels of fat... but it's really not obvious. There is such thing as "skim milk," but that's really dry milk.

3. Tofu

... I ended up with 3 single-serving packages (all tied together) of black sesame tofu, which is simply delicious. I can't buy the plain stuff if black sesame is available.

4. Fruit

... ambiguous list item, since I was trying to get something in season. Since it's between seasons right now, or seems like it, I ended up with 1 nashi (the apple/pear combination fruit I wrote about earlier).

5. Veggies

... also going for what is in season or seemed like it by low price, I got cabbage, greens (which look like bolted lettuce, but I'm sure they're something else), 4 tomatoes, 4 cucumbers (both all in one package), and sprouts of the Asian variety.

6. Non-spaghetti pasta

... after the ~4 days of spaghetti while waiting to get a car, I've laid off pasta for awhile, but I want to try my hand at a casserole one of these days. This is in preparation.

7. Pasta sauce

... the end result was getting "meat sauce," which comes in a can... if it's anything like the bag-packaged variety, it will be watery and have little meat, but I can pretend or add in more hamburger.

8. Olive oil

... Olive oil! From Italia! Or so the package says... but since Italy isn't as far away from here as America, I'll believe them.

9. Butter

... I recently learned that the tub-o-yellow-stuff that's sitting in my refrigerator is actually margarine and not the real stuff, so I got sticks of Hokkaido butter. I've never had that particular kind before, but being dairy and from Hokkaido, it's got to be delicious.

10. Other food for ~3 days

... yeah, ambiguity again, but I was counting on the maybe-something-will-just-look-like-it-wants-to-be-cooked phenomenon. I ended up with one slab 'o deep-fried tofu, a chicken breast, mini-hot dogs (ever adaptable to many dishes), and 3 one-serving-size packages of ready-to-cook yaki-soba, all neatly packaged together. Yaki-soba, basically a noodle stir-fry, is sort of a throw-whatever-in-the-pot dish, so it shouldn't be too hard to use the rest of the ingredients.

11. Food for the evening

... I was tired and didn't have the energy to grocery-shop, unpack everything, and cook, so I got konbini-style katsu (deep-fried pork) curry and an individual package of "raw milk cheese cake" for dessert. Apparently Japan distinguishes between two types of cheese cake, one that is baked and one that is not. I got what was available, which was the no-bake cheese cake.

So what was the result of this fine bit of shopping, you might ask? A successful first attempt at yaki-soba:

... well worth the effort of battling obaachans for the best ingredients. :)