Thursday, November 25, 2021

餃子

I got this little trinket from a coin machine in Japan. It's a plastic version of a paper lantern that many shops and restaurants put outside to advertise what time of food or products they have for sale, which if the battery wasn't dead, would light up red like many of the paper lanterns you would see.

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餃子 (ギョウザ) - A meat or vegetable filled dumpling

Many ラーメン or 居酒屋 (いざかや) have these to promote their shop, which might also say, 酒 (さけ) to also promote they are a bar that serves alcohol.

餃子 for the most part is very easy to make and is a very popular snack food, especially while drinking!

If you go to your local grocery store, you might find this product in the frozen section:

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餃子 isn't a traditional Japanese food. They learned it from the Chinese, so all of the 餃子 brands in a grocery store are from Chinese companies.

一番: Put some olive oil in a フライパン, heat and put the frozen 餃子 inside.

Then VERY IMPORTANT - Add a cup of water and cover the pan letting the water evaporate to create stream to make the 餃子 moist and sticky, which is why 餃子 is often called Pot Stickers.

二番: Once the water has evaporated or cooked into the 餃子, let cook while stirring and flipping to get a nice even brown on both sides.

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三番: Once throughly cooked, it's time to eat - いただきます!

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Note: There are ways to make hand made 餃子, but I am not that great of a cook to make my own. Yet if you are, I recommend going on YouTube and learning from a professional who can show you everything you need to prepare and cook you own 餃子! And if you do, remember to share it with us by sending pictures to deathbykanji@gmail.com 

ありがとうございます!

ジョシュア

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

まるよしビフテキ

Oh the places you can go to 食べもの!

While I was living in 四日市市 (よっかいちし), me and a friend of mine took a day trip to 伊勢 (いせ) to visit the famous 伊勢神宮 (いせじんぐう), the Ise Grand Shrine.

Afterwards we went to 松坂 (まつさか) another town to eat their famous 肉 at this restaurant.


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肉 (にく) - Meat
Oよし (the O is for circle which is around the よし as まるよし, as まる means Circle) - Maruyoshi brand symbol for the restaurant
松坂 - Matsusaka; A city in Mie-ken Japan famous for their beef
まるよし - Maruyoshi; the restaurant name
ビフテキ - Beef Steak; the restaurant's specialty


When I was there, I watched this video that gave me the craving to eat 松坂ビフ:



In 伊勢, we had meat buns or 肉まん with 松坂ビフand they were 美味しすぎ!!

At まるよし, we had the すき焼き of meat and vegetables that we cooked at our table, and cost about $100 for two people.

It was a great trip and a lot of fun that I highly recommend to anyone in the area or looking to do something different on their vacation.

乾杯!

ジョシュア

Friday, November 12, 2021

勇吉ふぐ

11月には食べ物の月だよ。

ふぐは食べませんか? ちょっと危ないね? 
もし、ふぐを食べたら、気をつけて下さい。
専門店にふぐを食べてはいい感じと思います。さらに専門店でめっちゃおいしい。


勇吉 (ゆうきち) - Two Kanji put together to make a unique shop name:
The Kanji 勇 means Courage, Bravery, High Spirits, Heroism
The Kanji 吉 Good Luck, Fortune, Joy, Congratulations

千日前店 (せんにちまえてん) - Sennichimae Shop; Sennichimae is an Osaka shopping district near the Dotonbori river and Namba.

ふぐ - Fugu; Blowfish
専門店 (せんもんてん) - Specialty Shop

でも、勇吉で食べないんです。千日前の歩いての時に写真を撮っただけなのに。。。
じゃ、また千日前に勇吉に行きましょう!

ジョシュア

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

アイドリング禁止

Doing our part to save the environment isn't a consideration, it's a reality. Most or none of us are in a position to change environmental policy, yet there are small things we can do everyday to save energy, clean up nature and release less pollutants into the world.

Although driving is a necessity to getting to and from work everyday, there is 1 thing we can all do presented in this sign:

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アイドリング - Idling (Leaving you car on while you sit in it)
禁止 (きんし) - Stop
Translation: Stop Idling

ご - An honorific prefix
近隣 (きんりんさま) - Neighborhood, Vicinity
様 (さま) - Way, Manner; Polite Suffix
へ - Preposition Particle indicating movement or direction
の - Posessive Particle 
配慮 (はいりょ) -  Consideration, Concern, Trouble
に - Preposition Particle indicating movement and direction
ご協力 (ごきょうりょく) - Cooperation, Collaboration
下さい (ください) - Please, Appreciation
Translation: Please cooperate with consideration for the neighbors.
Alternative Translation: The neighbors would appreciate your cooperation on this concern.

タイムズサービス - Times Service
株式会社 (かぶしきがいしゃ) - Public Company, Corporation
Translation: Times Service Corporation

We would all appreciate your concern on this issue.

お願いします。

ジョシュア