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![\"first_course_rak.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/archives\/image\/first_course_rak.jpg\")
\nThat night I cooked one of the packets of fish, 1\/3 of the broccoli, and half the mushrooms. Delectable, if I do say so myself. For dessert, I had half the apple, which was perfect.<\/p>\n
Friday is shopping day for the guests of Nobeyama observatory, since no meals are servedon weekends. A driver picked Mukul and me up at the dorm (we were the only visitors at that time)and we drove to the closest supermarket–about a 20-m drive away. The store was like an American supermarket, except they didn’t accept credit cards and had no ATM. Since I was short of local currency, I needed an ATM. Our driver didn’t speak much English, so I mimed sticking my ATM card into a slot, and pulling out bills. He understood immediately, and took me down the street to the post office, where I filled up my wallet with several 10,000-yen bills.<\/p>\n
Back to the store. I wandered down the produce line, and found mushrooms. Mushrooms galore! The greatest variety of mushrooms I had ever seen. It was a mushroom lovers paradise. I was tempted to buy several packets of odd varieties, but ended up picking just one. I went on to the fruit area. They had some good looking big apples. Initially I was turned off by the size. because in the eastern US, the bigger the apple, the worst the taste. But Mukul assured me that this is not the case in Japan. He also encouraged me to try a persimmon. (He bought 6.)<\/p>\n
Then on to the meat area. I selected two packets of sliced fish from the myriad of choices. The only way I could cook these little fishlets in my room was to fry them, so I had to get oil. After wandering around a bit, I found some shelves with a huge array of bottles containing what might be oil. There wasn’t a single English word on any of the labels. I began to wonder if they might in fact be some other liquid–vinegar, perhaps? I turned around, and on the opposite shelves there were other similar bottles, and one of them, thankfully, was labeled Italian Olive Oil. I was saved. Got the smallest one there–200 g.<\/p>\n
I also found some shelves of wine, whiskey and sake. I decided to try a local red wine called “Alps”. A few other items like broccoli, cereal and milk, and we checked out. My tab for the weekend spoils was 5500 yen.
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\nThat night I cooked one of the packets of fish, 1\/3 of the broccoli, and half the mushrooms. Delectable, if I do say so myself. For dessert, I had half the apple, which was perfect.<\/p>\n
My own meals are not as complex and colorful as the ones we have been having on weekdays. If you are a mushroom and fish lover, you would enjoy Japanese cooking very much. I am, and do. The only thing I can dispense with is the vast quantities of rice that everyone eats. But there’s so much food in our meals, I can get by with only one scoop of rice, and I’m satisfied.<\/p>\n
I look forward to our next supermarket foray. This time I’ll get 3 or 4 packages of mushrooms, and some other kind of fish. Itadakimasu! (Bon appetit!)<\/p>\n
Shamaru<\/p>\n
Shopping Day<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Friday is shopping day for the guests of Nobeyama observatory, since no meals are servedon weekends. A driver picked Mukul and me up at the dorm (we were the only visitors at that time)and we drove to the closest supermarket–about … Continue reading